RETAILOBSERVER.COM SEPTEMBER 2016
4
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com
Until next time,
SEPTEMBER 2016, VOLUME 27, ISSUE 9
CELEBRATING OUR 27
TH
YEAR
AS
THE RETAIL OBSERVER
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR
E LIANA BARRIGA
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING
MOE LASTFOGEL
ART DIRECTOR
TERRY PRICE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
DEAN LANDERS
PATRICK MALONEY
JIM SENDRAK
DOUG STEWART
JOHN TSCHOHL
E LLY VALAS
LIBBY WAGNER
MICHAEL WOLF
RALPH E. WOLFF
DAVE WORKMAN
DEADLINE FOR NOV. 2016 ISSUE:
OCTOBER 1, 2016
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THE RETAIL
I
recently welcomed another grandchild into the world. I'm still amazed at the
circle of life. From the time a mother conceives, through pregnancy, birth and
infancy. This is such a precious and fragile time. Once the child can walk and
talk we let our guard down just a bit, give them more space to grow, don't
worry as much. Then they become teenagers and we release the reigns a little
more. Until they are adults and move out on their own, start their own lives. Of
course, we always care about them, touch base with them, spend time with
them. But it is nothing like those first few years of their life where our worlds
seemingly revolve around theirs. When every decision we make can have a
major impact on their very survival.
How many of us view our business like "our baby". We coddle and nurture
it at the very beginning and then as the business grows, we loosen our watch
over every detail. Some of us take our hands off the steering wheel completely.
We stop checking in on its vitals, we stop having those weekly sales meetings,
we stop reviewing our quarterly reports, we don't keep up with new product
launches, industry trends, training and we may even start spending less time
at the office. Sure, everything is seemingly running just fine on "auto-pilot" for
now. Until months and years of neglect catch up to you and you find your
business in crisis.
A business needs your management and attention no matter what stage of
life it's in or how old it is. Just like we wouldn't turn a blind eye to the welfare of
our children, we shouldn't turn a blind eye to the health of our business.
In this issue, Elly Valas shares tips on managing your business financials in
her article, Keep Your Eye on the Ball, a must read!
CIRCLE
OF LIFE
Elle's View As I See It