December 2010 Newsletter

HAVE YOU PLANNED FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2011?
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The new calendar year is just weeks away and with it comes the time for New Year’s Resolutions in our personal lives and goal setting for businesses. If your business has a December or January year end, make time to plan for next year. Studies have shown that successful businesses make realistic, achievable and concrete (that means written down) goals. Any change requires careful thought: what exactly is the goal, and even more importantly, how will that goal be achieved?

While “lose 20 pounds” may be a personal goal, a good plan must consider the steps necessary for success What do you need to know to plan? For weight loss, you need to know how many calories you burn in a normal day, how many you take in (eat) and how many to cut daily or burn in additional exercise (or some combination of the two).

Goal setting for your business is much the same. You need a well defined goal with the steps outlined to achieve that goal. Instead of saying that you want to be more profitable this year, plan to increase Net Profit by 2 percentage points. Then, once you have defined what you want to accomplish you can determine how to accomplish your goal.

For example, if you want to increase Net Profit by 2 percentage points there are a number of ways to do this. You can reduce expenses, leaving everything else the same as it is this year. You can increase sales, leaving everything else the same. You can increase Gross Profit by increasing Initial Markup and reducing markdowns. You can reduce Operating Expenses. Or, you can do a combination of these. (See the box below for an example.)

	Last Year Actual		This Year Plan #1		This Year Plan #2		This Year Plan #3
	Dollar	%	Dollar	%	Dollar	%	Dollar	%
Sales	$800,000	100	$800,000	100	$840,000	100	$800,000	100
Gross Profit	336,000	42	336,000	42	352,800	42	352,000	44
Operating Expense	328,000	41	312,000	39	328,000	39	328,000	41

Net Profit	8,000	1	24,000	3	24,000	3	24,000	3

			Reduce Expenses by 2%		Increase Sales by 5%		Increase GP% by 2%

If you are looking for some more ideas for making detailed plans to help you achieve your goals, we have several excellent articles posted on our website.

If you doubt the need to make time to plan here are the words of a few successful people from history:

* ”A goal without a plan is just a wish.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery),

* “He who fails to plan, plans to fail”: (Anonymous)

* “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” (Tom Landry).

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2011 4-5-4 CALENDAR IS NOW READY
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We now have copies of the 2011 4-5-4 Retail Accounting Calendar available. The calendars are printed on cardstock and have 2011 on once side and 2010, 2011 and 2012 side by side on the back. To request a copy, or several, for your store just email us with your request being sure to include your name, store name and address. (If you are outside the United States, we will be happy to send you the 4-5-4 Calendar via email in .pdf format.)

This is the calendar the major retail chains all use to report their sales. It is recognized by state governments for reporting sales taxes. I know this may not be "the way it has always been done" and I know that "you have been doing just fine" using the regular calendar; however, once you change I think you will be glad you did. Try it. If you do not like it, you can always change back to the regular calendar before the end of the year and the IRS will never know.

PEER GROUPS
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Belonging to a Peer Group is a gift you give yourself! It can be difficult to open yourself up to others but it is necessary!! You will come away with new ideas to try out at your store to build your business and make more money. We offer 4 different levels of groups to fit your needs. To check them out or join one, go to our web site at http://the-retail-advisor.com. Click on “Peer Groups.”

KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES HONEST
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Studies have shown that 48% of employees steal from their employer. Don’t let dishonest employees walk out with your profits. Make sure you have in place the internal controls needed to help prevent employee theft. For more information visit us on the web at http://the-retail-advisor.com. Click on “Keep Your Staff Honest”.

DO YOU HAVE A WEB SITE?
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According to Discover Small Business Watch, 47 percent of consumers surveyed say they are more likely to use a small business that has a Web site. Despite the fact that so many customers put stock in a Web site, 45 percent of small businesses don't have one. If you are not on the web, you are invisible to these people! You can not afford to be invisible to a large portion of the population. For information about our web site development service, priced for the independent retailer, click on the following link: http://the-retail-advisor.com/website-service.html.

BUDGET PREPARATION AND CASH FLOW PROJECTION SERVICE
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Studies have shown that those who prepare a detailed plan for their business are almost twice as likely to reach their goals. If you would like help with this important project, call 877-206-1299 or click here today.

RETAIL JOB DESCRIPTIONS
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The best way to find the right employee for a position and make sure they are successful is to have a detailed job description you can use as your guide for both hiring and training. For information on our very detailed job descriptions in WORD format that can be easily customized by you to fit your store, visit us on the web at the-retail-advisor.com and click on the "Job Descriptions" icon.

WHAT WE DO . . .
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o Monthly Open-To-Buy Service
o  Open-To-Buy Implementation on Your System (if available)
o  Merchandise Performance Evaluation
o  Shrinkage Control
o  Development of Incentive Plans
o  Development of Job Descriptions
o  Seminars On Retail Subjects
o  Financial Analysis
o  Financial Budgeting and Cash Flow Projections
o  Computer/POS System Evaluation, Selection, Usage
o  Policy and Procedure Development
o  Lead Tele-SWAP Groups (Share With A Peer)