Advocacy Articles

Charting the Course of Your Self-Op College Store
By Mark Palmore, Executive Director and Institutional Store Advocate

This is the second of a two part series on Promoting the Value of Your Self-Op College Store.

In the November 2006 edition of The Connection (which is available for download at Our Company/Newsletter) I wrote an article titled “Knowledge is Power.”  The article was the first in a two part series promoting the value of your self-op college store emphasizing the importance of benchmarking your store by using the NACS College Store Industry Financial Report. 

Now, for the second part of the series I would like to discuss the importance of using quarterly and annual reports to show your administrators the true value of your store.  You know how great your store is, but do your boss and the other key stakeholders on campus know the TOTAL value your store brings to your campus?  If you don’t tell them, they won’t know.  No matter how great of a store you have, you can not adequately demonstrate the value of your store without quarterly or at least annual reports.  Chart a course for your store, stick by it and then tell everyone about how great you are.

Begin by updating your mission statement.  Most of you probably have a well thought out mission statement, but it may be a few years old. Ask yourself, is the mission statement in harmony with what the key campus stakeholders want from your store?   Next, set measurable goals that correspond with your mission statement and the mission of both your auxiliaries and your institution.  Base your goals on achieving expectations with specific criteria to measure the success of your goals over time.  You need to incorporate specific strategies in your day-to-day operations to track your progress in accomplishing these predetermined goals. 

Now, it is time to showcase your accomplishments, both financial and intangible.  

This is where the reports come in.  Use your Profit and Loss Statement to your advantage.  This is the clear picture of how your store is doing financially.  With careful use of the P&L combined with a Quarterly Report you can track your progress, be proactive in communicating your success, and showcase your store’s value.  Quarterly Reports also give you the opportunity to address and correct any potential shortfall of expectations.  Expand on the Quarterly Reports with an Annual Report offering more detail.  Then, present the Annual Report to ALL of the key administration stakeholders.  Show them your results both financially and with all of the intangibles that you deliver for your campus.

The most important thing you can do is to share with your administration the success of your store.  Meet with your supervisor quarterly and walk through your goals and discuss the progress you are making.  Continue to be your store’s best advocate.  It is up to you to proactively share your progress and success, so get with it and Chart the Course for the future of your store.

For more information see our website www.connect2one.com and click on Our Sevices/Advocacy/Knowledge is Power – Webinar #2.  Any questions or if you need Institutional Store Advocacy assistance please contact Mark Palmore at mpalmore@connect2one.com.