Friday, July 03, 2009

"Retailers: Turn on Your Financial Headlights!"™                                                                            ROI Site Tour

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See benchmarks - and five year trend charts! - for the six key ratios every retailer must monitor. See how your store compares.



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I'm tired of my banker - or my accountant! - intimidating me.


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Relevant Books for Retailers
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Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and...

Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality

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$17.95

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The Service Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer...

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Volunteer efforts help retailer build...

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How-To Articles for Retailers from The ROI
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Could "Owner Benefits" Be Killing Your Store?

   One of the marvelous things about owning  a store is the opportunity to indulge  yourself in buying product for your own use,  and at wholesale prices. How cool is that!  Frankly, it’s the reason a lot of  retailers get into the business in the first place. In fact, the better you are as a buyer, the greater the “indulgence factor” can be!
    Unfortunately, when the practice gets out of hand, it can destroy what would otherwise be a healthy business.  And is it ever easy to have it get out of hand!
   A high percentage of new retail operations fail within the first three years. In many cases, self-inflicted wounds like big owner discounts and/or personal expenses charged to the business are to blame.
 read more ...


The Members-Only Collection
From the Members-Only Collection for Retailers
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Managing Your Store's Most Valuable Asset: Your Front-Line Employees

No matter how well you watch cash flow, manage inventory, or make your store attractive to customers, you will lose business if you don’t work to develop your employees.  In a high-service industry like specialty-store retail, contact between the salesperson and the customer can make or break the bond between your business and your customers. read more ...

Beyond the Paycheck: Creative Compensation for Motivating Employees

As an independent retailer, you are missing a true strategic opportunity if your only employee compensation is handing them a periodic paycheck. Creative compensation, using means other than money, has proven to be a highly successful motivating force from which both management and employees will benefit.  And in many instances, thoughtful compensation plans can reduce employee turnover, which saves significant expenses of recruiting, hiring, and training of new staff. read more ...

MORE Tools & Resources in the Members-Only Collection
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 Your Bookkeeper Quit?

Learn Basic Retail Finance

No retailer really wants to pay for bookkeeping or accounting. But it's necessary for two reasons: (1) to accurately satisfy the I.R.S.; (2) to accurately show where the business has been and where it is now.

This second reason is essential for what REALLY matters: doing better in the future!

The ROI has developed The Screening Test for Retail Bookkeepers. As an ROI Member you may download a free copy of that test to use as you interview prospective bookkeepers.




 



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Retail Business Insights
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How Much Inventory?
Your inventory level at the end of each season is critical. Check your retail segment at The ROI. Find out how much inventory - based on the median turn rate - your store should have on hand at these key times. (Divide twelve months by the median turn rate: retailers with 3 turns "should" have a 4 months supply; those with 6 turns, a 2 months supply; etc.) Steer your inventory decisions - with vigor! - to that target level.


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