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Patricia M. Johnson & Richard F. Outcalt
Retail Strategists and Retail Turnaround Experts
Co-Founders, The Retail Owners Institute® • Business Strata:G®
On April 5, the National Retail Federation, “the world’s largest retail trade association,” felt compelled to explain “Five Things To Know About Tariffs.”
Among the first things they explain is who actually pays the tariff.
What is a tariff?
“Tariffs are a tax on goods imported into the United States and are paid for by the U.S. importer.”
“When tariffs are enacted, retailers are forced to choose between raising their prices or relying on already slim profit margins to absorb the increased cost of inventory.”
“Many small retailers are indirect importers and rely on other companies to import the products that they sell. These indirect importers [that is, small retailers] have even less ability to shift their supply chains to mitigate tariff costs.”
This sums up pretty well the challenges retailers are living with. At a time when consumers already are holding back on spending, or shifting to lower-priced alternatives, the on-again-off-again tariffs are wreaking havoc for retailers.
But wait. There’s more! “Consumer Sentiment Tanks in April on Recession Fears” headlines an April 11 article reported by Harriet Torry in The Wall Street Journal. **
“A closely watched index of consumer sentiment nosedived to 50.8 in April from 57 last month, continuing a recent downward trend stoked by concerns about trade, jobs and inflation.”
“The preliminary reading from a survey by the University of Michigan is one of the weakest readings of the past decade.”
Consumer confidence is a leading indicator for retailers about the financial prospects going forward. Starting to seem pretty grim, isn’t it?
Now is definitely the time to move beyond hand wringing. It’s time to craft your financial survival plan! And The ROI has the tools and resources you need.
Some might call it “financial literacy.” We call it a retailer’s bias for action and survival! The key: start now. Don’t be distracted by all the outside turbulence. Focus on those things in your business that you can control. “Knowledge Is Power!”
Financing isn’t just about getting a loan; it’s about showing you can pay it back.
Proven to help you deal with those issues most likely to keep you awake at night, this section equips you to build financial strength, secure financing, and make informed decisions. Here are the resources to choose from:
How "Bankable" Is Your Retail Business?
Retailer's Guide to Savvy Borrowing
What to Include in a Loan Proposal
Capital Budgeting – Go or No-Go?
Projecting & Controlling Retail CASH FLOW
Banks Rent Money, Don't They?
Glossary of Retail Financial Terms
Integrated 3-in-1 Cash Flow Calculator
Bank & Vendor Negotiations - A Piece of Cake!
Forecast your Balance Sheet with the Nine-Stepper
This is just one of the collections of financially-empowering resources at The Retail Owners Institute. Go here to find out more about all that ROI Members can access.
WEBINAR Of The WEEK
Whether you are dealing with your current lender or a prospective new one, and whether you are coming from a strong track record or a weak one, there are steps you can take to negotiate from strength.
This lively, comprehensive, and insightful Webinar of the Week with Pat Johnson and Dick Outcalt, Co-Founders of The Retail Owners Institute®, covers a lot of ground.
And, it provides proven strategic advice on these kinds of negotiations.
After they review some fundamentals – where bankers are coming from; speaking "banker-ese"; the "5 C's" of creditworthiness – Pat and Dick introduce some more advanced concepts and strategic approaches for retailers, available only from The ROI.
How to negotiate from strength with bankers or vendors - even when you're not financially strong!
How to project - and present - your business plans to make your case.
Plus, they demonstrate using the online KEY RATIOS Calculator and Retailer's 3-in-1 INTEGRATED Cash Flow Calculator.
Take advantage of free access to see for yourself how you can use this approach for your own business.
Trade Associations • Buying Groups • SBDC’s • Technology Providers • Vendors
SPONSOR their Member Access Privileges at The Retail Owners Institute.
Special Discount Savings in April
“No retailer ever filed bankruptcy because their turns were too high!”
—Michael Gould, Former CEO, Bloomingdales
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He believed that the best way to survive in retail was to focus on top line growth. And lots of inventory.
He believed that the way to prosper was to focus on high initial mark-up, skimping on operating expenses.
She decided the best approach was to manage the inventory more expertly than her competition. “Earn ‘n turn!” was her motto.
It’s a delicate balance to achieve: commit money early to large quantities of merchandise, and possibly end up with too much. Or, commit less up front, saving cash for later, and run the risk of not being able to get the goods when you need them.
And today, given the imposition of tariffs and the ensuing trade war, the degree of difficulty of achieving that balance has been heightened.
To better withstand the ever-changing winds of the economy, be like that third little pig; the one with the store built of bricks and her “Earn ‘n turn!” motto.
Focus on improving the "return on investment" of your largest investment, your inventory.
Find out how in GMROI: The #1 Measure Of Inventory Productivity in The ROI's Library For Owners.
You've seen them, right? You may be using one yourself.
The typical accounting package that lists expenses in alphabetical order. Advertising, then Auto Expenses, then Bank Charges, and so on.
Lines and lines of separate expense items, all detailed to the penny.
And built to satisfy the taxing authorities.
How useful is that to retail management?!
Actually, there is an easy way for busy retailers to turn all that line-item data into useful management information. And maybe find those profits that have been hiding in plain sight!
Use The ROI's Retail Expense "Bucketizer." It's online and free to use. (Plus, it makes it faster for you to take advantage of The ROI’s projecting calculators.)
The Retail Owners Institute® has been empowering retailers since 1999 to "Turn on their financial headlights!" Our tools and resources are trusted by thousands of store owners to help grow profitable, resilient businesses.