Conquer Overwhelm

It’s Halloween tonight. 

It’s also the night before the official start to the holiday season for carts and kiosks in the malls.

Tonight, long after the kiddies have collected their candy and have gotten cozy in their beds… many of us will be hard at work, setting up our carts and kiosks for ‘opening day’ tomorrow.

It can be an exciting time, especially if you are getting ready to open your business for the first time. And at times seem a little overwhelming.

I recall one night shortly before I opening my first cart… coming home after a long day putting up help-wanted flyers and all of a sudden feeling very overwhelmed. 

All of a sudden it felt like there was too MUCH to do, and not nearly enough time to do it in.

All of a sudden it felt like there was no way I would be able to get everything done in time.

***
Rather than wallow in that feeling, I picked up the phone and called my little brother. As I started to explain what was going on, he interrupted me and would have none of it…

‘Do other people succeed with these things?’ he asked me.

‘Yes’, I answered.

‘Is there anything THEY can do, that YOU can’t?’

‘No’, I answered again.

‘Well then get over yourself, get out your list, and get going on what’s next.Put your focus on what you can do NOW.’***
It was just the slap on the fact that I needed.

After our call, I got out my to do list, focused on what was next, and just started knocking things off. I got my cart open on time, and went on to have great results.

***
Former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill once said,

‘It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.’

***
What’s the next link in YOUR chain of destiny to be handled?

***
If at some point this holiday season you find yourself feeling overwhelmed… take a step back, and simply focus on what you can do next!

Brady Flower
The Kiosk Expert

Scoop ‘em Up Early

I just got back from being out of town for a week.

Before I left, I was talking to a woman about how many salespeople she would need for the holidays at her cart.

***
She expressed a big concern:

‘Once you get close to Christmas, all the good ones are already scooped up.’

***
By the ‘good ones’, she was referring to the good salespeople.

It really is the truth.  If you wait until a couple of weeks before Christmas to add the staff you need… it’s usually too late. The good ones ARE often scooped up. 

In addition, it’s hard to train someone at the last minute… and really get peak performance from them.

***
When I opened my first cart, I knew finding a staff was going to be a challenge because unemployment in the Twin Cities was at an all time low… less than 2%.

So I busted my butt before I opened… finding salespeople.

Prior to opening, I think I put up 1500 help wanted flyers… at every church, college, high school, library… etc…near my mall. I placed help wanted ads in several local weekly or monthly newspapers, and in every college newspaper near the mall.

And I let everyone I knew know what I was doing… and if they showed any flutter of
interest… I suggested they come work with me. Whew!  It sounds like a lot of work just thinking about it.

***
But through those efforts, I was able to cobble together a staff to open with.

Because I had so much outflow, I continued to get responses, and was able to put together a pretty solid staff.

***
There were two other first-time operators in the Twin Cities selling the same product line as me. They didn’t put as much effort into finding a staff before they opened.

One of them, Jason, opened with no help… worked virtually by himself at first… before he realized how screwed he would be without a staff. Finally, he made up help-wanted signs similar to the campaign signs we see this time of year… and placed them in strategic areas in his community.

He  was able to hire a decent size staff using those ‘campaign signs’. But because his staff came aboard ‘later’, they were a little ‘rough’ and didn’t perform as well.

The other operator, Ed, never did seem to get a staff in place… it was just himself and a few family members.

***
Now, we were open the SAME season, with the SAME product, in malls that were virtually the SAME in stature and traffic.

But our results were vastly different.

Myself…. $114K

Jason……. $60K

Ed………….$26K

My sales totals were higher because I started hiring early enough so when I really needed the staff… they were trained and ready to go.

***
The message:

Scoop ‘em up early! 

Get your staff hired and trained NOW… so that they’re ready WHEN you need them.

You’ll be poised then to fully maximize your holiday profits!

Brady Flower
The Kiosk Expert