Sales Plan - Revision history

Kathey: adding links to planning docs

2009-07-02T21:35:32Z

adding links to planning docs

Kathey at 21:23, 3 June 2009

2009-06-03T21:23:48Z

Rfs: /* SWOT */

2008-07-19T16:53:55Z

SWOT

Gambitnut: fixed category

2007-08-23T03:05:55Z

fixed category

Gambitnut: added category

2007-08-23T03:05:15Z

added category

Luiz: /* State of the program */

2007-08-23T02:10:01Z

State of the program

Luiz: /* SWOT */

2007-08-23T02:07:21Z

SWOT

Luiz at 02:06, 23 August 2007

2007-08-23T02:06:12Z

Luiz at 01:58, 23 August 2007

2007-08-23T01:58:36Z

Luiz at 01:51, 23 August 2007

2007-08-23T01:51:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:35, 2 July 2009
Line 118:		Line 118:

	}}		}}
		+
		+	== Related planning documents (July 2009)==
		+
		+	[[Store Meta Question]]
		+
		+	[[Thrift Store (PPS)]]
		+
		+	[[Thoughts on Increasing Sales Income]]
		+
		+	[[Sales Plan]]
		+
		+	== General Free Geek planning documents ==
		+
		+	[[Vision Statement]]
		+
		+	[[Long Term Strategy Process]]
		+
		+	[[General Priorities]]
		+
		+	[[Overview Time Line]]
		+
		+	[[Category: Big Picture]]
		+
		+	[[Category: Long Term Planning]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:23, 3 June 2009
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	[[category: Long Term Planning]]		[[category: Long Term Planning]]
	[[Category: Thrift Store]]		[[Category: Thrift Store]]
		+	[[Category:Fundraising]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:53, 19 July 2008
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	[[category: Long Term Planning]]		[[category: Long Term Planning]]
		+	[[Category: Thrift Store]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:05, 23 August 2007
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−	[category: Long Term Planning]	+	[[category: Long Term Planning]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:05, 23 August 2007
Line 118:		Line 118:

	}}		}}
		+
		+
		+	[category: Long Term Planning]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 === State of the program ===
-The thrift store has seen steady, though not explosive, growth in the past two years in revenue.     In addition, the number of regular volunteers has grown to 5 (as opposed to two 6 months previously) which has aided in cleanliness dramatically.  A wider range of items, including home and office, have been sold than previously.  A free table was added which seems to have positely affected foot traffic in the store.  Clearing space out when things get clogged (either by giving them away or selling them) has become a priority.  Two sales coordinators were replaced with one and an intern.  Documentation is slowly improving.  Additionally, it is now easier for customers to locate product that they need as well as for volunteers to know where to put things. The store has gotten new merchandising and storage options which have increased the salability of various items and improved the effective space.
+The thrift store has seen steady, though not explosive, growth in the past two years in revenue.     In addition, the number of regular volunteers has grown to 5 (as opposed to two 6 months previously) which has aided in cleanliness dramatically.  A wider range of items, including home and office, have been sold than previously.  A free table was added which seems to have positely affected foot traffic in the store.  Clearing space out when things get clogged (either by giving them away or selling them) has become a priority.  Two sales coordinators were replaced with one and an intern.  Documentation is slowly improving.  Additionally, it is now easier for customers to locate product that they need as well as for volunteers to know where to put things. The store has gotten new merchandising and storage options which have increased the salability of various items and improved the effective space.  The store currently makes about $25,000/month.
 === Current and past issues ===
 There has been a broadening of equal treatment to volunteers in equal cases which has added credibility to the store.  This has been problematic in the store, as the perceptions of cronyism and nepotism persists with some volunteers.  Theft remains a small but continuous problem on pocketable items (of which all valuable ones are behind the counter).  Discount abuse has been treated more aggressively than in the past, with mixed results.  The store is routinely messy (improving).  Non-regular staff working shifts in the store frequnetly are unclear as to what to do (or for that matter, the pricing on a variety of objects).  The store in probably the place where individuals wanting free tech support come most frequently first.  The majority of the stores' phone calls are about donations or volunteering.  Its small and sometimes pretty crowded.  In the past six months there has never been enough labor on Saturdays and Tuesdays.

@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 * We can not sell enough computers to keep our build volunteers busy.
 * We have a less service-oriented group of volunteers than most 501(c)(3)s (probably because of the tit-for-tat nature of "you do something (volunteer), you get something (a computer)."  This makes it especially difficult to get quality volunteers in the store.  Most new volunteers have been more interested in obtaining hardware than doing work.
-* Too much time spent hunting for small parts for non/marginal volunteers.
+* Too much time spent hunting for small parts for non/marginal volunteers (see wishlist).
 * We have no effective, consistent, and implementable system for dealing with people who abuse their volunteer discounts for profit.
   | opportunities =

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 === State of the program ===
-The thrift store has seen steady, though not explosive, growth in the past two years in revenue.     In addition, the number of regular volunteers has grown to 5 (as opposed to two 6 months previously) which has aided in cleanliness dramatically.  A wider range of items, including home and office, have been sold than previously.  A free table was added which seems to have positely affected foot traffic in the store.  Clearing space out when things get clogged (either by giving them away or selling them) has become a priority.  Two sales coordinators were replaced with one and an intern.  Documentation is slowly improving.Additionally, it is now easier for customers to locate product that they need as well as for volunteers to know where to put things. he store has gotten new merchandising and storage optins which have increased the salability of various items and improved the effective space.
+The thrift store has seen steady, though not explosive, growth in the past two years in revenue.     In addition, the number of regular volunteers has grown to 5 (as opposed to two 6 months previously) which has aided in cleanliness dramatically.  A wider range of items, including home and office, have been sold than previously.  A free table was added which seems to have positely affected foot traffic in the store.  Clearing space out when things get clogged (either by giving them away or selling them) has become a priority.  Two sales coordinators were replaced with one and an intern.  Documentation is slowly improving.  Additionally, it is now easier for customers to locate product that they need as well as for volunteers to know where to put things. The store has gotten new merchandising and storage options which have increased the salability of various items and improved the effective space.
 === Current and past issues ===
-There has been a broadening of equal treatment to volunteers in equal cases which has added credibility to the store.  This has been problematic in the store, as the perceptions of cronyism and nepotism persists with some volunteers.  Theft remains a small but continuous problem on pocketable items (of which all valuable ones are behind the counter).  Discount abuse has been treated more aggressively than in the past, with mixed results.  The store is routinely messy (improving).  Non-regular staff working shifts in the store frequnetly are unclear as to what to do (or for that matter, the pricing on a variety of objects).  The store in probably the place where individuals wanting free tech support come most frequently.  Its small and sometimes pretty crowded.  There has never been enough labor on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
+There has been a broadening of equal treatment to volunteers in equal cases which has added credibility to the store.  This has been problematic in the store, as the perceptions of cronyism and nepotism persists with some volunteers.  Theft remains a small but continuous problem on pocketable items (of which all valuable ones are behind the counter).  Discount abuse has been treated more aggressively than in the past, with mixed results.  The store is routinely messy (improving).  Non-regular staff working shifts in the store frequnetly are unclear as to what to do (or for that matter, the pricing on a variety of objects).  The store in probably the place where individuals wanting free tech support come most frequently first.  The majority of the stores' phone calls are about donations or volunteering.  Its small and sometimes pretty crowded.  In the past six months there has never been enough labor on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
 === Trends and predictions ===
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 * The trend of relying on the stores income as the primary revenue stream (in the current building) cannot continue because 1) The space is limited 2) It makes the organization lazy in terms of looking for grants and other ways to make money (e.g., classes, bulk, refined mining, etc.)
-* Free Geek will start to reach intensity limits (for producitivity) in multiple areas simultaneously.  We will either open new Free Geeks, or move.  The store will reach near-maximum intensity within 36 months.  This will probably necessitate new ways of finding revenue.
+* (Related to above) Free Geek will start to reach intensity limits (for producitivity) in multiple areas simultaneously.  We will either open new Free Geeks, or move.  The store will reach near-maximum intensity within 36 months.  This will probably necessitate new ways of finding revenue (unless we move and there is more space).
 * As consumer need for tech support increases, the store will drive more customers into classes and paid tech support.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 * The store will continue to make more money, but will peak at perhaps $2500/day average in 18-24 months.  The primary limitation on future growth will be space. It is noteworthy, however, that the present space is used pretty inefficiently.
 * Most of the current annoyances of Linux will be fixed in the next 3 years.  Linux will have greater brand recognition.
 * In the next year, the store will be totally overwhelmed in its ability to get rid of even "high-end" systems due to a broad movement towards laptops.  The bulk of this solution comes from outside the store.
 * The trend of relying on the stores income as the primary revenue stream (in the current building) cannot continue because 1) The space is limited 2) It makes the organization lazy in terms of looking for grants and other ways to make money (e.g., classes, bulk, refined mining, etc.)
 ===SWOT===
 {{SWOT
@@ Line 35: / Line 39: @@
   | weaknesses =
 * Poor flow control makes for a good deal of redundant labor (improving).
 * Point-of-Sale limitations (e.g., no scanners (therefore slow transaction time), single till, limited ability to handle quick transactions make using the space as intensively as possible difficult.
 * Small footprint limits the overall number of customers that can be handled.
@@ Line 40: / Line 45: @@
 * Improvements in appearance are largely capital intensive, and that money is slated for more mission-intensive endeavors.
 * We can not sell enough computers to keep our build volunteers busy.
-* We have a less service-oriented group of volunteers than most 501(c)(3)s (probably because of the tit-for-tat nature of "you do somethings (volunteer), you get something (a computer)."
+* We have a less service-oriented group of volunteers than most 501(c)(3)s (probably because of the tit-for-tat nature of "you do something (volunteer), you get something (a computer)."  This makes it especially difficult to get quality volunteers in the store.  Most new volunteers have been more interested in obtaining hardware than doing work.
 * Too much time spent hunting for small parts for non/marginal volunteers.
 * We have no effective, consistent, and implementable system for dealing with people who abuse their volunteer discounts for profit.
@@ Line 67: / Line 72: @@
 Some people view online sales as something that robs volunteers of the opportunity to acquire "good stuff" in the store with a discount.  For the most part, online sales tries to sell things that Free Geek either has way too much of (e.g. lower-end memory), has no real place for (e.g. random oscilloscope parts), or would otherwise recycle (e.g. broken laptops for parts).  Things like DDR memory or high-end video cards will not be sold online until they become commonplace throughout Free Geek.
 === Trends and predictions ===
 As volunteer involvement increases, so will revenue from online sales.  However, online sales will probably need to be restructured in the future to accommodate more than a handful of volunteers in searching, testing, and listing.
 Eventually the program will become a revolving door; volunteers will come here, learn what they want to about online sales, work until they are satisfied, and use what they learn to sell things online and run their own auctions, among other things.  In addition, other volunteers should be able to teach the process to newbies.