Finding skilled workers is a constant battle for all store owners. To ensure a flow of qualified bench jewelers into the future, Green Lake Jewelry Works in Bellevue, WA, has ramped up its in-house training, freeing up the more experienced jewelers to both teach their less-experienced peers different approaches and to acquire new techniques themselves. “For jewelers to realize the full potential of their craft, we can quickly fill roles that require a high level of expertise by recruiting from within,” says owner Jim Tuttle.
CUSTOMJust add 20%
A tip gained from decades in the industry: When giving estimates for custom jobs, add 20 percent so that it will allow you “to do a really great job,” says Ragnar Bertelsen, owner of Ragnar Jewellers in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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MARKETINGAnd Live From the Floor of …
Thanks to social media, everyone can be a correspondent. It’s a role the staff at Cool Dog Gear, a three-store pet supply chain in Pennsylvania, have gleefully accepted, beaming back Facebook Live posts from every trade show they attend. “We find a cool item and we do a little infomercial right then and there with the manufacturing rep telling us all about the item — ‘And coming soon to Cool Dog Gear!’” co-owner Sue Hener told INSTORE’s sister publication, Pets+. “By the time we get back from the show, there are already customers waiting to buy it!”
ONLINEPop-Up Offers
Visit the website of Princeton, NJ-jeweler H1912 for the first time, and you’re greeted with a pop-up offering “$100 off on your first purchase.” That’s smart marketing, says Laura Davis-Taylor, co-founder of retail consultancy HighStreet Collective, who acted as a judge in the 2018 America’s Coolest Store contest. “They also categorize their shopping options based on today’s expectations, including things like ‘options under $500.’”
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SUCCESSAlways Raise Your Average
It’s still early in the year — still time to digest this wise post from Seth Godin: “Everything you do is either going to raise your average or lower it. The next hire. The quality of the chickpeas you serve. The service experience on register 4. Each interaction is a choice. A choice to raise your average or lower it. Progress is almost always a series of choices, an inexorable move toward mediocrity, or its opposite.” Ask yourself in 2020: Which direction do I want my business moving in? And then spend each day, and each decision, acting accordingly.
LIFE-WORK BALANCEWhat Gets Measured
“It’s great to know how to recharge your batteries, but it’s even more important that you actually do it,” venture capitalist Vinod Khosla told Fast Company. “I track how many times I get home in time to have dinner with my family. Your company measures its priorities. People also need to place metrics around their priorities.”
