There’s nothing like a good spring clean. At home, you might work room to room, decluttering, tidying, and cleaning. It might be the only time of year that you do some jobs, like cleaning the insides of your windows and behind furniture. It’s brilliant. After a thorough spring clean, your home feels cleaner, brighter, tidier, and even healthier. It’s a more peaceful place to be, and you can get a great sense of achievement looking at the results of all of your hard work.
But, few of us spring clean our businesses. If you own a retail store, a spring clean here is just as necessary as it is at home. It’s not only the perfect time to open your windows, let some air in and clean all those hard to reach areas. It’s also a fantastic chance to tidy up back of house areas, clean up your admin and files, and get rid of anything that you know longer need. You might have a quiet period before summer, and there’s no better time to get stuck in.
Take a Look Around
The first thing that you should do is inspect your store from top to bottom. Do you need steep slope roofing repairs? Are your back of house areas clean and tidy? Do you need any other repairs doing? How are your plumbing and electrics? Do your doors squeak? During this inspection, make a list of all of the jobs that need doing. Then, divide these jobs up. Make a list of thing that you can do yourself, or delegate to your staff, doing a bit at a time when you’ve got a spare few minutes — another list of bigger jobs that need a more significant time commitment. And then the third list of tasks that you can’t do yourself, and will need to get outside help with.
Consider an After Hours Clean
When you run a busy retail store, it’s hard enough to find the time to do the basic cleaning jobs, never mind anything more in-depth. So, consider an after-hours cleanup. Get your team in, order pizza and have a cleaning party while the store is closed and there aren’t any customers to worry about.
Don’t Neglect Back of House
Many retail shop owners are guilty of only cleaning the areas that their customers see. They spend their time keeping the shop floor tidy and don’t pay staff areas any attention. This can be a mistake for two reasons. Firstly, your stock might be kept in areas that customers don’t see. You don’t want it getting smelly or dusty. Secondly, your staff will be much happier and more motivated if they have clean toilets, nice break areas, informative notice boards, and generally a nicer space to spend their time. They’ll respect you for paying attention to their needs, and they’ll be in a better mood when they hit the shop floor.
Don’t Forget Your Office
The same goes for your own office. Trying to work on a messy and cluttered desk can be tough. You’ll work more productively if you spend some time cleaning up, getting organized, and making sure that everything has a home. Take some time to organize your files and set up new systems to help you keep on top of everything.
