Ahmed and Fatima opened a shop dealing in Persian fine art and antiques at a prime spot in the West End. They had noticed that there were a cluster of Persian restaurants on the same street, and although the area was not in a central shopping area, it was accessible to prime locations.
When they opened were visited by quite a number of people from the local area searching for objects of value, however that did not generate the sales that they hoped for, and their turnover was low. They increased their hours of opening, and leafleted the local area. They posted offers in the window, and even tried to spread the range that they were offering. The business rates went up, and reluctantly they were forced to put up a 'Closing Down Sale' sign.
We were too late to save their business, because they did not contact us in time. We did however suggest another way of selling stock through a shop on eBay, and the provision of an e-commerce site, which they will later explore.
This highlights the importance of obtaining information early, before you loose control.
There is a lot of free information out there to help you when you are starting out, and Microsoft have produced a guide
Starting up in Retail suggesting that there is a lot of money out there (up to £23billion), and small businesses could attain a slice of the cash! There are about 311,000 shops in the UK, and according to the British Chamber of Commerce (2007) the vast majority of these are independents, and around 184,000 people are currently running their own shops – and while many will be happy to stay small, others are more ambitious.
The guide produced by the British Chamber of Commerce is well-worth reading and
downloadable here in PDF.
Ahmed and Fatima may have failed in their business in part, because they did not embrace new technologies, and they preferred to do things that they knew about. They did not advertise online, and did not have a web site.
How important is new technology to you? Should businesses embrace change, or stay stagnant in the marketplace?
We advise shopkeepers to have a web site, and work closely with them to define their product list. We help them with the design and content of their online presence, and setting up their e-commerce site, which improves their sales revenue.
We have businesses enquires through phone and email asking us to improve their image. We take a good look at their web site in detail, and do a complete audit to see why it is not generating leads. We either overhaul their web site, or add pages and submit buttons. It's not just about coding. Then we suggest ways to our clients to add on lines to create income, and improve their visibility.
Why not ring us today for a free business review, where one of our consultants will arrange to talk to you about your business, and offer you some good advice. Our consultant will either meet you on site, or speak to you by phone. Our consultant will also offer you paid services that you may avail, but you are not under any obligation to accept.
We also offer a free web site review, and in the case that you do
not have a web site, a realistic price for one, with add-ons to
increase your visibility.
Please phone our support staff who will take your details, and feed them through to our representatives.
Our support team are available on Tel.
UK 020 8432 6450 USA 415 992 8021
Email:
service@cateringpage.comPlease leave a message with your phone number. All messages are checked regularly.
Warm regards, Lawrence Perry, Managing Director of Catering Page, Serving the Hotelier with Image, Visibility, PR and Website Solutions. . And advising you on Outsourcing to the Philippines
Catering Page and Dolma Interactive are trading names used by DOLMA INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
Registered Office: 60 ROBIN HOOD WAY GREENFORD MIDDLESEX UB6 7QN, UK Company No. 05060920
