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 […]
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 Silver Lining for Business Owners
In the previous post, How Credit is Effecting Your Business, we discussed how the credit crises has changed the way that business owners are operating. We also discussed the value of knowing the true FICO score and where to get it. Sure there are more things to deal with now than before as a result […]
Year End Economic Review and What’s in Store for 2010?
On this new year eve we are looking to celebrate not only the new year but the start of a new decade. This is a good time for us to take a look back and see what we have achieved these last 10 years, and also look forward to the next period in our lives. […]
Is There Really a Recovery Underway?
As we begin the final quarter of 2009 let’s take a moment to see where the economy is. By most accounts December 2007 was official day that most economist recognize as the beginning of the great recession. On the positive side looking at just GDP we are now beginning to get out of the Great […]
Why One Business is Thriving and The Other is Going Out of Business
All of us are aware of changes that are occurring to business landscape. Some are thriving out there while others are simply being forced to close their doors. The interesting thing is that business failure is not specific to one type of business or based on the time that business has been in business. These […]
I Was Right About Traffic Being a Forecasting Tool
Those who know me can attest to the fact that I have said , one way to gauge what is happening in your local economy is to look at the traffic in your community. Want to know if jobs are being lost? look to see how much traffic is on the roads at rush hour. […]