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"Am I Running This Business, or Is It Running Me?"

If you imagine your business as a ship sailing through uncharted waters, your plans are your navigational instruments. 

They remind you of the heading you have decided to follow. They keep you from drifting toward financial dangers.  And by keeping your eyes on the horizon, you’re better able to weather any stretches of rough weather or heavy waves (and avoid getting seasick, as well!)

The biggest enemies of long-range business planning? The mundane tasks you perform to keep your business afloat. While burying yourself in the daily routine of running your business, you promise yourself you’ll get to that all-important long-range planning “someday.”

Someday will never come unless you make time for it right now. Time spent setting goals is not impractical.  Long-range planning is vital to the health of your store. You can meet all kinds of bankrupt former retailers who found long-range planning “impractical.”

It all starts by identifying "What constitutes success?" Then, we show how to use your financial plans to "make the business work for you." 

©Copyright 1999-2012.  The Retail Owners Institute®.  All rights reserved.

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Steering Your Business to Success

Do you know where your business will be in 5 years? How about 3 years?  Do you know where it will be next week?

Of course, you can’t know with any certainty where your business will be at any time in the future. But you can know where you want it to be. And if you work at it, you can exert a lot greater control over your business’ future than you might think.

We find that many independent merchants resist the idea of long-range planning. But if there ever was a time when you could afford to let your business drift along the current, it’s now long past. The last few years have produced some significant changes in the market and the general economy that will affect the retail industry for months, even years, to come.

What do you want your business to achieve over the next few years? Having your goals clearly in mind enables you to (1) stock the right merchandise, (2) hire the right people and (3) attract the right customers

Think ahead a bit: what could happen to throw you off course? Then, have a Plan B ready to overcome any obstacles that threaten to keep you from achieving your goals.

It's all about working smarter, not harder! And therefore, putting the fun back into retailing!!

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Copyright 1999–2012 by The Retail Owners Institute® and Outcalt & Johnson: Retail Strategists, LLC