That’s actually the way he put it to me. Many years ago, the CEO of a company that had been in deep financial trouble and had clawed its way out said, apparently in frustration with my failure to understand his concept, “You don’t understand, the cash flow is a living, breathing thing.” Now I know he was right. You don’t just create a spread sheet and manage cash. Especially in conditions of seasonality More…
Archive for 2004
A Living, Breathing Thing; Cash Flow Management
Thursday, November 18th, 2004Self Help for Core Retailers; The Coastline Model
Tuesday, November 9th, 2004Hi, I’m back. This was just too interesting not to inflict myself on. And I imagine O’Brien couldn’t find anybody else willing to touch it. From the last issue of TransWorld Biz, you may remember that our hero, Sean Kennedy of New Zealand, had started a company called Coastline owned by, so far, 42 core surf shops in New Zealand. The purpose of Coastline, as reported earlier, was to provide small retailers with More…
“Hey Look! Real Retailer Numbers!” What’s to Learn From Them?
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2004For a while now, I’ve been carrying around in my back pocket the National Sporting Goods Association’s 2004-2005 Cost of Doing Business Survey. I have no idea why they call it that since it obviously doesn’t contain any numbers from either 2004 or 2005. Well, never mind. They do it every other year and collect actual financial date from sporting goods retailers of various types and sizes. They got 314 responses More…
“Jeff, This is a Hard Business!” Why Is That and What Can You Do About It?
Wednesday, September 15th, 2004That unsolicited quote is from the President of a snowboard brand that you all know and that’s been around for a while. It would generally be considered successful. I consider it successful. It’s not the first time I’ve heard the comment. I’ve responded by agreeing and by explaining why it was true. Over the years I’ve had some suggestions as to how you could work to counter, it but I’ve never really had a More…
Company Stores and Retail Consolidation; What’s a Core Store to Do?
Tuesday, August 10th, 2004At the Surf Industry Conference last May, I was the last one to ask a question of a panel of very successful specialty retailers. I acknowledged that I was sure they would all continue to be successful, though I doubted they were representative of most retailers out there. And then I asked them, “So what happens in let’s say five years when there are, just to pick a number, 2,000 company owned More…
The Enthusiast Cycle; Lessons From the Scuba Diving Industry
Wednesday, June 16th, 2004Yes, the scuba diving industry. Maybe nine months ago Fran Richards, former VP at TransWorld and somebody whom I consider one of the best intuitive marketing guys in action sports, called me up and said, “Hey Jeff, I’ve given your name to the guys at the Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association!” “Uhhhhh, thanks Fran, that’s great, I guess…..WHY?!” Anyway, to make a long story short, some months later I found myself More…
Buying Smart; Selecting Among Snowboard Brands
Monday, May 24th, 2004Ain’t business grand? You’ve got a choice of something over 100 snowboard brands to sell in your shop. ‘Course, 20 of them will be gone by the time the snow melts and next year there’ll be 35 new ones. Delivery, not to mention service, is uncertain. Some of those new companies will be only as real as the ad they managed to scrap up enough cash to run in Transworld. But hey, if More…
Business By The Numbers; Simple Questions a Shop Owner Can Ask Regularly to Stay in Control
Monday, May 24th, 2004If your typical day is a series of disruptions and interruptions like that of many small business owners, then you may find yourself having difficulty controlling your business and knowing with certainty where you stand on a day to day basis. All businesses face challenges. Those challenges are most easily met if focused on early. What starts out as a minor inconvenience can become a survival issue if not identified and managed in More…
China, Small Brands, Inventory; Visions from Vegas
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004Purposeful. In a word, that’s how I’d describe the show. There was the quiet hum of business being done and if the aisles weren’t as full as I’ve seen them in the past, and the noise level was somewhat subdued, it was because the booths were full of people focused on doing business. Sure, I miss the good old days a little, I guess. It really was fun to hear what brand got thrown More…
By the Numbers; The Impact of Price and Margin Changes
Friday, January 23rd, 2004Two issues ago, I suggested one possible future for the skateboard industry that I really don’t want to see happen, but which we all have to consider. Last issue, I suggested some questions you needed to ask to figure out the financial impact on your company. This issue, let’s drill down one more level and look at some general numbers and see how a company might actually be affected and More…
