this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; wToday’s business environment isn’t getting any easier, nor will it get easier anytime in the future. I’m not psychic but I have learned that business NEVER gets simpler. More competition, shrinking profit margins, increases in fixed and operating costs are just a few of the issues we deal with everyday. You can lament this fact or, you can take proactive measures to bullet-proof your business. Here are few strategies that can help:

Clearly define your business. The most successful business people know what they are in business for. They have one or two areas of specialty or expertise and they stick to what they’re good at. They avoid the temptation to try to become everything to everybody. In many fields, specialists tend to do better than generalists and, in bookselling, it’s no different.

Have you created a niche market for yourself?

Is your niche viable in your location/city/town/market?

Are you the best at what you do in your trading area?

Do you stick to what you’re good at or do you stray from this when revenues are lean?

Mounting bills, a slow month or months, pressure to generate dollars to the bottom line; it’s tempting to take on new work or do something in an area you don’t have a lot of experience. Unfortunately, this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; we

this fact or, you can take proactive measures to bullet-proof your business. Here are few strategies that can help:

Clearly define your business. The most successful business people know what they are in business for. They have one or two areas of specialty or expertise and they stick to what they’re good at. They avoid the temptation to try to become everything to everybody. In many fields, specialists tend to do better than generalists and, in bookselling, it’s no different.

Have you created a niche market for yourself?

Is your niche viable in your location/city/town/market?

Are you the best at what you do in your trading area?

Do you stick to what you’re good at or do you stray from this when revenues are lean?

Mounting bills, a slow month or months, pressure to generate dollars to the bottom line; it’s tempting to take on new work or do something in an area you don’t have a lot of experience. Unfortunately, this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; w

y avoid the temptation to try to become everything to everybody. In many fields, specialists tend to do better than generalists and, in bookselling, it’s no different.

Have you created a niche market for yourself?

Is your niche viable in your location/city/town/market?

Are you the best at what you do in your trading area?

Do you stick to what you’re good at or do you stray from this when revenues are lean?

Mounting bills, a slow month or months, pressure to generate dollars to the bottom line; it’s tempting to take on new work or do something in an area you don’t have a lot of experience. Unfortunately, this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; w

in your trading area?

Do you stick to what you’re good at or do you stray from this when revenues are lean?

Mounting bills, a slow month or months, pressure to generate dollars to the bottom line; it’s tempting to take on new work or do something in an area you don’t have a lot of experience. Unfortunately, this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; w

this spreads our resources thin and can cause us to lose focus in our specific area of specialty. And, because we’re in an area that isn’t our strength, the quality of our work may not be as good. This causes customer dissatisfaction which leads to lower repeat and referral business. It then becomes a vicious circle; we take on more work that falls outside our area of expertise because we need the sales. We don’t execute at 100% and we lose a customer. Our sales continue to drop so we pick up more work. And so on.

Create and maintain customer loyalty. In today’s competitive environment, many business owners think that consumers are concerned only with getting the lowest price for the product or service they are buying. So, they spend money trying to attract new customers based on price which means they constantly erode their profit margins. Although price is a factor in every sale it is not always the most important factor. It is much more effective, not to mention profitable, to create and maintain customer loyalty. Here are a few questions to consider:

Do you keep a data base of clients and stay in regular contact with them?

Do you know and use your customer’s names?

Do you give them a reason to continue doing business with you?

Do you know what your customers want or expect?

The benefits of investing your time, effort, energy and money to create loyalty include: more referral business, higher margins, and reduced advertising costs. It’s important to note though, developing customer loyalty is not something you do once in a while, it is th