Banks, the enemy of small business.

         There are many challenges facing owners of small business.  If you are a very small business like my store you are doing everything from cleaning the floors to making decisions about inventory to buy.  Buying the wrong inventory can hurt your business but keeping the store clean and attractive can drive a customer away as surely as not having what they need.  A small business needs real help from professionals like accountants, contractors, lawyers, good sales reps from suppliers. Some of these folks are also small business owners and really do want to provide good service and help your business grow.
     Banks, on the other hand are only interested in money and would do anything for a nickel.  There are new branches springing up everywhere and these new buildings seem to be the only new construction to be found.  There was a recent report that said that banks make 40 to fifty percent of their income from penalty fees.  I would say that if banks gave the money back to the customers it belonged to many would go out of business or at least have to close branches. 
     Banks used to make money by providing services like loaning money, but draining customers accounts directly is easier and more profitable.  I could never be a bank officer and look a customer in the face who had just lost some money to the bank.  The standard answer given to the victim is that it wasn't a bank error and that is true in a way.  the bank took the money on purpose.  Sometimes banks will give some of the money back as a "courtesy" but the remaining amount stolen is still stolen and I see no courtesy in theft.
     I guess I should be silent and consider this kind of graft the cost of doing business but I would never treat a customer of mine that way so I just have to bear the loss.

Marketing, marketing and more marketing

     When I opened my new music store I knew there would be a need for marketing.  Target markets do change and there is a continual need to keep focusing your marketing efforts to hit that bulls eye that keeps changing.  With the tuning enterprise the market suddenly changed shen the US economy tanked relatively recently.  Previously if you wanted to increase your customer base the fastest way to accomplish that was to do warranty tuning for stores selling new pianos.  The deal alsays was that you did these tunings cheap but after that initial tuning the customer was yours.  When all the new piano makers went out of business except Steinway that market suddenly disapeared.
     An unexpected benefit of that for me was that there were experienced tuners willing to accept work from Renshaw Music that were too busy with their own customers before.  Finding new customers in the tuning business suddenly repuired marketing efforts.  With the store I have had to be a relentless marketer to build the customer base for this new enterprise. 
     My recent ribbon cutting was a big boost to the traffic in the store but as the season is starting I now need to compete with many other voices that are trying to tap into those new dollars.  My store is not a specialty shop so I am waging a marketing battle on many fronts.  I find that i need to think outside the box with products that would be considered gift items with a musical theme.  With the Christmas season coming as well as the snow birds returning there is a significant opportunity here but it is going to repuire both a relentless and shameless marketing effort on my part. 
     The series of guirilla marketing books that I have written about in previous posts identify 200 marketing weapons and suggest that one designes a marketing plan and then evaluates the effectiveness of each of these tools that are in use and then ditch the ones that are not working, increase efforts into the one's that are working, and add new weapons that you think might work.  That is the spirit of  the relentless and shameless marketing  that I find I need to throw myself into.

Jazz society promotion: a qualified success

     One of the marketing tools that I listed in one of my earliest posts was buying a block of tickets from the jazz society and offering a free ticket to a concert with two jazz pianists if a customer did a tuning before the concert.  the jazz society printed some very nice looking tickets that said compliments of Renshaw Music  and I picked up four new customers with this promotion.  The remaining tickets will be reprinted for a future concert and I will do it again.  The result was not as good as I had hoped but new customers are like gold so I am considering it a qualified success as a marketing tool.  I have some ideas about better promotion of the promotion next time so this marketing tool is a keeper.
     I attended the concert too and the performers were fabulous and I had forgotten how much I enjoy good jazz.  Another benefit that I had not thought of was the concert itself as a marketing moment.  The time before and after the concert were great informal times of meeting prospective customers and getting the word out about tuning and the new store.
     My ribbon cutting is a week away now, and there have been many challenges but this event should be a big boost  and a lot of fun.

Ribbon Cutting: The next big event for Renshaw Music

     On October 19th the store will have a ribbon cutting at 5:30 PM.  Since becoming a member of first the Punta Gorda and then the Englewood Chamber of commerce, I have been attending almost every ribbon cutting that the chamber participated in.  These events were for all kinds of businesses and often they were huge parties and lots of fun.  there were always many new and interesting people to meet and speeches by the business owner and then the ribbon cutting itself with good coverage by the local papers.  I am so looking forward to having one of my own very soon.
     So far not many from the business community have visited the store.  I think most business owners who have attended these events like me and know me will turn out for this event.  There will be refreshments, introductions of teachers and a long list of others who have helped my create this new business.  This event should be a big boost to the awareness of the store in my community.This event is really just another marketing tool.
     A general music store like mine is particularly hard to keep in the public eye.  A specialty shop of some kind can identify and target a market and then concentrate efforts on that narrow market.  I have a store that makes me a generalist with products for many diverse kinds of musicians.  This week I had a customer come in with a Fender Rhodes keyboard and I was able to repair it and send the customer on his way spreading the word that the store can service this rare instrument.  In a way my niche is that I can serve the needs of a very diverse group of musicians.
      The ribbon cutting can highlight these unique features as well as being a great party.

Finding hope in a damaged economy

     Renshaw Music as a retail store has been open now for two weeks.  Developing new relationships with vendors, teachers for the studio, and a few allies that supply equipment for the teaching rooms and sales floor on a consignment basis has been chalanging yet enjoyable.   It is an ongoing process, though that is going to take time. 
     My ribbon cutting is on October 19th and I am hard at work preparing for that so I am very busy.  One thing that I am coming to understand in a different way is how the economy is effecting my customers.  The "experts" talk on the TV about the economy and it's effect on the population but when the customer comes in whose husband just lost his job with some little ones that want to take music lessons and affording the instrument or the lessons is going to be very difficult for the family,  the damaged economy presents itself in a different way.  It wasn't easy for my parents to provide the lessons and instruments for me  but I am glad they made the sacrifice and part of what I enjoy in running the store is being a part of enriching the lives of the families that I serve by offering good products at a good price.
     The economy will likely improve but that will take much time too.  Whether the economy improves or not, however, the thing that gives me the most hope and encouragement is that the Lord is in control.  Being anxious about my personal circumstances or the store does nothing but trusting the Lord brings His peace, which is all I really need.