As of the month of April, my business has been open for six months. Overall things have been very up and down. I felt great momentum going into the month and things have slacked down a little from Easter. I have had some of my biggest days in last couple weeks, but each day is a hit or miss instead of constant up or down. I had a great sale running the begining of the month and used Easter eggs to have customers open for additional savings on entire purchase. The customers had fun and it was great success, and I may continue to use this in March/April and call it a Spring Fling sale after I have been in business for a year.
If I had to rate progress for last 6 months, I would say that I have changed the opinion of a lot of my customer base and many have been returning more often to the store. That is very positive to hear how much everyone like the store. Comments heard often, are that it is cleaner, items are in good condition, prices are great, and it is a friendly place to shop. I have doubled my space and categories since I opened. The inside of the store has more space from updating equipment and I have been getting new items from different people. I changed the layout a few times to help with the flow when shopping and the store acquired a couple new licenses and permits to carry items needed in the local area. I am begining a new project to expand sales and help my community.
I started a frequent shopper program when I first opened and I am proud to say I have 3 people that are one stamp away from savings and I have many more that are close. If I run numbers on the progress it comes out to each customer stopping in at least every 3 weeks to see what is new. My Facebook page and Twitter account have become fun to update and communicate with customers. I also give away a free thrifty tip each week and some customers have really enjoyed the tips and using them in their everyday life. If we plan to come out ahead in this economy we have to pull together tips, resources, and just help one another. If you would like to check out my Thrifty Tip Thursdays please click on this facebook site and join by liking the Susy's Treasure Chest page. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.320012684737620.76602.319640671441488&type=1#!/pages/Suzys-Treasure-Chest/141522819296361
A few things that haven't turned out as I planned in this adventure so far are that my sales are not at the level I expected by this point, not sure if I aimed really high or if it is something I am or am not doing correctly. Having said this, my average daily sale has almost doubled from my first weeks of being opened but I think they can grow more than that. I want to expand more on the internet to open up my customer base but I am not sure where to go to move forward more than I am now. My home life is becoming very stressful at this point, since my husband has not found employment that he enjoys that pays what he used to make before his company closed down last year after we bought the store. I am not taking much from the store as we planned to make the well needed changes but feeling like something has to give. We have used up our savings and are living week to week like most americans are now. We cut several expenses as soon as we found out his job was closing so not much left to trim out. I am actually looking for something part time to help out since the store isn't making large profits yet. My quote that keeps me going right now is.
"Don't find fault, find a remedy" Henry Ford
I have heard it said many times that businesses that make it don't give up when things are tough they keep going and do what ever it takes. The business continues to grow and I expect after we become established we will look back and laugh about how scared we were and how long do you continue to dig forward before you dig straight down and are in a hole you can not get out of. My dreams at night tell me we are going the right way but I want to send out a reminder to never lose faith of what you can do, just do it, and do it well.
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