It feels scary out there. Especially if you run a Brick and Mortar retail Store. For the last half of 2013 and beginning of 2014, retail sales in the U.S. declined or remained stagnant at best. Nordstrom, traditionally more profitable than many other retail chains, saw their stores reporting flat or slightly down results. At the […]
3 Steps to Managing Cash Flow in Your Business
As any business owner will testify – running out of cash is the death blow to the existence of any business. Definitely not good. It’s a big stress, especially not having the liquid funds necessary to meet important demands such as payroll. At the same time having cash sit idle wastes the chance for investment, allowing the business to […]
Bay Area Mastermind Economic Review
As we look back on 2013 and forward to 2014 there were several key areas of the economy that show a strengthening economy as well as some cautionary tales. In this article we will cover a few of the various segments of our economy and review the opportunities, strengths, and cautions. Auto Industry The auto […]
11 Sources of Information to Keep You Up to Date
Having the ability to stay on top of business innovation and the news that matters is a daunting task for anyone these days. We are all constantly scrambling with the various aspects of our busy life within an ever changing environment. Then of course, we all have to contend with the abundance of information that is available. Knowing which sources […]
Bay Area Mastermind mid-year economic review
By Robert Estupinian As we begin the second half of the year we wanted to take a moment and provide our readers with a view of the economy and our forecasts going forward.There is a lot of economic data being spewed out these days in the media. It is not uncommon for the same data […]
How To Price Your Services and Products in A Weak Economy
By Robert Estupinian Last week J.C. Penny announced it would be changing the way that it will price its merchandise. No longer will the company be offering sale prices. Instead the retailer will be slashing all prices by 40% and keeping them there. Previously, the company would hold hundreds of sales every year, and their […]
Moving forward in Tough Times
By Robert Estupinian The last couple of weeks has been full of a lot of disheartening news. At the top of the list has been economic worries and strife around the world. It is easy to lose sight of what we are all trying to accomplish in our lives whether it be financial, family, health, […]
Managing Your Business Through a Recession
In today’s economy, the small business owner may encounter situations where one or more of the employees’ performances are affected. Because some employees may worry about not having a job a month or two down the road, their focus might not be as clear as compared to someone who had a guaranteed position. And in […]
The Fall Economic Outlook
Many of our readers have recently emailed and asked for an update of my previous economic outlook that I made at the beginning of the year. These days the media is reporting on just about every bit of data and very little makes sense. In fact, we would argue that much of it has nothing […]
This Advertising Stuff Doesn’t Work, What a Waste of Time and Money
Frustration is all around these days as many businesses struggle to get customers in. Advertising can sometimes be black hole that simply sucks the money out of a business with no return. Therefore, it is not uncommon for business owners to feel that they may be better off not doing any advertising or marketing. Are […]