As we hear that Sainsbury’s is planning to merge with Asda, we
know that shopping trends are changing.
Two thirds of shoppers now visit the supermarket more than
once a day. People are buying smaller amounts from discount stores rather than
doing major shops at out of town superstores.
At one time it looked like the huge out-of-town superstores
would take over the world. Now they have been hit by smaller supermarkets like
Lidl and Aldi, as well as online providers like Amazon Prime with free deliveries
of fresh food.
More mini supermarket are being opened by the large chains,
which is squeezing the little guys with the corner shop that used to be the
only shop open late at night – now many supermarkets open 24 hours a day.
Online shopping is obviously accounting for much of what we
do nowadays, which is why Sainsburies bought Argos.
Asda’s owner Walmart, still the largest retailer in the
world, seems to have lost interest in the UK and has bigger fish to fry to
protect its market from online retailers such as Amazon and Alibaba. Amazon’s
owner Jeff Bezos and Alibaba’s Jack Ma are two of the richest men on earth, so shopping
habits are definitely changing.
In other financial news, the UK economy’s growth rate has
slowed in the last quarter to, however, your economy is run by you, not the
government. Growth, GDP, inflation.
Focus on your own business and on your self development and career, not the world economy, which will always be fluctuating!
You can get in on the online revolution quicker and cheaper than ever before. You don't need a fancy website, you don't need your own product or a garage full of stock and you don't need a huge budget. What you DO need is some training and knowhow, focus and persistence!
One of my mentors Russell Branson has written a fantastic book about building a following and tribe called Expert Secrets. Russell has a special promo running for a limited time where he will give you the Expert Secrets book for free as long as you pay for the postage. Grab a copy while stock lasts, it could change your life.
Is
the end near for physical shops? Well it is certainly tough out there.
Meanwhile, Amazon
sales were up over 40% in the first quarter of 2018. The online retailer made a
profit of $1.6 billion.
Jeff
Bezos became $12 billion richer on the basis of a 4% increase in the share
price!
Mark Zuckerberg made $5 billion this week but Larry Page and Sergei Brin the owners of Google lost 2 billion - maybe it fell down behind the sofa? Crazy figures that really relate to fluctuation the share price. I’m sure neither of these guys will be going out ordering new yachts or having a garage sale!
The
news of online success comes on the back of failing High Street stores in
London and the collapse of major chains like Toys R Us, Maplin and Carpetright.
So
why am I telling all this? What is this got to do with money tips? The answer
is that opening up shops in the High Street is highly risky for the new
business person.
In
my local area there are four major supermarkets sucking money out of the High
Street and driving small retailers into the ground. Not content with that, they
are also opening smaller 7-Eleven-style corner shop stores to pour more misery
on the little guy who can only survive by running the business within the family
and working 18 hours a day. Frankly, he would probably better off driving a
bus.
Every
year in my town I see more hopefuls open up a shop selling everything from
smoothies, specialty ethnic groceries, restaurants, mobile phone cases to
expensive bathrooms.
Before
they open the doors they are incurring around £1000 per week in bottomline
costs excluding staffing. That doesn’t include the cost of refurbishing the
shop and buying stock. Not surprisingly, 95% of the shops are gone within a
year or two. Even national companies have closed stores and restaurants, so what chance has a newby got?
Losing a business not the end of the misery for the owners of a failed shop. Most
would’ve signed a long lease and personally guaranteed or signed a personal
guarantee to pay the rent regardless of how the business goes. This means they
will be paying for the premises even though the business is no longer running
until such time as the shop has been relet Which can take months or even
years.
If
they fail to pay the landlord can take action against the former tenant and
even force them into bankruptcy or take their house.
Under
the terms of the lease, the landlord can also charge for dilapidations and the
cost of refurbishing the shop or office premises.
I
have been on the end of this treatment by greedy landlords try and charge for
every scuff mark on the carpet, which is then replaced by the new tenant at no cost to the landlord.
Each
year thousands of people start up businesses in the hope that they can improve
their financial situation or become financially free. Unfortunately, over 90%
of these businesses will fail within the first few years.
Here
are 5 tips to survive in business
1. Keep costs under control
One
of the main reasons businesses fail is through lack of sales or marketing, But
costs play a significant part in their downfall.
I
have found that if businesses can survive the first few years they have a good
chance of going onto earning profits and succeeding in the long run.
One
way of keeping down costs is to start the business from home, preferrably part-time to start with, rather than
renting an office or shop premises.
2. Start Online
Starting
an online business with little or no start-up costs gives you the chance to
make money without risking your savings and your house. You can also run an online business in your spare time until you start making money without giving up your day job.
3. Build Your Business Before Opening a Shop
Is
the High Street Cornershop days over? Not quite, but the market is going
through significant changes. The old butcher, Baker, candlestick maker doesn’t
cut it anymore. There are more and more estate agents, Hairdressers and nail
bars taking up retail space.
If
you want to have a retail business in the High Street, build it up first from
home and then expand into a shop premises when you’re ready and there is proven
demand for your products.
4. Write a business plan
Before
you start any business Write a proper business plan and get legal and
accountancy advice, as well as a cash flow forecast. Some banks will help you
with this and there is online and offline advice avaialble. A plan can be a few pages of A4 and doesn’t need to be in
elaborates 100 page document. The main thing is that you know what you want to
achieve, how to achieve it, what it will cost and a forecast showing how much
cash you need each month to run the business.
In
my experience, most businesses just start get going without any form of
business plan and then work it out as they go along. To be honest, I’ve done
this myself, but it is not wise to fly by the seat of your pants. Do it the
easy way And you will avoid sleepless nights and risking everything.
5. Build a Following
Building
a following will separate you from the vast majority of your competitors who just
start a business and hope that customers will come through the door. But you
can hope and meditate and chant "om" all day long, but unless you do some
marketing and build your following you will soon be out of business.
One
of my mentors Russell Branson has written a fantastic book about building a
following and tribe called Expert Secrets. Russell has a special promo running for a limited time where he will give you the Expert Secrets book for free as long as you pay for the
postage. Grab a copy while stock lasts, it could change your life.
The 7 Step process to start making money online with Amazon
Work from home and quit the rat race.
Most people don't realise how simple and easy it is to make money online. They think you need an expensive website, technical knowledge and expertise and loads of money to pay for traffic of SEO. All of this is rubbish, and I'll prove it to you.
Ok, here's a simple 7-step process for making money online with Amazon without building a website:
Download the Amazon Seller App on your smart phone for easy use
Register an account to set up your online Amazon home-based business
Scan the bar code on your old books, DVD's and CD's using the app feature your phone
Check selling prices for the products to see if there is a demand
List the item for sale on Amazon at a competitive price
Ship or post the item when you receive an order
Find more stuff to sell.
Yes, it's that simple! Sure, there's a lot more to learn about Amazon and the strategies to maximise your profits, but this will get you up and running and produce cash. Will it make you a fortune? Probably not unless you scale it up and add more products, But it will change your mindset, open or awaken your mind and give you valuable experience in making money online - without your own website, technical knowledge or paid SEO.
Amazon.com is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market capitalization, and its U.S. website alone attracts over 100 million visitors a month. The company wants to DOUBLE its business in the next year and is investing billions in warehouses, drones delivery technology and Prime membership services offering same day delivery and even delivery within an hour in certain areas!
And that's not all...Amazon needs retailers, sellers and products to achieve aggressive growth targets and will help you build your business; For instance:
Amazon provides the website for you to list your products
Amazon can warehouse and ship your products without the need for you to handle them
Amazon IT engineers provide the technical platform and support.
Amazon has millions of buyers searching for products and all the SEO in the world will not get your own website anywhere near this level of Google ranking and traffic.
Selling stuff on Amazon is just one internet marketing strategy for making money online. Some people swear by it and are making millions right now. However, to make serious cash and build a sustainable home based business online you need to take a few more steps. This is a business, and if you treat it like a business it will pay you like a business. Treat it like a hobby and it will cost you like a hobby.
When selling low-ticket value items, you need to sell a lot of products to make big money on Amazon. Competition also drives margins down so the right product, pricing and marketing is crucial to your success.
Work from anywhere in the world.
White Label products sold on Amazon
White labelling is a process where you have have your own or idea product manufactured and place your own unique label or wrapper on that product. This requires a bit more effort and creativity, as you will need to research the product and manufacturers, as well as the popularity on Amazon. Fortunately, Amazon publish figures, such as 'sales rank' to help you decide whether or not to list an item.
Using an established marketplace and platform has obvious advantages compared to setting up your own website - traffic being one example! One drawback, is that your online business will be effectively controlled by Amazon/Facebook/Groupon, and they has the power to shut you down if you step of of line.
If your whole online business and marketing strategy is based on one platform, whether it be Amazon, Facebook or YouTube, you run the risk of losing all your 'eggs' overnight if anything goes wrong. This happened to me a few years ago when Google changed their algorithms (I still don't know what they are!) and my business halved overnight. Fortunately, I had a physical training company and was not dependant on Google.
If you want to control your own destiny, the only way is to create your own brand and product, such as an ebook or a digital training programme, which you can market online yourself and through platforms like Amazon or Clickbank. Authors and speakers like Robert Kiyosaki, Brian Tracey and Dr Joe Vitale have built their own brands by publishing multiple books, audios and courses. Whilst they sell their products on Amazon, they are not dependant on Amazon. They ARE the brand and will thrive with or without vehicles like Facebook, YouTube, Amazon and so on, but obviously make a lot of money using them.
With Brian Tracey in California at a Jim Rohn Weekend event
For instance, over the years I have bought a number Brian, Robert's and Joe's books and audios and attended a Jim Rohn live event in California where Brian was speaking. I have had the privilege of meeting Robert Kiyosaki and Brian Tracey. I have purchased some of their products directly from the authors, some through Amazon and Audible (part of Amazon and well worth joining) and some through Nightingale Conant, which has published thousands of audios over 50 years.
I first saw Dr Joe Vitale featured in the movie The Secret. Then I bought one of his audios using my Audible subscription credits, which allows me to purchase audios for a small monthly fee - great value and I recommend joining. I like listening to audio books and courses on my iphone whilst driving or going to the gym.
I became more interested in his teachings on the laws of attraction and ended up subscribing to Joe Vitale's Awakened Millionaire course, which is takes you through a series of lessons using Joe on video and hypnotic, subliminal techniques to speak to your subconscious mind directly.
Joe has published over 50 physical books, speaks all over the world and is an authority on hypnosis. He also makes a fortune online, which he teaches in some of his programmes. If you would like more information on the work of Joe Vitale, Click Here!
If you are serious about becoming an internet entrepreneur and building a long term home-based business which will make you money online for years to come, then you should invest in some good training.
You can learn how to make money online, online! There some great courses which you can take from the comfort of your own home and watch again and again until the message sinks in. You can truly learn how to live a laptop lifestyle and quit the rat race.
If you would like more information on a complimentary course, held in the UK, on how to make money on Amazon? I have a limited number of tickets to an event which could change your life - email me for details together with your first and last name and telephone number.
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