There are many out there who might be willing to tell you opening a dollar store is like having a key to an endless money vault. For a lucky few it might seem like that is exactly what happens. They open their store, boatloads of traffic arrive, and soon the profits follow. For the vast majority, the truth is after making an investment of time, sweat and money, there is more required. There is more work, lots of marketing and patience. Finally the fruits of all the labor begin to appear. In this article I present opening a dollar store means taking a long-term view on finances.When opening a dollar store it is important to have adequate finances to successfully open your store. By that I mean you must have all of the cash required to cover initial rent and utilities. More important is you need the capital required to cover leasehold improvements if you are responsible for them. But there’s even more. You also need to have the finances to cover store fixtures and displays, initial merchandise, advertising and marketing, merchandise replenishment orders and start-up payroll.Don’t expect this to be a get rich quick business. Those who make the right moves can find they earn a very solid income. For many sales and profits will exceed expectations. However opening a dollar store is like any other business venture. It takes time and patience to accomplish the desired results.Focus on cutting every cost possible. While you need to be sensible in this arena, know the high-leverage expenses like payroll, rent and cost-of-goods-sold and stay focused on them. Remember to negotiate lease payments before you sign. Look for ways to minimize labor expense such as eliminating non-value-added tasks and reducing the amount of labor required to perform vital jobs in your store. Never be satisfied with your cost-of-goods-sold numbers. When you reach one level, set a new lower target and develop plans to achieve that target.If you are opening a dollar store you must continually build sales levels. While many will assume all they need to do is throw open the doors to their store and jump out of the way as the stampede of eager buyers enters, that’s not the way it works for most. Sure you’ll have many value-oriented customers immediately, but you must develop and execute marketing plans to continually build your customer base. Never allow yourself to sit back and be satisfied. Do everything possible to bring more shoppers through your doors.To your success opening a dollar store!
Opening a Dollar Store Means Taking a Long-Term View on Finances
Eating Whole Foods With a Busy Lifestyle
Most people instinctively know that the standard American diet is unhealthy. They realize that fast food, processed food, and a few fruits and vegetables is not the correct diet to be eating. Unfortunately, they have bought into the myth that a healthy diet is expensive and time consuming to maintain.They continue eating the processed food because they are afraid that a whole food diet will be difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, that does not have to be the case. Here are some ways that you can integrate a vegetarian whole foods diet into a busy lifestyle.It is an inescapable fact that a vegetarian whole foods diet does require more work than processed food. It takes more time to cook vegetable soup from scratch than it does to heat up a can of soup. While obviously the nutritional benefits make this time well spent, many people have difficulty finding that time. One option is to plan ahead so that you can cook on days when you have time. Plan simple meals such as sandwiches or salads for busy days, then set aside some time to cook on days that you are less busy. This will allow you to maintain a varied diet and free you from feeling like you have to cook every single day.One way to drastically cut the amount of time that is required to prepare whole foods is to do all of the prep work at once. When you get home from the grocery store try to wash and bag all of the fruits and vegetables at once. You can even chop or dice some of the fruits and vegetables and store them that way. This reduces the amount of time that will be required when you do want to cook. After all, it is much easier to think about making a salad when the lettuce and tomatoes are already washed and chopped and the dressing is made. After that all you need to do is put it all together and add a few toppings. Doing this prep work ahead of time makes it easier to put together meals when you are ready to cook.Along the same lines, it is often less time consuming to cook ahead when you do it in batches. There are a wide variety of foods that lend themselves to being cooked ahead of time. One easy food to cook in bulk is beans. When you are starting with dry beans it is just as easy to cook one cup as to cook ten cups. If you cook large amounts of beans you can store them in containers or bags and freeze them in small amounts. That way when you need them all you need to do is pull out a container of beans that is already cooked. Rice can also be cooked this way. Cooking five cups of brown rice is not any more difficult than cooking one cup, but the other four cups can be saved for later use.One last solution for busy people is to cook so that they have leftovers. If you make a salad one day, take the rest of it to work for lunch the next day. If you make vegetable soup or a rice dish, make enough to have some to eat the next day. This will allow you to stretch your time in the kitchen so that you can get more than one meal out of each cooking session.
Check Out Available Government Grants For Essential Home Repairs
Did you know homeowners with low incomes who need repairs to their homes might be eligible Rural Home Repair grants and/loans from USDA Rural Development? Any rural areas and communities that have a population of 20,000 or less are eligible. Types of repairs that can be done range from improving the safety or sanitary conditions of a home to correcting any safety or health hazards as well. However, grants are used for the removal and repair of safety or health hazards only.The Purpose Of Loans And GrantsGrants are available only when the repairs or improvements will take away any safety or health hazards that have been previously identified. However, if the goal is modernizing or improving a home in addition to health/safety hazards being removed, then loan funds may be available. Also, the repairs made to a home with grant or loan funds do not have to meet the development standards of the agency, nor do all known hazards have to be removed as long there’s no further major safety/health concerns when the scheduled repairs have been done.The work covered by authorized grants and loans includes, but isn’t totally comprised of, the following:Sanitary Disposal Systems: repair or installation, including fixtures or plumbing, that are in line with the requirements of the area health department.
Needed InsulationIt is required, before filing the USDA Rural Development application, that the applicant is the owner and has been living in the home. A permanent foundation defined as either:A foundation that is a complete below grade, or
The home sits on piers, blocks, or a similar foundation that has anchored tie-downs and skirting.Maximum Amount of Grant or LoanRural Development rural home repair loans have a maximum limit of $20,000, either initial or subsequent, to any person.Limitations On The Use Of Grant/Loan FundsGrant funds or a home repair loan from Rural Development cannot be used for:Help for the construction of a new home.Limitations On How Grant Funds Are UsedAdditionally, the grant funds from Rural Development rural home repair cannot be used for any changes made for convenience or cosmetic purposes unless those changes have a direct connection to the hazards that are being removed. The definition of convenience and cosmetic changes might include, but will not be limited to:Any PaintingRequirements For EligibilityApplicants for Rural Development rural home repair are expected to meet these requirements:Must be a United States citizen.
Application is for only a Rural Development rural home repair grant.
Must be a minimum age of 62 years.You can get additional information at any of the USDA Rural Development Offices, located in all the states, for Rural Home Repair Grant and Loan Programs.