Some challenges that face us every day are related to standard retail industry problems, that I don't feel are specific to this company. There are others that I believe are specific.
Before I came to work at Denver Mattress, I had managed other retail businesses, large and small and was able to be a manager. I managed people. I managed product. I managed inventory. I managed all aspects of the store, and occasionally engaged in sales presentations. Denver Mattress is my first commission based job. Here your primary concern is selling. Even as a manager. In a smaller location, you are unable to really manage much, because you are actually "doing", and not delegating and following up. In a smaller store, you don't get to utilize many of the management skills you may have acquired in previous experiences.
Being in a smaller store, with less staff, you don't have time away from the floor to do administrative or operational duties. There will always be instances where you are working alone. The obvious answer to this is "hire more people". Not all stores can support an extra sales person, if they can even find a good one to interview. This means if you want time to do admin stuff, you either come in on a day off, or work late after working a 12 hour shift. In a 2 person store, there will be at least 2 days a week where you work alone. And if you happen to have a busy day, you get no breaks, no lunch. There have been too many times in the past 8 years, where my lunch sat unopened, or I ordered a pizza and it never got touched. Or when you have to use the restroom, and you hear the door, but you are unable to help the customer. If you are unfortunate enough to have a warehouse employee quit or move on to another job, you can be without a warehouse person for a very long time. The longest time period without a warehouse person for my store was almost 10 months.
