Blimey - Business has gone Bonkers!
Well, you will have to excuse me if this blog entry is a little incoherent but the online business has really gone doolally. Had an absolute record day today after thinking/hoping that things were maybe starting to slow a little after a (slightly) quieter day yesterday.
I am totally knackered and just running on adrenaline at present. Havent taken a day off for as long as I can remember - even the quiet summer months most Sundays were spent setting up the new warehouse and after rushing like mad to get moved in, get the stock in and take on the two new members of staff to run it, things have just spiralled out of control - Well, not quite totally out of control but it is a constant hour by hour, day by day battle to try and keep on top of things - keeping the customers happy, badgering suppliers to get stock through quicker, getting the most out of the staff members without having them up arms and walk out (they are certainly earning their wages just now!)
As I mentioned in a previous post, think long and hard before going into a seasonal business - you will spend 10 months of the year worrying about how quiet things are and trying to pay all the bills, then just when you think its not going to happen, all hell breaks loose and you are way, way too busy..... :)
So, is the bank manager going to be happy after all this? Is this wife going to get the xmas prezzie she wants (and even deserves after helping out immensly) ? Well, probably no on both counts. Until the summer of next year, its too early to tell about the bank. I have a lot of extra outgoings right now (bank loans, increased wage bills, greatly increased running costs - packaging etc) and I will be shelling out a frightening amount when it comes to January and February to the suppliers when the bills come in for the goods we have had delivered during November and December. Will their be any left for me? Too early to tell but I sincerely hope so after the amount of work I am putting in.
Oh yeah, the wifes xmas prezzie.... Well, I was all set to buy her a new TV until it came to light that the one she wants is nearly £2000!!!! Am I going to fork out that much just so the son can watch Thomas the Tank Engine dvds on it until he gets bored and starts using it as target practice..... Hmmm, I dont think so - Maybe next year.
One slightly negative thing right now is just how much the shop is down this year. Its well down at present but again, in this stupidly seasonal business, all though alarming, its just too early to make come to any conclusions. The shop has the potential to turn things around in just one week if xmas week is a blinder. I dont think its quite going to recover even if we do have a great xmas week but there are many factors that could be conributing to this. In brief, its had to cope without me - I have had to spend all my time and effort on the warehouse. Staff changes. We had a big change in the staff over the last 16 months and although the new staff are very good, we may have lost a few customers who shopped with us simply because they were acquainted with the previous crowd. The retail industry is generally in a slump and the town itself is not doing well. Finally, the amount we are taking online has got to be a very good indication of just how much shoppers are leaving the high street for the internet. They just cant be spending the money online and locally at the same time. If we, after just 18 months are taking more money online that in the shop, that should in theory mean that the equivalent of one store somewhere in the UK is taking nothing...... All these factors lead me to belive that although I am not happy about the shop being down in takings, it is probably doing very well given the circumstances.
Right, better be off, another 6am start tomorrow with (hopefully) another Parcelforce van breaking amount of orders dispatched.
Am I happy? Of course I bl**dy am - Is there anything I want to change next year? Yes, I am going to start a gardening/diy site to promote my dads shop seperately - hopefully this will help increase business in the summer and help to make business steadier throughout the year.... Maybe a summer seasonal business and xmas seasonal will cancel each other out to lead to a much steadier year round trade. Of course, it may just mean that I will be working 12 hour days, 7 days a week all year roung - but at least that way I may be able to afford to buy the wife her beloved TV this time next year ;)
Cheers and if you have got this far, thanks for reading,
Rich
I am totally knackered and just running on adrenaline at present. Havent taken a day off for as long as I can remember - even the quiet summer months most Sundays were spent setting up the new warehouse and after rushing like mad to get moved in, get the stock in and take on the two new members of staff to run it, things have just spiralled out of control - Well, not quite totally out of control but it is a constant hour by hour, day by day battle to try and keep on top of things - keeping the customers happy, badgering suppliers to get stock through quicker, getting the most out of the staff members without having them up arms and walk out (they are certainly earning their wages just now!)
As I mentioned in a previous post, think long and hard before going into a seasonal business - you will spend 10 months of the year worrying about how quiet things are and trying to pay all the bills, then just when you think its not going to happen, all hell breaks loose and you are way, way too busy..... :)
So, is the bank manager going to be happy after all this? Is this wife going to get the xmas prezzie she wants (and even deserves after helping out immensly) ? Well, probably no on both counts. Until the summer of next year, its too early to tell about the bank. I have a lot of extra outgoings right now (bank loans, increased wage bills, greatly increased running costs - packaging etc) and I will be shelling out a frightening amount when it comes to January and February to the suppliers when the bills come in for the goods we have had delivered during November and December. Will their be any left for me? Too early to tell but I sincerely hope so after the amount of work I am putting in.
Oh yeah, the wifes xmas prezzie.... Well, I was all set to buy her a new TV until it came to light that the one she wants is nearly £2000!!!! Am I going to fork out that much just so the son can watch Thomas the Tank Engine dvds on it until he gets bored and starts using it as target practice..... Hmmm, I dont think so - Maybe next year.
One slightly negative thing right now is just how much the shop is down this year. Its well down at present but again, in this stupidly seasonal business, all though alarming, its just too early to make come to any conclusions. The shop has the potential to turn things around in just one week if xmas week is a blinder. I dont think its quite going to recover even if we do have a great xmas week but there are many factors that could be conributing to this. In brief, its had to cope without me - I have had to spend all my time and effort on the warehouse. Staff changes. We had a big change in the staff over the last 16 months and although the new staff are very good, we may have lost a few customers who shopped with us simply because they were acquainted with the previous crowd. The retail industry is generally in a slump and the town itself is not doing well. Finally, the amount we are taking online has got to be a very good indication of just how much shoppers are leaving the high street for the internet. They just cant be spending the money online and locally at the same time. If we, after just 18 months are taking more money online that in the shop, that should in theory mean that the equivalent of one store somewhere in the UK is taking nothing...... All these factors lead me to belive that although I am not happy about the shop being down in takings, it is probably doing very well given the circumstances.
Right, better be off, another 6am start tomorrow with (hopefully) another Parcelforce van breaking amount of orders dispatched.
Am I happy? Of course I bl**dy am - Is there anything I want to change next year? Yes, I am going to start a gardening/diy site to promote my dads shop seperately - hopefully this will help increase business in the summer and help to make business steadier throughout the year.... Maybe a summer seasonal business and xmas seasonal will cancel each other out to lead to a much steadier year round trade. Of course, it may just mean that I will be working 12 hour days, 7 days a week all year roung - but at least that way I may be able to afford to buy the wife her beloved TV this time next year ;)
Cheers and if you have got this far, thanks for reading,
Rich
posted by richandzhaoyan | 12:15 AM
2 Comments:
Gary,
Thanks for posting - Its a question that I often consider - especially at present as the online turnover is booming.
There are a couple of reasons I cannot give up on the bricks and mortar as yet.
In no specific order:-
The shop has been there for a long time - I have owned it for about 5 years now and, although the turnover is not increasing, its pretty steady. Prior to taking it over, it has been established for probably about 30 years - thats a fair while and hence proves it must have some staying power.
My online site has been established for less than two years and although turnover is nearly doubling year on year, with the expense of a new warehouse, extra staff and massively increased stock, it will be a while until I can serioulsy consider it to be a steady source of profit.
With regards to the internet and internet sales - think of the biggie - Amazon - Now established, yes, but just 5 years ago? No one had hardly heard of the internet let alone shopping online and even Amazon was trying desparately hard to actually make a profit. Where are internet sales going to be in 5 years time - will something else have superceded it?
Maybe if I was a true entrepeneur, I would dive in quick, flog the shop, make what I can out of the online shop and then flog it on before being burned - maybe I wont get burned - its just I feel very unsure about online business - something tells me that the big boys will find a way of cutting us little fishes out of the online pie, sooner or later.
Mabye I am being negative - What I have in mind at present is using the online sales/profit to reinvest in another one or two bricks and mortar shops. Maybe a crazy idea, but I just feel that the property itself is more solid than the online business.
Then again, if I was to move the business out of the Stroud shop and rent it out, I would probably make nearly as much as I do now without all the agro of having to run the business!!
Lots to think about and a simple comment like you have posted does helps to bring things to my attention.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Rich
Hi Rich,
Great news about the internet sales. One thing that might be causing the decline at the store is you spending much of your time on the internet store and neglecting the needs of the retail. In the new year I would look at ALL the businesses operations and see where they can be improved. It could be untrained staff. product not displayed properly, etc.
Also in the new year I would do an extensive inventory and see how much of your product got lead astray.
If you are spreading yourself too thin you might want to consider hiring an manager/owner for the store to keep an eye on it.
I would use the next 10 quiet months to get your business plan and practices into top notch shape and work on the accounting/inventory controls so you can automatically keep an eye on the happenings of your 2 locations (warehouse and retail)
Another story for you, last year one of my customers was opening up a new restaurant after 9 successful years with the one that he was at all the time. After 6 weeks of not being at the original one ALL the time I looked at their bill for the month and called him at home to notify him that his coffee sales had doubled for the month. He found out his alcohol sales had doubled also and his food costs were through the roof.
Congrats on the great internet sales, that is amazing. :)
Peter
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