What is the biggest win you've had in your business this year?

[Bronze_Palms]

As we wrap up with 2022, I love to reflect on growth! Share what your biggest win has been this year!

At my tanning salon, we opened a 1,000 sq ft location in town and hired on 2 staff members and 1 remote staff member. 

[TCSlaguna]

Love the question @Bronze_Palms 

This year we are celebrating out 20 year anniversary, so we are definitely counting it as a big win. There have definitely been tough years, but we learn from the challenges, improve and adapt. This is the first year we have put a lot of effort into holding classes. With Square Online and Square Marketing, we have been able to loyal clientele of class attendees. 

From an operations perspective, our ISP running fiber to the store has been a big win for us. It has made the internet connection to the Square Stands more reliable, we have changed to a VOIP phone system, and I don't get phone calls about internet issues anymore! 

[Bronze_Palms]

That is awesome - with those operational upgrades, you will have more time and energy to put into the business and helping it grow! What do you see is going to happen for your business in 2023?

[Candlestore]

@Bronze_Palms ;

I also Love the question...

For me we bought a business that the owners were running very few hours and were trying to retire.  So we are trying to rebuild and grow since the purchase in 2019.  Now this year we have had 3 requests from other business owners wondering if we do wholesale orders.  This is a win for us as it shows that other business owners like our products and want to sell them also.  These wholesale requests are from business owners form other states near us.  They are about 2 hours away, close enough to hear about us but far enough not to compete with our retail sales or us with them.

[Bronze_Palms]

So cool! How did you find this business for sale? I have considered opportunities like this recently through both online marketplaces like BizBuySell as well as just word of mouth.

For wholesale, I would HIGHLY recommend Faire - they make it easy to host inventory, they refer clients to you, and the best part is they only allow legitimate businesses on the platform so it is more exclusive to retailers who are looking to buy in bulk. 

We do really well on the platform and we are veryyy niched down. Here's the link if you decide to explore your option on Faire https://www.faire.com/apply/bronzepalms .

[Doran]

We won a grant and increased revenue by 23%.  Overall, a good year!

[StuartCeramics]

Awesome!

How did you use the grant to gain revenue?  If marketing, what kind worked? If business improvements what did you do?

im hoping to learn from you 🙂 

thanks!!

[Bronze_Palms]

Congratulations! WOW! It will be hard to top that!

Are you a new business or is this growth pretty consistent for you over the years?

[Spadoukie]

A quartet of professional belly dancers came into the shop to try on hip scarves and select some doumbeks. They asked "Where is your dressing room?" and I answered,"Sorry, we don't have one"   They said, "That's ok, we will just change on the floor over by the banjos"  And then I awoke!    Most of that story is true and just a typical day at The House of Musical Traditions.  Remember, I said "Most of that story!"  Everyone have a safe New Year. 

[Somuchfail]

Is this supposed to be satire? Are you completely tone deaf to the state of retail in 2022?

[Spadoukie]

Well Scrooge, So much for injecting a bit of humor into the group. Seriously, we had a great year and found that due to the Pandemic restrictions, lots of people had the time to learn a new instrument or get theirs tuned up. Plus they were working at home, not commuting. That gave them more time to practice.  Lessons both Virtual and in-person skyrocketed. We leased a new building to add 11 teaching rooms. And to answer your question about hearing problems: I tend not to hire the tone-deaf to work in my music store. Peace and Love, May 2023 be a prosperous year for you.

[Somuchfail]

Thanks for the well wishes, but 2023 will not be good for any customer facing retail businesses. Inflation has crushed all margins and real estate prices are cratering, along with employment rates. More than 500,000 small businesses closed since the start of the never ending 'pandemic'. Just look around this board for a dose of reality. Enjoy your time in the sun.