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Perhaps you saw that recent article* in The Wall Street Journal. As Ruth Simon reported, "The cost pressures squeezing small businesses – and their need to pass along those higher charges – help explain why inflation has been so stubborn."
According to that article, these inflationary pressures represent a new kind of challenge for those SMB owners.
Of course, this is not exactly news for retailers. In retail, change is the name in the game.
Most knew that coming out of the pandemic, we would not be “getting back to normal.” Owners readied themselves and their businesses to deal with the “new normal.”
But, the problem is, there’s no one “new normal.”
Plus, each potential “new normal” doesn’t stick around very long. Challenging times indeed.
We have no magic solutions. But here’s a question that might help you get started: “How do we put the fun back into the business?” Pursuing the answers to that can be re-energizing.
These challenging economic times are a reminder to us of why we initially launched The Retail Owners Institute, and continue to build it with your support. The best defense is smarter owners.
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* Small Businesses Pass Along Inflation’s Steady Pain. Ruth Simon, The Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2024
** Nationwide survey of 1.259 small business owners taken April 15-20, 2024. Source: Goldman Sachs
Let's assume your stores have been closed for weeks now.
We recognize how conscientious you are. So, after paying what you can to your employees (and yourself), the next most-worrisome dilemma is your rent.
As you likely have discovered, a common choice for many landlords is to offer to defer your payments. But that means taking on more debt, as those payments are only being postponed to a later point in time. You need a better solution than that.
As your stores are able to re-open after the coronavirus shutdowns, how they look tells a powerful story. And for you, a great opportunity. This is no time to try to go back to normal, back to business-as-usual. Nor to simply have all kinds of protective shields in your store. While necessary, how welcoming is that? Instead, this actually IS a second chance to make a good first impression! Take full advantage!
There's a very important annual job for you, the owner, and all of your senior staff. It's vital, and it involves your presence. The pressures are mounting on your stores, and in particular, your front line staff.
This is, after all, The Retail OWNERS Institute. We long have specialized in alerting, coaxing, and applauding retail owners worldwide. Today's message is a major heads-up. Keeping pace with the relentless changes in retailing has never been easy. Retailers know that constant adjustments are demanded. Then, the three pandemics of 2020 happened: COVID; the economic meltdown; the social unrest. And life changed modestly or enormously for almost everyone, including owners of retail businesses.
What is the definition of "value" for customers? Pretty straightforward, actually.
Wait. What? "Benefits received?" "Burdens endured?" Turns out, the only single answer to "What is value?" is, "It depends." Don't just roll your eyes. What constitutes value for your customers increasingly is a make-or-break part of retailing.
The Retail Owners Institute® makes it easy for you to get a quick financial health assessment of your own stores, as well as the retail industry, and every vertical within it. From farm stores to apparel stores, wine stores to tire dealers, gift shops to convenience stores; all 45 verticals. Here's how to get started.
Quite a picture, isn't it? Which ratios are trending up? Down? Any suggest some shaky times ahead? Any surprises? But most importantly, how will yours compare?
Incredible value! 👀
Start NOW!