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Article of the Month |
Eliminating Crisis Management
by
Tom Shay
"I cannot get everything done that I need to get done".
Sound familiar to you? Unfortunately it is true for many of us. One of the primary reasons for this occurring is our inability to separate the responsibility of 'owner' from 'manager' or 'worker'.
Allow me to invite you to read the article of the month for May to see some ideas that may be of help to you in finding ways to get in control of the situation and your business.
Click on Article of the Month to read this article. |
Book of the Month |
Generational Insight
by Cam Marston
I can do without this book. It is my business; do what I say and that should end the conversation.
OK. While that might be what you want to say, reality is that such an attitude is not going to work. One of the biggest challenges is that of multiple generations working in the business. They do not have to be family members. It is just a challenge of having representatives of the various generations attempting to work together.
Several years ago I had the opportunity of doing a North American tour with this author. He knows what he is talking about and I suggest this book to give you some ideas of how to deal with those that are not of the same age range as you.
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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National Small Business Day is May 10
Of course we should all be proud of what we do; it is the small businesses that give the unique flavor to a community. Imagine a cup of coffee if all of the coffee came from Starbucks or Tim Horton's. No variety; no local brews; no local atmosphere to the place. The same is true for any meal you would have, the clothes you wear, your car being repaired, the place you purchase pet supplies, or anything you might possibly need or want.
Small businesses are essential for each of us. Think of small businesses as being like the birds outside your home. What would it be like if all the birds sang the same song? Pretty boring.
Celebrate who you are and what you do within your community.
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We are going free for the e-ret@iler conversations conference calls starting in May. We are going to try a service that will allow you to call in to a toll free number. As I write this today, we will have the toll free number available for US and Canadian callers. Between those two we should have the vast majority of participants for our conference calls.
The May conference call is going to be a 'test' in which I will be asking you about multiple components of your business. I will be sharing some suggested reading on each of these components and then I will be inviting you to grade yourself on just how good a business you have.
The idea is that by starting now, you can get a head start on having your business headed in the right direction for 2012.
If you have missed any of our previous conference calls, here is a link to where you can listen to them or download them.
E-ret@iler conversations
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Looking ahead to the summer, we have decided to expand the National Independent Retailers Week that we created several years ago.
It will now be Independent Retailers Month and will be for the entire month of July. Look for a new website, new logo, and some new ways you can help to promote the event in your community. Let me invite you to become a part of this event by contacting the elected leaders in your community and asking them to issue proclamations for the observation of Independent Retailers Month. The new website will be www.indieretailermonth.comand will be live in the next week. For those of you in the Twitter world, we will be using a hashtag of #indieretail
| Internet Tip of The Month |
Business evaluation form
This tool fits along with the e-ret@iler conversations conference call for May. Let me invite you to download this pdf and use it as a way to help you determine the 'SWOT' for your business. SWOT is the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is one of the many free tools we have on the Profits Plus website designed to help you make more money.
Business evaluation form
| The Power Promoting Idea of the Month |
Educate your customers
No argument that customers today are much more educated about the products and services we offer. You can either let this work against you or have it work for you.
Yesterday I did a magazine interview. In the interview I mentioned the need to understand what you sold as well as what the competition sold. The example I gave was that of a GPS. A manufacturer could have a model number that is sold in many retailers. However, the model number is followed by a series of letters which denote different features. Hence, not every retailer is selling the same GPS.
If you are going to be asked to explain what you sell and the price of your product or service, you likely have to know what the competition is selling as well.
Another way of making this work for you is to find product reviews in consumer magazines. Cut out the article and put it in a plexiglas picture frame near the product. This helps your customer to quickly learn more about the item and allows you the opportunity to explain the differences to that customer.
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