CASHFLOW IS ALL IMPORTANT!!
Many business owners are flying blind and hoping for good fortune. The fact is success seldom happens by luck. It takes a lot of effort to build up a process where your Cashflow leads to a profitable business. MARKETINGWhy is marketing crucial? It creates Sales, from which you get Cashflow.It connects you WITH your customers. One of the most important parts of your business enterprise are your customers. Without customers you don’t have a business -- you have a hobby. To succeed in business you MUST have paying customers and positive cash flow. A strong well planned marketing strategy should be in place. Often times it may not be obvious how to market to your customer, so and you may need to be innovative do some extra research. Finding these unique and personalized Marketing methods is what I call
Entrepreneurial Jujitsu.
• When times are tough you should promote more, not less. Actually, you should never stop promoting.
MERCHANDISINGYou need inventory to have sales, but it is important not to load up too much in one area until you see how fast it moves. Re-order often!Don’t fill-up your back storage room with inventory that ties up your cash. Keep yourself nimble and able to adapt to your customer base. Right now its important to make your money stretch. Start small in areas of your inventory. Get early success; prove to yourself what works, then re-invest. This keeps your cashflow moving! If the initial 20 items in your order aren’t selling well – dump it! Mark it down; even if hurts! Don’t resist this, thinking you need to make a certain margin. Move it! Take the Mark down. Acting fast frees up your money to buy something else. When a hot item is dead -- Its Dead! Move it out of your highest profile place in the store and put something else there.
MANAGE AND ANTICIPATE RISKSReact quickly to negative trends. A good relationship with your employees will also help you recognize negative trends more quickly. Listen to them so you can react in a timely manner to problems. Your employees are on the front lines and often see problems before owners. Communicate well with them.Anticipate what ifs? Including the weather!
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