By Nicole Leinbach Hoffman
This past year has not been my strongest fiscally or operationally. Do you have any insight to help make the year ahead more profitable and more efficient in terms of operations?
First, take the time to applaud yourself for recognizing where you have opportunities for improvement. Recognizing weaknesses in your business can help you strengthen them, and a new year is always a wonderful time to hit refresh.
As you look ahead to 2025, consider the action items below to help you more positively move ahead in both operations and profit.
Reflect on Historic Inventory Sales
A strong analysis of inventory sell through, peak selling days, category balance of inventory, and other data points that can bring clarity to sales — or the lack of them — is necessary to improve. This will help you be proactive in making more profitable decisions in the year ahead.
Once the data is reviewed and analyzed in depth, consider how you should adjust your buying patterns to reflect sell-through patterns. From specific items to avoid — to categories that can be enhanced and peak selling days that can be better supported through marketing initiatives — take a hardcore look at every angle of your inventory sales in 2024 and even 2023. Comparing the two years can help you see what has changed in your selling patterns.
Review Staff Management and Performance
Small-business owners in particular need to truly dig deep into both their heart and data to identify that no two staff are the same. The difference in performance of one associate versus another can truly impact sales, as well as store maintenance and overall TLC.
Take the time to cross analyze how sales vary based on who is working and then consider how you can strengthen this in a variety of ways. Staff scheduling, enhanced team training, and regular employee reviews can all impact both the performance of your employees and the collective sales generated in your store.
Identify New Marketing Goals To Help Boost Store Experiences
Retail competition is tough. Keeping this in mind, as you reflect on inventory, review staff performance, and identify how to improve your efforts as a store operator, also consider how you can gain more consistent customer engagement. This involves being where your customers are, and that means being visible beyond your physical store walls.
Leverage email marketing, social media, local community opportunities, and referral marketing as ways to engage consumers. Consider loyalty programs, non-competitive but like-minded business partnerships, peer-to-peer review sites like Yelp, and special events beyond what is currently on your calendar.
This often means stepping outside your comfort zone, but it is critical to recognize the path to purchase for customers is not straight and therefore, your path to welcoming consumers cannot be a single front door either. A truthful analysis of these experiences can help you refresh them in the year ahead.
Finally, choose to review these points throughout the year. Do not let another year pass where your performance of both sales and operations does not meet your expectations.
Instead, choose to make changes to find success where you both want to and need to. The result? More sales — and a happier you, which is always something to appreciate!
Nicole Leinbach Hoffman is the founder of RetailMinded.com, a well-respected retail industry resource that has been recognized worldwide for its leading business insight since 2007. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, the UK’s Telegraph, CNN, the Today show, and countless other industry resources. Additionally, she has supported American Express’s Small Business Saturday as a spokesperson and is the author of the book Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business, published by McGraw-Hill. With a core concentration on small businesses and independent retailers, she welcomes you to connect via Instagram at @RetailMindedWorld and Twitter via @RetailMinded.
