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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.

Observations of how you can get a bigger message to your customers by using fewer dollars
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January 2016
Volume 17 Issue 3
A lesson from chocolate cake

Traditional advertising is a contest; which business can spend the most money to deliver the most messages. It is like trying to see who can climb to the highest mountain and scream the loudest (and longest) in an effort to get people to pay attention to you.

This same week last year, I noticed a posting on Facebook about January 27 being National Chocolate Cake Day (who knew?). That same night we were going to dinner with friends at our favorite local diner. Chocolate cake is their specialty dessert.

They have a newsletter they send to customers. They also post on Facebook, but there was nothing about chocolate cake. What if they were to offer to all those who ate at the restaurant on January 27, a small slice of cake?

People would talk about the restaurant. If you saw something on Facebook or on the news about chocolate cake, you would surely think about this restaurant. 

This is a lot cheaper than spending a lot of money on advertising.

The Facebook posting is National Day Calendar in case you want to follow them. Unfortunately they post the event on the day it occurs so you will have to visit their website and get ahead of the event so you can do things for your business. Their website is NationalDayCalendar.com
Article of the Month - Remodel the store

This past week I was visiting with a business coordinator for a national organization. This person gets to see a lot of businesses and shared a common observation with me; businesses that look outdated most frequently are struggling to produce revenue. Let me invite you to read this month's article about a personal experience with remodeling.


Book of the Month


Anyone that thinks all their business consists of is selling a product or service that a customer wants or needs is missing a lot of the transaction. The book for February, Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, is definitely not specific to small business. When you think of your experiences with other businesses and how there seems to be a hidden or secret component in those experiences you enjoy the most, this book can help you identify them for your business. 

Internet Tool for Your Business

Ever borrow money for your business? With the lender, did you sign a one page document or a document that had a lot of pages to it?  All of those extra pages, while written in what seems to be a foreign language, provide the covenants or agreements of how you will operate the business for the length of the loan.

The covenants often require that you provide the lender with copies of your financial statements on a monthly or quarterly basis. The lender is going to analyze your financial statement to determine the strength of your business. One of the calculations most frequently evaluated is the debt to equity ratio. 

Follow the link below to understand how this is calculated. This link will also provide you with the free calculator on our website which will perform the calculation for you so you can see how well your business is performing.

Staff Incentive for Your Business

Our house has an occasional young visitor who will find a PostIt pad and leave little notes for us to find. Some notes are on doors, the refrigerator, or any available space on a wall. The notes don't come down; they are just nice reminders of someone who appreciates us.

Then I remembered there is a notebook in my office that is filled with printed emails and note cards that I have received since I first starting writing over 25 years ago. They are uplifting and are definitely a help on a tough day.

The thought/incentive is to ask if you are writing notes of appreciation to your staff.

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.

Profits Plus |tomshay@profitsplus.org | (727) 823-7205 | www.profitsplus.org
 

 

 

 

 

 

MARCH 2024
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Small Business

Conversations

We are taking a break with the Small Business Conversations programs. However, we have the many years of the program cataloged by date on the website.

Small Business

AdvisorieS

The March Small Business Advisory remembers a line from many a western movie; "They went that a-way" and expressions similar to that distract from a business giving great customer service.

Small Business

News

Top Story

The big news item on November 30, 2022 was the advent of ChatGPT; Artificial Intelligence applications which many believe are used exclusively by big businesses.

This does not have to be true as there are many applications we share that have usage in a small business.


Article of the Month

"No plan B"; the subtitle to Van Morrison's Born to Sing album. The idea of no plan B also applies to a small business when you think (or is it when you don't think) about when the time, or opportunity, comes that you can sell your business. Generally speaking, a small business owner gets less money when they decide to close their business.


Book of the Month

"Escape from Cubicle Nation" is the March book of the month. While directed towards those working a corporate job and wanting to become an entrepreneur, we remind readers about utilizing their gut feeling to make decisions in their business.

After all, you did use your gut feeling when you decided to open or purchase your business.

BOOK US

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

Conversations

We are taking a break with the Small Business Conversations programs. However, we have the many years of the program cataloged by date on the website.

Small Business

Advisories

The March Small Business Advisory remembers a line from many a western movie; "They went that a-way" and expressions similar to that distract from a business giving great customer service.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

The big news item on November 30, 2022 was the advent of ChatGPT; Artificial Intelligence applications which many believe are used exclusively by big businesses.

This does not have to be true as there are many applications we share that have usage in a small business.


Article of the Month

"No plan B"; the subtitle to Van Morrison's Born to Sing album. The idea of no plan B also applies to a small business when you think (or is it when you don't think) about when the time, or opportunity, comes that you can sell your business. Generally speaking, a small business owner gets less money when they decide to close their business.


Book of the Month

"Escape from Cubicle Nation" is the March book of the month. While directed towards those working a corporate job and wanting to become an entrepreneur, we remind readers about utilizing their gut feeling to make decisions in their business.

After all, you did use your gut feeling when you decided to open or purchase your business.