For those owning and operating a dollar store there exists a delicate balance between maximizing daily dollar store sales while also maximizing daily profits.
After all, sales can be increased by every extra dollar in merchandise you sell in an hour.
Yet the costs associated with actually operating your business can at times outweigh the extra dollar or two in dollar store sales you make during that hour.
In this article I cover some of the considerations required to insure you are making sound business decisions when it comes to hours of operations.
Are you opening too early? Often there will that one early bird shopper who is frequently waiting at the door for you to open.
Yet, if that one shopper is your only customer for the first hour of business, and she buys only a small pack of gum, you will likely find the profits don't cover the overhead.
Be sure to measure traffic, sales, and profits before extending store hours of operation.
The exception of course is when you are in the store, doing stock work and can handle the few extra sales yourself.
Are you opening too late? The answer to this question is typically very apparent; just look at the size of the crowd waiting for the doors to open.
If there are routinely many shoppers waiting, consider experimenting with opening the store 30-minutes earlier.
Measure sales and profits to make sure this is a good decision.
If the answer is 'yes' - extend hour.
If the answer is 'no' - go back to your previous schedule.
Are you closing too early? Just as opening too late can cost you money, so too can closing too early.
If those owning and operating a dollar store typically have a significant number of shoppers arriving just after the doors are closed, it is time to examine hours of operation with an eye on extending your hours.
One way to really know is to extend your hours without fanfare.
Add 30 or 60 minutes and measure the results.
Are you closing too late? The same issues emerge when the right time to close is being determined.
Examine traffic, sales, and profits to determine if it is a profitable decision.
A quick calculation can be made by just examining staffing costs versus sales gross profits.
Do you have the right staffing levels to support the sales during each hour of daily operations? Owning and operating a dollar store requires careful examination of all expenses.
Payroll is frequently among the highest.
Always be sensitive to providing outstanding customer service.
Yet if you are significantly overstaffed during certain time frames, it is time to rethink your staffing plan.
Look for opportunities to reduce coverage, and thus improve profit.
While completing your examination of staffing, also look for time frames when staffing is routinely inadequate to hand dollar store sales.
Those owning and operating a dollar store are faced with many decisions.
They must determine whether to open earlier, stay open later, or reduce hours.
Be sure you carefully weigh your decisions.
Make sure staying open even an extra 30 minutes rewards you with extra dollar store sales in excess of the costs.
For some this decision is made as a part of the lease agreement.
Even in those cases it is important to know whether you are making a profit or not.
Then appropriate staffing decisions can be made as well.
To your success owning and operating a dollar store!