As a small business operator, personal checks may be one method to receive payment for your goods or services. As a way to receive payment, a personal check is actually better than credit cards because the fees are less and there can be no charge back. Fortunately, most people are honest and studious in taking care of their checking account. But sooner or later every small business operator will receive a bad check. The first thing to do is politely contact the individual and give them an opportunity to make the check good. Most times you’ll find that the customer has simply been careless...

What is the number one way to prevent failure in business? Take a minute to really think about your answer. What comes to mind? Increasing patients or customers served? Effective marketing? Location, location, location? Improving patient or customer care? Being the best in your industry? Although these are all essential aspects of business, the answer isn’t any of the above. The number one way to prevent business failure is to properly manage your working capital. To ensure that we’re all on the same page, working capital is simply defined as the difference between your current...

Soon after I finished a brief seminar on how to accomplish more in less time every day, Roger shook my hand and said, I can use what you said. But there is one thing you didnt talk about. It is something that drives me crazy. I cant get anything done because Im in meetings all day long. We have gone overboard on meetings. We discuss practically everything as a team before making decisions. I asked Roger for his card and I called him later that afternoon with some ideas that could help get him and his team out of their meetings trap. Dont let meetings keep you from getting your work accomplished....

The Julian calendar we use to pass the time every day, every week, every month and every year is the one most commonly used by businesses. Its general availability and familiarity make it a natural selection. However, the Julian calendar was certainly not devised with the peculiar needs of the apparel and sporting goods retailer in mind. The seasonal, holiday and special event nature of retailing makes the Julian calendar practically useless for accounting periods. An accounting calendar that ingeniously relates to the business cycles of retailing is invaluable. Our business cycles are those...

What has been your store’s shrinkage experience for the last two years? What will it be this year? If it has not been as good as it should have been, now is the time to analyze the possible causes and take steps to keep shrinkage in line this year. WHAT IS SHRINKAGE? The difference between the perpetual book inventory and the physical inventory count is called shrinkage. The book inventory is a record of what ought to be on hand in view of what has been received, what has been sold and price changes. Physical inventory count is the volume and value of all the goods actually on hand. CAUSES...

In today’s tough retail environment the retailer needs all the tools he can get to help improve efficiency, productivity, and the bottom line. Two of these tools are the company’s Policy Manual and Procedure Manual. In working with independent retailers throughout the country we have found that the majority do not have written policies and procedures. When questions or problems arise concerning the store’s policies or procedures the store owner/manager handles them on an individual basis. The problem with this approach is that it takes too much of management’s time and...