|
Opinions |
|
| eSuggestion At the very least register a web site domain name for your business and create an opening page. The opening can be helpful with only your logo and physical location and scope of business. Then you can sit on it until you see that there could be purpose for creating a web site. |
The important part is that you get the name. Interested? Contact me and I'll tell you how. It is simply looking to the future. |
|
|
|
| eSuggestion E-Fax is a clever item. You can use it FREE and very easily. Then, if you like it so well that you want more benefits, upgrade to a modest monthly cost. Simply stated is that you go to their web site, sign up and receive a fax number. Beginning immediately, all faxes to that number are routed to your email address as attachments. Think about it. You no longer would need an extra line for faxes.If your fax number is often |
busy, this could be a solution. If you
would like for your faxes to follow you while traveling and you take
email, this is a solution. No need for a fax machine or fax line if you
use your computer.
I like it because I can save the faxes without paper, print them, email them to another viewer, or fax them to someone else from my computer. If this interests you, go to www.efax.com and sign up. |
|
|
|
|
eSuggestion
I am finding many businesses who have inexpensive programs to print mailing labels and to keep in order their customer list, friends, and suppliers. They do not know how limiting these programs are. I suggest that you immediately switch to a good contact manager.
|
A good contact manager holds your "contacts' just as a label maker or a spreadsheet will do but it will not hold identity so you can separate them into groups. It will not enable you to address an individual letter to a large group. It will not enable you to make notes about the contact and keep individual information. It will not enable you to "export" the names and addresses to another software program. I use Contact Plus Professional. You can learn about this at www.contactplus.com. Other good contact managers are Act by Symantec and Goldmine. Chose either but choose one. The larger your database becomes the more difficult it will be to convert. |
|
|
|
|
eSuggestion MS Works is a software suite that often is included with the purchase of a computer. It is nice but is limited in many ways. Mainly, if you are going to bother to learn any software, spend that time learning one that is not limited and one with which you can share files with other businesses. Like it or not, Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) has become the office standard. Why should you care? Because even if you cannot imagine now, you will be receiving or sending files in the future. Those files may be spreadsheets on purchases, prices lists, etc that will come in Excel or they may be letters or other documents in Word. For unknown reasons, Microsoft allows us to believe that MS Works is just a scaled down version of Office. It is not. It is a scaled back program that will not interface with any other. If you send people Works files and all they have is MS Office, they cannot open your files and vice versa. |
Begin Now with Microsoft Office as a standard. If you look in magazines or shop the local computer shows you can purchase a fully licensable copy of Office for under $200. In some cases it can be under $100. It is not any more difficult to use than Works but it is a far better value. 4/00 |
|
|
|
|
eSuggestion I am not presenting myself as an expert, only that I find that I have experience that some others do not yet have. Mainly, I hear of problems whose solutions are taking too much time. I have been there. AOL is not suited for business because it is not suited for sending attachments. It too often fails to UNencode them leaving you with a message of jibberish and thinking that you have done something wrong. Secondly, for most people looking at a AOL attachment requires opening Windows Explorer, locating the AOL/Download directory then clicking on the most recent download. There are many alternatives. First, I would suggest that if you have a large, local, ISP (Internet Service Provider), that would be your best bet. Unfortunately there are good and bad. The bad have a lot of down time, disconnects, and no tech service when you need them. For that reason, the second choice may become your best. |
That BEST choice would be one of the following: Mindspring, Earthlink, or ATT Worldnet as your local ISP. The first two have merged and both specialize in having the best phone and online help for the novice. AT&T or your local phone service or long distance provider may have a package that includes online service. In any case you would not pay more than AOL and likely would be paying about $16/month for Internet access AND email. Why Bother? Now is the time to get established with your service and your software. If you do not now "need" the Internet, you will if you plan to grow your business and to stay in control. Your suppliers will be communicating wth you via email. Your products will be represented online. You will need email to communicate best with your most sophisticated customers. Make the change now. 4/00
|
|
|
|
|
Lancaster-Schuerman and Five Star to duel? Where will Hamilton and Orgil fit? Lancaster-Schuerman and Five Star have for years been members of the same buying group, United. That is the same group of which Felmor was a member. With the Felmor territory open, Five Star has hired reps and has been servicing accounts in the Felmor area centered around Baltimore Washington. Now that Lancaster is moving into warehouse facilities in this area, it will be interesting to watch what will happen. Dealers are in a state of openness ready to move at the slightest thought of a lower price or higher fullfillment. Add to that that Hamilton Distributors is established in the area and is itself scrambling to pickup some of the Felmor accounts. |
I have heard little from Orgil in recent months. What I have heard seems that they have been spending time solidifying and strengthening existing relationships. When the new servicenter opens, I would bet that Lancaster-Schuerman , Hamilton, AND Five Star will feel their presence. There will be no standing still in this market. A distributor will have to grow aggressively or die. It is not a time for the weak of heart. I have been watching with interest the hardware industry moving to computer ordering and communications but have seen little of the paint sundry distributors testing these waters. I know that there are many paint dealers who have email and have online access but I know of few who are doing this as a part of their business. That dealer base will have to get into electronics to survive but I predict that they will not do so fast enough. Their are more independent paint dealers to close their doors and more to get larger. I predict too that the hardware dealers will become stronger as paint suppliers and create more paint centers for servicing contractors. Watch closely. 3/00 |
Choices: Know Yours: The big challenge for 2000 and on is that the independent retailer know what his choices are and act on them, fast. There are consolidations and closings. There are openings and diversions. The retailer must continually shop other retailers who are in his marketplace. Some examples are home centers. They are tweaking their assortment all the time. They are also shopping the market to learn the market pricing. As they adjust their prices, you may want to adjust yours. The adjustment is not always down. It is sometimes up because of dropped lines or closed stores. |
There are a
few lines on which you must have a very low margin just to get those
customers into your store. There are others on which you can increase your
margins a little to balance your net.
The company that has had market to itself and suddenly finds that there are two new home centers can still profit. There are many brands and many products that the home center does not carry. YOU can carry thses in response to your market's demand. Remember: Get out of your store and shop competition. Change your prices from time to time to gauge a change or not in sales. Know your market and respond to it.
|
|
|
|
| Hechinger
stores
sell. Kimco Realty has
purchased 37 stores for $57 million. I don't yet know who the Kimco client
is but you can bet that they are not speculating. The way this is normally
done is that the Realtor is putting together the package for a client. If
you are a reseller near one of these locations it could affect your
business greatly. Purchases of this nature affect entire markets. It often means that a company is creating a new regional presence that will be followed by high visability. |
It
could mean also that they will cherry pick the locations and sell the
rest.
I would suggest that you make an effort to determine your new neighbor even to the point of inquiring as if you would like to purchase the property. Then shop this company. It could be a positive to your business. You could feed off of a national companies traffic. 12/99 |
|
|
|
| Find your Niche It is too easy to focus only on what is inside your walls. If you do, you are not seeing what your customer sees. With today's technology enabling the market player to respond to change overnight, the competition is getting keener and keener. The survival of the independent will be in direct relationship to the niches he chooses and how effectively he develops them. In choosing your niche or several niches, remember that the greatest asset you have is that many of you are owner occupied. By being in the store you have direct control over the product knowledge and the customer interaction. You can be more customer helpful that the home center. The more your niche sales rely on your knowledge or that of the employee you train, the further you distance yourself from the home center. Principals,
ask your reps "Who are the most unique and profitable
dealers." Ask them who is doing the best niche development. Go
to those stores. Learn what they are doing right. Plagiarize them if it
makes sense. Don't limit your search for ideas to your market area or even
your state. In fact, if you find allies in other market areas who share
the same niche interest, form a group of 7 dealers. |
Niches can
be as simple as carrying more sizes or as difficult as training your
customers to use a type or tool or to better do his trade. Example:
One small hardware dealer asks every bolt buyer what degree of hardness he
wants and answers the question for him. This level of experience is hard
for the absentee owner to duplicate but it can be a traffic builder if you
can turn that traffic into sales of higher ticketed items.
Distributors,
you can no longer afford to be that silent middle man. Take an assertive
position and develop your business to be a resource for your dealers. Poll
your reps and your vendor reps. Do your own survey. Be smart about
selecting several niches that will be difficult for home centers to drive.
These often involve more customer service and sometimes higher paid
employees. |