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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.

  e-ret@iler newsletter
March 2009
Volume 10 Issue 4

 

Profits_Plus Solutions
Tom Shay Photo
Article of the Month

So, who are you?
by
Tom Shay

One of the challenging aspects of the economy is what we observe as many businesses start doing some crazy things.

One of observations is how businesses begin to change who their target customers are. Did you know that the longest recession in the past 72 years was only 16 months?

Our point is that your business should focus on who your target customer is and stay on target. This month's article can give you some insight.

Click on Article of the Month to read this article.

Book of the Month

The Smart Mart Revolution
by
Michael Shuman

This book is timely as we continue to hear how people are spending more of their money with Wal-Mart and eating more at McDonalds.

Just remember that what makes a mass merchant strong is also what makes them weak. A good competitor, which is what you are, knows how to take advantage of those weaknesses. This book can help.

We have more books to suggest for your reading. Click on Book Referral to visit this page on our site.

 

 

Contact Us


Profits Plus
P.O. Box 128
Dardanelle, AR
72834 USA
(727) 823-7205 Voice
(727) 898-3179 Fax


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Business Advisory

Business advisories for March 2009

1. March 29 is Mom and Pop Business Owners Day

Everyone else has special holidays; why not us? This is the first of three holidays that occur each year. How about having a sale or special event to celebrate? What about putting posters in the window of your business to tell of the special day for your customers?

2. February's fireside chat

Thanks to all of you that joined us for the fireside chat we had on February 24. We had some great questions, and I definitely learned a lot about how to make the next one even better. For examples, I learned that I need to tell you to press the *6 keys if you want to do something around the house or business and need to mute the background noises.

Then I learned that I need to tell you that the same *6 keys combination will allow you to unmute so that you can ask a question or participate in the conversation.

And thanks to Larry Leveen of Oly Bikes in Olympia, Washington for asking us to record and catalog these recordings on the Profits Plus website. We will start that with the next one.

3. Fireside chat for March

We are going to have another fireside chat and invite you to join us. This is no charge for this; you only have to pay your own long distance charges, if any.

Bring your questions and concerns and join us on Tuesday, February 24 at 8:00pm EST. To participate you need to dial 1-218-339-4600 and upon getting the recorded message, enter the pin number of 270985#.

To help us prepare, send your questions and concerns to us via e-mail today. Send your questions by using the address in the column on the left; NOT by hitting the reply button to this month's e-retailer.

We will be recording this session and archiving it on the Profits Plus website for those that cannot join us for the live session.

4. What I do with my evenings

Perhaps I need to get a life as I travel; after all, in all of my traveling I have never stopped to go to a theatre to see a play or movie. Instead I spend the time in my room working on new things to share with you. As February was a busy month of traveling, and because we have found someone to help us with some of our projects, we have some new material for you on the Profits Plus website.

We have added in the past month:
70 articles from our archives. We'll introduce them to you with the monthly e-retailers, but they are all posted on the website, and expect to put another 70 on the site in the next couple of months.

Did you know that you can listen to most of our presentations for free on our website? That's right; we don't sell CDs of our sessions. You can listen or download them at your convenience.

In many of the events I speak at, I mention the job application that we utilized in our business. You can now download a PDF of that application from the website.

We have created a new tool for you to use in your business. It is a store evaluation form that is 12 pages long and asks some very in-depth questions that can help you fine tune the operation of your business.

New presentations - we have 39 now. As business becomes more and more complex, we continue to research aspects of business to share insight and ideas of how you can capitalize on the many opportunities before you. As you visit the site, you will find information about these new topics.

More, next month. Enjoy the website.

Internet Tip of The Month
Accounts receivable turnover calculator

Remember the question last month about your not being a banker? We are still in that vein, as I invite you to calculate how well you are doing at turning over your accounts receivable. Turning over refers to how quickly you are collecting your receivables. Remember that receivables sitting on your balance sheet is the same as loaning money to someone and not expecting any interest to be paid to you.

Accounts receivable turnover calculator

The Power Promoting Idea of the Month
Benefiting from your donation advertising

Spring is in the air and with that there are sure to be people knocking on your door asking for 'donation advertising' for things like high school and college year books, or social events for which they publish a booklet or directory.

Too many of us simply write a check for $50 or $100, give them a business card to utilize and send them on their way. Let me suggest your adding a bit of creativity. As an example, a store that sold spas got the school baseball team to sit in a spa for a picture that appeared in the yearbook. A hardware store put the cheerleaders for the school on ladders that surrounded the signage on the front of the store.

The saying is that, 'a picture is worth a thousand words. Get your thousand words worth of advertising by being creative and do something other than hand them a business card with that check.

Where's Tom?

We list the next 60 days of travel in the e-retailer as we often hear from readers who are asking about opportunities to hear a presentation when I am in your area. And we are always glad to help you obtain an invitation to those events.

March 1 Atlanta, Georgia
March 5-7 Nashville, Tennessee
March 18 Reno, Nevada
March 27 Tucson, Arizona
March 28 Lake Ontario, Ontario
April 2 Mohave, California
April 29 Providence, Rhode Island

The calendar for all of 2009 is posted on our website and updated daily. Click here to see when I am going to be in your area.

The calendar for all of 2009 is posted on our website and updated daily. Click here to see when I am going to be in your area.

Where's Tom?

 

 

 

 

 

APRIL 2024
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Small Business

AdvisorieS

"What's your score"? is the name of the April Small Business Advisory. This provides an introduction to our return on investment calculator. It is a great way to understand how well the investment you have in your small business is working for you.

Small Business

News

Top Story

We believe Thursday, April 25 is an important annual celebration for small businesses. While the name of the celebration has varied over the years, the focus is for us to take kids to work with us.

 

This is important for the kids to see what it is we do. They definitely are not going to learn about it in school. Reading the April Small Business News you will see an example from community pharmacists that emphasizes it is up to us as small business owners to introduce kids to what we do.


Article of the Month

While titled, "If not price", the April Article of the Month is asking the question about the focus of your small business in attracting and keeping customers.

 

If there is not something very special about your business, then the only attraction to your businessis that of a low price.


Book of the Month

"The plan as you go business plan" is the April book of the month. The author is Tim Berry who has also created software on the same topic.

 

I do not agree with the concept of "fill in the blank" or "create the plan as you need it" because my experience has been that you do not have as strong as a connection and understanding to your business plan unless you do it yourself and you dedicate the time to create it.

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

Advisories

"What's your score"? is the name of the April Small Business Advisory. This provides an introduction to our return on investment calculator. It is a great way to understand how well the investment you have in your small business is working for you.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

We believe Thursday, April 25 is an important annual celebration for small businesses. While the name of the celebration has varied over the years, the focus is for us to take kids to work with us.

 

This is important for the kids to see what it is we do. They definitely are not going to learn about it in school. Reading the April Small Business News you will see an example from community pharmacists that emphasizes it is up to us as small business owners to introduce kids to what we do.


Article of the Month

While titled, "If not price", the April Article of the Month is asking the question about the focus of your small business in attracting and keeping customers.

 

If there is not something very special about your business, then the only attraction to your businessis that of a low price.


Book of the Month

"The plan as you go business plan" is the April book of the month. The author is Tim Berry who has also created software on the same topic.

 

I do not agree with the concept of "fill in the blank" or "create the plan as you need it" because my experience has been that you do not have as strong as a connection and understanding to your business plan unless you do it yourself and you dedicate the time to create it.