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Article of the Month |
Taking care of your town
by
Tom Shay
Writing this newsletter and reading the article of the month brought back some great memories. While the story is about our business, I choose to see it about everyone's business for this is what I love about independent businesses.
The independent businesses within a community do take care of their town. My experience is these small business owners are the first to take a stand for their town; the first to help someone or a family that needs assistance; the first to help where help is needed within the community.
My hope is that the story of what we had the opportunity to participate in will inspire you to take a look within your community to see what you can do to help.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article. |
Book of the Month |
Retail Success
Retail Superstars
by George Whalin
Yes, two books this month; one author. Small as it may be, this is a bit of a tribute to my friend, George Whalin. He spent a quarter of a century working in the music industry and matched it with another quarter of a century working with all kinds of retailers and the companies that sell their goods through these retailers.
The second book is my favorite as George describes 25 of the best independent retailers he has found. The book includes photos and great stories of how these businesses differentiated themselves so that they are considered to be among the greatest.
Let me invite you to enjoy these books.
Click on Book Referral to visit this page on our site.
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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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The passing of a great one
While Tuesday, January 10 may have been just another day for many, it was a very sad day for many of us. George Whalin passed away after having fought cancer for a couple of years.
I do not think I am alone in saying that George Whalin was great; that he was a legend; that he was smart, informative, knowledgeable, caring, sharing, observant, respected, approachable, and a tremendous asset to the retail industry.
George brought very insightful observations of how and why things occurred within the trade. He could tell you why one large retailer was successful and why another was not. He told how the information from what he was sharing about these retailers could be used in your business.
Somehow he was able to find so many unique retailers and share with us what these businesses were doing so that others would want to do business with them.
What I also liked about George was that he wrote two books (a third was in progress as he passed), he wrote a monthly newsletter, and he wrote a blog. I enjoyed all of them.
You could buy George's books in many bookstores, but he would prefer you to make that purchase in an independent store. I treasure my copies as George had written personal notes to me in each of them.
Another aspect of George that I tremendously liked was that he was not out there trying to sell retailers a lot of stuff he created. George helped people to learn through what he said and wrote; not by asking you to hire him, attend his camp, pay for access to his website or newsletter or all those other things that are so rampant today.
George simply wanted to share his knowledge and give you a word of encouragement. I try to model my company, Profits Plus, after his example.
I miss my friend; in the future I will miss the excitement of knowing we were on the same program and the anticipation of getting to visit with him before and after our presentations. I appreciate that I had the opportunity to first meet George and then to get to know him. I so enjoyed our conversations and his teachings.
Thanks to his wife, Terri, having shared him with all of us and thanks to George Whalin for all he gave to all of the retail industry.
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February e-retailer conversation conference call
8pm eastern, Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thanks to all who joined us to start the new year with a conference call in January. We got the year going by looking at ways a business could take advantage of the current economic situation to make a great 2012.
For the February conversation, I got the idea for the topic based upon two recent trips. As the audience arrived, I decided I wanted to see if a certain stereotype thought I had was more than just an observation. While I know the stereotype could not hold true for everyone, I did want to see if my idea had a high percentage of being correct.
My observation was to note how people came to attend an educational session. I observed who came with paper and pen; who came sharply dressed. I also noted those that attended looking somewhat scruffy; some that needed to wear their baseball cap and sunglasses during the session.
As we had discussions during the class, my observations were proven to be true. To a large degree, you can tell who is serious about their business. I also know that it is not just what a person wears and how they attend a class. After all, there are a lot more that do not even bother to attend a class unless it is required as a part of certification for what they do for a living.
As I have the opportunity to look behind the scenes for many small businesses, I want to share what other aspects I see that differentiate those businesses that are sharp and those that are not.
Thursday, February 16 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, there is no charge for them.
E-ret@iler conversations
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Days of Inventory on Hand Calculator
Too often when the concept of inventory control is mentioned, people take that comment to mean they need to get rid of inventory. Quite the opposite, inventory is the best investment you can possibly make in your business. When that investment is in a checking account in the form of cash, it definitely cannot earn any additional money for you.
Instead, that cash being properly invested in inventory has the opportunity to sell, make a profit, purchase more inventory, and then make more profit. Definitely better than sitting in a checking account.
In your business you do need to know if the inventory is properly invested. This calculator can help you to determine that. The 'Days of Inventory on Hand' calculator will tell how how long your inventory would last if you did not order more inventory.
If the answer is 365, that means your inventory is not turning very quickly - only selling once a year. On the other hand, think about the grocery store that would like to achieve a 26 time turn. The convenience store would like an even higher turn.
There are many factors to be considered for the the answer that is correct for your business. One of those considerations would include the gross margin . Another would be the time necessary to reorder products from a vendor.
You need to know what your number is, and if you find you are not turning your inventory quickly enough, this calculator will help you to be aware of that.
Days of Inventory on Hand Calculator
| The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
Me and my shadow
Ground hog day is coming. Okay, it is short notice as it is tomorrow and at 7:20am eastern in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the ground hog named Phil is to make his observation of the weather and indicate how soon winter will be over.
There is another version of ground hog day that is appropriate for your business. Contact your local high school to ask if they participate in the 'school version' of ground hog day.
For this event, a student or several students, who are interested in what you do are invited to shadow you at work to see what it is like to be a part of your profession.
Yes, you could get some publicity from this through the local media as well as the social media. I also know of a business owner that had a high school student shadow them, and that student is now an extraordinary manager for that business because of that experience.
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