myRetailer.ca

• Blog Post: Outwit, Outplay, Outsmart – Outsmart competition by borrowing ideas from other industries Sometimes the … http://ow.ly/16TfuZ #
• Blog Post: Run The 100m Sprint Instead of the 42km Marathon – What I’ve learned from Verne Harnish – Bu… http://ow.ly/16SB5E #
• Blog Post: My Grocery Store is out of Kraft Dinner & the Car Wash is out of Soap http://ow.ly/16S0qy #
• Blog Post: Other People’s Recycled News | March 12 – 19 – The Small Business Guide to Google Apps Google Apps for b… http://ow.ly/16RxTN #
• #Retail News: Canadian retail sales add another stepping stone on path to recovery – Journal of Commerce http://ow.ly/16RqRy #
• #Retail News: EBay, National Retail Federation working together to combat organized crime – CanadianBusiness.com http://ow.ly/16RlwG #
• #Retail News: Shopping malls group spent $211914 lobbying in 4th qtr on taxes, clean water … – CanadianBusiness.c… http://ow.ly/16RlwE #
• #Retail News: Canadian retail sales add another stepping stone on path to recovery – Journal of Commerce http://ow.ly/16RlwF #
• #Retail News: Consumer prices, retail sales rise – Winnipeg Free Press http://ow.ly/16R7O5 #
• #Retail News: Weighing value of cross-border shopping trip in light of lofty loonie – 680 News http://ow.ly/16R7O7 #
• #Retail News: Home renos help bolster retail sales – StarPhoenix http://ow.ly/16R7O6 #

Outsmart competition by borrowing ideas from other industries

Flickr - waloshin2008

Sometimes the best way to outsmart your competitors is to completely reinvent your business. This is often done by taking ideas from outside your industry and applying it to your business.

This is what Rick Krieger and his partners Douglas Smith, M.D., Steve Pontius and Kevin Smith, RN, FNP did when they founded a company called QuickMedx (later renamed Minute Clinic in Minneapolis in May 2000). As the story goes, Krieger brought his son to the emergency room one  night to get a strep throat test. After waiting for two hours to see a doctor, he thought there had to be a better, more efficient and convenient way to receive treatment. From there, along with his partners, he founded, what was eventually renamed Minute Clinic.

Minute Clinic essentially uses sound retail concepts and applies them to health care services. The clinics are small kiosks, located inside other retail establishments and is staffed with a nurse practitioner and/or physician assistant who are licensed to diagnose and treat common illnesses, minor injuries and skin conditions. By taking a retail approach and providing convenience, efficiency and customer service at low cost, Minute Clinic revolutionized one small segment of the health care industry. (more…)

What I’ve learned from Verne Harnish – Business is a series of sprints.

In his teachings, Verne Harnish talks about how businesses and business leaders run their companies in a series of sprints. Businesses grow in bursts. This is important for anyone business owner to realize and keep in mind. Successful companies go through hard pushes and high growth, then they’ll tend to relax a bit, before pushing hard again. This is the natural way for leaders to lead and business teams to operate.

Anyone that I’ve met who has tried to run their business in one long marathon (lasting months or even years) has either ended up hitting a plateau and stopped growing, or the owner/leader became burnt out and the company lost ground as a result.

The most successful companies will rally the troops for concentrated periods of time and accomplish great advancements. Then they take a breather review what they have done prior to taking on a new challenge and opportunity.

This is important to realize and remember as a business owner. You cannot run your company like a marathon. It is not healthy for you, it is not healthy for your staff and it is not healthy for your company. Tackle your business in a series of sprints and you’ll grow faster and become more successful as a result.

Keep Loyal Customers Loyal by Being Dependable and Stocking Essential Items

From Flickr - avilon_music

Become dependable to your customers in the services and products you offer and you’ll go a long way to keep your customers loyal to your company.

Let me illustrate my point.

A few weeks ago I needed a car wash and drove to the local car wash I’ve gone to for years. I parked the truck, walked inside to purchase my car wash only to find out that they ran out of soap for the touchless car wash. Can you imagine? The entire car wash shut down, because they ran out of soap? As I walked out frustrated, I was thinking to myself; “How can you run out of soap at a car wash? If it was my car wash, I’d always make sure that I have at least a month’s supply at all times. Wow much can it cost to inventory soap, especially if you run a busy car wash?!” (more…)

The Small Business Guide to Google Apps

Google Apps for business has a number of benefits over traditional business IT and desktop software. Using the full suite essentially places all of your data and entire workflow in the cloud, meaning you can access it all anywhere, any time, from any Internet connection.

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Shoppers want retailers to be tech-savvy, survey says

The global survey of 28,000 consumers, including 4,000 Canadians, found an overwhelming number of customers want to use the Internet to check out a retailer before heading to the bricks-and-mortar store.