Retail Business Kit For Dummies - Softcover

Segel, Rick

 
9780470293300: Retail Business Kit For Dummies
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0470293306 ISBN 13: 9780470293300
Verlag: For Dummies, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned retail entrepreneur, Retail Business Kit For Dummies shows you how to start and run your business in today’s retail marketplace―from your original dream and the day-to-day operation to establishing a connection with customers and increasing your sales, both on the Web and at a brick-and-mortar shop.

In this practical, how-to guide, retail expert Rick Segel shares his expertise and reveals what it takes to be successful. You’ll get a handle of the basics of launching and growing your business, from writing a business plan and finding a great location to hiring and keeping great staff. Find out how to meet and exceed customer expectations, create a positive shopping experience, provide top-notch customer service, and earn customer loyalty.  Discover how to:

  • Launch a successful independent retail business
  • Create a Web site that shines
  • Connect with customers and increase sales
  • Handle legal and accounting issues
  • Design stores that really work
  • Practice the 10 keys to retail selling
  • Use management practices proven in the trenches
  • Make visual merchandising work for you

Make your new venture succeed beyond your wildest dreams with a little help from Retail Business Kit For Dummies!

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials found in the print version of this title are not included as part of eBook file.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rick Segel, CSP is an international retail expert and author of 8 books on retailing. Segel is the Online Retail Marketing Expert for Staples.com and is the creator of the highly acclaimed Retail Awards Program in Massachusetts. His weekly column is read by more than 10,000 retailers worldwide.

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Learn to:

  • Launch a successful independent retail business
  • Make your Web site shine
  • Connect with customers and increase sales
  • Simplify operations with forms and templates on CD

Get your business off the ground with a killer brand and get the sales you want!

It's a great time to be an independent retailer! Whether you're a novice or seasoned professional, this practical how-to guide shows you how to start and run your business in today's marketplace from your original dream and the day-to-day operations to establishing a connection with customers and increasing your sales, both on the Web and at a brick-and-mortar shop.

  • Get lessons from real-life experience the author shares his expertise in retail business (from his mistakes to his triumphs) and reveals what it takes to be successful
  • Master all the basics of launching and growing a retail business from writing a business plan and finding a great location to hiring and keeping great staff
  • Meet and exceed the expectations of today's consumer discover how to create positive shopping experiences, provide top-notch customer service, and earn customer loyalty
  • Spread the word without going broke find out how to differentiate your business, generate word-of-mouth advertising, and plan effective sales and promotions

Bonus CD Includes

Forms, templates, and samples to simplify your business, from managing employees and inventory to tracking financial performance, creating sales and marketing tools, and adding signage to your store

See the CD appendix for details and complete system requirements.

Open the book and find:

  • The 10 keys to retailing success
  • How to design stores that work
  • Where and how to buy merchandise
  • The best ways to make your business memorable
  • Expert tips for building your Web site and selling online
  • Advice for handling legal and accounting issues
  • In-the-trenches, proven management practices
  • A crash course in the art of selling

Aus dem Klappentext

Learn to:

  • Launch a successful independent retail business
  • Make your Web site shine
  • Connect with customers and increase sales
  • Simplify operations with forms and templates on CD

Get your business off the ground with a killer brand and get the sales you want!

It's a great time to be an independent retailer! Whether you're a novice or seasoned professional, this practical how-to guide shows you how to start and run your business in today's marketplace — from your original dream and the day-to-day operations to establishing a connection with customers and increasing your sales, both on the Web and at a brick-and-mortar shop.

  • Get lessons from real-life experience — the author shares his expertise in retail business (from his mistakes to his triumphs) and reveals what it takes to be successful
  • Master all the basics of launching and growing a retail business — from writing a business plan and finding a great location to hiring and keeping great staff
  • Meet and exceed the expectations of today's consumer — discover how to create positive shopping experiences, provide top-notch customer service, and earn customer loyalty
  • Spread the word without going broke — find out how to differentiate your business, generate word-of-mouth advertising, and plan effective sales and promotions

Bonus CD Includes

Forms, templates, and samples to simplify your business, from managing employees and inventory to tracking financial performance, creating sales and marketing tools, and adding signage to your store

See the CD appendix for details and complete system requirements.

Open the book and find:

  • The 10 keys to retailing success
  • How to design stores that work
  • Where and how to buy merchandise
  • The best ways to make your business memorable
  • Expert tips for building your Web site and selling online
  • Advice for handling legal and accounting issues
  • In-the-trenches, proven management practices
  • A crash course in the art of selling

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Retail Business Kit For Dummies

By Rick Segel

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2008 Rick Segel
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-29330-0

Chapter One

Retailing: How It Really Works and How It Can Work for You.

In This Chapter

* Exploring the dynamic nature of retail

* Getting started in the retail business

* Assessing your "retail readiness"

* Introducing strategies to guide your retail decisions

From the challenge of finding the right merchandise, to the thrill of buying it, to the excitement of unpacking it and showing everyone (especially the customers) what you bought, retailing can be one of the most exciting and exhilarating experiences you ever have.

Nevertheless, between 12 and 17 percent of all new businesses fail within the first two years. Why? Because people don't spend enough time learning about the business to find out whether it's right for them. This doesn't have to happen to you. The retail business is a wonderful business - if you're the right person for it. In this chapter, I give you an idea of what the retail business is all about so that you can decide whether retail is right for you.

Looking at Some Advantages of Starting a Retail Business Now

Is this the golden age of retail? You bet it is! Society is more accepting of change and innovation today than ever before - there are no limits to creativity where retailing is concerned. This is the greatest and most lucrative time for independent retailers to succeed than any other period in our history. That is due to the power and potential of e-commerce. The retailer's marketplace and the way we communicate with that marketplace have changed dramatically in favor of the creative merchant. No more of the "that's-the-way-we-always-do-it" mentality! In fact, this generation is used to change - it accepts it, expects it, and wants it.

Retailing is a way of life with boundless opportunities:

  •   Downtown areas are reemerging as viable places to shop.

  •   Malls and strip centers that offer competitive leases abound.

  •   States are adopting financing packages designed to help businesses get started and stay open.

  •   More merchant organizations than ever can help the new retailer compete in the marketplace.

  •   And the Internet not only offers valuable retail business information and opportunities, but it also allows you to market to and communicate with your customers at virtually no cost.

    REMEMBER

    The newest retail battle cry is "making money from the front door and back door." That means retailers today are no longer solely dependent on the traditional ways to market their businesses. We can truly create customers for life wherever they might move, so we can become less dependent on people walking through the front door.

    Today's retailing world is made up of people with many different talents, skills, and approaches. The new kids on the block don't always have the finest college education, nor do they always come from major cities of the world. (After all, even the now-mighty Wal-Mart originated in Bentonville, Arkansas.) But in the retailing world, ordinary men and women can become extraordinary. The new kids can either push the established and already successful stores to become better, or they can put those old stores out of business. Great stores (big or small) thrive, and there's plenty of room for great stores. The time is ripe for new success stories!

    Setting Up a Retail Business

    The essence of retailing is buying something and reselling it for a profit. What you sell, where you sell it, how you price and display it, and who you sell it to are all factors that help make retailing an extremely interesting challenge. The old retail business expression "Retail is detail" is as true today (or more so) as it was 50 years ago. And as bright new entrepreneurs enter the retail arena, each one brings a new detail to retail - a new wrinkle in the way to do business. Retailing is about creativity, and if you like change, you will love the retail business. In fact, creativity is the giant-slayer of businesses that are too set in their ways to change.

    But while retailing can be a lot of fun, if you want your business to succeed, you need to make sure that you've tightened a few serious nuts and bolts. To help you do this, here's a handy to-do list of the basic steps you must take to create a successful retail business:

    TIP

    1. Plan your business. First, develop a business plan that forces you to document every aspect of your business. (I show you how to do this in Chapter 9.) Early in the planning stage, define what kind of business you wan t to open and what's going to make you special (as I discuss in Chapter 2), what kind of merchandise you want to carry (see Chapter 7), and what type of customers you want to attract (see Chapter 4).

    You must also decide where to locate your business for optimal success (see Chapter 5) and how to design your store to make it attractive to customers (see Chapter 6). And before you get too far in your planning, make sure that you determine the structure of your business (see Chapter 9) and obtain the necessary permits and registrations (see Chapter 10).

    2. Validate your ideas. Ask everyone you know what he or she thinks about your idea for a new retail business. Show these people your business plan, but be prepared for negative feedback - even your family members or closest friends will often give you the classic, "It will never work." (Perhaps they're jealous that you're trying something they wish they could do.) No matter. You must ask their opinions - they may bring up some important points that you've overlooked.

    REMEMBER

    If anyone succeeds in talking you out of your new venture, your conviction wasn't strong enough to make it work in the first place.

    Now is the time to talk to as many professionals as possible. Contact your local state retail association and the trade show or association that services your industry. Many of these groups can refer you to people who will give you an honest opinion. Obviously, now is also the time to share your business plans with your friendly banker. Even if you don't need to borrow money, showing her your plans won't hurt. After your plans have been validated by the appropriate authorities, it's time to execute them (the plans, not the authorities!).

    3. Execute your plan. Being successful requires more than just having a great idea. Lots of people have great ideas, but not many of them know how to market and execute their plans. As the ad copy said, "It's NOT how many ideas you have, it's how many ideas you can make happen."

    4. Orchestrate your grand opening. Your next goal is to open the store. You must set two dates: one for the "soft" opening and the other for the big splash. For the soft opening, simply open the doors to your business, and whoever comes in, comes in. Taking this step gives you a chance to work out the bugs before your grand opening event that includes the ribbon-cutting, the opening party, and the grand opening sale. No matter how hard you try, preparations usually aren't complete by opening day, and opening a store that is so unready that it...

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    Verlag
    For Dummies
    Erscheinungsdatum
    2008
    Sprache
    Englisch
    ISBN 10 
    0470293306
    ISBN 13 
    9780470293300
    Einband
    Taschenbuch
    Auflage
    2
    Anzahl der Seiten
    416
    Kontakt zum Hersteller
    Wiley-VCH GmbH
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    Deutschland