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Focus your energy and your business on key initiatives this year

With the economy expected to show signs of a slow recovery starting in 2010 according to the Bank of Canada’s Press Release (January 21, 2010), what is going to be your focus for the coming year?

If you’re like most of us in business, you’re just finishing two of the toughest years in recent business history. Two years that you’d rather not have to do again for a very long time. For many of us, revenues have been down, in many cases expenses continued to rise (especially if you didn’t take proactive steps to cut costs last year) and for virtually all of us, profits are not what they used to be. (more…)

Holiday sales are just around the corner. Is your store ready for the season? Here are five simple steps to help you succeed this holiday season. 

1. Show value in your product offering.  The economy is rebounding, slowly but surely, but most of us are still suffering from a bit of a tough year.  Now more than ever, you need to demonstrate value to your customers. You don’t have to be the cheapest in town, but the product must show value for the price you’re charging.
2. Watch your competition closely. After coming off a tough year, consumers are more price sensitive than ever before. Watch your pricing. As an independent, you can afford to be slightly higher than your competition, but not too much. Watch your pricing, especially on your known-value items. (more…)

Provided below is a summary of today’s ‘Economic Outlook 2010′ webinar hosted by Canadian Business featuring RBC Chief Economist, Craig Wright.  For more information, visit www.canadianbusiness.com/webinars

Economic Outlook 2010 (Abridged Summary Notes)

OCTOBER 30, 1:30 pm-2:30 pm, EST

To begin,  RBC is taking an overall view of “cautious optimism” towards the economy

• This was not a recession made in Canada, so we need improvements globally and in the US (where the recession began). We expect to see fiscal policy and low inflation and low interest rate will help lift us out of this economic recession.

Our growth is dependent mainly on other factors:

• Global financial market stability
• We can see this in key indexes such as the Volatility Index, TED Spread, Borrowing Cost, and Credit Standard that stability is coming back.
  • Global growth & global economy improving
    • We see an improving tone, Decline of 1.5%. Outlook has stabilized and outlook for next year has improved significantly. Continue to revise higher (3-3.5% growth range). We expect that global growth will be lead by emerging economies.
  • Recovery based on the condition that authorities make the right exit-strategy, but of course there’s a risk that errors are made and they pull out too early before a full recovery, creating a possible double dip in the economy.

Looking Ahead – and caveats in our economic recovery

The Canadian Outlook in detail

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Help Ensure Your Customer’s Satisfaction

Does your company have a ‘No Customer Left Behind Policy‘ that helps ensure customer satisfaction?

With the current economic environment, we need every competitive advantage we can get. One way to do that is to ensure that your customers have a great experience with your company every time.

Do you have a policy that communicates to your staff that you hold customers at the highest level? That you will not tolerate a customer leaving your store with a dissatisfied experience? If not, why not?

(more…)