March Blog Post

The month of March was very productive in my mentorship hours, due to the fact that I have learned more about the business side in retail. Amy began teaching me more about order sales. What an order sale is, is basically the reciept for what you have ordered and from what designer. Each order sale has what you purchased and how much you bought it for. At the end of each list, you sum up everything you have bought from that designer to find out the total. Then, you file them away to have handy. For instance, if the store is running low on clothes you can check what's comjng in for the next month, call the company and ask them to send your clothes sooner if they have them ready.
At first I was a little intimidated since these are her finances, and I didn't want to miscalculate anything. Once I got the hang out it, it became relatively easy and helpful for me to see how she spends her money throughout the store.
I am now preping for my interview 4, which I am excited to do. At first, I wasn't looking forward to this last interview since the person I was going to interview wasn't exactly who I would want to ask questions to. Amy was kind enough to offer her help; she told me she would be more than happy to contact one of the other business owners in the village so I could interview them. Now I have to come in contact with whoever it is she will be willing to set me up with, and clean up on my questions. I feel this final interview will be extremely helpful, since getting a different opinion on business besides my mentor is always a good thing. Business had so many aspects to it and every owner runs their business differently. The more perspective I have on how to run a business, the more experience and knowledge I will have towards it.

20 Questions

1. What would you say are the main differences between owning the business and managing it? 

2. What is the toughest part about managing a business? 

3. Who helps you maintain the business the most? 

4. Where do you find vendors? 

5. What are you guidelines when hiring new employees? 

6. What is the most important thing your business needs to provide in order to keep customers happy? 

7. What do you do to keep your team cohesive and motivated to sell? 

8. How did you chose your target audience? 

9. What are some classes that would be crucial or helpful to take in order to get a better understanding of managing? 

10. What has shaped you to become a better manager?

11. How do you provide quality customer service? 

12. Does your store have a website or do you run a blog to renovate more business or interest amongst customers? 

13. Why did you pick this location for your business? What about this location made it stand out for you? 

14. Most important thing to know about finances in a business? 

15. About after how long did it take for you to get accustomed in managing the store and what comes along with it? 

16. What do you feel you can improve on as a manager? 

17. Do you have a strategy going into each month about how to reach the store's goals? 

18. What do you do to solve any disagreements your employees may have with each other? 

19. What do you think is the most effective way to manage a business? 

20. Important qualities a manager must have? 

Answer 3

1. EQ
What is the best way to maximize profits in a small retail business?

2. Answer 3
Great customer service keeps the business's consistent customers, while bringing forth new ones by generating positive word-of-mouth

3. Three details to support your answer 3

• Decreases barriers to buying (ex. more likely to entice a hesitant buyer)

• Increase how often a customer buys from you

• Better/more customer loyalty 

4. Resources

• "What Is Customer Service?" Customer Service: Why It Is Important. ABN, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2015.

• Goltz, Jay. "How a Small Business Becomes a Big Business." Youre the Boss How a Small Business Becomes a Big Business Comments. NY Times, 22 Dec. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

• Burke, Gerad. "How to Take Your Small Business into the Big Time."Marketing Donut. Atom Content Marketing, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

5. Wrap up
Besides my first answer, I can say this is my strongest answer. I'm excited to research more for this especially since my mentor believes a strong customer relationship is what makes your business. Customer service is definitely one of the top 3 key factors when determining how well your business is going to do; will your customer service bring in more people, or disinterest new and old customers from coming back?