This information is the sole opinion of the author and is simply intended to offer alternative points of view for the consideration of newcomers, not the experienced, profitable professionals.

Retailing Secrets

Secret #1 Retailing is a exciting, liquid art form, not a cut & dried science!

However, there are 3 objectives that are cut in stone at all times!

Objective #1. Get the money!
Objective #2. Get the money!
Objective #3. Get the money!

Your mission is to separate your customers from their money - on the spot. That means at the first opportunity, not the second or third chance that might never come. How do we do this? What's the secret?

Simple, make them an offer they can't refuse!

Retailing is a lot like baseball. All the coach is concerned about is getting all his players to first base. (He doesn't tell them to swing for the fences and try to hit a homerun).

How does this translate to retailing? Go for the quick/easy sales, go for the volume, not the high prices. A common mistake for newcomers to the business is that they think they're supposed to double or triple their cost on everything. If Sam Walton thought this way, people never would have heard of WalMart. Very few realize that if they pay $7, they're better off selling it for $12 each or 2 for $20, capturing new customers & CASH. It's easy to beat chain store competition with WMS merchandise!

Cash is king, and the retailer must convert to cash at every opportunity. Live each retailing day like it is your last! The benefits of cash flow are too numerous to mention here, but the consumer must see new merchandise everytime they come into the store. Forget about percentages, margins, and markup, and collect as many profit dollars as possible in one day - everyday!!!

Believe it or not, it's even o.k. to sell below cost when necessary. Nobody can make a profit on every item, everyday - Sears can't do it, Penny's can't do it, we can't do it, and you can't do it, but that's o.k. - it's the big picture that counts, and with a growing customer base, and making them offers they can't refuse, WMS customers can do extremely well!

Always remember, CASH IS KING! Always, always, always get the cash -- NOW!!!

Secret# 2 Look at your profit picture as a group of items coming from each supplier rather than individual items coming from that supplier.

In other words, focus on how much money you have already made on that order that came in, rather than focusing on the items that are left over and haven't sold. Sell off those remaining items at any price because at this point they are 100% profit! So if 60% of the merchandise sold itself and paid for the whole order, sell the other 40% at any price necessary to get that remaining 100% profit money in your pocket as fast as possible.

Your bank account doesn't care if the dollars in it came from merchandise sold at a profit or at cost or at below cost. Again, all we care about is collecting as many dollars as possible each and every day.

It doesn't make any difference if some items in a shipment don't sell and we actually throw them away (donate to charity and take a tax write off), as long as, WE MADE OUR PROFIT ON THE STUFF THAT DID SELL!!! ps. - you might change your mind about which suppliers are really giving the best deals!

Secret #3 The Lease Trap

How do you spell "lease"?

I spell it "L-A-W-Y-E-R-S"!

Many entreprenuers make a nice profit until they sign a lease and are then obligated by the terms of that lease. Paying rent is not recommended if your business can operate for free - out of our house, car, selling on the job, house parties, consignment, fundraises, street fairs, etc.

If rent must be paid, a month to month agreement is recommended. If a lease must be signed, get a lawyer on your team first - tell your lawyer you want some kind of an "out" clause - before you sign!

Secret #4 Taking a booth at the local fund raiser (church, school,etc) usually pays off big time! Buyers love to support the event & go there to spend money. Booths are cheap? 10% of sales or very low rent, check 'em out! When you're there, make sure to network with other exhibitors and find out about other events, street fairs, etc.

Secret #5 "I just got ripped off"! How do you handle it?

Answer - Amortize it! Always look at the big picture.

Say you lost $300 today - well that doesn't mean you're going to loose $300 every day. Take that $300 loss and decide how many more years you're going to be in business. Let's say your answer is 10 more years - well that means you're going to make $30 per year less for the next 10 years. The big picture says you loss $300 at the end of being in business 10 years later! Not bad at all now.

We already know ahead of time that we're going to have good days and bad days, so when a bad day comes along, don't let it ruin your whole day because we already knew that a bad day is going to come along now an then. Keep your personal emotions, especially fear, out of your business.

Always do the right thing in the next 5 minutes, have faith, truly believe everythings going to be ok, and sleep good at night, or, if you can't do that, consider getting out of the business.

Secret #6 - What's the single biggest reason a business will fail?

Answer - Undercapitalization. In simple words - not enough money for the scale of operation. (The second reason for failure is not enough experience, but with "enough" money behind you, most people can learn to survive.)

How much money is enough? That depends on the expenses involved. It's obvious that less money is needed for a flea market than for a retail store, but what's not so obvious?

Let's talk about a major ingredient - inventory. Does the appearance of your inventory make you look like an amateur or a pro? Customers don't like to give their money to an operation that looks like it may not be there tomorrow, instead, they're happy to give their money to a sucessful operation that will be around for many more years to come.

Translation - have the faith & the good sense to give yourself the best odds at winning, not the worst! Make a 110% commitment to yourself and absolutely jam pack your business with as much selection/inventory as you can possibly afford (even borrow) to maximize the odds of having the selection & professional appearance to make a sale!

Some people think they're being smart with minimal inventory purchases/displays, I think they're cutting their own throat! We see it all the time - minimal orders bring back minimal results! HOW COULD IT BE OTHERWISE? Put your money into inventory/bigger selection, where it can give you a return of 30% plus per week instead of letting it sit in the bank earning 2% per year! continue>>>