Retailers – Who’s your competition?

“Who is my competition?”  It’s one of the oldest business questions, the foundation for your most important business decisions. For today’s retailer, the answer can be brutally simple.  Your competition is…everyone.

An interesting post on the Influential Marketing Blog advises business owners to expand on their idea of who the competition really is.  (more…)

Low Lease Rates Benefit Small Business

by Paul Bensman
President, Details In Retail  and
Broker, Locations Real Estate & Investments

The retail real estate market continues to be weak – but that’s great news for business owners looking for retail space.  Leasing rates in many Detroit area markets are up to 40% less than rates quoted just one year ago.  Landlords who would only look at national chains before the downturn are increasingly willing to lease space to new start-ups and entrepreneurs.  This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for small business owners.

Some economic indicators are already showing signs of light at the end of the tunnel – national home prices increased 3% last month.  This window of opportunity for small retailers to grab prime space at low rates won’t last forever.  Leasing rates should stay at these lower rates through the first quarter, or even the first half, of 2010.  With lower lease rates and a large pool of qualified employees in the market, now is the time to start that new venture or take your existing business to the next level.

—

Thinking small – the resurgence of the local economy

Main Street America….

Time was, you lived in a town or city and you shopped where you lived.  You knew the shops, markets and restaurants, you knew the owners.  Now there’s a growing movement to reclaim our economic heritage.  We’ve done global.  Now more and more U.S. consumers are thinking local.

After decades of newer, shinier, bigger (so big your town won’t hold it) shopping venues, we’re heading home.  Back to goods made in our country and our state, back to locally grown food, back to neighborhood merchants.  Our zeal for more, more, more has given us less, less, less.  We’re ready for a change.  (more…)

Your First Steps to Becoming a Business Owner

“While recent job losses are widespread, small businesses’ historical overall rate of net job creation makes them a key player in solving our labor market woes. And the number of newly self-employed, whether by choice or not, still offer glimmers of hope.”   SBA, July 2009 

So you want – or need – to start your own business.  Where do you begin?

Maybe you already know what kind of business you want.  Maybe you have no idea.  Either way, here are some ways to identify your best options.

Spend time identifying your goals, skills and resources – lots of time.  This is your future, after all. 

(more…)

Toss those surveys and talk to your customers

Back in April, a friend of mine ran over herself with her own van (yes, really, but that’s another harrowing tale of small business ownership).  Even more surprising than that was her experience at the hospital.

As she was literally being wheeled out the door of the hospital, she was asked to fill out a “customer satisfaction survey” about her unexpected visit.  The questions seemed to focus on whether everyone had been “nice” to her rather than her perception of the quality of her actual care.  She was more befuddled by that than by the van running over her.  (more…)

What Are We Waiting For?

Have you noticed you’re waiting more?

These days, everyone is waiting for something.  Waiting for home prices to rise, waiting for gas prices to drop, waiting for jobs to appear, waiting for financial security to make a comeback.  The new economy has turned life into a waiting game.

The current business climate can be summed up in one word: inertia.  Clients want information made available to them at lightning speed, and then….we wait…we wait … we wait some more.  After the initial rush, nothing happens.  There’s no sense of urgency to buy the product, put the deal together, make the investment.    So business owners hold back on advertising and expanding and hiring.  We’re all just waiting to see what happens next – with the economy, with the auto industry, with home values, with everything.

Can’t we DO something while we wait?  (more…)