The Manual Nobody Read (and the Lean Reality of Mexico Retail)
In Los Cabos, I had a business that looked successful from the outside. The revenue was high. The shop was busy. I had a full training manual.
But I was losing.
I never knew exactly how many donuts we made versus how many we sold. Waste was rampant. Inventory control was a suggestion, not a rule. Because I was afraid of turnover, I let staff “invent” their own rules. The manual I spent hours writing? Nobody read it. I was paying for the privilege of being a hostage to my own business. I couldn’t even leave to go to a kid’s birthday party because the chaos required my physical presence to keep the wheels from falling off.
When I moved the shop to Hermosillo, I realized that my Nordstrom-bred assumptions were actually hurting me.
The Nordstrom Fallacy
In Seattle, I was taught that everyone wants the “dream job.” You work hard, you get promoted, and you build a career. I assumed my staff in Mexico would work hard to impress me in exchange for that same path.
The Reality: For many, this is a minimum wage job, and they treat it as such. They didn’t care about my 50-page binder. They cared about getting through the shift. I had to stop being a “Corporate Trainer” and start being an Operations Architect.
The “Mexico-Proof” Pivot
To survive in Hermosillo, I had to change the system to meet the reality of the environment. Here is how I stripped it down:
From Paper to Video: I stopped handing out manuals. Now, I have the employees film the training videos themselves. If they can’t film it, they don’t know it. It’s the ultimate accountability tool; it shows me exactly what they understand versus what they’re “winging.”
The Lean Limit: I realized it is much easier to manage two accountable people than a “full” staff of ten who hide in the collective chaos.
Proof of Work: I stopped “trusting” and started “verifying.” I demand photos of the clock-in, photos of the clean shop at closing, and simple daily inventory counts. If a cup or a donut goes missing, we know exactly why.
The “Door is Open” Policy: I stopped managing out of fear. I realized that being afraid of turnover was exactly what allowed the chaos to grow. Now, I’m very clear: these are the standards, and they aren’t up for debate. I’ve become confident enough to tell my staff that the door is open if they don’t want to follow the system. I’d rather run a lean, two-person shop that follows the rules than a “full” shop where everyone does whatever they want.
The Final Boss: The Weekly Run
I’m not 100% “Self-Running” yet. I still handle the purchasing.
Right now, it’s a balancing act. When profit is lean, every peso spent on flour is a peso that has to be accounted for in payroll. I’m not ready to hand over the keys to the bank account yet—but I am building the inventory triggers so that “forgetting the milk” never results in a lost sale or an extra delivery fee again.
Why this matters
I used to make my family life work around the business. Now, the business works around my family. My shop opens at 1:00 PM. My kids are out of school at 2:00 PM. Between baseball, homework, and dinner, I don’t have time for “chaos.”
I’m building The Self-Running Shop because I want to keep the profit I earn, and more importantly, I want to be a present mother to my three sons.
