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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.

May 1-7 is National Small Busines Week
e-retailer logoJanuary 2016
Volume 17 Issue 4
Small business week is a whole week - they heard us


Every year at this time we bring to you a mention of small business week being in early May. We do so with a bit of sarcasm as the "week" has always been a Monday through Friday. That may be fine for those of you in a service industry, but for those who are in retail it seems a bit odd as the weekend is often the bigger sales days of the week.

Finally the Small Business Administration has heard us! May 1 through 7 is the Small Business Week for 2016.

We believe that any and all of the events that celebrate the small businesses within a community are important for us to participate in. We cannot tell the story often enough; small businesses are important to every community.

Here is a link for more information and to sign up.

National Small Business Week
Article of the Month - Never forget a customer

My mentor as a speaker was Jack Rice. Like me, he was a former retailer who found his way into the speaking industry. There was a signature story that Jack told from his days of owning an appliance store. And along with the story was his comment, "Never forget a customer; never let a customer forget you."

Let me invite you to enjoy a story with a great lesson for all of us.
Book of the Month - Knock Your Socks Off

Following up on Jack Rice and the article just mentioned, our book of the month is Knock Your Socks Off by Performance Research Associates. There are multiple books in this series with slight variations on the name, including "Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service" and "Knock Your Socks Off Selling" by Jeffrey Gittomer.
Internet Tool for Your Business - Debt to Net Worth

Ever borrow money for your business? When you do so, you likely get a loan packet in which you sign or initial thirty or more pages. The numbers about the loan, dollar amount, interest rate and length of the loan, are covered on just a couple of pages. A part of the middle pages are referred to as the loan covenants which is how you will provide information to the lender and what they can calculate from your financial statements.

One of the covenants frequently examined is the "debt to equity" ratio. In this ratio, they are comparing how much of the business you own and how much debt the business has. Follow this link for more information.
Staff Incentive for Your Business

We have previously discussed in this column that there is no one incentive that is best everyone. Today we have an idea for some fun and engagement with your staff.

When you get your staff together, ask each of them to take pen and paper to create a list of each of their co-workers' names. Next to the name, they should write what they think their coworker would like as an incentive.

Because they talk to each other during the work day, they will likely have some unique insight to each other. As you ask each person to share their list, you will likely have an entertaining conversation. You will also gain some insight to what you can use to engage 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


 

 

 

 

 

 

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©1998-2026 Profits Plus Solutions, Inc.
Tom Shay
PO Box 128
Dardanelle, AR 72834
(727)823-7205

JUNE 2026
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Small Business

AdvisoriES


Marketing talks about finding your target customer. Unfortunately, those customers are not wearing a shirt with a bullseye on them to help you make that determination. The June Small Business Advisory offers an alternative method for understanding where your customer lives.

Small Business

NewS

Top Story

It is countdown to the start of the 24th Independent Retailer Month beginning July 1. We work to promote the celebration from a different prospective; that of telling the public of the benefits they receive because they shop at a locally owned independent retailer. We also share reseach that shows the many positive feelings that consumers have about locally owned independent retailers and why they prefer to shop with you.

Article of the Month

Remeber Struther Martin in Cool Hand Luke as he said, "What we have here is a failure to communicate"?

 

We are going to apply that expression to the software you use in your business. Are you getting what you need from that software?


Book of the Month

Think of how Harley Davidson, Apple, and Campbell's Soup are perceived. Each have a very devout following. We call that cult branding. This month's book we review is, "The Power of Cult Branding", by B.J. Bueno.

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.
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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

Marketing talks about finding your target customer. Unfortunately, those customers are not wearing a shirt with a bullseye on them to help you make that determination. The June Small Business Advisory offers an alternative method for understanding where your customer lives.

Small Business

News

 

Top Story

It is countdown to the start of the 24th Independent Retailer Month beginning July 1. We work to promote the celebration from a different prospective; that of telling the public of the benefits they receive because they shop at a locally owned independent retailer. We also share reseach that shows the many positive feelings that consumers have about locally owned independent retailers and why they prefer to shop with you.


Article of the Month

Remeber Struther Martin in Cool Hand Luke as he said, "What we have here is a failure to communicate"?

 

We are going to apply that expression to the software you use in your business. Are you getting what you need from that software?


Book of the Month

Think of how Harley Davidson, Apple, and Campbell's Soup are perceived. Each have a very devout following. We call that cult branding. This month's book we review is, "The Power of Cult Branding", by B.J. Bueno.

 

All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.