One of my favorite things to any time I visit a place is check out the local shops. They always have so much character, and usually great buys! A small business run from home can be a very successful career choice if managed effectively. It requires a good understanding of Business strategy and business planning, but other than that all you need is an inventive idea! Once you muster an idea, what’s left is the dirty work of finance and real-estate. After you have the nitty-gritty settled, you’re ready to open up shop.Location is an imperative to a successful store. If you pick an outlet in a bad part of town or an area where no one visits, it will affect your business. Small businesses have no means of large advertising, since it is so expensive. So, no one will know that such a jewel is hidden in a bad location. Picking a lucrative spot can be the difference between money spent and money earned. My favorite stores are the ones located in cute towns. Anything near a waterfront or the city is a jackpot. Giving your customers a reason to stick around your store is great. If you’re located next to an ice-cream shack, tourists enjoying ice cream will wander into your store. What more could you want!Also, the store must be inviting. You have to entrance customers into your store. This should be done is a subtle way. People are often offended by flashy signs and in-your-face advertisement. Little touches of homeliness and cheer will do the trick. Adding bright colored window curtains will attract viewers from across the way, or even those driving by. Another nice touch would be chairs and tasteful decorations outside. This will make your business appear welcoming and friendly. Being tasteful is very important however, you don’t want to exclude anyone of any belief from your store. Failing to do this will loose you customers and credibility. You never want to burn bridges with what could be an advantageous client. Always keep an open door.Another important thing to remember when opening a store is your product. After all, the sole purpose of a store is to sell a product. You want your store to have a purpose. Avoid being the “junk drawer” of retail. A good way to decide what types of things to sell in your business is by looking at your audience. If you’re located near water, a kayak store would be a smart investment. If you’re near the city, maybe clothing and accessories would be more appropriate. Targeting your product to the area your in will also bring in visitors. When people travel they like to experience the culture, so stores that mirror the culture of their area will be very popular among tourists!Home run businesses are often some of the best stores. Being run by individuals makes them have character, appeal, and they are usually very nicely operated. Opening a small business can be a great money maker if you have the right stuff. It doesn’t have any set pre-requisite other than, maybe, people skills. Some things to keep in mind while thinking of opening a small business are location, appeal, and product. The location of your store is directly related to success. Also, your store has to be inviting or else you will loose customers. Lastly, your product is key. You have to sell something people want and need.
Tag Archives: services
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.