December 2024
Volume No. 26, Issue No. 1

Birthday cake and problems

Let's start with the celebration. This issue, the 301st, of Small Business News marks the start of our 26th year of publication. We continue to enjoy having a few minutes of your time each month to share news, articles, books, and other pieces of information that can be of value to your small business. Thank you for receiving us each month.

The bulk of this month's news focuses on the idea of problems. However, it comes from two situations. The first thought we want to share is the media's overdosing regarding the closing of businesses. In recent months, we have seen chain pharmacies, auto parts stores, clothing stores, and one of the primary wholesalers for independent hardware stores close. In the case of store closings, each chain is closing hundreds of stores.

The way the media paints the picture, you would think that all retail is suffering and dying. Let's look at this with a dose of reality. The closings are being done by chain retailers who have greatly over-expanded in the past few decades. When you overdo it, there comes a point where you have to retreat because the expansion has not been profitable.

in the case of the hardware wholesaler, that wholesaler had been struggling since the 1980s; there was bad management and too much resting on their laurels (more on this in the January issue).

The other part of problems for this month's news articles comes from our recent observation of businesses. We are seeing an increase in the number of situations in which the business feels the need, (for some unknown reason) to tell the customer about their problems.

"We can't do this because of this problem that is affecting us", is a common line. And while that statement may be true, that line has become the catchphrase for everything when a business cannot or will not do something. As small business owners and individuals, we all have enough challenges and problems. Our customers do too. But, they don't need to hear about ours.

Article of the Month - The Owner's Manual

We share an experience from our business. It was the creation of a notebook containing instructions on how to perform every repetitive task in our business. Some tasks were those I did; others were those for our supervisors; and others were those that the rest of the staff took care of. The manual served as a reminder of what to do and when. And, so that there was a consistency in how the task was done, there were step by step instructions.

Article of the Month

Book of the month - Atomic Habits by James Clear

Our article of the month gives good ideas on how to take care of repetitive tasks. Our book of the month suggestion gives ideas of how to develop good habits. This book is applicable to each of us in both our personal and business lives.

If you have ever found yourself saying, "I used to do this every day, but I got out of the habit", then this could be a good book for you.

Book of the Month

Internet Tool for Your Business - Days Sales Outstanding

The tool of the month is for those businesses that have accounts receivable. December is a good time to review how well you are doing at collecting those receivables. The "days sales outstanding" looks at the amount of receivables you currently have and compares that to your average daily sales or revenue. Remember that the amount of money in your accounts receivable could be money sitting in your checking account.

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 -
The Why and Repetition of Giving

We remember a December trip several years ago to visit with an owner who had multiple locations of a retail business. As we drove around with the owner visiting his stores, he told me about the plans for the company dinner that I was going to speak at that night.

This owner had a tradition of handing envelopes with checks to each employee. Every manager received a check for $14,000; each assistant manager's check was for $9,000; and similar progressions for each of the various employee job positions.

The money is nice, but it could have been handled differently. I asked if he thought his managers had been out spending their anticipated check as they knew how much and when they would receive it. The missed opportunity is that no employee could answer these questions; What can I do to earn a bigger check? What did I do to earn this amount?

I asked this owner if he had ever watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. He had. My comment was that the movie was a comedy; his business should not be.

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.