This post was originally published on this site
The buck stops here
http://www.azfranchising.com/the-buck-stops-here/
Photos courtesy Buck or Two Plus!
By Corey Schaefer
When I was a kid, I wanted to be in business. Back then, I didn’t know it would be a business of my own.
I inherited my entrepreneurial spirit from my dad, who was always starting new endeavours in different industries. Growing up in Kitchener, Ont., I remember my family was always very close; we played plenty of sports and spent a lot of time together. Opening my Buck or Two Plus! franchise in nearby London, Ont., has allowed me to provide that same style of upbringing to my three sons.
It started with a paper route
I got my first job at 10 years old, delivering the Toronto Star. In high school, I started working as a busboy for Mother’s Pizza. I worked my way up to become a server and then bartender there before
I left Kitchener for university. When I went to the University of Guelph to study marketing,
I transferred to the chain’s local restaurant, which helped me pay for school. I stayed with the company for five years.
While I was in university, I completed a couple of summer co-op terms. I worked at pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in the Kitchener area, where I was responsible for merchandising several of their key products. Another summer, I had a placement working at Ultramar. I was in the Kitchener and London areas promoting their custom credit cards.
In 1991, I saw a newspaper ad for a sales representative position at Rust Craft, a greeting card company owned by American Greetings. Back then, there was a recession going on. I was one of hundreds of applicants for this one position, but
I was successful in getting the job. The role was in the company’s wholesale department in Toronto and involved calling on key accounts to sell our cards at food and drug stores.
After 18 months in Rust Craft’s wholesale division, I moved to the retail side of the business for Carlton Cards, which distributed American Greetings’ cards. In this position, I was responsible for 17 retail stores in the London area. My career at Carlton Cards lasted for more than 20 years. Over that time, I went from district manager to regional manager. Toward the end of my tenure with the company, the retail division got spun off to Papyrus.
It’s great to have a creative element, such as balloons in my store.
I was asked to be a brand manager for Papyrus, responsible for maintaining a consistent image at stores in Ontario and Quebec. It was an interesting experience to go from a $2-billion company with American Greetings to Papyrus, a much smaller company focusing solely on retail.
As is the case in the corporate world, there was some restructuring at Papyrus. Given the small footprint of the company’s retail stores, it was determined the role of brand manager was no longer required.
Although I found myself without a job for the first time in decades, the success of my career up to that point and my wife’s steady job as a Grade 2 teacher allowed me some time to think about the next step to take.
Finding Buck or Two Plus!
I looked into getting back on the traditional career path, thinking I might join another large corporation. Opportunity presented itself once again in a newspaper ad. I saw Buck or Two Plus! had an opening for somebody to take over a new franchise in London. There were a lot of elements at play helping me decide this was right for me.
You May Also Like Aussie Pet Mobile’s Glenn Rubuliak is groomed for growth
When I was a brand manager at Papyrus, I was responsible for anywhere from 20 to 30 stores, so I got to know a lot of shopping malls—especially in southwestern Ontario, Toronto and Montreal. I always said Cherryhill Village Mall was one of the best malls I had ever been to. I helped open the Carlton Cards store in this mall. I promoted the store to the director of leasing and helped her pitch it to American Greetings, so I was quite familiar with the area. This is where the Buck or Two Plus! franchise was going to open.
To me, retail seemed to offer many of the elements I was looking for in a career: dealing with people, making sales and providing great customer service. I had learned a lot about merchandising, loss prevention and other necessary skills during my time at American Greetings and this ended up being the training I needed to become a retail franchisee.
Although daunting at first, I’m glad to have the freedom to stock my shelves with the products my customers are looking for and ones they are surprised to find.
I didn’t know a lot about Buck or Two Plus! when I came across their ad, but as far as I knew, they had a great brand name and reputation. I knew from shopping at their location in north London, especially with a young family, they had a really good understanding of product offerings for their customers. I think branding is very important, so if people can associate having a good experience at another Buck or Two Plus! location, there’s a good chance they’ll come and check out your location.
I talked to previous and current franchisees to find out what was going well in their stores and what they liked about the company. Those conversations helped me become ready to take the next steps toward becoming a franchisee.
I opened my store toward the end of the summer of 2013. This was an ideal time to open because October through December is our busiest season. The location we were going into had already been a dollar store, so all of the fixtures were ready for us, but we had to reorganize the store, give it a good cleaning and update its overall appearance. We maximized the use of our front windows to maintain a clean and open feeling for customers.
I was worried walking into an empty 5,000-square-foot store. I was used to much smaller retail locations with Carlton Cards and Papyrus. This store seemed way too big. As I started my research,
I learned this was actually an ideal size for this type of store. I wasn’t worried about selling product or the day-to-day operations, I knew I could handle that, but filling a store that size was daunting for me.
With my limited product knowledge I had to trust the franchisor a lot while getting started. Buck or Two Plus! knew the dollar store business and helped in teaching me what vendors to use. This was an invaluable partnership. I’ve had a lot of long conversations with Michelle Bertolin, who is in charge of the Buck or Two Plus! merchandising department. She has helped me learn what to stock and learn what to stock for my customer demographic.
Cherry-picked Cherryhill
As I said, Cherryhill Village Mall is a great community mall. It has a good mixture of customers and a lot of repeat business. The mall has a passport office in it, which draws in a lot of foot traffic that might not otherwise be coming to this location.
You May Also Like Sangster’s becomes a family business for franchisees
When a local party store went out of business, we improved our party and balloon section to fill the need in the community.
This shopping centre has always had a dollar store in it, which helped us when we were getting started. Our customers already knew they could come here for this type of business, only now it would be under new owners.
The neighbourhood around us is older. I would say about 70 per cent of our customers are seniors, 20 per cent are students and 10 per cent are young families. We offer the products they need in a location that is convenient and close to where they live. A couple of my employees have worked in this mall for 20 years, so knowing our customers by name isn’t uncommon.
Beyond Cherryhill, we work hard at being part of London’s community fabric. One of the best things about owning a Buck or Two Plus! store is that it has allowed me to help community organizations with donations and reduced rates on bulk product orders. If I were in a corporate-run store, I don’t know if I would have the freedom I do now. People come to me looking for items for school fundraisers or other causes and I’m able to help them find a good deal. One of our customers puts together baskets for veterans and we help her source the products for these gifts each year.
We also work with organizations that help match job candidates who are having trouble finding work with potential employers. I’m happy to step in to be a part of these individuals’ careers. I’m glad to provide training to help them while they are in my store and give references for when they move on.
The A-team
When I was opening my store, I asked the manager and assistant manager of the Carlton Cards store
I had helped open in the Cherryhill Village Mall to come work for me. They both agreed, which is a huge asset, as I now had previously established trust with some of the key members of my team. Trust is a huge element as a franchisee, because it’s your business and your livelihood on the line.
We have 12 people on staff. It’s a good mix of individuals; in my experience, you don’t want 12 employees who are exactly the same. We have university students, high school students, full-time and part-time workers.
All of my employees have different areas they excel in. Some are better at operations (putting product on the shelves and receiving deliveries), some are better at handling the front cash and others focus on balloons, bouquets and party supplies. Everyone has a role and is hired for the skill set they bring to the table.
I’m lucky to have a good balance of employees in my store, with all different skill sets. They help me to achieve success every day.
In addition to their individual skills, all of my staff are trained using a five-step process: show them, tell them, do it with them, let them do it and provide feedback. We also have a sales goal every day and we are all working together to reach it. I pride myself on the team atmosphere I have been able to create in my store, even though everyone has defined roles.
You May Also Like Jean Coutu franchisees suing franchisor over royalty overpayments
What’s on the shelves?
Over time, I have learned what types of products will sell best in my store. There are about a dozen different categories we focus on, from housewares to hardware to parties and balloons. Based on my previous experience, I knew our greeting card and party section would be a big focus in our store.
I try to source Canadian products as much as I can. Especially with our older customer base, it’s something that is really important to them. A lot of the Canadian items I’ve been able to bring in seem to be of better quality than those made in other countries. I want to be providing my customers with the best-quality products at this price point.
With this store model, I have some flexibility in terms of pricing products, which has allowed me to introduce a ‘good, better, best’ approach to stocking my shelves. Take the toy category, for example. You can get a good toy at a low price point, but it probably won’t last long or stand up to heavy use. My sons have shown me this firsthand. You can get a better product that is of a higher quality and that will last longer, but it will come at a slightly higher price point. The ‘best’ element is going to cost the customer more than a buck or two, but the quality will stand behind this price. I have recently introduced Ty plush toys, for example, and they fall into the ‘best’ category.
My family, including my three sons, are very supportive of my franchise and work seamlessly with my employees.
A party store in London closed down recently, so we really upped our game in that department. We focused on our balloons and increased marketing efforts using social media. We were able to attract a lot of customers who were still looking for these products, and at the same time, fill the void in the market and grow our customer base.
Regardless of the category or the quality level, for me the most important part of this business is having the products our customers are looking for—and then some. I want to know what they are in the store hoping to find, but I also want to show them some items they weren’t expecting.
Originally, I thought I would never be able to fill the store. I didn’t think it was possible. At this point, we’ve almost outgrown the space and have to decide if it’s time to expand into a second location.
Family time
My sons, aged 11, 13 and 16, are all involved in the business. They started right at the bottom, with no special treatment, mopping the floors, taking out the garbage, that kind of thing. It’s interesting to see them working in the store because their different personalities make them good at different tasks. One is better at stocking shelves, another is better with the customers. They all have their specialties, just like my staff.
One of the nicest parts about having this store is being able to work with my kids and spend time with them at home. At my previous employment, I was travelling a lot to make sure all of the stores in my region were up to standards. It was a lot of time away from home. Now, I’m just a short drive away from work. I get to be home for dinner every night and, hopefully, I’m passing on the familial entrepreneurial spirit that got me to where I am today.
Corey Schaefer is a Buck or
Two Plus! franchisee in London, Ont. For more information
visit www.buckortwo.com.
BUCK OR TWO PLUS!
Established: 1987
Date of first franchise: 1990
Franchise/corporate units: 46
Investment range: $200,000- $450,000
Initial franchise fee: $25,000
Website: www.buckortwo.com
E-mail: fburt@extremeretail.ca
Interested in this franchise? Click here.
The post The buck stops here appeared first on AZ Franchising | Franchising dalla A alla Z.