Spring Cleaning – As a Local Small Business
Spring is in the air and that means it’s spring cleaning time! As a local business owner, there’s much more that we can do than dust and pull out the furniture. Your customers are excited to see you and a little update to your space can go a long ways. Here’s a few ideas to get your mind working on ways to give your business a fresh look.
Update Your Layout
Try re-arranging your space, or creating new spaces, within your business. Shift shelves around or swap around product locations. Some businesses have used temporary dividers or home-built raise platforms to create new spaces for their guests to sit or shop. Experiment with a new flow that encourages your customers to explore and see all that your business has to offer.
- Shift shelving and displays to create a new feeling in your space
- Swap products and try some new merchandising techniques to encourage customers to explore
- Use temporary dividers/walls, raised platforms, or outdoor spaces to mix it up.
New Signage & Decor
What does the signage, posters, and decor look like for your business? If you’re trying out an updated layout, shifting your decor around can go a long ways as well! If you’re looking for a solution on the cheap, printing out a picture or sign on standard printer paper and putting it in a simple frame is a trick this writer has personally used. You have to trim down that 8.5 x 11 piece of paper to fit in an 8 x 10 frame. But it allowed me to get some fun new imagery up in my location for a budget. I’ve also seen local businesses partner with local artists and photographers to display their work and sell it off their walls. It gives the local artist exposure and the business some fresh decor for their space.
- Move your decor and signage around to help give your space a fresh look
- Use standard printer paper and inexpensive frames for new art on a budget
- Partner with local artists to display their work for a WIN-WIN relationship
Help Your Visitors Feel Safe
Vaccines are rolling out and weather is warming up! However, we still need to take precautions around COVID. Part of that is social distancing and sanitation. This ties in a bit to the signage idea, but making your COVID related information clearly visible is important. It doesn’t have to be drab and boring though! You can use a joke or a fun quip regarding the mask requirement. Create a decorated space for hand sanitizer. And have some fun with the floor decals for social distancing. COVID has been hard on us all, but we aren’t constrained to signs that only say “Masks Required” and “X”‘s on the floor. We can do some things that are tied to our brands and can maybe give a little smile to our visitors.
- Have fun/funny/interesting signage regarding mask requirements and social distancing
- Decorate your hand sanitizer area to make it more visually appealing
- Have fun with social distancing floor-markers. You don’t have to just put X’s on the floor.
Whelp, I hope these three ideas gave you a little inspiration on how to give your space a little face lift. If you’re going to be shifting and moving things around to get to those pesky dust mites, you might as well have a little fun when you put it back together. Happy Spring and stay safe!
