What to do First when Running a Dollar Store

Opening any business is fraught with a million tasks and the dollar store is no different. In order to run your dollar store successfully, you have to prioritize your tasks. Of course, the first task is to find the location and building, but once you've investigated the neighborhood to estimate what your customers might use, it's time for the nuts and bolts of operating a dollar store, from the merchandise to carry to the store hours to keep.

Your first task will be the organization of the store. The cash register should be in the front, right before the exit. You should create a layout on paper before you ever begin to stock shelves. Consumables such as laundry detergent should be toward the back, since many of your regular customers will shop for those items. On the way, they'll also pass other fantastic bargains they didn't know they needed. You should also have organized displays stocked as high as possible with colorful endcaps and signs to draw the customer's attention.

Stocking those shelves is important and finding the right wholesalers is the key. Look at the merchandise of a variety of wholesalers and purchase a few of the select items from each. Ask them questions relating to which items sell best and the quality because they can be a huge source of information to help you find the merchandise you require.

Before you stock those shelves, it's time to consider employees to help you. You'll need to hire people you trust who will be as passionate about the store's success as you are. Creating a schedule for working hours can be quite a task in some cases. Sometimes one employee can only work during school hours or another employee may only be to work at night. While you're always the boss, it's a courtesy to your employees to allow them to have some input into their hours as long as there's advance notice. It will help you keep a happy crew and make operations far smoother.

Cash register set up and bookkeeping is another task you must tackle and may be the most important of all. Without adequate records of both merchandise and cash flow, you'll not only run amuck in business, you'll be unable to detect inaccuracies such as errors in making change. You'll also find that good solid accounting practices, on both daily transactions and overall profits and expenditures, can make tax time far easier. Select the accounting method before you ever make your first sale or purchase.

Creating a routine for all tasks from store opening to cleanup can make training and the daily operation of your store far simpler. Good organization and prioritization can help you to have a successful store without nearly as many headaches. The problems won't disappear completely, but there will be far fewer.