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What? Amazon is a river? Some things just make you wonder about businesses and the people within those businesses. This fall, I spoke at a trade show at which the attendees were all independent owners. As a means to keep the owners on the trade show floor, the producers of the show were having hourly raffles. As I was setting up to make my first presentation of the day, over the loudspeakers, I heard this comment: "Our first winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card". Really? The attendees at this trade show compete against Amazon, and the trade show is giving away gift cards to Amazon? At a Main Street community, there was a Saturday event for the public, also with prizes for the public throughout the day. The big prize at the end of the day was a $100 Visa gift card. When the winner was announced, the MC asked the winner what they were going to do. The immediate answer was, "I am going to spend this at Walmart". Oh, well. The Main Street people told me that next year, they would award gift cards to the businesses on Main Street. Good idea. But these incidents do make me wonder. At this rate, someday we are going to have children who ask why a river in South America was named after Amazon, the business. Article of the Month - The closing line of this month's article asks a question about the cream floating to the top and whether the cream is profit or problems. The emphasis of the article is asking the question as to whether you are delegating certain responsibilities or if you are trying to do everything yourself as the manager or owner. Too often, we hear the comment that the owner will delegate when the business gets bigger. What they do not understand is that it is the delegation that allows the business to get bigger. Book of the month - Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", is a very special book. I know of multiple individuals who make a point to keep a copy on their shelf at home or work, and reread the book every so often. This book is a masterpiece. If you have employees and/or customers, this book can provide insight to help you become a better owner/manager in your small business. Internet Tool for Your Business - Markdown planning Even a couple of weeks before Halloween, I saw an advertisement for Hobby Lobby telling of Christmas merchandise being on sale for 50% off. Several years ago, we had a guest on our Small Business Conversations podcast who had worked for several years for Yankee Candle. During our conversation before the podcast started, the guest shared a comment about an internal conversation at Yankee Candle in which an employee asked if any customer had ever paid full price for one of their candles. There is a lesson in both of these scenarios. Most small businesses handle markdowns from a perspective that is different than our two examples. Most small businesses handle markdowns as an "end of season" requirement to move out remaining merchandise. These two example businesses, Hobby Lobby and Yankee Candle, are among many sizable businesses that plan their markdowns as they order their merchandise. We have created a free online calculator that can help you learn how these businesses create their planned markdowns. And in doing so, you can find increased margins and increased profits. 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 requires 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 - Your employees giving recommendations Walking into a wine shop recently, I noticed suggestion cards on various products. What made the cards special was their being written by employees whose photo was on the card. It made me want to take a second look at their selection, as well as pay attention to the employees that I might see the employee who made the suggestion. What if your business did this? If you are brick and mortar, it could work with items in your store. If you are service-oriented, you could do it in your social media. Whatever your type of small business, you could do it in your advertising. Think about what this would say to your employees! It means their opinion is respected. It could mean that customers would ask to speak to your employees based on their prior experiences. Remember that recognition and being appreciated have been shown to be more important than money to employees. 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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MARCH 2026
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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
Every time I see the logo for Target stores, I think about small businesses and the need to know which people to target as their customers. Of course, of most importance is the person who has spent any money with your business.
I ask businesses if they know how much the average person spends with their business. Most offer a quick response with a dollar amount. That answer is incorrect as they are telling me what the average existing customer is spending. The average person in any community spends no money with that small business.
Looking for new customers without any plan of how to do so is just spending money. That is why every small business needs to know how to find and use information. Find ideas in the March Small Business Advisory.
Small Business
Employee retention; is it important? Or is it easier to lose an employee and wait for the next applicant to walk in the door? The Small Business News for March shares some statistics of the expense you incur when you make the change instead of working to retain a current employee.
It is baseball season and we use the sport as an explanation of the cost of growing your business. In Boston's Fenway Park, left field has a wall that is know as the green monster.
And that is what growing your business is - a monster! You can't successfully grow your business without a plan and knowing you will have the cash on hand to pay for the growth.
Are you selling something or persuading the customer? With your employees are you repeatedly telling that employee or are you persuading them to excel?
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Ciaidini is our suggested book for March 2026. Most definitely an appropriate read.
All this plus the Internet Tool for Your Business and a staff incentive idea for your business.
