While we all have to make our own New Year resolutions, here are some suggestions for newsagents looking for business-based New Year resolutions for 2012.
- Out with the old. Quit old stock, anything which has not sold in the last six months. Old stock turns customers off. Being a retailer of last resort is not a business plan.
- Stop relying on reps to do orders for you. Order stock based on what has sold. By stopping supplier reps doing orders for you will probably find that you cut your stock holding and increase your stock turn.
- Review your roster. Look at sales per hour and either work on building sales efficiency to justify the roster or trim the hours when sales per hour show you to be over staffed.
- Do a magazine relay. Rebuild your magazine offer from the ground up, based on your sales data and suggestions from team members. Take ownership of the performance of magazines in your business.
- Answer the questions: what do you stand for? Answer this in what you stock, how you merchandise it, the service you provide and how you promote your business. Just relying on a shingle – NEWSAGENCY – above your door to declare what you stand for are over. You need to own your unique selling proposition.
- Develop a marketing plan. Map out how you plan to market your business, outside your business, over the year. Include community engagement as well as more traditional catalogue and flyer based campaigns.
- Drive efficiency. What is it you are doing in your business today which does not add value to the business? Look for busy work which you can stop doing … and stop doing it.
- Cut debt. This is the most important of all. Debt is a high cost on any newsagency business. Every dollar of debt you eliminate is interest saved. Make 2012 about dramatically cutting your reliance on debt. If you plan to invest capital in 2012, spend on cost saving, business driving infrastructure.
If all newsagents did these things we would be a commercial force, a retail network, to be reckoned with.
I have put this starter list of New Year resolutions together considering the challenges of 2011, what we can reasonably expect economically from 2012 and the disruption to core newsagency lines which will continue as the year unfolds.
Please add more resolution suggestions through comments…
For me a high priority in my business plan is:
Create an online retail presence.
It won’t necessarilly be just newsagency focused, though I am looking heavily at Ink.
After seeing the parcel volumes we were handling both in and outbound this year (and the amount relating to online shopping), and being told by an “unofficial” source that parcel volumes were up over 30% this XMAS, I am certain the ability to trade online for any business is critical for its success in the future.
I would add the need to step back from the business and get others opinions on how they see your business. Some of us work too closely to the wall and lose sight of mushrooms growing in our businesses. I have certainly learnt far more from others in this industry and outside about how to run my business more smartly.
I am guilty of thinking I know pretty much all there is to know about running a Newsagency after almost six years however I have made some business decisions based on what I thought I knew would work only to have them blow up in my face. The old saying that you never stop learning and need to constantly improve what you know applies to this industry
Like Paul, growning an online presence will be paramount as will getting my customers to know about it and to deliver on what we promise we will from that presence.
I agree, the days of simply relying on territories exclusiveness and the old Newsagency shingle are behind us and some in the industry that are in denial make us all look old.
I wish everyone a happy, safe and prosperous 2012.