Reflections Before Resolutions

Every year we make resolutions in January for all the wonderful things we want to achieve in the next twelve months. Many times those resolutions are the same ones we made the year before....ever vowed to lose weight, relax more, or better yet- get more organized at work or home?


Whether it's for personal reasons, or professional ones, I think it's a good idea to reflect on the previous year before we start considering the next one. Time taken to reflect on the lessons we learnt will hopefully help us avoid making the same mistakes in the the coming year.

As we retailers head into the buying season and the trade show circuit consider, I thought I'd share some suggestions on how to review the prior year in order to make business resolutions that will have an impact on your business during the coming year.

• Reconcile last years sales to determine sale by vendor, sales by classification, profitability by vendor and profitability by classification; Any patterns, trends or best sellers?


• Take an accurate inventory by vendor and classification; Any gaping holes or excessive amounts?


• How did various classifications and vendors sales grow over the past year; were they consistent across the entire product portfolio? Did they correlate with inventory investments?


• Assess the impact of any trends on your pending purchases; What intelligence have you gathered in seminars, from customers and vendors? How credible are these resources based on last years actual results?

A little reflecting on last year will help with your planning and resolutions heading into 2010.