It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Shop Talk post and since I’m headed out to Dallas this week for market, I thought it would be a good time to talk shop. Lots and lots has happened in the course of a few months!
This summer was kinda brutal. I mean, anyone who has ever worked retail knows all about the summer sales slump, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so sluggish. I can’t even express how stressful it is to be in that situation. I admit, I was a bit down and out and had many days where I was depressed during those couple of months. However, being depressed does not get you out of a sales slump. I started to really work on analyzing my business, and searching for opportunities to improve and maximize sales. I hired a consultant who has been a godsend in the 3 months we’ve been working together. We put plans in place to improve our inventory position and increase sales, as well as strategized our marketing for the rest of the year. I’m happy to report that even though sales aren’t where I’d like them to be, (are they ever for a new business?) there has been some great improvement from those dog days of summer.
The website still isn’t up and running yet. Bummer I know. It’s been such a long road trying to get it completed and I’m often busy with so many other day to day tasks that I just don’t have the time to work on it. But, I’ve recently partnered with an amazing company (more to come on that!) and hopefully an online sales channel will be up and running by the end of this year!
We hired our first employees! Not sure if you know, but I’d been working in the shop by myself for 6 days a week since we opened back in February. Now you know why the website still isn’t done – but I digress. After 7 months, my hubby to be and I figured it was high time to bring on some help. The girls started this month, and they have been great so far! I can now take an actual lunch break on some days (oh, the things we take for granted), have an extra day off once in awhile, and gasp, even a weekend off too every once in awhile. That is what I like to call progress my friends.
Like I said, lots and lots has happened over the past couple of months! It may sound cliche, but entrepreneurship is definitely not for the faint of heart. The future hubby and I are saving some cash by driving to market in Dallas instead of flying and we’ll be driving out Thursday, with a full market schedule Friday and Saturday. Buying for the store is my absolute favorite part of this gig, so I’m really looking forward to our trip! I hope you all are having a great week!
