2. UP AGAINST THE WAL-MARTS How Your Business Can Prosper In The Shadow of the Retail Giants AUTHOR: Don Taylor & Jeanne Shalling Archer PUBLISHER: Amacom Books DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2005 258 pages

3. THE BIG IDEA What can you do to keep your business afloat – and thriving – when mega-retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot offer thousands of products under one roof, and at impossibly low prices? Up Against The Wal-Marts gives you proven strategies to transform your business into a true David in a world of Goliaths.

4. WHY YOU NEED THIS BOOK This essential book gives you a huge selection of tools to help you spot new trends, trouble shoot financial issues, gauge customer satisfaction, leverage promotional opportunities , and more.

5. BECOME A DAVID You can survive. Even if you’ve lost customers, you can win them back. You can prosper and grow . We know you can because we’ve talked with hundreds of independents just like you, and they are becoming successful competitors. They are learning how to counter the giant’s strengths. Owners are becoming smarter, faster, tougher, and more focused on running profitable businesses. And they are improving their businesses, increasing sales and profits, and some are setting all-time performance highs.

6. BECOME A DAVID They may have had their backs to the wall, but they’re no longer backing up. They are going forward with determination and vigor. They refuse to run, and they won’t hide. They are armed with information. They are winning because of their positive attitudes and because they are learning how to fight. So read on, gather up some new information and reenter the battle. You can win. You can prosper and grow.

16. KEEP THEM COMING BACK Good service is the best form of marketing we know of. If you follow the Four P’s and do a great job in each area, your reward will be happy customers who will be loyal for life . Word-of-mouth referrals – marketing – will help you generate business without spending a dime on promotion. Each encounter with a prospective customers or an existing one is an opportunity to acquire a lifelong fan. As Stanley Marcus, the father of retail said, “Nobody owns anybody anymore.” All business is competitive business, folks, and you’ll be assured of many repeat opportunities.

17. WHEN IT ISN’T WORKING: HOW TO FIRE FAIRLY How do you know when it’s time to fire? You use the MOP Test to determine if your employee’s actions are putting you and your company in jeopardy. M = Morale . Is the problem employee having a negative influence on the morale and attitude of others? O = Operations . Is the problem employee affecting operations, causing a decrease in productivity or increases in costs? P = Profits . Are profits dropping because of the employees’ actions? Are you losing customers, sales, or orders? All of these will eventually lead to a profit decline.

18. A FINAL WORD As a closing thought, we would like to share a little poem that we’ve used over the years. We’ve seen a number of different versions of the poem, but do not know its author. We believe that it sums up not only how to beat burnout, but how to be that competitor who can take on any business challenge and succeed. We share it with you with the hope that it will inspire you as much as it has inspired thousands of others.

19. A FINAL WORD If you think you’re beaten, you are, If you think you dare not, you don’t. If you’d like to win, but think you can’t, It’s almost certain you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost, For out in the world we find, Success begins with a person’s will, It’s all in the state of mind. -Author unknown

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