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How Does Your Business Stack Up to your Competition?

How Does Your Business Stack Up to your Competition?

New stores diluted the customers of the existing stores leading to over-saturation. The Big Boxers are currently suffering. Look at Home Depot, and Lowes for example. I still believe the concept is viable and sustainable. Going forward the emphasis will be on store closures and remodels like Wal-Mart’s recent initiatives. Small business owners can learn from these miscues. I recently went into a Circuit City store and I was more than disappointed. The store was disorganized, short of staff, dimly lit, and had a poor selection of merchandise. The sad thing was that this store was only two years old and located outside a very successful mall. I proceeded to visit Best Buy and found the experience to be far better. I had a similar experience when I compared Linens and Things to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. My experience at Linens and Things was inferior compared to BB&B. Did the top management of Linens or Circuit ever visit their stores or those of their competition? If they did wouldn’t it be obvious to them that their stores were inferior to those of their competitors? Obviously not. As top management or owners we should be intimately familiar with our own businesses and how they compare to the marketplace. Do you have blinders on when it comes to this reality? Are you staying current? In a world of continuous improvement and rapidly changing tastes and technology you need to stay on the cutting edge. It’s a double edged sword. If you aren’t adapting fast enough ...that’s one problem. If your competition is, you have a compounded problem. Take the time to research the changing tastes and demands of your customer. It is equally important to be aware of how your competitors are changing. Don’t be left behind as your revenues and profits will decline and it will be difficult to make the financial investment necessary to catch up. You need to have a discipline of regularly shopping your business and those of your competitors. There needs to be a process to survey your good customers to see if they sense any decline in your service or pricing competitiveness. They are the first to see it. You need to personally visit your competition to “take their temperature”. Be aware of any new entries in your market or perhaps businesses outside your market who may decide to branch out into your territory. Look through the windshield as well as the rear view mirror and protect what you have so you don’t disappoint like the Circuit City’s of the world.





How Does Your Business Stack Up to your Competition - To learn more about this author, visit Gary Silverman's Website.

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David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

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With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website

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WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
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David Acheson
David Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns.  David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website

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Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

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Gary Silverman
(Visit Gary's Website) Based in Atlanta, Gary takes a unique and innovative approach to the daily realities of the business world. A contrarian and eternal optimist his spin on life is always entertaining and thought provoking. With over 25 years as a top executive in the Retail Automobile Industry, Gary is no stranger to cyclical businesses. He focuses on simple solutions with proactive change, always looking for opportunities to expand the business within the business. As a trainer and seminar moderator, Gary tailors his message with a common sense approach to problem solving. Always committed to team building and personnel development, he manages with an eye on reducing turnover by creating an environment that builds a bank of promotable employees, believing this is the most effective way to advance a company to the next level. For the past three years Gary has been committed to measuring the “Customer Experience”. There is more to learn from prospects who are NOT buying from you than those who are. His analysis has been an eye opener to his clients which leads to extensive changes in the way they do business.

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