Mar. 4-9
BUYING Start your prep for Vision Expo East (Mar 22-24) by plotting out your class schedule. Leave large blocks of time between classes for meetings with reps, beginning with those of lines you don’t currently carry.
FINANCE April 15, a.k.a. Tax Day, will be here before we know it. This one promises to be a particularly busy one as businesses make adjustments to reflect last year’s new rules and deductions, let alone the chaos caused by the shutdown.
Mar. 11-16
OPERATIONS Even a simple reconfiguration of space can reduce the time employees spend handing off files and make their work easier and more productive. And often the best place to start the search for greater efficiency is with the staff themselves; they know where time and resources are being wasted. Be sure to ask them for their input at the next weekly meeting.
TECHNOLOGY Brands have probably never been more powerful and even if you don’t carry them, or begrudge that power, you need to ensure your SEO terms cater to anyone in your market needing “adjustments,” “repairs,” “emergency services” or upgrades for their “Ray-Ban,” “Oakley,” or “Maui Jim” frames.
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Mar. 18-23
MERCHANDISING Do you know your store’s merchandising hot spots – the places where frames sell best? Are the frames with the best margins in those positions? The impact of getting the alignment right can be dramatic, says Mick Kling, OD, winner of our 2017 America’s Finest Optical Retailer. If you’re not sure, get busy!
INTERIOR DESIGN Some recent studies found workers who glimpse a tree or two are happier and more productive; in one analysis of a university building in Oregon, workers on the greenery-facing side took 19 percent fewer sick days. It has to do with how we evolved to function best in nature-rich settings. If you can’t knock a wall out to provide a view, buy a few potted plants to place around your sales floor.
Mar. 25-30
MARKETING Make contact with other small businesses to see if they are interested in some reciprocal social media action via Instagram Highlights like Florists That Inspire Us and Drool-Worthy Bakers.
STAFF Losing a key staff member can cause chaos if nobody has been trained to take over their tasks. Assign back-ups and roll out a schedule for learning all those mundane but crucial jobs like ordering supplies, invoicing, calibrating the tracer … and so on.
