Business & Economics
Starting up
by: Clc | Edited by: Bologna
Meet Zoë Chancer, the new owner of the Bits and Bobs store in Pleasantview. Bits and Bobs had a rocky time with its previous owners and after receiving a bad review, they were forced to close up last month. We had a talk with Zoë to see how she thinks she can do better herself and not fall into the same bad press the old owners did.
Bits and Bobs' biggest rival is the This and That store not too far away, which has been running for 5five years and has excellent prices. So, our first question is how does Zoë plan to tackle this obstacle?
"Well as I see it, the best way to get customers is good service. You need staff with good people skills, and good sale skills is a must. This may cost extra so we have to raise our prices, but I feel customers would prefer to go to places that offer the better service. Also important is the objects you sell. People want good quality and a good range of objects to choose from, Bits and Bobs offers both," Zoë said.
Those all sound like good ideas, but only time will tell whether good service and quality merchandise will overcome good pricing.
How will Zoë cope if the shop does not start making money for her?
"We'll back up if the people are not impressed. The store has a pond at the back and places to grow produce, two areas which will help the store in its earlier times when it's going to be hardest to make money. My plan is to become a visionary venture in three years and then move on to some bigger projects," Zoë said.
Everything sounds very good and we wish Zoë all the best for the future.
To finish, we have ten tips for starting your own business:
1. Good staff is a must, they may cost a little extra, but in the end the customer will leave a lot happier, which means they will continue coming back.
2. Learn as much as you can, when staff can’t come in you need to be on hand and be able to do the job reasonably well, so being skilled in as many areas as possible is a big plus.
3. Practice makes perfect, practice in front of the mirror each day and you will soon notice how much better you are with the customer.
4. Keep restocking, never get too interested in the customers so that you don’t notice that you have run out of things to sell them.
5. Budget. Never buy your business and then realize you don’t have any money left to stock it with items to sell.
6. Word of mouth, good reviews in the paper are extremely useful for business, and bring in more customers.
7. Again word of mouth, this time through your regular customers, if they like the store they will recommend it to others and keep coming back themselves.
8. Whole sale perk: probably the most useful as you have to pay less for products, meaning you get more profit, you may even be able to bring your prices down.
9. Achieving the best of the best reward is a major step for any business and again gets in more customers, I would recommend putting it next to your most expensive item as it will work wonders when it comes to selling said item.
10. And last but not lest keep up a good relationship with your employees, the more they like you, the better they work and the more likely they are to come to work.
Thank you to Zoë for her help today, hopefully we will have her back in the future to see how she is getting on.
Family Friendly
by: ShakeIt | Edited by: Brittany
Weeks before the Broke-Roseland marriage, the WAS Blab Crew interviewed Brandi Broke, a long-time mother and someone fairly new to the education career path. We chose Ms. Broke for this week's career spotlight for several reasons. First, after losing her husband to a fatal pool ladder accident, she was left as the single mother of 4 children: Dustin (18), Beau (14), and twins Derek and Bobby (5) until her recent marriage. Second, she works full-time as an Elementary School Teacher, and her students adore her. Third, she is able to maintain her home and her classroom.
Dustin will be graduating this year, Beau will be moving into the high school, and Derek and Bobby will be entering Kindergarten. Brandi happily accepted a job as a second grade teacher last year, and had the twins enrolled in the excellent Pleasantview preschool program. Despite having had troubles with Dustin, and him almost not graduating, Brandi has gotten the rest of the family to love education. Her career has really influenced the childrens' outlook on life, and changed the way her family sees the world.
"Every Friday night is 'game night' in our home; I create flashcards for the children, and they quiz each other on facts they learned in school that week. It's a great way to incorporate learning into the video-game cramped household."
Brandi and her family live in a small trailer outside Pleasantview. Unfortunately, her salary is only just enough to pay her bills, buy food, put away about 10% into the familial college fund and 10% in her retirement fund. "My ultimate goal in life is to become the Education Minister, and I will strive in my work to attain whatever skills I need to possess in order to move up the ranks."
Brandi's heart is bigger than her mind, and will hopefully someday be crowned the minister of education everywhere. Her children support her 110%. Beau says, "My mom has high expectations. I'm positive that if she works hard enough she'll meet her goal, and she can be happy again." After the death of her husband 5 years ago, she's been suffering from depression too. All the Broke's can do now is wait and see.
"My mom is great. Even though I never show my love for her, and I have given her lots of trouble in the past, and I still have not grown fond of education, I'm sure she'll do a great job at achieving her goal." - Dustin Broke