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edmonds
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| Joined: | Sun Nov 27th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 5 |
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 03:48 am |
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Lets say over the past two years your sales have been cut in half. If you own a candy shop, you only make $150 a day, rather than $300. People just aren't buying enough and advertising really isn't in your budget (Plus, how do you advertise a candy place)
You've tried spending your way out, and you should be making profit, but for some reason every time you get the bank statement you seem to be under your goal.
How can you solve this?
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marksman
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| Joined: | Mon Nov 28th, 2005 |
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:27 pm |
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Really depends on a lot of things. Are you still making money? If you are still making money than it should be a lot easier to bring things back up. You may need to invest some extra money, but as long as you are profitable, you should be able to right things.
If you are not making money, it is more difficult, depending on the situation and how long you have been unprofitable, your means to sustain your business without making money etc... you might have to consider other options. Unforuntately I have consulted a few situations in the last several years where my advice ended up being selling a business or closing it down. In one particular case it was simply a matter of being able to use a lot of the abilities and skills int he marketplace to work for others and make significantly more money without the expenses or headaches that were currently the business. Sometimes cutting off a huge negative cash drain is a significant action that can positively impact your situation.
Otherwise, look at your marketing, customer retention and see if you are maximizing your revenue streams per customer.
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falco85
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| Joined: | Mon Nov 28th, 2005 |
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 07:55 pm |
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Solutions are different and it's up to the strategy you want to take and what do you want to do in the short-mid term.
A long-term solution would be diversify your market, but not always this can be done. Reviewing your prices it's a good idea, trying to be a little bit more competitive than the market.
Otherwise, if you see that the market you're in is becoming too thought, consider to convert your activity in something else 
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TPT
Administrator
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 10:14 pm |
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Since you are talking about a storefront, I think it would be prudent to see how other storefronts in the area are doing. If everybody is hurting, then it may be a more widespread issue that needs attention from multiple businesses. If everybody else is doing good except for your business, then you know you have to do something to correct your business.
What some small towns have found is that by getting all of the stores on their main street (or plaza, etc) to agree to stay open later, they were able to consolidate advertising costs and increase sales. I was reading about one study that said nearly 60% of in-store sales occurred after 5 PM whereas almost 70% of stores in small towns closed by 5 or 6 PM.
Some other questions to consider:
Has walk-in traffic to your storefront decreased?
Has a competitor opened nearby?
Have there been any traffic pattern or parking changes?
Did a new store(s) open up nearby that is drawing more foot traffic away from your location?
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CaitSith4343
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| Joined: | Sun Dec 4th, 2005 |
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Posted: Sun Dec 4th, 2005 07:59 pm |
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I'm not sure if your candy shop is targeted mainly at children, or if you are offering very high quality chocolates and other confections for adults, but if you are focusing on children and parents buying candy for there children, and you are in an area where people walk by often, I would say make sure your stoe looks very appealing. Make it look whimsical and give it some character. This may not be the kind of thing you are interested in, but I figured I would put it out there.
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marksman
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Posted: Fri Dec 9th, 2005 09:02 pm |
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Giving away samples might also be a good way to tickle the sweet-tooth. Just don't give too much away.
Also if you can do something that involves baking something in the store, it might help. A nice baking aroma in a high traffic area can do volumes for business.
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mom21
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| Joined: | Wed Jan 11th, 2006 |
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Posted: Fri Jan 27th, 2006 03:02 pm |
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| I agree that giving samples away is a great way to get your product some exposure. You could also try some type of give-away ( contest), or donating to a local charity event. Another thing we have in our city, is that a local news statin does segments in the morning on different businesses around town. They do not charge anything, and they will come to your business and do a short segment for the mornig news broadcast. You could check with your local stations and see if they do anything like that.
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