Business Talk

[lifewasgood]

Yea, I just delete and trash the solicitations but it is annoying at times

[kman]

I get the e-mails daily from the Chinese...You have to admire the resolve....my product is way to custom Exhausting really...Just leave me alone....sorry ..you have no business addressing me.

[smackdown]

Sadly, what the Chinese are doing is terrorism, not marketing. If we had proactive government, the JUNK filter on our e-mails would be catching that crap. One past customer of mine bit on one of those offers and purchased what he thought was 50,000 pieces of stainless steel medical equipment. They processed his payment and gave him all sorts of updates on the shipper (he was a half-trailer box on a super-freighter). When it arrived, there were 50,000 pieces of stamped product the thickness of heavy duty aluminum foil. Medical offices had already purchased a lot of it and when it got to them, the legal notice came quickly after. Apparently there is a standard in medical equipment quality ignored by the manufacturer. He was unable to get his money back but all the medical offices got theirs plus damages.

If you wonder why I keep the messages-- I try to avoid being the second-man recipient of that crap. I recognized early on that there is always some sucker who buys from them, discovers the poor quality and attempts to re-package and sell it in bulk through traditional channels. By knowing what was recently spam-marketed, I avoid the pitfall trap.

[The Virginian]

I also get at least one e-mail a week from China trying to sell me Wigs for my Web Site. I would rather go through a distributor at this point that I trust to maintain quality.

I have to pay the markup on the products but at least I have legal recourse and I can expect some quality. It is tempting to by pass the distributors but unless I have some way of ensuring quality control I'll have to pass.

That's how dollar tree has grown so big. They directly import their products straight form China, they by pass the distributors and can sell like they are a wholesaler. Of course their days are number because they have built their empire on the dollar concept. Inflation will do them in some day. People will not tolerate them selling items for $1.50.

[smackdown]

On that same order Virginian... Target can't sell basic clothing under $10 an item and E-Bay sellers listing at thrift store prices aren't doing well either. Low pricing is now synonymous with rip-off or cheap. If it wasn't true, there would be no Macy's. As it is, people will buy fewer right-priced brand-name items instead of a cart-full of crap. We have tried and true examples in food. McDonald's undermined all sorts of prices but Subway, Wendy's and Arby's are all doing fine even when the menu choices surpass the psychological $5 lunch cap budget ceiling many of us stop at. People want QUALITY and credibility.

[The Virginian]

Not looking good for us and other Retailers this year. We have seen an increse in spending the past couple of weeks. Was it just because people held back for a couple of weeks around the Hurricane we had? I don't know. Very hard times trying to figure out which direction to go for a retail business.

Most Americans expect to spend less or the same on the holidays this year compared with last year, a survey showed on Monday, an early sign that retailers will have to try harder to win shoppers in the biggest selling season of the year.

A whopping 82 percent of those surveyed by America's Research Group said they planned to spend less or the same as last year. Consumer spending accounts for almost 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

The question was one of several asked exclusively for Reuters as part of a larger America's Research Group survey.

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..More than half of those surveyed said they expected the economy to slow further before it recovers. About 51 percent said they did not feel better about their family finances versus a year earlier.

"Retailers better be worried about Christmas. If half of Americans believe it is going to be worse before it gets better, they may not be too excited about buying much this Christmas season," Britt Beemer, president of America's Research Group, said in an interview.

The holiday selling season is vital for U.S. retailers as many of them make as much as a third of their annual sales in that period.

"This is not the kind of number that retailers want to have going into November 1 or they are going to be in big trouble," Beemer said. "They are going to have to give consumers better deals earlier."

Fewer pay raises, falling home values, rising prices for food and other goods, and political gridlock in Washington are all taking a toll on Americans, Beemer said.

Story: Business economists turn pessimistic amid uncertainty
"Not that there is no hope at the end of the tunnel, but the light is very, very dim," he said.

Post-recession American shoppers are extremely sensitive to price and increasingly venturing beyond discount chains while hunting for bargains.

Advertise | AdChoicesAbout 68 percent of those surveyed said they have now started shopping at dollar stores; 42 percent said dollar stores offered better value than discounter Wal-Mart Stores In.

That is bad news for mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart, Target Corp, Family Dollar Stores Inc and Dollar General Corp.

"Anybody who is another discounter that sells commodities is vulnerable," Beemer said. "Dollar stores are attacking them at their lowest price level."

The telephone survey of 1,000 consumers was conducted September 6-8 and has an error factor of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

[The Virginian]

Well for those that are interested in Internet Sales I found out something interesting yesterday. One of my sites gets about 400 - 500 visitors per day. I couldn't figure out why that it wasn't converting to sales.

According to this Blog on Internet e-commerce sites you may need a 1000 visitors for one sale! To reach only 10 sales per day I would have to attract about 10,000 visits per day. That is a staggering number as it equates to 3,650,000 visitors per year!!!

I have another web site that I have over 200 pages on and have been adding content since 2008 and it is only up to 1 million visitors per day.

It seems I have a lot of work cut out for me to attract that many visitors to my site. The only way I can possibly see the INTERNET working is to team up with e-bay or amazon. What a bummer!

[The Virginian]

I tried with Face Book - But they insisted on showing my personal info to the public - All I want is a Business listing - Can You do that with Linked In?

[usaone]

Sept 13, 2011 11:11:57 GMT -5 The Virginian said:

Well for those that are interested in Internet Sales I found out something interesting yesterday. One of my sites gets about 400 - 500 visitors per day. I couldn't figure out why that it wasn't converting to sales.

According to this Blog on Internet e-commerce sites you may need a 1000 visitors for one sale! To reach only 10 sales per day I would have to attract about 10,000 visits per day. That is a staggering number as it equates to 3,650,000 visitors per year!!!

I have another web site that I have over 200 pages on and have been adding content since 2008 and it is only up to 1 million visitors per day.

It seems I have a lot of work cut out for me to attract that many visitors to my site. The only way I can possibly see the INTERNET working is to team up with e-bay or amazon. What a bummer!

I think it's 100 to 1.

[The Virginian]

I think it's 100 to 1.

If that were the case then I should be making 4-5 sales every day. I'm luck to get one a month right now.

[The Virginian]

do you have doggy costumes?

No - The Pet stores usually sell them but guess I could try them next year.

[The Virginian]

who will own the dog costume market a pet store...or a COSTUME STORE!!!!...with matching owner and pet costumes!!!!for a charity that helps dogs!!!!

Got You - Costumes are ordered in Jan for October so I am working on a plan for it now. I'll steal this idea and post it on our blog soon also! ;D

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

I don't want to steer the conversation here just address something.

The irony in the thin scalpels your talking about VL is glaring. Kman and I have been saying for over a year that cheap shit is out, and you have just ranted at us. The inflation is 110% killing them Mr V., paper thin margins produce paper thin products! You go through the threads on here and time and time again you're talking about the "counter cyclical" business that you're running. I've already called out your BS about being able to survive if there wasn't some kind of bailout. That's of course if you're not trying to bait FTI into saying something that can get him into shit, ya know, taking advantage of that passion that we all now and love!

Now I would like to point out; that what I can gather is that you're running some kinda of private wholesale club. Not counter cyclical AT ALL, infact, 110% reliant on this "fake" recoery. You want to know what counter cyclical looks like? I will bold and underline it for you.

Sept 8, 2011 21:50:10 GMT -5 @patstab said:

We have 7 rentals and they are full all the time. We want to buy 2 more but in my price range up to $60k they are selling like hotcakes so you have to be fast. My farm income is up so that's good, however its just a small farm.

Hubby is working overseas, work is great, money is excellent, hubby is a civil construction manager.

Son has not been out of work but a short time after leaving the military many years ago. He has a good job,but lives in S Korea, had finished his degree a few years back using VA benefits so no college debt. He had a small tavern on the side, in S Korea where he lives but the horrible flood a couple months ago washed it totally away. He said he wasn't going to reopen, it made them nice money on the side. He is a digital systems engineer.

Our investments in 401K and other items are not doing well. I bonds I bought years ago are earning from 2.6% up to 6+%, but the rentals and farm more then make up for it, so business for us is great. We never hit any slump, no UE, no loss of investments I do not invest in stocks, and neither we nor son do debt so we are in the best shape ever and getting better. But I feel for others who fell for the housing deal and pulling out equity, I preached don't do it but was laughed out. I still feel sorry for those folks though.

Great to hear that you and your family are doing great pat the !!! BTW, it seem like going out and making sure you're looked after no matter what is counter cyclical..

You see VL buying up property when everyone is telling you you're crazy is counter cyclical, just like tellin people that pulling equity was bad was counter to what the mainstream was talking about. You know about pulling equity right VL, that was YOUR business before THIS counter cyclical business right??

But like I was saying, don't want to steer this conversation about doggie style, that bit of irony with the thin Chinese scalpels was just too good to not point out!

[The Virginian]

The inflation is 110% killing them Mr V., paper thin margins produce paper thin products!

I believe 100% that Dollar Trees days are numbered. The question is who will they take out before Inflation does them in?

I remember well the old dime stores - They fell fast when the time came!

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Some k4u Mr.V on the historical reference!

I have got to say that Five Below has a chance to take them all out. It's going to be crazy when my grand kids are going to the $10 shop! ;D

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

LOL, it's got legs wxyz k4u! I gotta sleep!

[The Virginian]

One of our Suppliers just introduced a complete $1 line of goods. With people flocking to the dollar stores we are going to offer a Dollar line within our store to compete. This way there will be no need for them to shop in both places. Plus, our quality will still be better. It looks like the Depression is going to continue for years to come so this is a way for us to stay competitive - and as Inflation kicks in the Dollar stores will slowly fail.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

I'm still going with slow growth, a reinvention, just like your doing Mr. V.. Just was thinking, from research looks like 5 below is doing well also. Is there a way to do both kinds of sections?

[The Virginian]

Just was thinking, from research looks like 5 below is doing well also. Is there a way to do both kinds of sections?

5 Below is going to be "The Dollar Store" of the future so they are a little ahead of their time. I believe they are picking up speed though. I first heard of them about 7 years ago.

I guess I could adapt that concept but in reality it would be a lot of work on my part and it would probably just confuse our customers. We have a great store here that was growing at 20% every year in sales until Barrack Obama took office. Since then we are declining about 15% per year in sales.


As soon as the economy turns around ( probably another 5 years ; 2015 -2016?) I think we will take off again. I just want to survive until then. The problem with a small retail business there is no a lot of waste to trim out like a larger corporation. We are down to minimum employees and are not spending on anything that's not needed for day to day operations. That's about all I can do. I did negotiate our lease down in 2008 but the terms allowed for it to rise back to normal over a 5 year period as I thought at the time we would be out of the Economic downturn by now. I was wrong and I don't know if the Shopping Center will be willing to deal again this time around.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

That sucks about the lease, but great move in '08. Hope that can work out for ya this time.

I was thinking of it as a way to "re-organize" the store, basically making less confusing. You set it up to show people your deals, ya know? So instead of adding a $1 section, with the possibility of looking like your going low end(might be hard to get away from). What your doing is adding more selection and putting your items into easy to find sections defined by price.

The one stop shop for all your party needs and more! Now with Value Minded shopper sections!

[Value Buy]

Sept 23, 2011 9:53:45 GMT -5 The Virginian said:

One of our Suppliers just introduced a complete $1 line of goods. With people flocking to the dollar stores we are going to offer a Dollar line within our store to compete. This way there will be no need for them to shop in both places. Plus, our quality will still be better. It looks like the Depression is going to continue for years to come so this is a way for us to stay competitive - and as Inflation kicks in the Dollar stores will slowly fail.

a retail store I frequented had two entire aisles of dollar items.
People seemed to like some of the cleaning agents, and food items, but the non-food items always seemed to collect dust, or were broken open by the customers, to "check the item out".
After abot two years of providing the items, the store discontinued them.
I asked one of the managers why, and he basically said, it gave the store a "poor merchandise reputation" with their core shoppers.
He said it did help with their non core shopper, but considering everything, it hurt the store in neighborhood perception on total store quality.
The store brought in better quality products, representing basically the same category, but it seems to collect dust just like the old department. It seems like businesses like to update merchandise selection to create "excitement or change" within their aisles, whether it actually does or not.
Of course I also realize, a 30% profit margin on a three dollar item creates a lot more profit than a 30% margin on a dollar item.
I think this business realized, to survive the Wal Marts and Targets of the world, you cannot match them on price, but can compete on selection, service, and better departments in perishables.....

[The Virginian]

think this business realized, to survive the Wal Marts and Targets of the world, you cannot match them on price, but can compete on selection, service, and better departments in perishables

I read a marketing book some time back that stated to be successful you had to be the absolute best in One of these areas:

Prices

Selection

Service


We have the best selection hands down - although Walmart is very good at throwing out seasonal items and making it appear like they have a bigger selection.

We are not going to label these new products as dollar items but we are going to have a value section. That way we don't lock our selves into a category. In a way we are only adding value choices to our products that we already carry. That is we currently only sell 3-Ply napkins - but our new value choice will give the customer the opportunity of choosing a $1.25 pack of 2 Ply napkins as well. ( Walmart currently sells these at $1.69 a pack)

We are hoping that it will help those who are suffering economically right now. We are not eliminating any items we are currently carrying but only adding to our choice and selection. Hopefully that strategy will not hurt us.

Yes I learned a long time ago you can't sell items that don't relate to your concept, It simply does not work. If you are a lamp store trying to sell Napkins - I doubt you will sell very many napkins!

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

We have the best selection hands down - although Walmart is very good at throwing out seasonal items and making it appear like they have a bigger selection.

We are not going to label these new products as dollar items but we are going to have a value section. That way we don't lock our selves into a category. In a way we are only adding value choices to our products that we already carry. That is we currently only sell 3-Ply napkins - but our new value choice will give the customer the opportunity of choosing a $1.25 pack of 2 Ply napkins as well. ( Walmart currently sells these at $1.69 a pack)

You're a great man Mr.V keep it up! We are all rooting for ya, the quick and nimble always survive!!! #bat#

[The Virginian]

I wouldn't go so far as "Great".

I would have never thought that retail was so difficult. A lot of strategy has to go into what you sell. Unless you are lucky enough to have a niche that nobody else carries you must constantly adapt and discover new ways to survive.

A retail business that simply puts products on a shelf and never changes will soon go out of business.

Not all ideas are going to work but doing nothing doesn't work either.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Come on, I would! Perseverance is a sign of greatness. I agree with your views on retail, customer service is hard work!

Did you see this??

Halloween Sales Expected to Be a Treat for Retailers -
www.dailyfinance.com/rtn/pr/halloween-sales-expected-to-be-a-treat-for-retailers/rfid488488912/?channel=pf

[The Virginian]

Thanks for your support "A". These are difficult times for small retailers. I wish everyone would stop and think about what the retail world will be like if all the small stores are forced out of business. Do you really think Walmart and Target will keep prices low without competition?

I remember a few years back there was a Hardware store by the name of Hechingers in Northern Virginia. - Home Depot came into the area and put them out of business with low prices. Almost immediately after Hechingers closed Home Depot raised all their prices. These corporate behemoths ( great to invest in) don't have any concerns with communities what so ever.

[kadee79]

Our local hardware store has come up with their own "solution" for completing with Lowes, Home Depot & Walmart in our area....
They carry LOTS of items that none of the box stores carry. They hire older gentlemen to help customers. They have someone meet you at the door & not just greet you but ask to help you...and GO WITH you to locate your item(s). They furnish no interest accounts (unless late payment) & monthly statements to known locals. They will special order items if not in stock at no additional charge.

THEY ARE BUSY EVERY DAY THEY ARE OPEN!!!!

Forgot to add...they stock US made products when they can! Like rain gauges...those Chinese ones don't hold up to weather, the US ones do!
And they display & sell some art work of local artists!!!

[IPAfan]

I run a law practice, so in many ways it's an atypical business. Still, there are a lot of services businesses that have even grown to be huge corporations by doing good business (e.g. investment advisor firms). I'm certainly not doing great in business, but I've found a lot of opportunities to use good business strategy in advertising, structuring fee agreements, etc. I'm still in the very early stages of starting up my business, so in order to grow, I need to grow top line revenue growth.

My first year starting off (with less than $500) resulted in revenue of under $40,000 with very minimal business expenses. I don't know what the second year numbers will turn out to be because I don't have 4th quarter numbers yet. But revenue will probably be between $100,000-$120,000 this year. My overhead is growing as I've rented office space, pay a ton for my cellphone service that I use all the time, spend a lot of money on gas driving, trying to hire employees, and about $1,000 a month on advertising at this point. It's a constant battle to try to increase the size of the business (i.e. increase overhead) to grow the top line, while making sure not to grow expenses too fast, and making sure that I can still provide excellent service to each client.

There are a lot of competitors who are running much better businesses and making a lot of money. I'm trying to move that direction, but it takes a lot of capital commitment to grow a large business, and I think it takes years to develop a big referral presence.

[The Virginian]

While there certainly many similarities between Retail and the Service sector there are many more differences. The major one is the amount of cash that must be committed to Inventory. A typical store like mine must stock a 1/2 million in inventory to be taken seriously.

If you don't have the inventory people will go somewhere else to purchase. Don't have what they want enough and they will not return to your store.

For those stores like ours we have to order inventory months in advance in order to get some seasonal products and to get discounts that allow you to compete. Wholesalers like forcing you into this situation so they don't have to sit on the inventory.

For Halloween for instance I have to place an order in Jan for the Inventory that usually only sells in the month of October. In this economic climate it is no easy task to judge what sales might be that far in advance.

But the rent, employees and advertising expenses are something we do have in common.

[Aman A.K.A. Ahamburger]

Thanks for your support "A". These are difficult times for small retailers. I wish everyone would stop and think about what the retail world will be like if all the small stores are forced out of business. Do you really think Walmart and Target will keep prices low without competition?

NP!!

Excellent points about retail and marketing all around IMO! Marketing is KING.

I was reading this and thought of your situation Mr. V. This is also exactly what was discussed above, Selection and service!!!

Blockbuster is dead! Long live indie stores
www.thestarphoenix.com/news/todays-paper/Blockbuster+dead+Long+live+indie+stores/5481126/story.html