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Since 1999, empowering retailers and store owners to "Turn on your financial headlights!"



The Myth of the Bottom Line

Retail business owners are conditioned from day one to have a profit and improve their bottom line. Yet, sadly, most owners aren’t sure exactly why.

What is profit? Where does it go? Why is it important? Too many myths surround these good questions.

The first thing to learn is that most retail businesses are on the accrual accounting system and, therefore, profit is not the same as cash. Your profits—instead of going directly into your pocket—are more likely to help you grow your business by paying off debt, investing in store essentials and expanding your inventory. 

Using The I. M Surviving (?!) Company as an example, let’s look at how profit is reinvested in your business. You’ll see how profit or loss affects your overall financial picture.

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

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Which Bank for You?
Which Bank for You?

Bankers - Where Are They When You Need Them?

Most retailers are constantly in and out of the debt market to finance daily operations.  Having a reliable lender is vital to your success.  Recognize that your banker - the "relationship manager" - is in fact a salesperson; the actual credit decision will be made by "the loan committee".

Your responsibility is to arm your banker to effectively present your request to the Loan Committee.  And that demands that you "speak their language". Especially in today's economy, the need to speak "Conversational Banker-ese" is greater than ever.

Plus, consider carefully the pro's and cons of different types of financial partner you might approach. Let's start with an overview. 

  Advantages Disadvantages
Traditional
Banks
  • Stability
  • Array of financial services
  • Many to choose from
  • Competitive pricing
  • Lack of retail industry experience or focus
  • Often slow to respond; impersonal
  • Less interested in smaller transactions
  • Generally available only to profitable companies
Private Equity Funds
  • Provide "hands on" value/added expertise
  • Generally well-capitalized
  • May provide access to industry and management expertise
  • Provide "hands on" value/added expertise (Yes, it's the good news/bad news thing!)
  • Strict investment criteria
  • Equity ownership required
  • Required returns often 25% +
  • Require track record of a proven concept
Asset-Based Lenders
  • Nontraditional transactions
  • Fewer financial covenants
  • Industry focused
  • Rigid documentation standards
  • Higher transaction costs
  • Onerous reporting
  • Traditionally perceived as lending only to troubled companies

The Institute's Owner's Dashboard
The Institute's Owner's Dashboard

Focus on Your Financial Strength 

Use The Institute's Owner's Dashboard Trend Form to track your progress. It's a simple - yet powerful! - three-step process:

Step 1: Enter LY results for five key ratios

Step 2: Enter This Year's Targets

Step 3: Each month (no later than the 10th of the month!) enter YTD results

Immediately see whether - and if so, where - you need to make adjustments now to achieve the results you want. "Lead time" is one of your most valuable assets.  Use our Owner's Dashboard Trend Form  to put time on your side.

(Need more info on these ratios, how to calculate them, and what they mean?  See the Retail Finance Basics section here at The ROI.  And, view this online webcast from The ROI Co-Founders for more about the Owner's Dashboard. Click here to download and printout your own master copy of the Owner's Dashboard Trend Form)


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