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Article of the Month |
The promo price list
by Tom Shay
While I am writing the July newsletter, it was just this afternoon that I was visiting with a retailer and discussing this very topic.
Their concern was how to address the issue of competitors and how they price merchandise. This is the article I directed this retailer to read.
Even if this has not been a concern for you, it is good advice that you be aware of what the competition is doing.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article.
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Book of the Month |
Decisive: How to make better choices
by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Speaking to a manufacturer and their sales team, one of the sales reps gave me a new book that had been written by one of their dealers. The book was fascinating and filled with great ideas.
The disappointment came with my speaking to other dealers and suggesting they read the book. While several had read the book, the consensus was that a business could not do what was suggested in the book.
It bothered me then, and continues to bother me, how people in small business make these types of decisions. I believe they are operating with flawed thinking.
This book is not going to fix the flawed thinking, but it can help you to understand it and how it occurs in each of our lives.
Click on Book Referral to see the complete list of small business books we have found that can be helpful to your business.
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Contact Us |
Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax
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Can you speak a foreign language? The language of another small business
How fortunate I was when my mentor told me that he had observed my ability to translate. As we were standing in front of a store in a mall, I was not sure what was being said.
The explanation was that most small business owners and managers look to other businesses that provide the same products and/or services to get ideas of ways they could make changes to their business.
Instead we would do well to look at other businesses and how they perform in various situations. Being able to see a scenario in one business and finding ways to adapt it to your own business is referred to as 'translating'.
A pharmacy can learn from a hardware store while the hardware store can learn from the landscaper. With each situation, the owner of one business is looking at how another business interacts with their customers. Sometimes we can learn how to provide something to your customers that has a perception of a high value yet has a low cost to the business.
Can you translate? My experience is that we can all learn to translate when we want to look outside our own industry for ideas of how to improve our business.
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Welcome to Independent Retailer Month Let's celebrate Independent Retailer Month. It starts today; you and your business are invited to be a part of this great event.
Visit the website linked above to sign up your business or community for the celebration. Read the information about all the advantages customers get from doing business with someone local.
We don't mean an advantage like the usual line about better customer service. Instead we outline the many advantages a community, and the residents, receive because they have done business with an independent retailer.
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Cashflow projection calculator
The number one reason why a small business fails is the lack of cash. The lack could start in the beginning of the business, or could be in the situation of an established business that has had an unforeseen challenge or surprisingly, a tremendous growth in revenue.
This is because growth places a strain on any business. Here is a tool that any small business can use. It is a calculator for anticipating the cash needs of a business over the course of a year.
There are two versions available by following this link. One is for cash basis accounting while the other is for businesses using an accrual based accounting.
Help yourself to these free tools. You'll be glad you decided to implement them as a part of your business.
Cashflow projection calculator
| The Incentive Idea of the Month |
Huddle up
In sports, players talk about the value of 'huddling up'. When they are in a huddle, they talk about has happened and what they need to do. Team members often mention how they are inspired by what is said during the huddle.
What if your 'team' had a huddle when the day starts? You could recognize someone for what they had achieved the day before as well as talk about what needs to be accomplished during the current day.
Being in the south, you can appreciate that during one of the huddles on a summer day in our business, I gave each of our staff a 'Moon Pie and RC Cola'. It was a moment of fun as well as a bit of incentive and way of saying thanks for their efforts.
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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