Bus Drivers Do Not carry Change Anymore
I was walking by a store today, a photo portrait studio, that had a sign reading, "No Change for the Bus." The bus stop in front of the store is smack-dab in the middle of town and quite littered most of the day with people waiting for the bus and thus I suppose the store-owner is so besieged by potential bus-riders all day that he decided to discourage anyone from coming in to break a bill for the bus.
The owner is making a mistake. I like to think I am a businessman that knows how to turn a nuisance into a business opportunity. This is what I would do: Put a large sign visible from the bus stop: "We Gladly Make Change for the Bus inside Our Store." Once someone comes in for change we would offer two coupons, each good for 10% off on any 8x10 photo and ask the customer to keep one for himself and to leave the other coupon on the bus seat thus giving our store some free advertising. Or we could give a business-card with our website address and ask our visitors to enter their email address for our special monthly offers. Or we can make a counter especially for change-making with a display of some of our best photographic work.
This is merely suggestion, I do not own a photographic studio, but whatever the type of retail, such as restaurant or jewelry store, the best thing a businessman can do is have people enter his establishment even if it is for some other purpose than making a purchase. There are many people who do not shop or eat at an establishment simply because they have never entered it before. The more people who come into your place the more likely they are to come back to make a purchase, provided of course that you have made your store inviting and attractive.
Some stores in malls do not have doors, you can simply wander in without opening anything making it easier for people to come in. There is something in our genes that makes us fear crossing into an enclosed space we have never been before. Since I make my stores very attractive, I believe that if they come in once, they will love us forever.
For example, in my jewelry stores (which I do not pimp on my blog) I offer senior citizens the installation of watch batteries for $2.00 including the price of the battery. Most other jewelry stores charge from $6.00 to $10 and more. I do not make money at $2.00 but it does bring in many people who have not previously shopped at my store. A potential customer to me is worth more than $2.00.
My store is a hundred feet away from that bus stop. Sadly it is not one of those enclosed ones (see photo above) where I could put up a notice that my store will gladly give riders change for the bus.
Keeping potential customers from entering your store is stupid business.
Trivia: On 31 Aug 1969, New York City buses began requiring riders to have exact change. Before that day, you could hand the driver a buck and get back 80 cents in change (the fare was a measly 20 cents then). The move to exact change was intended to prevent robberies of drivers, which it did, and to speed up bus travel time, which it also did, and to prevent driver distraction, which it also did. Regardless, at the time, and even unto the present, there is still ill feeling about the matter when you are stuck somewhere and you do not have exact change.
