“Working with Creative Profit Planning is one of the best decisions I’ve made, and I should have done it years earlier. Before, I was spending a lot of time creating an open to buy and second guessing it. I tended to under-buy and undercut my sales potential. Working with Cassie & Jennifer gave me the confidence to buy to my full potential and watch my sales respond immediately. It has also taken hours of work off my plate and is setting me up to hand off some of my buying with confidence, because I know the spending framework is solid.”
Working with Jennifer has so many benefits. First, I love focusing on sales goals and my
current inventory by category twice a month.
This allows me to quickly pivot when sales start to increase/decrease
and you don’t have product to meet those goals.
Second, my cash flow has really improved because my money isn’t tied up
in my inventory. Having an Open to Buy
plan each month has really made my life easier by allowing me to focus on
ordering what is truly needed, keeping my inventory fresh and increasing my
turns.
Recently, I bought the building that's housed my shop since we opened in 2014. Before working with Jennifer, I could not have imagined having both the capital and the confidence in the future of my business to take this leap. Thanks to my work with Jennifer, I was able to buy one of the flagship buildings in my community's historic downtown, securing a solid future for my store and a great investment for my family -- and the sizeable downpayment came entirely from my shop's bank account. This big step would not have been possible for me a couple of years ago, when my business was profitable, but uncertain, and when I felt nothing but nerves (or possibly abject terror) looking ahead at the economic complexities we were all anticipating at the time. Now I know that my business can adapt quickly to changing conditions, even to a global pandemic, and remain profitable through it all. I trust I'll have the information I need to keep my store strong. And I am confident that my business can continue to provide what my family needs.
Jennifer helps to set a plan that allows me to focus where I should be buying based on actual data as opposed to what I feel like buying. I’m more selective now in what I bring in and try to buy smaller quantities which gives me flexibility to order and reorder exactly what I need. We recently took some of the larger classes and divided them into smaller classes that worked more with my brain and the types of merchandise in my store. For example, I have a brain teasers category that I took out of children and adult games because they sell at a different rate, and I needed to be able to see how to maximize the profits in both more specifically. I’m still learning and always learning to look at my data differently with Jennifer’s help. I’ve learned to do more with less which puts more money in my pocket at the end of the day
We
brought Jennifer Rust onto our team in 2020. We had spent several years
fighting the good fight sometimes ahead and sometimes behind, but without any
real plan that provided consistency and adequate cash flow. We had spent years
building a store our customers loved without seeing the success we'd
hoped for.
In the fog and confusion of 2020, we invited Jennifer to
have a look and make some recommendations. She helped us restructure our
product categories and plan each to track and maximize turns. That year we
began to turn a corner, ending the year with a nice reduction of inventory
comparing previous years. In the time since then with Jennifer's help and
Management One data we saw increased sales, tighter inventory and better cash
flow and worked to plan for our retirement.
Jennifer
Rust has been a trusted advisor for us and we recommend her without reservation.
Working with Jennifer and Creative Profit Planning has been a key part of my business success. Not only has she helped me to increase sales, but she helps me dive into every part of my business. We’ve focused on making turns higher and expenses lower freeing up cash for other things. It is great having an extra set of eyes on my business which in turn reduces my stress and time. I highly recommend working with Jennifer and Creative Profit Planning.
I've been working with Jennifer and Cassie for almost 2 years and I have no idea how I ran my store before meeting them. Inventory management has become so much easier because I can look at data showing how much I currently have in each category, how much I need, or if I have too much and need to figure out how to sell through it before ordering more. I have been able to reduce the amount of money I invest in inventory, turn products faster and increase my profit margin. Best of all, I can call or email Jennifer and Cassie with questions at any time and they are always willing to help. I can honestly say that working with them has been the best business investment I have made.
