Store open: the hard work begins

Renshaw Music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       I have been open now for two months. I had a grand opening and last month a ribbon cutting.  those events were good for the visibility of the store in the business community.  I made some choices that I kne3w would present certain challenges such as to be self funded.  I am debt free which is good but I do not have the benefit of elaborate advertising or complete stocking from day one.  I am doing without elaborate shelving and counters but the store still looks good and the product will grow as the store develops.
     Some of these challanges I expected but there were some surprises such as:
     1)  Refusal or resistance from large suppliers to make Renshaw  a dealer for their products.  Reasons given are territorial.  The nearest large music store to me is about 40 miles and I am told by some that that is too close.  The idea is that another dealer that sells their products would be unfairly impacted by another dealer that is "too Close".  I think that is not reasonable because given the choice of driving 40 miles to get a specific brand of new instrument the customer would choose an alternate brand from the competition or go with used.  I also know that there are dealers much closer than 40 miles apart in larger metropolitan areas like Chicago so this rule must not apply everywhere.
     2)  Large minimum orders.  The same dealer that flatly refused to offer me a dealer status would also require that the first order be $60,000.  I am told that if a customer laid $8000 on my counter for a new instrument this dealer would refuse to sell it to me.  This is a line of reasoning that I just find hard to understand.  If someone makes something why would he refuse to sell only one.  Is it better to sell one or none?  When one manufactures something I always thought the idea was to sell it.
     3)  Stocking wisely:  We are back again to marketing.  Now that I am open I have customers coming into the store telling me they want to buy a certain product or a certain brand or specification of product.  I stock what is specifically requested especially if that customer actually comes back to but the item.  I also need to supply products that I know are desired by the population group that I have not met yet. 
     I do enjoy working in the store and as I grow I will be able to major on my strengths more.  One thing about being small is that you have to do it all and in a sense time management is a major issue.  The things that are not my strengths seem to take me a much larger time to accomplish than someone that is more talented in that area.  There is always a balance between saving time by delegating tasks to someone who could do it faster or trading your time for money by doing it myself.  Sometimes it costs less to hire someone else to do a task if you save enough of your own time or the use of others services increases profits.