Blockbuster customer sales representative
Description:
Blockbuster provides multiple things for customers. Obviously movies are the top priority. We rent as well as sell blue ray dics, as well as standard DVD’s. We offer other things such as candy, drinks, gift cards, stuffed animals, and little such things as certain movies come and go. We have a great team of employees who are well trained and work to keep customers happy and satisfied. Our main responsibility is to keep customers happy, sell the things we need to sell, and overall be able to gain a great experience. We also offer an online program where you can access basically any movie.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
I have now worked at Blockbuster for about 2 years. I first got the idea to work there because I love movies and I couldn’t think of a better job than to be surrounded by movies. I went down to my local Blockbuster and applied and pretty soon I was working there. I was able to get transferred down to a store in Orem so I could work while going to school.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
There were some challenges that I did face. Being a full time student I didn’t have time to work full time at Blockbuster. Sometimes my schedule would get in the way of a test I had to take or other school related commitments. We soon got a new manager and he was very flexible and was very willing to work with my schedule. Another challenge I faced was when other Blockbuster employees would not do adequate work. I would get frustrated when they wouldn’t help a customer right away or wouldn’t answer the phone. I was able to see how important it really is to put the customers first. I was able to work harder to make up for what I thought was lacking and this helped me learn how to be a hard worker.
What I learned:
I am currently still working at Blockbuster and loving it. I am able to work when I want and still am learning new things each time. In the summer I plan to work full time and eventually be promoted to shift manager. I have learned great responsibility and how to work hard. I have been able to work my way up earning more money and gaining new skills. I am able to use selling techniques and offer ideas or advice about movies to customers. I have learned how to be a better speaker to people I don’t know and not feel so nervous.
Farmer’s Market vendor
Description:
You have to come up with an idea for a certain item or category of merchandise that is (or would be) in high demand at the moment. Then, you obtain a permit for selling at the farmer’s market and show up every Saturday! A lot of the time fellow booth members will barter for you, so even if you don’t make a ton of money you can still come away with lots of cool stuff. It’s also a great way to become more connected in your community. One of the things you need to keep in mind, however, is balancing cost (including your time) with price.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
Visiting the farmer’s market, I noticed one of my friends at a booth where she sold homemade purses, clothing, and headbands. Later, another friend started selling jewelry. My friend selling jewelry was able to raise awareness of and interest in her art, and the friend selling bags, clothing, and headbands was able to make a sustainable income.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
I think the only challenges that were faced were variable income based on traffic at the farmer’s market which depended on other community events, etc. This challenge can be overcome by anticipating the different recurring events (football games, general conference, etc) and bringing more merchandise on the weeks after, with less on the weeks of important events. In terms of overall efficiency, it would be important to budget accordingly, especially if farmer’s market revenue were one’s only source of income.
What I learned:
There is much to be said for word-of-mouth marketing. One advantage to selling at a farmer’s market as opposed to off of a website or through fliers is that the people will come, your merchandise need only be worth buying. Merchants who developed good relationships with those around them also tended to be more successful, as a certain amount of promotion occurs within the market itself.
Mall Kiosk Manager
Description:
As a mall kiosk manager I worked for a new small business called Shelf Reliance. It was my responsibility were: design a layout for the kiosk, hire employees, training, manage employees, create incentive programs, payroll, comply with all rules of the mall, process and deliver orders, process payments. As this business was fairly new at the time, the owners had never had a kiosk, nor did they know exactly how to run one. They had bought contracts in three separate malls and hired me to run the show from there. Basically I started from scratch and learned from my mistakes and my successes. It was really interesting because it was as close to running my own business as I could imagine. The owners allowed me to do with the kiosks as I saw fit, but they helped me when I needed it.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
When I got home from my mission my brother-in-law had recently started his own business (Shelf Reliance) and was looking to expand. The idea that he had was to put the product in three mall kiosks in Utah during the holiday months of October, November, December, and January. I was a recently returned missionary and hadn’t yet enrolled in school. As such I had time to take on a full time job, and I had the work ethic that I learned on my mission to tackle a challenge such as this. My brother-in-law hired me and we went from there.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
There were several challenges that I faced as I began this job. The most blaring was finding employees. This was an hourly wage job and as such the majority of the employees would be students and as such I would need to work around their schedule. I had to find people who could work the shifts throughout the day. I started out with friends that I knew and asked them for references of people who were looking for jobs. I posted the job openings on line, and had a co-worker go to a job fair to look for prospective employees. With a lot of work and luck I found enough employees to keep the kiosks staffed.
Another challenge I faced was discipline. As all employers know, good help is hard to find. There were some instances where some employees would take the little bit of freedom that I gave them and run with it. While I was new at being a manager I had to learn that as a manager at times you have to be strict. I had to learn how to be a “hard nose” when an employee wasn’t doing what he or she should. I had to set limits and put consequences for crossing those limits.
What I learned:
I learned that being a manager in any capacity is an all-day everyday type of job. There were constant problems that arouse and things that needed to be done and addressed. I also learned that with hard work and an ability to learn from experience, one can run a business and be successful at it. The kiosks were a success not only for the few months that they were open, but over the long run as people were constantly after the kiosks had closed that they had seen the product in the mall and were interested.
Regularly Used Grocery Sales/Delivery
Description:
It’s a business where you obtain a clientele by going around and asking other college or college-aged people if they would like you to deliver milk, cheese, bread, eggs, and yogurt to them one specified day a week like Thursday and that you will deliver it at a specific time range that evening. This prevents that constant need of going to the store for the items that are used constantly. It’s easy because it’s just the basic items that are used often and it’s a convenience for your customers so that they don’t have to go to the store as often which is why people would be willing to pay a little bit more for the delivery service. To obtain the products to sell you could go to Costco or some other wholesale discounter to get the items so that your mark up for yourself can be a little more profitable.
How I got the idea / found the employment:
As college students it is very annoying to realize you’re running out of milk and that you need to go down to the store to get it. It’s one of those items that is always running out so I thought one day that many other students are probably annoyed at having to get it all the time so I thought of a good idea of setting up a delivery service one night a week that people can predetermine how much milk and what kind they want to be delivered. But not just milk, but other items that run out quickly like bread, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and cereal. This is a basic business but is very easily expandable. You could start adding other things to the list that you deliver.
Challenges I faced, and how I overcame them:
Some potential issues are people may want a variety of brands or additional products, but you can solve this by picking a particular brand and then letting them pick the different varieties of that brand i.e. 1%,2% etc. This would eliminate a lot of time on your part in getting and distributing the food. You could create a preselected menu of the brands and types that you offer. It would also be hard to do it all by yourself but doesn’t require a lot of personnel either. You could maybe hire one or two people to help out because it is only one night a week. Mark up on the items for profit might be a little tricky. You can’t go too high or people won’t buy but you have to make it worth your time and effort.
What I learned:
There are many simple ideas out there to provide a product or service to someone and create a business, even as a college student. The problem is just finding the time and setting it up. It also helps just to sit down and write it out so that you can see the potential problems and what you can do to fix those problems and organize your idea.