Pricing Labels and What They Say to Customers

When you get new product into your store or when your older products go on sale, you need to get the right pricing labels on them so your customer can see how much it is without having to go through the hassle of asking to find out. Everything should be conveniently displayed for them. But depending on the pricing labels you use, the actual color and design can convey different things to the buyer.

Your typical white sticker pricing gun labels are easy to apply to any object with a hard surface. They are simple and direct, they say how much the item is, no more and no less. But they also let the customer know that this is the full retail price and it is possible that the price could drop. They'll debate, much like you do yourself when you shop, whether they want to buy it now or wait and see if it goes on sale.

Red sticker pricing gun labels are the ones that scream clearance. We automatically associate the color with letting us know that this price is probably the lowest the item is going to go in terms of price. It also gives the customer a sense of urgency, that they should act now and buy before there are no more left in stock. This is really important if you have product you need to sell through as soon as possible so you can put out new items in their place.

Besides just your labels on the actual products, you also need to pay attention to the pricing labels you set up on shelves. It's very important that any labels on the sides of shelves or signs match up with the products placed there. It can be very confusing when a customer sees a price and just assumes the product placed above it is the right one, only to find that it was misplaced. A disorganized store is going to lead to customer complaints when they find out that $9.99 item is actually $19.99.

You also need to make sales clear from a distance. You should attract people to that area with a larger, colorful sign announcing sale prices, not force them to search items to see what is discounted. Everyone is looking for a good deal these days so make it easy for them to find as soon as they walk in the front doors.

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Facts About Wholesale Food Distributors

Wholesale food distributors are those who act as sales brokers between manufacturers and merchants, or in certain cases, individual customers. Generally, a wholesale food distributor operates out of a warehouse or food storage facility. There is a vast array of food products distributed each day by wholesale suppliers, and these include dairy and meat products, vegetables and fruit, seafood, frozen goods, and confectionery. Wholesale food distributors who specialize in certain items can also be found in today's marketplace. Merchant wholesalers usually deal in grocery products, while systems distributors typically specialize in items such as spices, seasonings, coffee and tea. There are also specialty wholesalers who focus on the distribution of dairy products or poultry.

Acquiring Clients

As previously mentioned, wholesale food distributors generally operate from a warehouse and do not usually conduct business with walk in customers, as displays of their products are not always readily available. Most clients arrange for an appointment at which time the wholesaler will offer a full presentation of the foods they can provide. Typically, clients are offered various processing options for their bulk orders. The wholesaler usually handles these functions, which include the cutting and packaging, and even seasoning of the items required to fill the order. In addition, if the customer prefers, the food products can be purchased without any processing. The latter is common with vendors who prefer to process and package their own foods, either to cut costs or because they have their own unique way of marketing their product and for this reason prefer to complete the processing in-house.

Maintaining a Successful Business Relationship

Since most food items are perishable, a good rapport and synergy is essential between business owners and wholesale food distributors in order for them to work together effectively. There are many facets to running a successful wholesale food distribution business, and at times complicated problems can arise. However, many individuals are motivated to stay in this line of work as the continual demand for food gives one a certain degree of job security.

Wholesale food distributors focus on marketing and distributing foods that will ultimately result in increased profits for wholesalers and retailers. If this is accomplished, most customers will return again to do business with the distributor and a professional relationship will be formed. Negotiating transactions that will offer benefits to both the distributor and the wholesaler is vital to the success of this relationship.

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Isn't My Business Too Small To Worry About Financial Statements?

A common theme from some of the reading and training that I have done over the past few years is that if you think small in your business and life too for that matter, then that will become your reality.

Those thought patterns of "smallness" will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you and your business will always remain small.

If on the other hand, you are able to step outside of your comfort zone and grow to become bigger than you are, you will grow into those bigger shoes.

Money and finances are the largest aspect in your life and your business where that view manifests itself.

I know that financial statements can be confusing and the accountants that typically create them like to use words like debits and credits that are confusing to us laymen. I want to dispel that myth. Financial Statements are for everyone who is in business, and you need to be paying attention to them.

When I say financial statements, what I am talking about are the Big 3. They all have multiple names, probably so that the accountants can try to keep us laymen in the dark, but their most common names are the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cashflows.

I want to dispel the myth that you can't learn about financial statements, and in fact I want to argue that they are critical to your success no matter what size your business is today. They are just as critical, if not more so for the small business owner as they are for the big companies.

For years I was of the same mindset that financial statements were only for the big guys, and that though was reinforced by my CPA at the time that refused to create them for me.

I was submitting a bid for a government contract and one of the required elements of the proposal was 2 years worth of financial statements. I pulled something together to add to the proposal, but maintained the thought that if my CPA wouldn't even create them for me, how important could they be?

Over time I came to the conclusion that I needed a new CPA, but I'll leave that story for another post.

When I found a mentor that explained financial statements in terms I understood, and demonstrated to me their importance even to a small business like mine, that was a real eye opener (and the final straw for the old CPA).

I now produce and review financial statements for my Independent Contracting business every month, then roll those up to a quarter and year. That change in mindset has made a significant impact on the success of my business.

When I review those statements it gives me valuable information for how my business is doing over the short term, but more importantly I can see longer term trends and even use those financial statements to forecast the future. I can do "what if" projections to see how increasing revenue or decreasing expenses or other changes will impact the future.

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