December 3: Sundays and Holidays at the Mall & Cash Register Errors!

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Sundays and Holidays at the Mall

If you live in Utah, and if you do business in Utah, then you know about the “shopping vs. Sunday” challenge.

(For those outside of Utah, the major religious demographic is Mormon, and there is an emphasis on honoring the Sabbath day, through attending church services and not shopping or eating out on Sundays, etc.)

My personal preference would be to not do business on Sunday. Unfortunately, our lease agreement with the mall stipulates that we are obligated to have the kiosk open the entire time the mall is open, including Sundays, 16 hour days and Christmas Eve day until 6 p.m. and New Year’s Eve.

In other words, if we wanted to have the kiosk, then we would be mandated to be here. It’s not something that I thought about in much detail before starting, and it is a challenge for me because on a moral level, I feel a discrepancy between what I believe and what is the reality of my business situation.

That said, it’s a temporary situation, and we’re sticking it out for the month. But the good thing that I can learn from that as a business owner, that if I plan to do business, whether outside or inside of Utah, that there is a discrepancy between my preferences and what is standard practice in the business world. And that for my personal optimal “feeling great” about my work, I’d rather not be open on Sundays. Or holidays. Or for 16 hours a day.

And so, we were at the kiosk today. And it turned out just fine.

Cash Register Errors

The bad thing is, none of us have experience working with customers at a cash register. Eeek! Luckily, our register is pretty straightforward. But, it’s not a forgiving machine. If you enter something in wrong, you have to basically complete the transaction, and then refund the transaction before proceeding. That is, if you remember to do it. And, you can definitely see how that gives a lot of window for errors to happen.

At one point, I had personally made two especially egregious mistakes. Basically, I rang up orders for another kiosk, because the girl had taken a break and I guess I was trying to be nice and not have her miss some sales. I’ll just say right now– that was a baaaaaad choice, because it made our register confusing for the duration of the day, as well as resulted in a loss for them. (Oddly).

So, what I learned from that is: 1. “business” and “being nice” don’t belong together, and 2. if I’m not careful with financial details, I will consistently lose money either for myself or my vendors, which is not my goal! And so, we are further refining those processes.

And, we think that business schools should have practical skills classes that include “how to use a cash register”, “doing inventory”, “figuring out sales tax”, and more. Or, maybe that’s the purpose of “work experience” and “internships.” Though, as the owner, I am infinitely more careful than even a good employee would be– ultimately, it’s my loss. You better believe I’m going to be thorough!

Special Visitors!

We had a visit from Ken Fakler, one of my mentors, from the Orem Small Business Development Center. He is such a great guy! I’ve worked with him on projects for the last several months, and he is truly passionate about helping entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed.

He was also instrumental when I was forming the plan for this experiment, to give me leads on additional vendors, and was extremely encouraging. A free high five for Ken!

I also had a visit from my friend Mel. She brought me a lunch and a note, and it was so encouraging! What a sweetheart.

Last, one of our other vendors, Channing, stopped by. It has been really great to work with Channing– she is another young entrepreneur, and only recently opened her bundt cake shop earlier this spring. I love the branding she’s done with her product, marketing materials, and store! She is really smart and constantly full of ideas to push her business forward.

Negotiation Is Not All About Me

It has been rewarding to learn (through practicing!) how to discuss agreements with each vendor, and make sure that it is a win-win situation. I am really firmly believing in the need to present many options, which are as favorable as possible for each vendor.

There are times during a negotiation process when you realize that if you set the stage correctly, you really can win a hugely favorable situation for yourself– but which may either be unfair or a win-lose situation for the other person. So far, I have felt really good about the agreements that we’ve worked out.

There Are More Risks Than Financial

In some cases, I have agreed to certain risks that did not required an initial personal financial contribution, but which become risky if my business does not perform adequately well. It is that risk which pushes me to think of new ideas, figure out what is/is not working, and to put forward more effort as a whole.

With some agreements, I am put at a further risk because of the terms where I want others to be compensated for their  investment. So in other words, I have to really work hard if I want to make an actual profit from this situation. If I slack at all, or if I’m not careful with details (especially with sales tax, inventory counts, and daily sales totals), I could end up in serious trouble. That motivates me to 1. keep meticulous records and 2. Sell my guts out!!! ‘

The biggest risk to me, overall, is by far and large that I want each person who is participating in the experience– whether as a vendor, employee, or sponsor– to have a really great experience. That motivates me to work hard to set terms that are mutually beneficial, and to be extremely careful with the records and processes.

When I magnify my risk to what a high-end entrepreneur could face, I can’t imagine the burden of responsibility, stress, and financial loss! It’s been interesting to experience that feeling– the occasionally breath-sucking fear of, “what if this doesn’t work?!?!” Try it sometime– it’s fun.

Sum-up

Things are going great. Tomorrow is “Inventory Day”, where I will be picking up items from 3-5 additional vendors. I realized today that if our financial plan/financial need is “X”, then we need to have Y” sales per day/week, and “Z” amount of inventory. (As well as a high-level of marketing and advertising happening constantly.)

Then, I looked at “my” inventory, or in other words, the items that I personally sell and make commission from– and realized that it was not the quantity it needs to be in order to make it a profitable venture. So, needless to say, we are stocking up for sure!

Well, thanks for reading! If you’re in South Provo anytime… stop by and say hi!

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