subject: Measuring your Dollar Store Start Up Success [print this page] Those who are in the midst of a dollar store start up have likely discovered the many, many tasks required to go from investigating a business idea to actually conducting a dollar store grand opening event. With a great deal of planning and effort they have pulled it off. Their store is about to open. Soon they expect the dollar store sales to start rolling in. And soon after that there will be the dollar store profits they seek. But how can they know if their dollar store grand opening was a success or not? How can they know their dollar store start up is on-track for success? Read on as I present 3 start-up indicators.
#1) Traffic during the grand opening event
One of the best indicators of success is the number of people who actually attend your grand opening event. Since many shoppers will check things out before spending any money, the greater the number of visitors entering your store during the grand opening, the greater the potential future sales. Just make sure everything is right so everyone is impressed with your store, your staff and the products you carry.
#2) Dollar store sales during the grand opening event
Your dollar store grand opening isnt really about making massive sales or dollar store profits. It is more about introducing your business to the community. Yet sales are a good indicator of whether you have made a hit with shoppers. Set sales goals for your grand opening. Take specific actions to generate traffic and sales. Then measure your success at achieving your goal. If sales exceed expectations, you have a good indicator that you are on-track. If sales fall short, develop a plan to get the word out about your store. Start building traffic and sales.
#3) Shopper feedback
Be sure to ask shoppers for their feedback about your store. Did they find everything they want and need? What items should you add? Were there other changes they would like to see? While you might not make every change that is mentioned, this feedback is a great way to discover exactly what your shoppers expect from your business in the future.
Whether your dollar store grand opening event was a super success or not, you must continue to manage your business to indictors. One of the critical indicators will be dollar store sale levels. This is a goal that will continually increase. Once you grow dollar store sales to meet the current goal, adjust upward to a new, higher target. Achieving dollar store profits is another crucial goal. And once you have achieved profitability, continue to grow the dollar store profits for your business. Staffing and cost reduction goals as well as many other goals are also very important to monitor. Set goals for each indicator and then put actions in-place to achieve them. Work with your accountant to develop a complete list as well as targets for your new business.
