I ran across this from an article I wrote in early 2000’s for CNHR and felt it was worth a rerun. Look over the list, see what you do well, see where you may improve however realize what you do every day makes a difference in the lives of the people in your community! The […]
Key areas of focus to thrive are sales, profit and inventory. Sales is generally the first focus of a business for no sales no business. Often mood is determined on a day’s sales. For some it is Wall Street for others it is their own independent business. Is our stock rising or falling? Customer service, […]
Of late I’m hearing retailers having challenges maintaining let alone increasing margin! Stores across Canada are experienced a flatting out or drop in overall sales. Perhaps due to no more Dr Oz effect however whatever the case the combination of less margin and lower sales is a formula for increased stress from ownership/management down throughout […]
While shopping at my local health food store this past weekend I struck up a conversation with a fairly shy young woman about what she was demoing…when she opened up she became very animated and passionate about what she was demoing. She spoke from her heart as she described the humane treatment of the animals, […]
THE MOST IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT TO A HIGH PERFORMANCE STAFF… I read this many years ago and have looked to apply it to my job. What I have realized is clear expectations change as a business changes. In a growing business jobs overlap, new people come on board, people are promoted and usually no one has […]
In “The Bond’ by Lynne McTaggart she references a study [pg 92,93] that concluded both emotions, negative and positive are highly contagious, but positive emotions stimulate a group to be cooperative and make more positive decisions while negative emotions resulted in the opposite. It was suggested a business could make more money within a culture […]
Much has been written about the importance of maintaining hormone balance for a healthy body yet little written about the vital role it has on the health of a business. Stress and the over production of cortisol create adrenal fatigue. Many people lay awake at night worrying about work? Why is Monday morning the highest […]
I was recently at a very busy health food store and was asked ‘how do we deal with staff that does not respond when we call for more help on cash ignoring the call?’ Good question. Especially your checkout, the most vital area for customer satisfaction. All the great service a customer has before getting […]
In the early 80’s after a business partnership went sour and my attitude along with it I decided I had enough of working in the natural products business and was going to go work in the mainstream. I ended up with a manager training position with London Drugs, at that time and may still be […]
One is to increase your daily customer count and the other is to sell more to the people who shop your business. More customers and/or sell more to each person…that’s it! I often ask a business if their customer counts are growing and only a few know the answer. So here are the BIG QUESTIONS: […]
Do you ever wish your store had more retail space? Do you ever have suppliers bringing great new products yet you have no room? Do you find you have challenges paying your bills even though your business is doing better each year? If you answered yes to any or all you probably have inventory issues […]
Last month I reported on our personal whether forecast, this month let’s look at our Business Whether Conditions. The business whether is very erratic these day – whether sales will grow, whether margins will dry up, whether you can attract new customers, whether mass market will take all the business, whether govt regs will cause […]
In the book ‘From Good to Great’ J Collins makes an interesting statement: ‘People are ‘not’ your greatest asset…..the ‘right’ people are’. So if having the right people is the key to creating a successful business how do you go about finding them? Before we get into finding the right people perhaps you should begin […]
How do you differentiate your business when the same or similar products are sold everywhere? How do you maintain ‘some’ profit while discounted prices are being offered everywhere? How do you decide where to advertise with countless newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations? How does your advertising stand out when everywhere you look there seems […]
I think we, as an industry, [I have been as guilty as anyone] are devaluing our entire industry by leading with discount pricing. Recently it seems the primary way stores are advertising to consumers is based on low price. These flyers are supported by suppliers who feel it is the only option they have in […]
From my library of great books ………… This article is going to take a different slant. I read 30 minutes every day from various business books. Usually I am reading 3 or 4 at the same time. This past month I am reading “Power Retail” by Lawrence Stevenson. I suggest strongly you take the time […]
When looking to increase your business there are 3 key areas that given proper attention will result in improved service and increased sales. I suggest you review each of these with your suppliers the next time you have an appointment to see how they can assist you, also, I urge you as owners and management […]
Forget the past, forget the future and focus on now. Sounds esoteric but with the way the natural industry is going these days we need to take all our creative energies and develop a plan that will see us into the new millennium. Our industry is no longer a selling to a funky specialty market, […]