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The reasons for Independent Retailer Month have changed over the past 20 years Many years ago as you listened to the radio you would hear an announcer tell about, "National coffee day", "National black dog day", and any number of days, weeks and months to be celebrated. Where did these events come from? They came from a book published each year called, "Chase Calendar of Events". People and organizations that wanted their events to be publicized write to Chase and asked to receive an invitation to submit. There were no other requirements; you just had to resubmit your material each spring for the following year. We thought a community or local business could easily follow the guidelines and make their own event. As an example we created what was then, "National Independent Retailer Week". We created a website and began to post in social media to demonstrate just how easily it could be done. After a few years we were contacted by Kerry Bannigan who had recently created a fashion week for independent designers. With a few conversations her program was joined with ours and together we decided to make it into a month long event with a title of, "Independent Retailer Month". About this time we noticed a couple of people creating events with a theme of "save a small business". Perhaps this is just my personal concern, but I have never felt the need to shame a customer into spending their money with a local business. To the contrary, we began to find reports that stated the advantage of a community of doing business with a locally owned business. The statistics were amazing! There are many advantages to the individual shopper and for the community when money is spent with a locally owned business as compared to a mass merchant, box store, or chain store. These advantages include additional tax dollars as well as how the dollars spent with the locally owned business are re-spent within the community. We hope you will join us by reminding your customers and the people in your community of how a locally owned business is best for the community. Visiting the Independent Retailer Month website linked below will provide you with many statistics that are informative and helpful in making the point of "shop local". There are no dues, membership fees, or expense for your business to participate in Independent Retailer Month. Just as we are all independents, we leave it to you to determine how to best tell your community and customers. Independent Retailer Month - a great investment for everyone!
Article of the Month - Writing your customer Recently we heard a radio commercial that could have served as the model for this month's article. The commercial was for an auto service center. The prerecorded commercial was designed to sound like the owner of the service center was talking with the radio announcer. During the "conversation", the announcer was complimenting the owner for his interest in his customers; offering to change wiper blades when raining; checking the vehicle before a trip; selling the car owner new tires when necessary and other timely automotive services. This may sound like a concerned business but we think they are missing the opportunity to truly be exceptional. Bring in your vehicle to have an oil change and the shop will put a static cling sticker on your windshield to remind you of mileage and date for the next oil change; any business can do that. What if the auto service center was to call, email, or text you to remind you of the necessary service? Not only is this inexpensive, it makes the auto service center different when compared to the competition. Definitely it is a lot cheaper than what our example business has paid for all those radio commercials. Isn't there an expression to the effect of, "what you do speaks so loud that I can't hear what you say"?
Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? Stuart Kehler to discuss what you are paying for credit card processing Unless your business is a "cash only" business, you are likely losing a chunk of your profit to the bank card processor. Perhaps you pay a fee for each transaction in addition to a fee that is a percentage of each transaction. Dick Calio, our resident expert on point of sale systems, contacted us to suggest Stuart Kehler as our guest. Dick told us that Stuart had worked with some businesses in which Stuart was able to save sizable credit card processing dollars for the business. That got our attention and now we want to introduce Stuart to you so that you can hear how he did this for each of the businesses. Watch your email for the announcement later this month.
Book of the Month - Twelve-Minute Risk Management by Ivy Walker Our guest from the May Small Business Conversations program was Ivy Walker. We invited her to the program because of her experiences in small business and the book she wrote, titled, "Twelve-Minute Risk Management". We understand that many of us are challenged by the idea of reading, or listening to a book. That is one of the reasons why we like her book. Ivy breaks the topic into individual and easily readable segments along with the appropriate call to action for each of the risks outlined.
Internet Tool for Your Business - How much does an event cost your business? Most businesses we have met have "events" for their customers over the course of the year. We like the usage of the word, "event" in place of the word "sale" because the latter word suggests a lowering of prices for a period of time. In your business have you ever calculated what an event or sale actually costs you? That would include the advertising and discounting the prices of your services or products. For some I have seen, this would also include refreshments, entertainment, decorations and other miscellaneous expenses. This calculator, based on a conversation we had with a business owner we met from Georgia, can help you to be aware of all of the costs related to your next event. Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scene, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information.
Staff Incentive for Your Business - Choosing the giving All our businesses are approached by organizations asking for donations, contributions and sponsorships. Of course we want to help these groups. After all, these people have helped us by being our customers. However, there are more requests than your business can afford. You do have to be selective. Our staff incentive idea for June is that you let some of your employees make the decisions. From personal experience, we found the process worked best when we established a budget for each month. Whether our participation was in the form of cash, such as sponsoring a baseball team, or a contribution of a gift card to our business (we calculated this expense at the cost), we had a certain amount to donate each month and when it was spent there would be no more until the following month. Letting the employees make the decision means they are engaged. They are also learning the challenges of operating a business. This experience can pour over into other parts of your business in teaching your employees. And it also says to your employees that you value their input. We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.
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MAY 2024
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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
Small Business
The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.
Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?
Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.
Small Business
We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.
Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.
Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.
And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.
The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."
Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.
As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.
Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.
