4 Time Management Tips for Small Retail Store Managers

Effective time management is a skill that is necessary for everyone, not only the managers and accountants. The nature of the retail business pushes and pulls managers and independent owners in a number of ways. This overwhelms them due to the multiple demands they have to take care of that make squeezing an hour’s worth of work in 10 minutes a daily chore.

The difference between a successful retail store manager and their frantic counterparts is effective time management. Below are some great time management tips that will help you become successful in your job:

1. Listing Down Tasks

You should begin every week or day by listing all the tasks that you want to complete within that time frame. After writing them down, ensure that you prioritize the very important tasks. This will help you finish all the most imperative and urgent matters on time.

2. Working on Daily Goals

The only reason you can be open for business tomorrow is by selling your merchandise today. This will become possible if you set a daily sales target and work towards reaching those targets. You should inform all your staff about the set sales goals to get them to focus harder on moving your merchandise.

3. Training and Planning

To bring all your staff up to speed, you should conduct weekly training to make sure all of them understand all your store procedures perfectly. This will eradicate all the questions that are synonymous with an untrained working staff. For example, if you use display strips to merchandise products, make sure the staff knows to order clip strip accessories to hang them. You should also start a rule that checking or using social media platforms should only be done during breaks to ensure that all the time is dedicated to work.

4. Reviewing It

You should make time to review your store’s progress and praise all your staff for it. If you appreciate your employees, they will feel valued, and this will entice them to take on more responsibilities, accept new training and thereby lessening your burden. Even if they are on commission, it's still important to appreciate all their efforts. They will definitely improve more to the store’s benefit.

In Summary

When you manage your time perfectly, success will follow your store.

As a retail manager you should always:

• Keep your eyes on the prize.
• Make reasonable plans and set realistic goals.
• Be ready to accommodate changes that could be uncomfortable.

If you do all the above things and follow the tips, you will experience less-harried working days and a more motivated and empowered workforce to make the effort worth it.