Reducing Retail Business Expense

Do you have a way to reduce expenses? At the end of this article, you can share your ways to cut costs with others.

There may come a time when a retailer is faced with the need to cut expenses. It could be a slump in the economy or the threat of a new competitor. Or it may simply be the desire to control those ever-expanding monthly operating expenditures.

Whatever the reason, there are areas in spending in which retailers can reduce without compromising customer service or quality. If your store is experiencing a cash crunch, consider the following ways to cut retail business expenses.

Begin looking at the store's budget to find areas that can be cut out completely or considerably trimmed back. List every expense the business incurs, all the way down to cash register paper, and then determine where the shop can save money.

Buying in bulk, buying used and comparison shopping are all options for saving money. Every bit adds up. Keep in mind that many business expenses can be negotiated for better rates or terms. With a little planning and some research, retailers may find better services for less.

Areas to Reduce Expenses

• Credit card processing fees
• Telephone and utility bills
• Internet and web hosting
• Professional fees
• Banking Services
• Postage and shipping fees
• Office supplies and equipment
• Overtime pay
• Health Plans
• Business insurance

Instead of trimming costs here and there, what if your retail business really needs to slash expenses? Before you go hacking necessary sales tools, like advertising and staffing, consider cutting completely any item that is not required to stay in business. Be careful, the idea is to cut any unnecessary expenses, not sacrifice efficiency or professionalism.

Items Your Business May Survive Without

• Cell phones
• Donations
• Magazine subscriptions
• Trade organizations
• Professional dues
• Landscaping
• Janitorial service

Plan ahead, create a realistic budget and get the entire staff involved. Employees are more willing to help store owners control expenses when they understand the next cut could be their own job.

Building Business or Trade Credit

One of the best tools for delaying cash outflow of any cash-strapped, or new, retail business is the trade credit available from suppliers. Trade credit is one part of the process to build business credit. It is an open account with a vendor who lets a retailer buy now and pay later.
Many suppliers may require the first order to be paid by credit card or C.O.D. (cash/check on delivery) until the business has been deemed credit worthy. Once it is established that a business can pay its bills on time, it is possible to negotiate trade credit and terms with suppliers.

Types of Trade Terms

Two of the most common types of trade credit terms are the Net 30 and Net 10 accounts. These net terms specify payment is expected to be made in full 30(net 30) or 10(net 10) days after the goods are delivered to the retailer.
Some vendors offer cash discounts and the retailer may notice the notation "1/10, Net 30" on their invoice. This refers to a 1% discount to the retailer if payment is received within 10 days of the delivery of goods, and full payment is expected within 30 days.
If an invoice is $5000 and "1/10 Net 30" is noted, the retailer can take a 1% discount ($5000 x .01 = $50) and make a payment of $4950 within 10 days.

Credit Application

New customers to a supplier may need to fill out a credit application and provide some other financial information about the business. Other items found on a credit application could include:

• Company name, address, contact information
• Business structure: corporate, partnership, sole proprietor, etc.
• Terms requested
• Sales tax Number
• Tax EIN
• DUNS Number
• Years in business
• Annual revenue
• Bank information
• Credit card number
• Trade references of other suppliers
• Signature of an authorized officer

For existing customers of the supplier, the credit decision is generally based on past payment history. This is why it is so important to maintain a prompt and dependable payment relationship with all vendors.

It Can't Hurt To Ask

Fledgling businesses may want to introduce themselves and their business directly to either the business owner or the credit department manager of the supplier they would like to do business with. Offer to show the decision maker your business plan and explain that you need your first order on credit in order to launch your retail business. The vendor may have terms available to new businesses.
The idea behind trade credit is to have your goods shipped to your retail business, and sell them before you have to pay for them. There are other ways to finance your inventory, but most include having to pay interest on a loan. This is why trade credit is key in reducing the amount of working capital needed.

Cost of Trade Credit

As a retailer, you should always be on the lookout for suppliers who offer not only the lowest prices, but fast, dependable delivery. Try not to become too committed to one vendor because they offer credit terms to your business. Trade credit is best used as a short-term solution for managing cash flow and shouldn't be used long-term.
If using trade credit for an extended period, plan to avoid unnecessary costs through forfeiture of cash discounts or delinquency penalties. Late payment penalties can run between 1 to 2% on a monthly basis. This means that missing the net payment date for an entire year can cost as much as 12 to 24 percent in penalty interest.
Trade credit creates additional cash resources by delaying cash outflows that would otherwise occur at the time of purchase. For this reason, taking full advantage of trade credit for purchasing inventory is an important step in managing payables and improving cash flow.

Great Stock Trading Software

Stock Trading Software is a tool every trader must have in their tool box. I am not talking about the kind of software that flashes pretty lights that tell you when to buy or when to sell. Please do not go out and spend thousands of dollars for some software that is going to give you stock picks this way. You will have much better results by just reading a few books.

The trading software I'm talking about is technical analysis, or a charting software. It is a stock trading tool you should not be without. If you are investing in the stock market with out looking at charts you are throwing your money down the drain. Even the great traders in the past (before computers) used them. They had the ability to see it in their minds.

Technical Analysis is the forecasting of future financial price movements based on an examination of past price movements. On any given day, week, or month there is a finite number of traders in the markets. Many of these stock traders do the same things over and over. People develop behavior patterns, and a group of people, interacting with one another on a consistent basis, form collective behavior patterns. Human nature is the same today as it was 2000 years ago. These behavior patterns are observable and they repeat themselves with statistical reliability.

Fundamental analysis is just as important. If a company is losing money year after year their is no way people will invest in them and the price of the stock will go down. Combining technical and fundamental analysis you have the greatest potential for making money in the stock market.

How are we going to find these stocks? Thanks to computers we can scan the entire universe of stocks in seconds. With the best Stock Trading Software you just put in the information that you are looking for and with a click of the mouse you have your results in just seconds.

Online Stock Trading

Online Stock Trading is becoming the most popular way to trade stocks because of computers. No longer do we have to call a broker and pay high commissions to buy or sell a stock. With just a few clicks of the mouse we are in total control of our investments. With online brokerages competing for your business, commission prices are at levels that are easily affordable. Access to information, known only to stockbrokers a few years ago, is now at our finger tips.

Depending on what type of trader you are, there is trading software and execution systems that can shoot your orders to "the floor" in seconds. We can log on to the internet, read the news of a stock we are interested in, look at it's chart, go back to our online trading platform, click a button, and buy a stock.

Here is a small sample of online brokers.

• Scottrade

• Ameritrade

• E Trade

• Schwab

Which one is the best to use? That all depends on what type of trader you are. If you are a swing trader or someone who buys and holds a stock for some time, a company like Scottrade would be good for you. If you are day trading stocks online, then you are going to want someone who offers direct access in order to get the best price possible.

With buying and selling stocks being so easy comes the allure of getting rich quick. Many people get into this mindset. They open an account with an online broker and end up losing their hard earned money. Stock Trading is a get rich slow process. Money can be made, but it takes time. Most important, and I can not stress this enough, it takes education.

Before you even consider opening an account educate yourself by reading books, and developing a trading strategy. Do not get involved with the stock market without doing this first. The market is filled with hungry sharks looking to take your money from you. And take your money they will if you go into this blindly.

This website will help you get the education you need. Have a look around, there are many resources here to help you get started, and to help you succeed with your online stock trading.

BASIC ELECTRONICS

Matter and Electricity

Force Fields: A Physics E&M Primer for Electronic Students. This free physics eBook teaches the basics of electricity and Magnetism. Get it now!

Electricity is a physical phenomena involving positive and negative charge. When these charges are in motion they may produce heat, light and magnetism. When charges are not in motion, static electricity can manifests itself as a force such as clothes clinging to each other when they are removed from a dryer.

A simple stationary system of a single positive ion and a single negative ion (or electron) separated by large distance with respect to their size ( a meter for example) will have a E field associated with them. Along the axis connecting the two ions the E vector points directly from the positive ion towards the negative ion. At this theoretical point in time there is no H field. The E field will cause the charge particles to move towards each other. This relative motion of positive and negative charge is the simplest example of current. Associated with this tiny current a magnetic or H field will exist. The motion of the positive charge will be in the direction of the E field and the negative charge will move in the opposite direction of the E field. Current by definition flows in the direction of the E field. It follows that positive charge moves in the direction of current and negative charge moves opposite to the current.