How to open your store on time and without problems

The opening of a new store represents a crucial moment for every retailer. To make this happen on schedule, it is necessary to coordinate countless activities, which must fit together perfectly, as if to complete a puzzle.

Furniture, construction work, personnel management, products, IT systems such as cash registers and payment systems, multimedia content, contracts for electricity and telephone utilities, Internet... These are just some of the elements that must be orchestrated with precision for an opening to be successful.

How do you manage all this? Certainly aspects such as the supply of products or furnishings are important, but there is often a tendency not to give the right importance to the telecommunications infrastructure of the new store.

We are talking about Internet connection, VoIP, equipment and, last but not least, contracts with local TelCo operators, which require a further organizational effort to be concluded.

The importance of opening on time

The IT functions and Retail Managers of companies are well aware of the critical issues that the opening of a new store entails, and it is precisely to them that this article is addressed.

We know that, despite the planning and careful evaluations of the case, the opening of stores always takes place in a short time, and often the IT department is informed at the last moment of where and when.

As a consequence, the IT manager is subjected to considerable pressure from the business: everything has already been planned and the opening date cannot be changed; moving it, in fact, literally means "losing money".

Setting up a store: the difficulties

It may seem simple, but activating Internet connections in a store, especially if located in a shopping center, can be a difficult task:

• It is necessary to know the rules of the mall which, of course, are different from each other even within the same country
• You have to communicate with a local operator in the same language
• It is necessary to organize the shipments of technical material to the store which, most likely, is still a construction site and therefore does not accept packages
• Careful coordination work is required to synchronize the technicians of the mall with those of the local carrier and with the electrician

All this only to discover that the cables have to pass through false ceilings which in turn require a forklift... and a thousand other unforeseen events.

So how do you manage all this? By relying on a serious operator, with a great deal of previous experience in this type of activity. Who wouldn't want to delegate the responsibility of managing all this to others? But finding a reliable and always reachable partner is by no means a given.

How to recognize a good MSP: 6 key elements

Now that we understood how important the mediation of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) is to ensure the opening of a new store on time, we need to understand how to recognize one.

Here's a list of six things to look out for when you're choosing a business partner:

1. The operator must be able to coordinate local partners and the general contractor who is renovating the store: ask if he will be able to deliver the Internet lines to the point of sale and deliver the equipment to safe places
2. Check that the candidate has the skills to provide a temporary 4G/5G service (equipment/SIM): in the event of delays in the installation of Internet circuits, this service will still allow the store to work
3. It is important that you are guaranteed any support in the installation and/or supply of your equipment
4. Activating VoIP lines and related emergency services is often necessary to have the legal authorization to open a store. Is the operator you are considering able to do it?
5. Check with the operator that the applications are working correctly, in this way you will test their willingness to collaborate directly

Finally, the most important point:

The importance of having a single point of contact

At this point it is clear that the search for a reliable operator is anything but negligible. At Professional Link we have gained the necessary experience, defined the processes and built a network of reliable local partners to solve the problems of your retail business.

Consider that large operators work with processes and methodologies that are not suitable for managing situations such as the one you are or will soon find yourself in. The management of a retailer, in fact, turns out to unprofitable for them.

On the contrary, specialized B2B operators such as Professional Link have the necessary flexibility, attitude and structure to open your store on time. Thirty years of experience have made us able to manage the unique complexities of the retail sector.

Speaking of uniqueness, let's not forget the importance of having a single point of contact: being able to turn to a single point of reference helps to keep the costs under control. On the contrary, having many operators to coordinate involves hidden costs and a considerable expenditure of resources: multiple contracts to be negotiated, different deadlines and communication in the local language are some of the aspects to consider.

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f you too have experienced some of the difficulties described above and want to solve them, find out how Professional Link can help you open your store anywhere and, above all, on time!

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