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A lack of thinking or too much instruction?
We recently returned a rental car at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. There was no one present to check in the car and give a receipt. Walking to the booth in the garage when we initially picked up the car, there was the kind of sign stores often put outside their door each morning. The sign said to enter the booth to return the key and get a receipt. In the booth was an employee being occupied by their phone. Placing the keys on the counter and asking for the receipt, we were told to put the keys back in the car and check our email. When pointing out the sign, the response was, "Yeah, they don't do that anymore". This was a sign that with a minimal amount of effort could have been picked up and put in a storage area. Instead, the car rental company left an outdated message for all customers to see. This was not likely the first time this employee experienced a similar situation. Hence, the title of the article. Was this a situation of a lack of thinking on the employee's part? Or was the instructions from the supervisor specific as to sit there and hand car keys to customers? We see it most every day. We joke about it when some employee tells you a purchase is a certain amount and after they enter the amount tendered you attempt to hand them some coins. These situations are not exclusive to entry-level jobs. And while we see it most every day, do our customers see it with our businesses? Article of the Month - Using tools wisely Yes, I know the old saying about the most valuable asset in any small business is the employees. There is much truth to that. However, there is an important asset that its usage is often overlooked - cash. Over the years I have met too many small business owners who think that paying cash for everything; never borrowing money; and never owing money to anyone is the ideal situation. Consider the cost of borrowing money from a bank or other lender. Consider the offering of preseason booking merchandise. Then look at your business using our free online "Return on Investment" calculator. Let's create a simple example. Someone is willing to lend your business $20,000 at 8% interest. When you use the calculator we just mentioned, you find your business produces a ROI of 27%. Why wouldn't you borrow the money at 8% if you could have it produce 27% for you? There is one important detail. You can find someone to loan you money if you are growing your business. It is unlikely you will find someone to loan you money if the funds are used to pay current bills or get your business out of trouble. Why is this so? I think the reason is that they don't want to loan you money when you can't show you know how to profitably operate your business. Book of the month - Start your own business by Lesonsky In a recent conversation, an old adage of business crept in; Do you have five years of experience? Or do you have five first-year experiences? Business is an ongoing lesson. We had one in which we rewrote a section of a book during a rewrite because of a lesson we learned about planning a startup corporation. What was being shared could, and should, be utilized by a small business. The book for August 2024 is, "Start your own business", by Rieva Lesonsky. There are many lessons in many situations, magazine articles, and books. Perhaps the adage of, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". The teacher just may be a book. Internet Tool for Your Business - Cost of goods sold We have a friend who has a problem with their business. The unfortunate challenge is that while we have told them about the challenge we have not been able to get them to understand the importance of a solution. Their problem is their point of sale system. In a rush to get to other things in their business, they have taken shortcuts in adding new items to their inventory. In addition to some items showing no cost, there are items showing a cost that is below the actual cost. This leads to showing more gross and net profit than there really is. That may look good on paper, but it also means that unless the accountant catches it (which they haven't) the business is paying more in income taxes than they should. The owner is currently on a drive to make more profit. They think the way to do so is to increase sales. The reality is they will have more profit when they correct these errors and pay less income tax. Another error frequently occurs with "cost of goods sold". That is thinking that "cost of goods sold" is the total of what you have paid for inventory. Simply totaling the amount you have paid for inventory is going to give the wrong answer. And with this wrong answer you could be overpaying or underpaying income tax. Definitely you are not paying the correct income tax. Take a look at our Internet Tool for Your Business. In addition to doing the calculation with your information, it will show you how to properly do the calculation. 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 scene, 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. Internet Tool for Your Business Staff Incentive for Your Business - Could your employees give some suggestions to customers? We have noticed in wine shops the use of cards placed on a shelf with a review of a particular wine by employees. Having these cards says several things to customers and your employees. It says you think enough of your employees that you are sharing their thoughts with customers. It implies that your employees have been with you for a sizable amount of time. It says your employees are knowledgeable. We can expect a customer is going to seek out the employees to ask additional questions. And it is a great way to tell employees you appreciate them. It works in wine shops. It could work in all kinds of small businesses. There is minimal cost but a tremendous potential upside. As shown in the first part of this month's Small Business News, it could distinguish your business from many. 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.
