Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

How to Ensure That Your Store is Ready for Summer Shoppers

The first day of summer is fast approaching. If your small business has a physical location, then your store could be flooded with summer shoppers before you know it.

Here are some tips to ensure that your store is ready for the throngs of summer shoppers.

• Remove All Old Signs, Offers And Slow Moving Products. Remove all old signs that indicate you still have slow moving, dust collecting products from the winter.

  Stock fresh new products in bright packaging with prices to match.

• Mark Down The Prices Of Your Products. Mark the original prices of the product on price tags, then cross them off and write the revised discounted prices under the original prices.

  Your customers should feel that you have implemented the special prices as part of a summer sale. Keep fonts bold and large, so that shoppers can read them from afar.

• Make A Summer Theme. Your store display can be done up in a summer theme. You can also use neon lights and fake sand to make your display attractive.

  Some stores use live mannequins and this is something that you should consider. Proper lighting is necessary so that your key products and their prices are highlighted.

  Merge the summer theme with the products that you are trying to sell.

• Avoid Clutter. Do not clutter up your store display since the point of your theme will get buried under that clutter. Keep your theme simple and clear so that shoppers can understand it immediately.

Use the above methods to get your ready for the summer selling season.

Tips for Dealing with an Armed Robber in Your Retail Store

Many retail store owners have the unpleasant experience of being robbed by an armed person. It is definitely a scary experience; but instead of thinking that it can’t happen to you, it’s best to be prepared.

The following tips will help you if your retail store is held up, so that you can escape with the minimum loss to health and wealth.

• Don’t Pull An ‘Arnold’. Even if your body is sculpted like Arnold, you will still be at a disadvantage if the robber has a gun and you are stuck behind the cash counter.

  Don’t try to be a hero – remain calm and do as the robber says.

• Do Not Keep Too Much Cash In The Register. You should regularly shift the cash collected in your cash register to another hidden place inside your store (preferably a hidden safe) when there are no customers present. This will limit your losses in case of a robbery.

  However, keep some amount of money in your counter so that the robber does not get the idea that you emptied the counter earlier. You can also keep marked bills as bait for the robber.

  This will be very useful when the robber is caught with the cash.

• Observe Carefully. You should observe the attire and the mannerisms of the robber so that the information can be passed on to the police when the robber is gone.

  Observe the robber’s eyes, chin or teeth. Look for any nicks, cuts or tattoos on the robber’s face and fingers. If the robber is not wearing any gloves, then observe any spot that the robber touched, so that the police can lift the fingerprints.

  Install a high resolution CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) system in your store so that the antics of any would-be thieves are recorded.

• Do Not Touch The Crime Scene Until The Police Arrive. Once the robber is gone, call the police immediately and seal off the crime scene area.

  This will enable the police to get some clues of the robber’s identity.

  If you recognize the thief as a local, do not blurt it out during the robbery, but give that information to the police instead.

Use the above tips to stay out of trouble in case of an armed robbery in your retail store. Remember, your life is more important than your cash.

How the Right Product Positioning and Pricing Can Increase Your Sales

As a small business owner, it is very important for you to position and price your products in such a way that you achieve maximum sales and profit margins.

However, there are some factors that need to be considered so that product positioning and pricing can bring about an increase in your sales.

Researching Your Market

You should conduct research in your market and find out what prices have been set by your competitors for similar products. Find out the warranty and after-sales service features offered by your competitors as well.

Next, find out what superior and inferior products cost, as compared to your products. You can now determine the strength and weakness of your product’s prices, as compared to the other products on the marketing; and can find an empty slot that you can position your product in.

This method will reduce competition, since your product will be in a position where superior quality products are priced higher and inferior quality products are priced lower.

Select Your Product Position Either by Basic or Premium Pricing

Depending on the product, you can either just add your profit to the product cost and sell it off; if the product is rare, is an artifact or is technically complex, you can add a premium to your profit margin.

This will put that product in the premium segment due to the halo effect’. For example, a Mercedes and a Suzuki Hatchback will both take you from point A to B; but in the case of Mercedes, the word ‘luxury’ adds a premium to that product – and it is therefore positioned at a different level.

You will need to add a little ‘more’ to your product if you want to position it at a higher level.