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22nd year of Independent Retailer Month
Independent Retailer Month was created in 2003 as a means to show how easily you could create your own event. After all, you see on social media and hear radio announcers talk about the various things to celebrate each day. We told of how you name your event and where to register your event so that you could have something to celebrate with your customers. We created Independent Retailer Month as an example. In these 22 years, it has grown with interest in all types of retailers. We are thrilled that it has been copied by individuals in other countries and duplicated by AMIBA (American Independent Business Association) with their Independents Month which started recently. When you visit the website, indieretailermonth.com which was recently redesigned by Bob Gray, you will see that we take a different approach to promoting independent retailers. There is too much of trying to shame people into doing business with independent retailers. If you are on social media, we expect you have seen the memes about a person's responsibility to shop locally because of the kid's baseball team. The same goes for the, "Buy local or bye local" meme. Instead, the Independent Retailer Month website informs retailers about the many advantages independent retailers bring to a community. There is a new section on the website with statistics on customers' shopping preferences with an independent. That being said, people are not going to be loyal to your business just because you are an independent. You have to put forth a lot of effort with each customer who walks through your doors or calls your business. We experienced this last week. One business made a point to engage customers in conversation. The other says, "Let me know if I can help you?" Guess which was the one where money was spent. Guess which one we now follow on social media. One last point. Most pictures of people and businesses on the Independent Retailer Month website were purchased from photo services. We would rather have photos of your business and your staff. We would love to feature you. Please send us your photos and let us tell the world about your business. Article of the Month - Are you doing what you say? In small business, there are several thoughts about the biggest lie. "The check is in the mail", is one of the top lies; another is, "I am from the government and am here to help you." A third one is often said, but unfortunately is about us as small business owners; "We give great customer service." If that were true, social media would have many more compliments about businesses and Yelp would be full of glowing reports. The article of the month, "Are you doing what you say?" shares tips on how every small business can make this a more truthful statement. Book of the month - The $100 startup This morning as we were writing the June issue of Small Business News, we received a call from a friend who wanted to discuss her business. Over the past few years as the two of us have spoken, it has been easy to see the challenges this friend has had with personnel. With today's visit, we heard from our friend about an employee who wanted to leave to start their own business. The $100 startup by Chris Guillebeau would be one of our suggested readings. Not to discourage or encourage the employee to leave; instead, to give insights how the opportunities and challenges to be experienced with starting your own business. And for those who have been in business a long time, there can be tips on things to add or change. Internet Tool for Your Business - Cashflow planning with accrual accounting It is essential that every small business have a monthly income statement and balance sheet. Between these two items, the business owner can see the financial stability of the business, along with the details of what happened in the business during each month. Looking at the details, an owner can see what needs attention for improvement. As important as both of these items are, we believe the most important document a small business should have is a projection of their cashflow needs. The Internet Tool we offer for June 2024 is an accrual basis cashflow chart. The cashflow chart is going to estimate for a business owner how much money will be in the checking account for each of the next twelve months. The cashflow chart also gives estimates of inventory on hand for those businesses that have inventory. When you visit the link below, it will take you to two downloadable cashflow templates. One is cash basis and the other is accrual basis. Here is a brief explanation. With cash basis accounting an income is reported when the payment is made and the expense is reported when the expense is actually paid. Accrual basis looks a bit deeper at when things occur. Our example is the expense of property taxes for your business. You get the statement that reflects the entire year of property taxes. However, the taxes occurred in 12 months. With accrual basis accounting, you report the expense as it occurs; not when the invoice arrives. We have found accrual statements give a better view of a business each month. Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scenes, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information. Staff Incentive for Your Business - Do you have an idea? We recently binge-watched an old series in which an underlying theme was a lack of input from members of the staff. It got us thinking about your business. Do all of the good ideas in your business come from the top? Or are there aspects of your business that you can say were the idea of one of your employees? I bet that employee is pretty proud of what they helped to create or change. Some employees will openly share their ideas while others require prompting and being asked to engage. Your job is getting engagement from everyone. With each employee you hired, you did so because you thought they were smart enough to do the job; make sure you put them in opportunities to show you how smart they are. 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.
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DECEMBER 2024
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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.
Small Business
Whose job is this, anyway? Have you heard that before? The December Small Business Article of the Month offers ideas from those who have found solutions.
Small Business
Past our announcement that the December newsletter starts our 26th year, we are discussing what is and what is not a problem.
Starting with, all these announced closings of retail operations is not a problem indicative of retail. It is an indicator of chain stores trying to correct the problems they previously made.
We came across a solution of tasks not getting done as well as tasks not done correctly. We created an owner's manual for our business. Details in the Article of the Month.
Atomic Habits by James Clear. Have you ever caught yourself saying that you had gotten out of the habit of doing something? Perhaps it is something you need to continue to do? This book can be applicable to personal and business life.
