- Joined
- Jul 12, 2022
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I'm ready for your best Al Bundy jokes! Let 'em rip!
My intro thread: INTRO - Changing lanes at 40
This definitely was not the original plan! I was searching for manufacturing but not finding much, and what I did find were either poorly priced or without financial records. I widened my search and most everything was poorly priced or without good records, or both! There's a lot of junk out there!
Enter this shoe store: good, legit accounting records going back 5 years (business has been in current location for over 10). Fair asking price that I could afford without needing an SBA loan. Clear value skew (medical focus and knowledgable service) and a long-term employee wanting to stay on. Seemed like a great opportunity so here I am: a first-time business owner!
There was a bit of negotiation, hurdles, and paperwork to get here, and I'm still getting things set up with the accounting firm and vendors. But I've quit my job as an engineer and am selling shoes! LOL! It's sounds crazy but I'm really enjoying the change. Working way more hours but time's flying by as it's more engaging.
2 days after quitting had a family emergency that overshadowed everything. We're dealing with it and things are starting to calm down, but it's been rough.
Here's my plan:
1) Work the store (management and sales) in order to learn the business and get a good handle on cash flow.
2) Promote long-term employee to manager (done).
3) Hire and train 2nd employee so that between the two of them they can handle day-to-day operations, giving me time to focus on growth/other opportunities. I'm still getting a feel for cash flow and we're entering the slow time of year, so I'm targeting hiring in the spring. This is my main plan for improving the business CENTS. I don't know how much I can scale profits, but I believe I can significantly reduce my TIME component.
Couple areas where I could use some advice:
1) POS/inventory/customer tracking system. Currently using an old-school cash register and manually taking inventory to see what to order. It works but it'd be nice to track customer history. An affordable, flexible system could be great. Anyone piece together their own system?
2) Advertising! The only advertising the store has done in years is emailing out coupons to customers who leave their address, and keeping a facebook page. The store is well known locally and many doctors and chiropractors send their patients there. The customer base is older so I'm not looking to make tiktoks!
My intro thread: INTRO - Changing lanes at 40
This definitely was not the original plan! I was searching for manufacturing but not finding much, and what I did find were either poorly priced or without financial records. I widened my search and most everything was poorly priced or without good records, or both! There's a lot of junk out there!
Enter this shoe store: good, legit accounting records going back 5 years (business has been in current location for over 10). Fair asking price that I could afford without needing an SBA loan. Clear value skew (medical focus and knowledgable service) and a long-term employee wanting to stay on. Seemed like a great opportunity so here I am: a first-time business owner!
There was a bit of negotiation, hurdles, and paperwork to get here, and I'm still getting things set up with the accounting firm and vendors. But I've quit my job as an engineer and am selling shoes! LOL! It's sounds crazy but I'm really enjoying the change. Working way more hours but time's flying by as it's more engaging.
2 days after quitting had a family emergency that overshadowed everything. We're dealing with it and things are starting to calm down, but it's been rough.
Here's my plan:
1) Work the store (management and sales) in order to learn the business and get a good handle on cash flow.
2) Promote long-term employee to manager (done).
3) Hire and train 2nd employee so that between the two of them they can handle day-to-day operations, giving me time to focus on growth/other opportunities. I'm still getting a feel for cash flow and we're entering the slow time of year, so I'm targeting hiring in the spring. This is my main plan for improving the business CENTS. I don't know how much I can scale profits, but I believe I can significantly reduce my TIME component.
Couple areas where I could use some advice:
1) POS/inventory/customer tracking system. Currently using an old-school cash register and manually taking inventory to see what to order. It works but it'd be nice to track customer history. An affordable, flexible system could be great. Anyone piece together their own system?
2) Advertising! The only advertising the store has done in years is emailing out coupons to customers who leave their address, and keeping a facebook page. The store is well known locally and many doctors and chiropractors send their patients there. The customer base is older so I'm not looking to make tiktoks!
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