How to run a business successfully, in this, the busiest retail season!

1. Keep your store at a balmy 63 degrees or lower. Not only does this motivate your employee(s) to keep finding things to do to keep themselves warm, it also pushes customers to purchase items without trying them on,* as they are reluctant to take off their coat in the chilly fitting room.**

2. Keep your inventory low. While this may seem self defeating, it actually boosts visits! You'd be surprised how many passersby will stop in to ask if you are going out of business!

3. Forgo a sign, and perhaps even a name.*** Once again, a choice that to some may seem detrimental is actually quite effective. Many customers are intrigued by a blank storefront -- it adds an air of mystery! Others may stop in just to ask if you have a name, or if you plan on getting a sign any time soon, and then stay to look at your product!

4. Keep the same merchandise on the floor for extended periods of time. Leaving the same dresses and slacks out for nine months running will actually train your sales staff to be more creative in their floor design, especially during the holiday season, finding new ways to display the tired, dated merchandise to give the illusion of new shipments.

These are just a few tips, tailored for the holiday season. Other, generalized tips include not having a steamer on hand (it's like a do-it-yourself silk scarf purchase!), and saving money by ignoring pesky basic repairs**** and having your employees use their own cell phones rather than have a land line installed. Though times are hard financially for many of us, by following these easy tips, if opening your own store is your dream, I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!



*This only truly works with a pre-existing "no refunds, store credit only" policy.
**A lack of insulation is also pleasant to shoppers and employees alike; nothing encourages a buying mindset like the long whistle-moan of sharp, cold winter wind competing with the classical renditions of Holiday music piped in through the speakers!
***Goes hand in hand with item #2; a lack of sign also prompts people to believe you are going out of business -- and the lure of "going out of business" sales at this time of year is hard to resist!
****Seriously, for years people survived without running water... what's eight months of a broken sink? Just empty the grey water from the bucket into the toilet! And if sewage fumes are coming up from the broken pipe, light a candle!! Problem solved... for free!