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January; A time for resolutions?
Rumor has it the weight loss businesses and gyms sign up more new members in January than any other month of the year. I understand the logic in those decisions. However, when I am working with a business that wants to improve I do not understand the decision to wait until a certain point in time to take action.
What is wrong with doing something right now?
So, what could be on the list? We have had many discussions over the past year about aspects of your business. Allow me to put all of it into one brief summary.
There are people that act like managers; others that act like owners, and a select few that perform as entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur is the person that looks for an opportunity in any type of business in any community. This is not being cold hearted. It is the heart that separates the local independent business from some chain store, mass merchant or big box.
The suggestion to start your new year is to consider ways to elevate your efforts so that 2012 rewards you for your efforts.
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Remember those gift certificates and gift cards you sold during December? See all those corporate owned stores telling their customers to use those gift cards as soon as possible?
The reason is that a gift card sold in December is not really a sale. It is an exchange of money for a promise to deliver inventory at a later date. When the customer redeems the gift card, the sale is actually registered.
As those stores are all about sales to their stockholders, they want to change that gift card into a sale quickly. For your business, if the customer does not redeem their gift certificate or gift card, you are simply holding onto that cash. You could look at it as an interest free loan to you by the customer.
As with many other aspects of operating a business, your small business does not need to try to do what the big stores do.
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8pm eastern, Thursday, January 19, 2012
For the first conference call of 2012, let's take a look at all the opportunities before us. While I will quickly agree with those accusing me of being the optimist for a small business, I do sincerely believe there is a lot of opportunity for the coming year.
Where do I see the opportunity? Let me first say you are not going to find the opportunity in the traditional media. Join me to discuss the opportunities before each of us.
Thursday, January 19 at 8pm eastern. You will get an invitation about four days before the e-ret@iler conversation conference call along with a reminder coming to you on the morning of the call.
Did you miss the opportunity to participate in some of the 2011 conference calls? We have them available for you to download or to listen to from the Profits Plus website. As always, they are free.
E-ret@iler conversations
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Accounts Receivable Aging Calculator
The December e-retailer discussed your accounts receivable. The reason was that I do not want you to become a 'bank' by providing interest free loans to your customers. The interest free loan is another way of saying an overdue accounts receivable.
This month we take that examination one step further by providing you with a calculator that will help you to see more information about your accounts receivable.
You will learn how 'old', or past due, the money owed to your business is.
Accounts Receivable Aging Calculator
| The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
A twist to 'regifting'
Ten years ago, who had ever heard of the expression 'regifting'. Somehow, we have found a way to make a polite way of taking a gift you have received that you do not like and decide to give it to someone else.
Here is an idea of something you can do in the month of January that will be different from what other businesses are doing as well as allow you to show your community you care.
Invite your customers to bring those items to your store to be a part of a unique gift exchange. The customer gives the item to your store and you give the item to an appropriate local charity. In return the customer receives a gift card to your business.
One version of this promotion is that all items have the same value for the gift card they receive. Other versions have been that the business establishes multiple levels of gift cards and the staff of the store decides which level of gift card the customer receives.
You can have a secondary aspect to the promotion by giving prizes for the most unusual items your customer presents to your business.
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