In a previous post I gave my insight into a mistake business owners make when naming their business. Today’s post looks at another mistake; choosing a business name which will be first in an alphabetical listing. Think of a number between one and five, write that many “A”s followed by the work Aardvark. The more “A”s you have the closer to … Read More
I started a post a while ago planning to discuss naming your business with a thought of making suggestions about things I think work well and some that just don’t. That post is still in draft status but one thought I want to tackle now. One of the biggest mistakes a small business owner can make when naming their business … Read More
A century ago, in small towns around North America, everyone in a community knew everyone else. You also knew all of the merchants and they knew you. Merchants were responsive to the needs and wants of their community. Customers could offer feedback and merchants listened. Fast forward to today and in many ways we find ourselves in a very similar environment. With the Internet … Read More
One of my top ten favorite business books is “Customers for Life” by Dallas car dealer Carl Sewell. He’s one of the business owners I respect because he understand Retail DNA. I will refer to this book from time to time to discuss lessons for all of us in retail. For today’s post I will just share two ideas from Sewell. The first comes … Read More
The Butterfly Effect is a popular term used in discussions of Chaos Theory. It refers to is the seemingly insignificant actions that have a dramatic impact in systems like weather and climate. In business we often don’t look at an insignificant action and connect it to the resulting change in business. You must keep in mind that dots aren’t always connected by a … Read More
What we have here is a shot of an ad on the back of a Calgary Transit bus. It says “Faster. Easier. Cheaper.” and under that is says “Two outta three ain’t bad.” Many Calgary drivers would argue vigorously, but first a little background. The ad is for the Calgary Parking Authority which has eliminated parking meters in all zones they control and have … Read More
Today’s post is about that all important decision on the part of a retail business owner, where to hang the shingle. It’s one that has such far reaching consequences and I’ve seen struggles that have resulted in making a poor decision. Location by itself isn’t the whole issue however. The location needs to fit within the overall approach of the business. … Read More
This bus bench is located on a street that I travel from time to time. Every time I drive past I am given to contemplating the motivation behind the message. Because I stopped today to take a photo, I now have little doubt what the business owner is trying to communicate. We had a heck of a spring snow storm over … Read More
It is important in business to know what your competition is doing and anticipate how it might affect your business. A key strategy is to Zag when everyone else is Zigging. Here is one of my favorite examples. In clothing retail, most businesses concentrate on their change rooms as a vulnerable point with respect to theft. To minimize theft they … Read More