By rbhamil on Nov 12, 2009 in Suppliers | 0 Comments
Those in the dollar store business know locating the best merchandise involves dealing with several vendors. While some suppliers are focused on providing general merchandise, others are specialists on specific items. Another group of suppliers who are gaining more attention are closeout and liquidation companies. These suppliers have recognized the positive impact that dollar stores can have on their total annual sales. As a result they are working to locate more of the items that meet the needs of their new found customers. In this article I present 6 expectations of closeout suppliers when you own a dollar store. Be sure you don’t ever settle for less than these expectations in your dealings!
#1) They must be reliable. When you own a dollar store there’s just plain too much at stake to deal with suppliers who don’t put you and your business first. Don’t work with suppliers who make you wait days for returned phone calls or that leave loaded pallets sitting on their dock for days or weeks at a time before finally shipping.
#2) The products they sell must fit your needs. It doesn’t matter how great the deal, if the products are not perfectly suited to you shoppers, keep looking. You have not found the right closeout or liquidation supplier for your business.
#3) They must offer competitive pricing on all the products they sell. A store merchandise supplier fails to meet your needs if they don’t offer low pricing on the products they sell.
#4) This is a time when supplier location does matter to you. Be sure they are located close enough that freight costs won’t ruin what would otherwise be an outstanding deal. Since many of your purchases will be by the pallet, and often multiple pallets, this is a very important consideration when examining every potential supplier.
#5) Stable product availability. The nature of the liquidation and closeout business is one of great variation in product availability. One day the perfect dollar store merchandise will be available, and the next morning they will be sold out. Some of these suppliers are positioned to provide additional product within a reasonable timeframe. It may come from the companies they work with, or they may be part of a network that allows them to search and locate similar items quickly.
#6) Easy to deal with. The last thing you want or need is a dollar store merchandise supplier who doesn’t provide outstanding customer service. Make sure the suppliers you work with appreciate the importance of you and your business. Make sure they work to remove barriers – and that they do everything possible to make dealing with them a pleasant and profitable experience.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Nov 12, 2009 in Sales/Profits | 0 Comments
When you open a dollar store one of the challenges you face is continually growing sales in your store. For most, the most frequently used method is to increase the traffic into the store. Generally as traffic increases so too will the number of sales made. Yet there is another way to grow sales. That is to increase the size of the average sale made in your store. There are actually many proven methods to increase the average sale. In this article we focus on 5 proven methods to help you increase the average sale size in your store.
#1) Focus on impulse items. It is important to really know your shoppers. By knowing their likes and dislikes you can provide exactly the merchandise they need and want. You can also carry the impulse items that are most likely to appeal to your regular shoppers. By having the right impulse items you open the door for shoppers to pick up one or two more items than they had planned to purchase during their visit to your store. Adding one or two items means one of two dollar or even more added to the majority of the sales you make. One or two dollars added to even 50% of the sales during a given day can add hundreds to your total sales for the day.
#2) Carry the proven hot selling merchandise. In addition to knowing your shoppers you must also know the marketplace. You must be in touch with what is being successfully sold by others in the industry. Vendors, industry publications and fellow store owners are all great sources of this information.
#3) Make it your practice to rotate merchandise to and from key locations in your store. Always work to give your store a new look when shoppers return for another visit. This doesn’t mean to move departments about. Rather focus on your key merchandising locations such as end caps, bulk display areas and impulse display areas. Keep fresh items displayed to catch the attention of all shoppers; even those who come in to shop every week.
#4) Maximize the display space provided for dollar store merchandise at your checkout counters. Shoppers won’t ever be in more of a buying mood than they are as they pull out their money to pay for their selections. That’s the time to display hot sellers and impulse items. Devote space at every check stand to display those items. Don’t forget to continually rotate new merchandise into the mix. You’ll be rewarded with extra sales time and again every day.
#5) Don’t forget the candy, gum and sodas. Make sure these items are prominently displayed in the appropriate departments as well as at cash registers. Many shoppers will grab a bottle of their favorite soda or a pack of gum as they await their turn to pay at the cash registers.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Nov 11, 2009 in Tips/Steps For Success | 0 Comments
The Internet world has brought an almost endless variety of business opportunities to entrepreneurs around the world. It’s possible to bring your new idea and build an online business around it. There are also many online business opportunities available and just waiting for the right person to step forward. One of the real advantages many entrepreneurs find when starting an online business is it can be done fairly quickly, easily and for lower costs than starting a brick and mortar business. One such business opportunity is opening a dollar store online. In this article I present 4 online dollar store success tips.
Tip #1) Start by learning the basics of operating a sound Internet marketing business. That’s right; this isn’t only about opening a dollar store. It also involves using the best online practices to generate traffic, sales and profits. Maximize your business success by learning everything from article marketing to traffic generation and search engine optimization. Apply the very best techniques to boost your opportunity for success.
Tip #2) Invest the time to create and register the very best domain name possible. The importance of your domain name can not be understated. It needs to match your business name if possible. It needs to clearly communicate what your business is about. It needs to be easy to search for online. Long complicated names with lots of hyphens, unique abbreviations, etc will significantly impact the number of searchers who can actually find you business.
Tip #3) Set your business up for success. Get the help and support you need to build, grow and maintain your business. On one hand you may seek help in opening a dollar store. On the other hand you may seek help about internet marketing. Remember – the most expensive resources aren’t necessarily always the best. Investigate before you sign a contract. Make sure you are dealing with reputable and knowledgeable experts. Don’t jeopardize your online reputation because of the actions of those you hire and trust to help you.
Tip #4) Don’t break the bank with your online start-up costs. Starting an online business doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. In fact opening a dollar store online can actually be relatively low cost. Consider using drop ship companies to provide products for your online dollar store. Shop for Internet marketers who have experience, but are still growing their own businesses. They can generally provide much lower costs, and still deliver good websites, articles, and they can provide your other support needs.
To your online dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Nov 9, 2009 in Management | 0 Comments
During the twelve months immediately following opening a dollar store it is important to understand all of the processes within your business. You need to know what happens and why. Then lock down each of the processes so there is no variation from employee to employee. If all follow the identically same processes, your results should be very consistent and predicable indeed. With that consistency will come an understanding of how best to operate your business. As you maximize the operation you achieve the very real potential for dollar store profits.
Start learning and understanding the processes and procedures used in your business as soon as it opens. Especially focus efforts on the operational processes of your business. If you take a hands-on approach to your new business you should be fairly familiar with all of the processes within 90 days of opening a dollar store. Start examining each of the processes as soon as you gain that understanding.
Use this timeframe to not only understand each process and procedure, but also to streamline and improve all of them. Once you really understand what is happening in your business, focus on ways to make improvements. Those improvements will equate to better results for your dollar store. That should mean dollar store profits begin to roll in more quickly for your business as well.
Once you have come to a final process flow, stop immediately and document it exactly as it is being performed. If the process is efficient and effective, you’ve reached your first goal. Do not make any further changes at this point. Stop and lock down exactly what you are doing. You will undoubtedly find opportunities for improvement in the future. But for now, write it down and stop making changes.
Next train all employees to the documented process. Following training it is important to set expectations that every employee will follow the documented process exactly as it is documented. You and they will know exactly the expected outcome when everyone follows those processes.
By the end of your first 12 months after opening a dollar store business you should have completed all streamlining and documentation of operational procedures in your company. Don’t forget to document all future modifications and changes in those processes. Train every employee about the changes as soon as the change is documented. Then be sure to immediately hold everyone accountable to following the new process flow. Remember consistency in the execution of your processes is one of the keys to achieving and then maximizing dollar store profits.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Nov 8, 2009 in Dollar Store Experts | 0 Comments
At some time during the life of almost every business there’s a need to seek the advice and guidance of an outside expert resource. It is no different when you open a dollar store. There will come a time when you clearly need an expert to help. Many business owners decide not to take action, often with disastrous results. In many cases the expert resource will need to come to your location for hands-on work, which does add cost. However in many other instances the problem or issue can be dealt with using the telephone or the Internet. This can significantly reduce the expense, yet provides the expert support your business desperately needs.
If you open a dollar store you may need an expert to help you with cash flow problems. Your expert resource will help examine your current situation. If and when problems or potential problems are identified, potential solutions can be developed. A ‘best solution’ will emerge. Your expert can even help you work through implementation of the solution and follow-up monitoring if desired.
In others cases the support might be needed to help you attain the next level in dollar store sale growth. Many businesses run into roadblocks to growth they simply cannot work through on their own. Yet your expert resource brings a new perspective and often proven breakthrough options.
Possibly you need expert support to help with inventory management. It might be something as simple as strategies to resolve excess quantities of non-selling merchandise. It might be locating lower-cost suppliers. It might be implementing processes and systems to measure and maximize inventory turns.
If you are considering expansion of your business an expert can often assume much of the workload, leaving you to handle the day to day operation of your existing store. That focused expertise can provide project management skills, quick start-up when you open a dollar store and innovative ideas to make your store opening a huge success.
Your business might be struggling. You may need to work out a plan for survival and then continued business growth. A knowledgeable expert might be just the right resource to bring in to help.
When you open a dollar store be sure you have chosen an expert with solid hands-on experience dealing with your problem. This isn’t the time for someone to gain experience or experiment at your expense. Check references and negotiate the fees. Above all, it’s important to realize that a knowledgeable expert expects and deserves to be compensated. Don’t lose out by walking away from the right person over a few dollars in fees. And don’t wait so long that even the best of the best experts cannot save your business.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Oct 18, 2009 in How to Open a Dollar Store | 0 Comments
Are you wondering How to Open a Dollar Store? Make sure to plan carefully for expenses that will happen when you are doing the prep work to open, the actual opening event and business maintenance in your store. Be aware that unexpected costs frequently happen, most likely during the initial start-up and during the first year of business. Know that almost every store fails to gain sales exactly as projected as well.
For some entrepreneurs all of these unplanned events will be pleasant. These business owners may find a that sales have become higher than they had projected. Projected expenses and costs may also be lower for these business owners. Some lucky business owners may find that their actual sales are higher and the actual costs are lower than projected. However, every entrepreneur who plans to start a dollar store should hope for the best and plan for the worst situation.
When figuring out how to open a dollar store, make sure to include ten-percent or more for unexpected costs that might occur.
When you are making plans for opening your store, it will be hard to know what this money might be used for or if it will even be used at all. Frequently costs that were not planned for will appear suddenly or expenses that were planned for a specific item or service will increase. Your emergency stash of money will be of use when this happens.
Using known data is the best strategy when creating sales projections. However they too are just an educated guess. There is no guarantee that your store will make x amount of money or how quick your sales will increase. There might even be a decrease of sales that you will need to fix before a sales growth will occur.
Cushion the potential for a downside in sales with a reserve account to cover core business expenses during the first year of operation. Ongoing monthly expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll and taxes should be forecasted into that reserve. Everything that is need to keep the store in operation during the first year of business should be included. Most people will underestimate the amount of money that should be set aside. Keep in mind that money that is available to you during unexpected events is important.
New businesses should only be started if there is enough money available for continued business during unexpected events. It doesn’t matter whether start-up costs exceed plans, or sales come in below plan. Emergency funds should be set aside when you open a dollar store to allow the store to grow without the added burden of being underfunded.
By rbhamil on Aug 9, 2009 in Merchandise | 0 Comments
Those who start a dollar store are eager to provide exactly the items their shoppers seek. They know that if shoppers are able to find the core consumables they seek they will return much more frequency. And of course they will purchase more and more of the other dollar store merchandise being offered. One area shoppers always want and need is grocery items. No matter how big or small the selection you offer, shoppers will always take the time to check out the grocery items in your store. Even better; they will make purchases as they examine the options. In this article I provide 5 tips about adding groceries to your store.
Tip #1) Start a dollar store with a smaller core selection and build your selection as you understand your customer grocery needs and wants. Bring in items that are not highly perishable to start. Be sure there are long pull dates on everything you carry. As shoppers discover you carry food products they will begin to buy more and more. As that happens you can broaden the selection and carefully add items with shorter shelf lives.
Tip #2) Recognize you are trading profit margins whenever you add grocery items to your dollar store merchandise selection. Food items in both the grocery and snack category are sold on an extremely tight margin. Where you may become accustomed to making gross margins of 30¢-40¢, and even more with general merchandise, some food items literally sell with pennies of gross margin. After all costs are paid, it takes outstanding buying to make a significant profit.
Tip #3) Groceries are great traffic generators. While margins are tight with grocery products, almost nothing can beat them for generating traffic and add on sales for your store. Place the grocery department toward the back of your store to maximize the positive impact these items can have on overall sales levels for your store. When you start a dollar store be sure to carefully monitor the impact food has on traffic, sales and profits for your business.
Tip #4) Know the rules, regulations and laws associated with selling groceries and food items. Since rules, regulations and laws do vary, this is an area that requires some investigation before charging ahead. You will find there are many guidelines to be followed whenever you carry food items. Some are very general and easy to meet. Others may require special handling or placement of products. Be sure you obtain required licensing and inspection as well.
Tip #5) Expect added labor expense as you grow your grocery sales. When you start a dollar store you will discover that unlike most other dollar store merchandise, groceries need to be carefully managed for package damage and pull date problems. As a general rule groceries are also heavier and harder to move about. But still they may hold a valuable place in the product mix for your store.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Aug 8, 2009 in Merchandise | 0 Comments
Most everyone who opens a dollarstore realizes there is a need to carry large quantities of high-quality seasonal merchandise in order to maximize sales and profits. While most set pretty high sales goals for their store, they are still surprised by the huge amount of dollar store merchandise that goes out the door on a daily basis. Then they start thinking about the holidays. They anticipate great sales and profits if only they can locate the right holiday merchandise. Yet the bigger question is when to order and where to locate the very best deals.
The answer to their question falls into two distinct areas. First there is the critical core holiday merchandise that must be present before the season even arrives. Shoppers look for many of these items long before most general suppliers make them available. Second is the need for ongoing replenishment and filler stock to cover for items that have sold out more quickly than had been planned.
The answer to the second question is fairly easy. Most general dollar store merchandise suppliers carry a good selection of the basic holiday items. While the selection will be limited and they generally don’t make the items available until very close to the holiday, they can usually provide the replenishment and filler dollarstore holiday merchandise you need.
Often the first thought for new store owners will be to wait until the holiday season is getting closer before they buy. They think they can just order their dollar store merchandise for the season from their general suppliers and anyone else who might have something left. While delaying sounds like a good idea, the bottom line is that you lose many great products using this strategy. Obtaining the exact items you know your customers will eagerly scoop up requires pre-ordering. Most specialty companies that provide only holiday merchandise require pre-orders to guarantee delivery of the items your shoppers seek. They also provide early delivery of those items which is extremely important.
It is important that the items arrive long before the holiday so shoppers can make their purchases as soon as the thought strikes.
Shoppers will be seeking holiday dollar store merchandise to help with their own holiday displays and handycrafts very early. They need time to collect all the piece parts and then to actually make their hand made holiday creations. As a result you will see your dollarstore sales and profits begin to grow long before the holiday season even arrives.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Aug 8, 2009 in Suppliers | 0 Comments
If you are opening a dollar store you are probably very concerned about where you will find the right dollar store merchandise for your store. You are probably concerned about where to find dollar store suppliers you can depend on. You need a supplier that cares about you and your business success. They need to provide quality products, but the price can’t be too high. They need to do exactly what they commit to do every time. That’s a tall order of expectations, and you don’t know even one supplier. Then let’s get started. In this article I present 5 dollar store merchandise supplier tips to help you get started screening down to the perfect suppliers for your business.
Tip #1) Don’t put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to dollar store suppliers. When opening a dollar store it is important to deal with a primary set of suppliers, but to also have a set of back-up suppliers waiting in the wings should they be needed. Circumstances change in the industry quite frequently. You never know when you will need to begin using a pre-screened back-up supplier.
Tip #2) Never commit to any dollar store supplier without investigating first. Make sure a supplier meets your expectations before ever beginning with them. Who wants to deal with a company that is high-priced, ships only about half of the order, doesn’t ever answer your telephone calls, and then delivers poor quality merchandise after weeks of waiting?
Tip #3) Meet dollar store suppliers face-to-face whenever possible. This won’t be practical in many situations. Yet if you can speak with a representative and see the merchandise it is much easier to make your decision. Trade shows, and trips to major distribution locations are a great way to make this happen. Some companies also have representatives who can come to you.
Tip #4) When opening a dollar store it is best to start with a smaller, test order. This allows you to verify the entire process with a prospective supplier without tying up too much money.
Tip #5) When you are about to start a dollar store it is important that you never be afraid to reject a dollar store merchandise supplier from consideration. Don’t tolerate poor customer service, low quality merchandise or high prices. Move on to the next supplier carrying similar merchandise. While some companies don’t seem to care about you and your business, others genuinely want a partnership with you.
To your dollar store success!
By rbhamil on Aug 8, 2009 in Management | 0 Comments
We’ve all heard the doom and gloom about the tough times we are in. We read about it in almost every publication. It is difficult to find a television or radio station that isn’t breaking news about still another business failure or a new economic indicator gone bad. Well, rather than worrying about what everyone is saying and doing, there are some important actions for you to take. This should be a time to not only weather the storm, but to capture loyal new shoppers for your business. This is a time for those who own a dollar store to focus on building dollar store sale levels even higher. In this article I present 5 critical actions for you to take.
Action #1) Become actively engaged in your business. This isn’t the time to be a hands-off owner. That is especially true if you are also the manager. This is a time for those with a dollar store to step forward and lead all efforts to improve business performance. This is a time to lead by example.
#2) Know your customers. There are many shoppers in a dollar store. The question to ask yourself is if you know exactly who the paying customers are for your store. This falls in two areas of concern. First you must know your regular shoppers well. You need to know what they buy and you must know them by name. Second you must understand the demographic of the customers who are actually making purchases in your store.
#3) Get close to your customers when you own a dollar store. By knowing your regular paying customers you can easily develop a firm understanding of their specific wants and needs. Align the product mix in your store to those wants and needs. A warning; don’t ignore everyone else. In many cases shoppers aren’t buying because you don’t carry the items they seek.
#4) Remember and apply the 80/20 rule to everything you do. As the rule states, 80% of your dollar store sales are from 20% of your customers. When you have a dollar store business 80% of your focus should be on that 20% that is generating the majority of your dollar store sale levels.
#5) Customer service needs to be embedded in your business when you own a dollar store. Sure, most retailers acknowledge the need for customer service. Most can even spew out all the things they and their staff do in the name of customer service. Yet the retailers that really succeed in tough times are those who genuinely embrace customer service. They know customer service. They always provide outstanding customer service. They are continually improving their customer service.
To your dollar store success!
