Labour and Wait is a wonderful shop to visit. Inspiring. A fresh take on homewares. Excellent and knowledgable customer service. Here’s a video we made about the visit:
Inspiring retail: Labour and Wait in London
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Retail management advice: make every day your payday
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Too often we see retailers running their businesses with the belief that they will make their money when they sell their business. These folks tend to bot worry about the day to day as much.
It’s a mistake.
For years, we have written that retailers need to make every day their payday.
This is an important message as it focuses on the goal of driving business value. Too often, we see retailers working about, being focussed on, the wrong things, things that do not directly affect business value.
Make every day your payday.
It is a simple mantra that is worth repeating daily. It should guide every decision. Does this, or that, add value to the business. It it does hot, why do it?
There was a time when small business retailers could rely on selling their business for a handsome increase on the price they paid thereby providing a good pay day, when businesses sold for a good multiple of net earnings.
No more. Today, the best way to extract value from our businesses is to make every day your pay day, to not rely on your pay day being the day you sell the business. In fact, the typical shop today will sell for somewhere between 1.5 and 2 times actual net profit as shown in the business P&L.
The P&L matters as this is what you need to be guided by in all business decisions and actions.
The challenge is how do you do this?
Retailers need to look at their businesses differently. This starts with the mindset of every day being your pay day. Each decision needs to be considered in this context, in the context of the P&L impact.
Focusing on profit today will give you a better result today and make your business more valuable tomorrow.
Here are some suggestions for making every day your pay day:
- Run with the leanest roster possible. Just about every retail business we review has capacity to lower labour costs.
- Ensure you can sell when the business is closed. Yes, this means sell online.
- Promote the business outside your usual foot traffic area … increase your customer base.
- Promote your business outside the brand people know you as. or example, online pitch under a brand other than your shop brand.
- Have your best people working the floor, helping customers spend more.
- Have stunning displays that attract people from outside the shop.
- Have compelling displays in-store that encourage people to browse beyond their destination purchase.
- Always have impulse offers at high traffic locations.
- Charge more every time you can. Loyalty programs such as discount vouchers, bundling into hampers, multi buys such as 2 for 3 and other opportunities enable you to do this by blocking price comparison.
- Buy as best you can.
- take settlement discounts every time you are able.
- Measure product category performance by gross profit. Quit the categories that are not paying for themselves.
- Promote outside your store using online and social media opportunities.
- Leverage adjacency information. Chase a deeper basket – people purchasing more each visit.
Be responsible for the profitability of your business. Don’t blame your suppliers, your landlord, your employees or some other external factor … it all comes down to you – the decisions you make and the actions you take.
If you relentlessly pursue profit with a clear focus you are likely to see profit grow. That’s better than waiting to make money when you sell because that’s less likely to happen in this market.
Doing all this relies on your measuring the performance of your business. The Tower software helps with this. It is easy.
Checklist for anyone considering buying a retail business
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We are grateful to work with many people before they buy a retail business. Over the years, we have curated advice for buyers. Recently, we have seen an increase in acquisitions. here’s our fresh advice:
Local retail businesses are appealing, and, looking out in the market, there are some excellent opportunities.
A common question we are asked by people who find me through this blog is what should I ask for when looking at buying a shop?
The question itself, when asked, indicates how green a prospective purchaser is when it comes to purchasing a business. Our first advice is that they better understand the retail business of today, to understand what they could be buying into.
Here is an updated list of data we suggest prospective local retail business purchasers access from the vendor or their representative:
- P&L from the accountant for the last two years. i.e. not a spreadsheet created for the purpose.
- A list of add-backs used to achieve a profit figure on which the asking price is based.
- Tax returns for the same two years. While note always appropriate given business structures, they can provide a cross check with the accountant P&L.
- Sales data reports, for the last two years, from the POS software in use – to verify the income claim. This source data is key.
- Sales data reports from the other sources to verify the income claim.
- BAS forms to confirm data in the P&L.
- A list of all inventory in the business including the purchase price and date last sold for each item. And, copies of invoices from which you can randomly select to verify.
- A copy of the shop lease.
- A copy of any leases the vendor expects you to take on board.
- A list of all forward orders placed on behalf of the business.
- A list of all employees: name, hourly rate, nature of employment, start date, accrued leave and accrued long service leave.
This is good basic information, a starting point, which will enable any purchaser to undertake reasonable assessment of a business.
Our advice to retailers looking to sell who may be concerned about this list is: think about it now and focus on your business so the data we have listed looks good. The time to prepare your shop for sale is every day you are in the business.
This is why we say every day is your pay day. Run a smart, lean and profit focused business and you will have a good pay day today and a good one when you come to sell.
The most appealing businesses are those that are easier to run and are making money.
Sure a purchaser can turn a business around. They should get the rewards if they are expected to do that for your business.
The price you can sell your business for will be based on what it is making now.
Shopping local helps the community …
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Updated POS software for local music instrument sale and repair shops
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Our Tower Systems music shop POS software is made for music instrument retailers. Actually, it was first made for bike shops and then we discovered that there were needs in music shops that were almost the same as bike shops. And here we are, locally made and supported POS music shop POS software.
We are grateful to be able to offer this software for music shops for 4145.00 a month. This includes GST, access to the software, access to the help desk and access to an awesome fresh catalogue of training resource and support materials.
From instrument sales to service and repair, this music shop POS software is made to help local music instrument shops sever their customers and local communities.
Easy to setup and run, this music shop POS software can evolve as the needs of the business evolve. For example, you could move from basic selling to instrument repairs to leveraging customer data to run email campaigns to attract shoppers back into the business. we say this based on what people working in music shops have told us.
Specifically, using our music shop POS software, you are set to benefit from a range of facilities including:
- Club / school / music teacher grouping pricing:Helps you attract community group members. The better your connection with these communities, the more business.
- Repairs:Easily track & manage repairs & communicate with customers. This works whether you repair the instruments in-store or not.
- Special orders:Easily manage special customer orders for musical instruments and other items that you bring in especially for them.
- Pre-orders:Pre-sell stock and be ahead of the game.
- Serial number tracking.Track for absolutely sure what you sell if it has a serial number.
- Product servicing and check-up reminders.
- Genuinely informative receipts:Include information they’ll appreciate, like how to care for a musical instrument purchased.
- Catalogues:Setup and manage date-based specials and offers.
- BOGO:Increase sales with buy this and get that For consumables like regularly purchased items this can work a treat.
- Customised product labels:Include store name and contact details.
- Awesome loyalty:Guide one-time and regular shoppers to spend more.
- Seasonal reordering:Easily reorder inventory based on seasonal sales.
Connected to Shopify for easy online sales if you wish, Tyro for fast broadband EFTPOS, Xero for easy accounting management, this software has hooks designed to help run a more efficient and successful retail business.
From us you will receive no pressure. take a look and see if this music shop POS software may serve your needs.
the latest release of the music shop POS software from Tower Systems was out in early February 2023. This software is fresh, made for music shops.
Join us on another visit to Amazon Fresh and their Just Walk Out technolong
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Inspiring retail: Present and Correct in London
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Inspiring retail: Liberty in London
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2 minute read: map your shop layout by GP contribution and see your business differently
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A few minutes spent analysing space allocation performance could reveal opportunities to embrace.
With retail space usually costing between 11% and 15% of (non agency) revenue, it is usually the next highest cost outside of the cost of stock itself.
Retailers often argue that rent should be lower. It could be that a different view of shop floor performance helps you achieve a better return.
- Take a blank sheet of paper, ideally A3, and roughly sketch out the layout of your shop, marking in display units, shelving, the counter – everywhere you have product. Include your back room if you have stock there.
- Colour-shade the layout by department.
- List the departments on the side of the floor plan.
- Calculate the percentage of total space used for each department. This does not need to be accurate to two decimal places. List this next to each department you have listed.
- Use your POS software to report on gross profit dollars earned by each department over the last year, or calculate it from sales figures knowing the average GP% per department.
- Calculate the percentage of total gross profit contribution earned by each department and list this next to the floor space allocated to each department – on the floor plan map you have done.
- Circle in green those performing the best, where the GP% contribution is more than the GP% space allocation, and in red those performing the worst.
Typically, a business owner doing this for the first time will have an ah ha moment, seeing something they had not realised.
We have seen business owners make changes including to floor layout, quitting suppliers and increasing stock weight for some departments.
You can take the analysis a step further by looking only at one department and
analysing performance by category, using the method outlined above.
Our specialty retail POS software can help with this and more business performance analysis.
Our goal is to help you run a more appealing, successful and valuable retail business. As retailers ourselves, we use our software this way every day.
We can help if you are interested.
Find out more:
- www.towersystems.com.au
- 1300 662 957
- sales@towersystems.com.au
Thanks for reading.
We help local retailers love their businesses
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Small business retail advice: personalise, localise, be different
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We are a different POS software company, focussed on helping small business retailers stand out…
Why have big retailers ramped-up their loyalty pitch in 2023 and what could this mean for you?
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The major supermarkets, several other retailers and non-retail businesses are spending big pitching their loyalty programs already this year.
Their pitches tend to cast their loyalty program as key to unlocking value for shoppers. Value in this context should read as lower prices.
We think their increased focus on loyalty is their response to inflation and consumer sentiment associated with this.
Shoppers are concerned about prices, especially in must-purchase settings. From data we see, with want purchases, discretionary purchases, price is less of a concern.
We have found the best way to pitch value is through an easily understood loyalty program that does not compare to the poor-value over-hyped programs from the supermarkets and similar.
Seriously, what is a loyalty point worth anyway?
While our specialty retail POS software has a good loyalty points facility in it, it’s the discount voucher loyalty program that many hundreds of our customers prefer. I use it in my own shops.
Each voucher has a dollar value. People understand $$ more than %.
On average, 19% of vouchers are returned and of those returned, a third are redeemed the day of, a third within 7 days and the last third within 28 days.
Guys are more likely to redeem right away whereas girls are more likely to redeem a week or more later.
In settings where shoppers don’t want the vouchers, there is an opportunity for a local charity connection, which extends the reach of the discount vouchers, better connects the business to a local charity and helps leverage that charity’s community to support you.
My advice, if you’re interested, is to take note that the major retailers are pitching loyalty more this year already. Consider what you can do in your business to engage with shopper interest in value.
We can help if you are interested.
Find out more:
- www.towersystems.com.au
- 1300 662 957
- sales@towersystems.com.au
Thanks for reading.
We serve local specialty retailers across a range of product channels and are grateful to serve beyond our POS software, with retail advice and inspiration – to help local small business retailers compete and enjoy their businesses more. This is where local value can be nurtured and shared.
Innovative retail: HighTide in downtown LA
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Innovative retail: Bodega in downtown LA
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Innovative retail: The merchant on Krog Street in Atlanta
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Hosting our first POS software user meeting catch-up for 2023
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We have announced details of our first POS software user meeting to our POS software user community.
Hosted on the Zoom platform, any of our customers will have access to this session live, as well as after the event via a shared video link.
The session will preview the latest software update and a couple of surprise announcements about updates to follow.
We will also discuss some requests made by our POS software customers as well as opening the meeting to discuss any topic.
Like all of the user meetings we have hosted in the past, this meeting in the next few days will be open, transparent and as valuable for us as it is for our customers. we will have the right people in the room including help desk colleagues, representatives from software development as well as our leadership group.
back in the day, in the 1980s and 1990s, user meetings like these were hosted by all software companies, in all capital cities and some regional centres. Ofer time, however, they have faded. Not here at Tower Systems. They continue to provide terrific value to us and, we think, to our customers. we say that based on the good engagement with the meetings.
Toop many POS software companies today put tech ology and other barriers between themselves and their customers. We think that is a mistake – especially when it comes to developing POS software for retailers.
Retail is personal after all.
There is tremendous value to be found in face top face free-flowing discussion. That’s what we find at least. We can work on a topic, explore it, consider various sides and make progress in one of these live meetings more so than the cold and faceless approach to connection that some software companies demand today.
yes, our approach to software user meetings is old school. It works we find. Our customers like it. we can point to good value achieved from the sessions we have hosted over the years.
The only difference today is the use of Zoom. This works for us and our customers as we cal all participate without as much in travel costs and time.
We are proud to offer our first POS software user meeting for 2023. Let’s get started!
Tower Systems nurtures local retail business fitness
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Our local POS software helps local retailers pitch local
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POS software update helps local retailers keep up to date
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Good software keeps changing, evolving, needing emerging needs and embracing new opportunities.
The Tower Systems POS software continues to evolve. What we offered a few months ago is not what we offer today.
In good engaged software companies, change is normal. This matters because needs change, opportunities change. Evolving POS software is all about local businesses keeping up.
The latest POS software update from the Tower Systems development team delivers access to:
- Allotrac integration.
- SmartPay integration.
- CentrePay integration.
- International barcode search integration.
- Image background removal integration.
- New security bridge integration for better and more capable security camera integration.
- An enhanced, faster and more insightful end of shift process.
- A customer servility sensitive data cleanup tool that helps your business better protect against unwanted data leakage.
These are just some of what is delivered in the latest POS software update from Tower Systems.
We are grateful to the customers who suggested some of these enhancements and to the customers who engaged in testing them as part of our comprehensive beta release program.
For this first update of 2023 it is considerable. Especially once you add the many other changes / enhancements not included in the list above. This update is the result of hundreds of man-hours of development investment. And, while our customers are embracing this update, we are advanced in our work on the next update, which we are excited for.
Engaged software developers are always working on their software products. That is our commitment here at Tower Systems – continual improvement based on continually evolving tech, market conditions and other factors.
We invest on behalf of our customers son that they can be sure that their Tower Systems POS software does evolve and can embrace opportunities of value and usefulness in the local small business retail settings in which we serve.
Included with this latest POS software update is advice for our retailer customers about data security. This refreshed advice is in the light of hacks in the last months of 2022. We have explained steps local retailers could consider taking to better protect data they are entrusted with. We have backed our advice with software tools to equip retailers with useful tech for better data protection.
Why we choose to serve local small business retailers with our POS software
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Tower Systems was created many years ago to serve small business retailers and we happily remain focused on that mission today.
We love small business retail for the people, their passion and the contributions they make to the communities in which they are situated.
Indeed, it is the contribution that local businesses make to their local communities that matters to us. We see it in many ways from supporting local community groups to local education, offering locally products unavailable elsewhere and offering places for local, makers to sell their wares.
While our Point of Sale software can be used by retail businesses of any size, it is in the small business retailer community where we are most comfortable.
So, why do we like small business retailers?
This is a question we confronted recently in an interview about our history.
Small business retailers play a vital economic role, often punching above their weight in terms of economic contribution.
Small business retailers play an important social role locally, holding, sharing and even adding to the narrative of communities around the world as well as providing practical support for community based endeavours.
Small business retailers help local shoppers with a level of personal service which leads to better buying decisions.
We like these points, especially that small businesses and small business retailers in particular are more like to uphold and carry forward local customs, beliefs and stories. Small businesses support the local voice. This is why small businesses are important in countries like Australia and New Zealand.
So, yes, we enjoy serving small businesses and remaining modest in size ourselves. This is where we think we can actively contribute and do the most good.
The value of a business is not only about financial performance. Its contribution to community is, in our view, equally if, not more, important.
Local small retail businesses rock! We are grateful to serve so many 0of them.
Small business retail advice: how to stop dead stock sinking your bottom line
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We were helping a retailer turn their business around last year and one of the first things we looked at was dead stock. In their type of business, anything that has not sold for 6 months or more is dead. They had $32,000 worth of dead stock.
Their initial reaction was common, disbelief. We worked out a plan and soon enough quit that stock and used the freed cash to purchase more of what was selling.
The first way to resolve a dead stock issue is to understand the cost. Good POS software reports on it easily. Our Tower Systems POS software does. Our software also offers tools for m opting the stock, and tracking that to see the value of this.
We’re not your usual POS software company. Sure, we show how to use the software. But, we also offer advice from a business management perspective – how to use the software to drive value for the business and its owners. We do this from the position of being retailers ourselves. We can speak to our experiences in our shops.
That’s what we do in this dead stock situation. Plus, we draw on decades of practical help to other retailers.
Our advice is to look at dead stock / the age of stock every 3 months. You soon learn the value of buying based on data evidence in the business and being cautious when exploring new product lines.
Your software can guide you to make decisions more likely to work, and less likely to result in dead stock.
We have been working with retailers for many years and continue to be surprised at the disinterest of many retailers in the extent and cost of dead stock in their businesses.
When we bought a retail business a few years back we had written into the contract a cascading discounts for existing stock based on its age beyond 6 months. In that business, more than half the stock had been there for 6 months.
Dead stock costs the business today, and when you come to sell.
In our POS software and thanks to our personal training we help retailers reduce the cost of dead stock in their businesses.
Find out more:
www.towersystems.com.au
1300 662 957
sales@towersystems.com.au
Advice for local small business gift shop owners: You are what matters most in relation to every decision you make in your retail business
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Our advice for local small business retail gift shop owners in the form of questions to ask when considering new POS software for their gift shop, and, indeed, every business decision:
- Will it make money for the business?
- Will it save time?
- Will it make the business more valuable?
- Will it make you happier?
Here at Tower Systems we make software for Aussie local gift shops, software that helps you make more money, save time, make the business worth more and make you happier.
Rent our Aussie made gift shop software for $159.00 a month (inc. GST).
This $159.00 a month cost includes the software, support (Melbourne based), half a day of training, access to training videos and a knowledge base of advice.
You can cancel the rental at any time.
There is no lock-in contract, no requirement for you to pay up front for a year.
And, that $159.00 costs is for as many computers as you use in the business.
There is no requirement that you use a particular EFTPOS service. We mention this as some POS software companies lock you in on a service with a high price.
Find out more at www.towersystems.com.au/gift.
Watch a demonstration: https://youtu.be/0kArDkAKE4E
We are grateful to already serve more than 3,000 local retailers. We’d love to serve you. Call us on 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.
From sales to special orders to pre-orders, from Xero integration to digital receipt integration, from loyalty that works to easy shopper postcode tracking, from smart ways to pitch shop local to featuring locally made products … our gift shop software is made for gift retailers, made to help you thrive.
For EFTPOS, link to Tyro, the major banks as well as SmartPay.
For selling online, link to Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento and Woo.
Our software does smart things, too, like making it fast and easy to remove the background of photos you take of products.
We have loyalty tools that can set you apart, and make shopping with you more appealing.
Our insights dashboard serves data insights about the business that retailers tell us they L O V E.
Call us to see if our software is right for you.
We won’t pressure you.
Call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.
We are proud to serve local retailers
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We are proud to help local retail businesses build fitness
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The mental health challenge of theft in local small business retail
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Beyond the money, theft in local small business retail is a mental health challenge.
There is the situation of the person stealing, the customer, the supplier, the co-owner or the employee. Often there can be mental health challenges associated with or leading up to their actions.
Then, there is the mental health challenge for the business owner(s) following the theft.
In our work with local small business retailers dealing with theft from their business, we have seen mental health affected.
we have seen retailers so affected that they quickly sell their business, opting for a lifestyle change as a result.
Theft is personal. We get that there are plenty of ‘experts’ who say theft is not personal. But in our experience, it is. Your business is like your home. Theft is a violation of your home. This why it hits hard, why it hurst so much.
When we discover theft in a retail business we are helping we suggest the owners reach out to professional services for mental health support. Advice we have found useful includes:
Be sure of the facts. How much was stolen and how it was stolen. These specific details can help you draw a line under the situation.
Do something. Take an action, or actions, to protect against a recurrence. Acting on the situation can provide confidence and strength.
Be open with others. Sharing what happened and what it has meant to you can, of itself, nurture support.
Cleanse. The theft situation may have left you with an employee or two you no longer want in the business, a supplier to drop, a customer ti disallow. Take action to shut the door.
Exercise. Plenty off mental health professionals advocate active walking outdoors as a good step for calming and clearing your mind. Find the exercise that works best for you, walking, running, swimming, and engage in that exercise. From what we read and have been told, doing this away from you’re business regularly is key.
Try to not obsess. We have seen retailers become obsessed about theft following an incident. That can be debilitating and take joy from the running of the business. Find a balance that works for you where you can be vigilant, but not obsessed.
While dealing with the practicalities of theft is important in any local small business retail setting, dealing with your own mental health is important too. Work on it. be aware. Take care of yourself. And, be in control, rather than the crime controlling you.
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