kyle-wilfong-blog

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Week 13 & 14

The last few weeks I will use to sell the current stock of items we have at a yard sale this weekend. We will then continue to grow the business online and purchase new inventory and  a new truck for business use in the future. Also re organize our storage unit back into a more organized storefront.

[kyle-wilfong-blog]

week 12

This week the goal is to put lots together of our inventory and sell off as much as possible to bring in some income for a new locker unit to purchase and sell. 

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Update

This week we have noticed the struggles involved with holding and storing a lot of inventory. We will need to have a yard sale and lower prices this weekend to clear space and make $ more new stuff. 

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Update

So far, this week has been a bit slower than the last few. We have been moving and selling merchandise slowly but are looking to buy a few more storage lockers and flip the contents to amp up business over the next 2 weeks.

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what is working? Paid ads

what is not working? sitting on inventory with no store

how do you feel the project is coming? excellent

what are you learning about running a business? high times and low times

what are you learning about yourself? I can multi task like no other.

[kyle-wilfong-blog]

what is working? Online Promo and buying abandoned lockers

what is not working? Mass messages from buyers

how do you feel the project is coming? Awesome

what are you learning about running a business? It takes a lot of time and dedication, more hours than a regular job.

what are you learning about yourself? I am very driven to succeed and turn a profit.

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So Far So Good

So far The Northern Thrift has been operating and running smoothly, we have started our selling and profited almost $900 so far to be used in our operations over the next 7 weeks. Buying storage lockers and selling the abandoned contents has been a great way for building inventory. The journey so far has been a great experience. Next step is to purchase a trailer for our truck, and continue to promote the business on social media.

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Money

The northern Thrift would like to eventually look into grants through the city of Peterborough and venture north. Meeting has been booked with Venture North and Business is going to be registered in order to do so. 

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Operations Plan

The plan for the northern Thrift is too offer the pick up of all unwanted clothing and household items. We will operate with our vehicles in order to do so and re sell items online, as well as donate items we find will be of use to local charities. The northern thrift will also offer Scrap, Junk, and appliance removal services.

In order to build inventory we will use donated items, as well as buy abandoned storage lockers from an inside website we have located. Operations will be done primarily online and through yard sales and flea markets across the Peterborough area. A storage locker will be used to store items for resale and save them for expansion. The goal is to eventually get into a storefront downtown Peterborough. A lot of the business will be based on marketing and getting the service known through out the area. 

Resources Aquired:

Truck for pick up of large items and scrap/junk removal

Car for donation pick up

Rented Storage locker to hold items.

Set up garage to hold items on hand for immediate sale and pictures to post online.

Camera for inventory

Business start up meeting with Venture North set up

Social Media pages created and promoted

Business Cards ordered

Yards sale signs purchased

Resources Needed: 

Tables for yard sales and flea market

Grant information

Register business if needed

[kyle-wilfong-blog]

[kyle-wilfong-blog]

Persona

Zack Hill

Retail Sales

·      Works for large retail outlet. Selling clothing to electronics.

·      Sell and upsell all products in store. Customer service answering questions and guiding customers through the store. Taking cash and processing sales and returns.

Demographics

·      18-55

·      25, 000 – 60,000 / 52,000

·      Location: urban and Online

·      College

·      Married, Single, Children

Goals and challenges

·      Save money on unique and everyday items.

·      Declutter remove junk and donatable’s

·      Offer Pick up of all unwanted items, offer junk removal

·      Sorting through and storing items

·      Using online store to work towards downtown storefront.

·      Purchase storage unit launch online store and presence to attract business.

Values / fears

·      Dependable, Timely, Charitable, Repurpose, Lesser Carbon footprints

·      Pricing and dealing with hagglers

Marketing message

REDUCE REUSE REPURPOSE

 Elevator pitch

The Northern Thrift offer’s brand name used clothes, books, vinyl, household items, vintage items and more. We offer trade ins of your old items and clothing for new store items, as well as discount coupons. We in turn will also donate 10% of profits to the CMHA to help support proper mental health in Canada. We will come to you and offer pick up of your old items and donations, so you don’t have to go to any effort to repurpose your old items, have them donated locally, or properly disposed of

  ��A8�

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Competitive Analysis

Talize

Strengths-  Large storefront, Thousands of items, Diverse selection organized well.

Weakness- No certain percentage of sales are donated, lots of junk, over whelming shopping experience.

Value Village

Strenghts-  tied to charity, large location, multiple locations

weakness- unorganized, overpriced, cluttered.

Salvation army

Strengths - charity ties, multiple storefronts, cheapest

weakness- small selection, outdated items, no promotion

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[kyle-wilfong-blog]

"Strengths and Weaknesses"

When it comes to business and well skills in general I feel I posses many. However we cannot all be perfect and like everyone else I also have my weaknesses. I have compiled a list of each featuring the strongest areas:

Strengths: Enthusiastic, Attention to detail, Humour, Charismatic, Leadership, Time management,  Social.

Weaknesses: Mathematics, Independence, Stubborn, sarcasm.

When it comes to my strengths I am very confident in my leadership skills and my ability to teach others. I have managed in professional settings as well as ran a band for years that has helped develop this confidence. In regards to my weaknesses I would like to improve my independence as well as Mathematics. I will do this by performing alone on tasks this semester when able to. 

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