One of the most exciting activities you'll ever undertake is going through the process of identifying just the right business to open for yourself. As you explore the options you'll find an unbelievable set of choices before you. As you narrow down to the final small group of alternatives, caution is needed. You must carefully examine all of the finalists to select the perfect business for you. In today's economic climate more and more entrepreneurs are viewing dollarstores as the perfect choice. But then the real work starts. There are so many tasks that must be done to prepare for opening a dollar store. Each one is critical in its own way. And each subsequent task builds on performing the previous task correctly. Get one step out of place and you will lose time. You'll be frustrated as you wait for that step to finally be completed so you can move on to the next. Do not make missteps as you prepare to open your store. In this article I present tips to prepare for opening a dollar store.
Treat the preparation process for opening a dollar store like it is a project. There are key steps that must be completed. There is an appropriate order for the completion of those steps. There is involvement by an assortment of resources and companies. All come together are create the dollarstore you are finally ready to open.
Develop a master project plan including a project checklist to help with the management of your store opening. This is easy to do and it helps eliminate forgotten tasks and information about each task. List each of the most critical actions that must be taken in the appropriate order on your project plan. Include a designated owner for each action and a targeted completion date. For example painting the store location might be the responsibility of your landlord. There is likely an agreed date for completion. List all of that information at the right step on your project plan. It's then easy to monitor how things are progressing and whether there are delays that will impact other actions such as installing floor coverings or store display fixtures.
Break the more complex tasks down into smaller, more easily performed tasks. If there are several key actions involved in a specific task, then break them out as separate actions under the label of the primary task. Ordering merchandise is a perfect example of this. Since you will likely be ordering merchandise from a large number of vendors it would help to break out each of the major orders onto your master project plan spreadsheet. You can then verify you've properly placed each order. You'll also be able to track deliveries against the planned arrival date.
Check, check and double check your progress at opening a dollar store. As with any major project you'll need to constantly track how things are progressing toward your dollarstore grand opening. If critical new tasks appear, add them to you master plan and begin tracking. As tasks are completed make sure all of the tasks awaiting that completion are moving forward. If tasks fall behind, make changes to allow you to catch up. Use you checklist to open your dollarstore as scheduled.
To your success when opening a dollar store!