Do you have slow months?.....I mean sales.
What do you do to cope? Please comment to share ideas. Thanks.
Lak Cheong
www.freeformeyewear.com
Do you have slow months?.....I mean sales.
What do you do to cope? Please comment to share ideas. Thanks.
Lak Cheong
www.freeformeyewear.com
I drink lots.
Hustle, clean up, catch up, advertize. Fish if weather permitts. Worry about whether or not everyone has finally found out about me an I just haven't heard about it. Especially in prosthetic eyes, it will get so slow that I may just do a couple a month, then get so busy that I don't have an open appointment for a couple of months.
Chip
I also tell myself that I have been at this since about 1958 and haven't actually missed a meal yet.
Once it go so bad, I actually had to start being nice to people.
Last edited by chip anderson; 07-25-2007 at 08:55 PM. Reason: Nice
in our old location summers and Xmas was quiet. The new locations is unpredictable. August could be your worst month in 2007 and your best in 2008
advertise, Summer time can be slow, make sure you are offering sunwear!!
I go to the carribean.
In October our town has a festival. They close our street, black out any sun entering our 11 foot tall picture windows with carnival rides and game booths. No parking, no street access, people saving their money for the games, rides and food. October is the worst by far. December is next, followed by June/
Funny though, October is never a problem income wise, It's NOVEMBER (e.g. net 30) when the money gets tight!
Right now through August is our busiest time since all the kids are home from college and teachers are off. December and January are also busy due to using benefits before year end and then start up benefits in the new year. During our slow times when the boss walks around pulling out what little hair he has left and moaning about no money, I remind him that at the end of every year we are ahead of last year and we always bounce back. Such is retail. So slow times are for catching up, cleaning out, sending a bulk mailing of postcards with a 20.00 coupon on it to the surrounding areas. These have worked really well. And yes, time for vacations. Florida Keys for me.
October is the Texas State Fair. It's also our slowest time by far. Maybe it's coincidence, but it happens every year. Used to be busy in the Summer, but it seems that the months are fairly even these days. (However, this is the slowest day I've had in years.)
How to cope?
I stare out the window a lot, followed by surfing (internet), followed by bugging folks on Optibored. (Pun intentional)
I'm going home early, too!
Last edited by hipoptical; 07-26-2007 at 02:35 PM. Reason: forgot something
We and every other merchant/hotel/whatever business in the area have noticed that our business dies during the state fair. Only increase is out of towners coming in for free adjustments.
I thought the idea of state fairs was to bring money and customers into the area. Sees to have the opposite effect and the only ones picking up any money are the out of state carney and ride owners.
Why do we have the things?
Chip
Everyplace I've ever been, it seems like September is slow. i haven't really discerned much of a pattern here yet though.
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Eliza Joy Martius VIII MMVIII
Hey chip, you could setup a "Dunk the Optician" booth outside your front door. Fill a horse tough with used ultra-sonic cleaner and have customers throw 2 base semi-finish blanks at an eyeglass target. You might also talk to Fezz about borrowing his BeerSlide. Heck, even I would travel to Ridgeland to see that!
:bbg::bbg::bbg:
:cheers::cheers::cheers:
Get busy.... go through old recall, do it the old fashioned way by hand writing the addresses. It is a personal touch that is no longer used. You can get some crazy recall postcards, have fun with it... see if you get any feedback. The worst thing is to do nothing. Clean, take advantage of the down time and take a vacation. :)
When I was a young optician/contact lens maker in Houston, it seemed that almost all the opticians drank in the off season. Most of them drank anytime when off work. Some drank during work. Take up drinking, the time passes faster.
Actually I remember when a large group (300+) opticians chartered a fishing boat together. Boat left 2 hrs late because the optician holding the money for the boat got drunk and went to Mass before we left out. When the boat docked only four of us, myself, my two employers, and an ophthalmologist we took with us, were sober when we left the boat.
Chip
There used to a practice I worked that every November things would die off. Invariably it always bounced better than before. Every year at the same time the Drs. would start freaking out. Came to be known as suicide season around the office.
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