People

one of the biggest challengers in running a small (ish) business is having not only the right quality of individual but the right number of people. Striking the balance between not overspending your labour budget but at the same time having people in reserve is a difficult one. One answer is to have a pipeline of quality people within your business, however this is both easier said than done and a more long term aim. We have set ourselves the challenge to have at least 2 of our current team leaders as store managers by the end of the year which doesn’t sound like much but will be a big step forward for our organisation. The reason I say this is because I want internal store managers to be ready to hit the ground running as opposed to struggling to find their feet, it’s easy to throw someone in at the deep end and then take a step back whilst you try to make out if they are waving or drowning! I am strong believer that in order to create a robust pipeline of strong internal candidates you need to have strong, expereinced people as their line manager which is why I have been busy bringing in a higher caliber of manager. This hasn’t just helped our team leaders to develop but also helped dramatically turn around poor performing stores.

If I have to leave you with one message it’s a simple one, cut costs wherever you like but spend as much as possible on bringing in quality people.