What could the future look like for a store manager who works for a big company, after the fact?
In my struggle to find a role that fits who I was for the first half of my career (corporate marketing drone) and who I am now (freelance copywriter with too much freedom), I started noticing the potential of the store manager role and what you can do with it FOR YOURSELF.
NOTE: I am NOT a store manager, nor do I want to ever be one. That’s not my strong suit.
But… I am someone who’s been on the corporate side, and also on the solo biz side. I’ve drank the Kool-Aid.
(Did you know there’s online biz-flavored Kool-Aid, too? It tastes like a mix of total freedom, and utter desperation.)
Anyway… with so much in flux these days, and so many brutal facts of corporate life… stories of disloyalty, toxic work environments, rounds of layoffs, etc… I want to put this out there.
I have been noticing the INCREDIBLE SKILLSET that some people develop after running a store for a big company, on their own.
It’s not something I’ve thought about before, because I hadn’t considered working in a store, being in marketing. But now I see how hard some of these folks work. And I think it’s time to really take a look at that, because who knows what will happen with jobs, and the future of humanity?
So, in some store manager roles, depending on the company, you can essentially operate the entire store, owned by a corporation, on your own. You might get to run the store with a small staff, big challenges, and little interference – basically no one breathing down your neck.
That presents a MASSIVE skillbuilding opportunity. Not just to present to another corporate employer after you move on from this job, but in your life.
In the independent store manager role, you’re leaned on hard by everybody, every day. If something goes down at your store on your day off – you’re called upon. If 6 am stockers don’t show or a cashier goes missing – it’s on you. If a customer creates mayhem, it’s all on your shoulders. Right?
And you commit to this, with the salary that beholdens you to carrying it all.
The store manager role elevates a person’s potential for total financial independence
Maybe one day you own your own store, putting your family name on the sign, having a business of ANY kind, running ecommerce… whatever the heck you want to turn this into… if that’s what you want.
It’s yours. I see it clearly. Do you?
What skills are you sharpening every day, as a store manager? Let’s list it out.
- Business planning, business management
- Daily operations and logistics
- Budgeting and analysis
- Organizational skills
- Leadership and team building
- Writing, public speaking, general communication skills
- Executive function and problem solving, chaos control…
- The list goes on.
Why do I point this out? Isn’t it obvious? Not to everyone. And I really doubt that the corporate folks who run things in the background are trickling down self-empowerment to their store managers. So here, let me hand you some different-tasting Kool-Aid. Because I see the need to pivot in our careers in this volatile landscape, no matter the job.
You are NOT a regular person after working as a store manager. You have advanced professionally, and you’re on a different plane of awareness now than many others, because of this experience.
And… people need to know your name.
Grow and nurture your network of connections, to secure your Life After Being a Store Manager.
You’re building these skills NOW, and that is tremendous.
What you create for The Company you work for now, can also be for YOU if you choose that.
I say that knowing what I know, about the cross-application of skills gained in corporate America, that can later be used in small business ownership. (And vice-versa.)
From Corporate to Business Owner: The Transition as it Unfolds
Here’s a little story. My friend worked for a major freight/shipping company. They transferred him from NJ to Chicago to serve as a department manager. He was excited. They had him do the “trust fall” with his team and stuff. 🙂
But soon I started hearing from him about missing home, only having “bar friends,” and being fed up with the company’s SAP system that wouldn’t let him go buy $5 worth of paper clips for his staff without a purchase order and a week of wait time.
Wanna know what he did?
Sold the company car and took time off to explore the most beautiful parts of our country – Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, etc. Then went back home to start his own company, which he still has today. Who backed him? Me! Who believed in him when everyone else shook their heads and said “get a regular job?” I did.
Because I SEE THE POTENTIAL of owning a corporate manager role like this, and making it into something incredible in your life.
You can do SO MUCH with what you’re doing for someone else right now, that you will one day do for yourself. So if you run a store for someone else’s company… I just wanted you to know.
Will I ever work as a store manager? Hell no!
But my recent foray into different jobs and roles, not knowing what’s next for me as a writer being potentially replaced by AI, has me standing on the line between corporate and self-employed online biz person. And so, that has brought me to these thoughts.
So that’s what I want to say to all you folks putting your all into managing a store, for a big company.
Feel empowered while in your current role, and know your worth for the future. AND TELL THE RIGHT PEOPLE YOUR NAME.
I hope my perspective on growing “mad skills” in this manner, and being able to pivot on those skills, will be worth something to SOMEONE. Because it’s not what the masses label you as… it’s what you BECOME when you’re in the thick of your work.