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Global Entrepreneurial Week
Mark your calendar for November 12-18 to celebrate this week in your business.
Granted, most business owners are not the subject of discussion for this event; but they should be.
Why does any independent business exist? It is because the owner felt they could add something to their marketplace by starting a new business or purchasing a business they felt they could improve.
These are people that have an independent streak about them; most of them want to work for themselves instead of working for someone else.
The reason for my sharing Global Entrepreneurial Week is that when you visit their website you will see the excitement they are generating.
Global Entrepreneurial Week
Excitement is the key word here. As an example, a book I reviewed in this newsletter several months ago was written by a small business owner and shared some of the very unique ideas he was trying in his business.
Speaking to a group that sold the same products and services this owner did, I heard more people trying to discount what the owner was doing than there were people getting excited about the new ideas. That concerns me; especially when everyone knew how much product and service this small business owner actually sold.
This group had not even tried the ideas but were already trying to explain how the ideas could not work. That's a problem!
A saying about small business is, 'The worst type of bankruptcy is a small business owner who has lost their enthusiasm!'
My hope is this website, and the many items going on with Global Entrepreneurial Week, will spark some people to re-ignite their excitement and for those that are excited already, this may help to elevate their enthusiasm.
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Long time friend and the individual credited with creating a lot of the Profits Plus design, D. Wendal Attig, will be our special guest for the October e-retailer conversation conference call.
We are going to discuss mobile marketing. You see plenty of people carrying their smart phones. Let's add to your ability to market to this growing number of people. You know that the 'ears and eyes' format of traditional marketing has seen a tremendous decrease in effectiveness. Join us as we speak with D. Wendal about your options for reaching your customers.
October e-retailer conversation conference call
8pm eastern, Thursday, October 18, 2012
D. Wendal no longer lives here on the west coast of Florida. Our face to face visits are more infrequent, but when they do happen, I am always full of questions as well as anxious to hear what new ideas D. Wendal has.
I hope you will join us for the event. I am confident you will return to your business with new ideas.
For those that are new to our newsletter and group, each month we have a conference call with a special guest. You pay nothing to participate and nothing for the phone call. We have the e-retailer conversation conference call because Bill and I enjoy visiting with each other as well as hearing new ideas from our special guests.
This link will allow you to look at the catalog of our conference calls over the past four years. You can even download the recordings of previous sessions.
E-ret@iler conversations
We will be sending two email announcements with the call in information in the days just before the event.
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Sales to inventory
Hopefully you have heard me say it many times that inventory is a great investment. Money sitting in a checking or reserve account can do nothing for you. Any interest this 'sitting money' would earn is negligible.
The right inventory - at the right quantity - at the right time of the year - for the right customer - displayed in the right way - at the right price - is the best investment you can make. Not even buying Apple stock can do as much for you!
So, how well is that inventory working for you? Have you compared the level of inventory you have to sales? This is a simple calculation; but what if you were to look at it over the past few years? Is there a trend?
If your sales to inventory is down, it could mean it is time for a serious look at the six 'right' items just described. It does not necessarily mean to start cutting back on inventory. It means you need to look at the six factors. If only one is wrong, the number is going to decrease.
Getting the number to increase means you are doing a lot to increase your profitability.
Sales to Inventory Calculator
| The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
Dog Gone Sale
Continuing the comment on inventory from our inventory tip of the month column, it is appropriate we use the theme of inventory for the Power Promoting Idea of the Month.
For a large portion of the independent business world, we are entering that quarter of the year when a very sizable portion of sales are made. Not only should you be following those six 'right' items I have described, you need to be looking at items in your business that are 'not right'. For whichever of the six categories the business fails, this inventory needs to go away.
With the best buying season upon most of us, this is a great time to get rid of it. Getting rid of it should be at any price just so that you can have that money available to put back into action.
When you have something that is sitting on the shelf, and has done so for months, the cost of the item is irrelevant! Sell that item for any dollar amount and take that dollar to buy something you could sell.
Here's my logic:
You have an item you are selling for $50 and the cost was $25. It has sat on the shelf for the past six months. That $25 is stagnant. Waiting for 'the right customer' to come along has not worked in the past six months, why would you think it is going to start working now?
If you sold that item for $15, you could buy something that would sell. What if you bought something that would turn twice in the next year? If you had that same margin, this would mean the $15 would make you $30 over the next year. Now you have made back the $10 you lost plus an extra $20 that you could buy something new to sell in your business.
Frequently items that do not sell are referred to as the 'dog' items you are stuck with. Create a 'dog gone' sale. You could simply discount the items. Another solution is allowing customers to purchase these heavily discounted items when they spend a certain dollar amount on regular items.
You could build a display of the 'dog gone' items and surround them with stuffed dogs to give a visual effect to the sale. Pictures of dogs would also add to the image. The image is important because it makes the event fun instead of looking like a clearance sale.
Have a 'dog gone' sale and get that money back to work as the holiday season starts.
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