Posts

Showing posts from December, 2019

RANDOM SIGHTINGS

Image
Between projects, you can feel like you are walking through the mundane of life. In that wandering, you see random sightings of images that catch you eye and intrigue your searching mind. Most are part of everyday life, some delight and some not. All are welcome breaks from what can seem like sameness everywhere. You think about new projects and art with these images. Many though just remain buried in your photo library. They never all quite fit together, remaining like a large folded blanket where the edges are never perfect.  Still they can be enjoyed for what they are, just the random sightings. David Young

THE JANUARY PLAN

Image
It almost seems like you’re breaking a business commandment if you don’t have a business plan for success ready on January 1. One that propels you into the marketplace to gain new revenue, clients and contacts. There are reasons, though, not to complete your plan until deep into January. The January marketplace is crowded with super bowl type efforts springing from already prepared business plans. These hurricane efforts often exhaust themselves with early setbacks and competition. You can leap frog all this by taking a different tact.  Instead of having a plan cast in stone, you can take January to strengthen business ties, observe market trends and learn from the mistakes of others. With that knowledge you can formalize a more successful plan in January for the year.  A good place to start is to use January to make contact with your existing clients, suppliers, strategic partners and experts in your business segment. Their focus will have moved from wrappi...

CONVENIENCE STORES

Image
“Little Stores are like some people, advertising much in hope of attracting love. Someone will wander in not looking to buy just anything. And then there, hiding, the wanderer will find a treasure. The store and wanderer richer because of it.”  - Brenda Little Convenience stores are as Americana as you can get. Bright gaudy places advertising almost everything. You usually go there for something specific, but often walk out with much more. They seldom disappoint.  Small stores are big business, with sales growing for 16 straight years. Last year sales surged 8.9% to 634.3 billion. This is despite their small size, averaging 3,230 sq. Ft. They employ an astounding 2.36 million people. Food service now accounts for 22.6% of non fuel sales eclipsing beverage sales of 15.2% and candy 10.4%.  Unlike much of our society, they offer immediate satisfaction. 83% of items sold are consumed within one hour of leaving the store. Satisfaction indeed for a wandering ...