On The 9th Day of Christmas at the Dojo...
...we planned our New Year's clearance sale. So here's the deal - if you're like me, you end up with a lot of stuff in stock that is slow-selling or that just doesn't sell.
"So what?" you might be saying. "If it sits there, it sits there. No big deal."
Actually, it is a big deal, because all that Pro Shop stock that isn't moving represents money that is tied up in merchandise that isn't turning a profit. See, money is good for two things:
- Spending, and...
- Making more money!
When people say that you need money to make money, in a lot of ways, that's true. And having money tied up in slow-moving merchandise means all that money is just sitting there, stagnant. And that's bad for business.
So, what we're going to do is have a clearance sale to get rid of all that stale merchandise. What I want you to do is to set up a table or a couple of tables with all your clearance merchandise. Anything that hasn't sold for months and that is just collecting dust needs to go on that table.
Then, mark everything down 50% on the table. EVERYTHING. Remember, we're not looking to make a profit on this sale, we just want to free that money up so we can turn it over to make us more money.
We'll use the proceeds from that sale for extra advertisement to boost our New Year enrollments, or we'll use it to buy more Pro Shop merchandise that we know will sell fast.
So, spend 30 minutes or so today going through your merchandise and Pro Shop stock, and pull out all the slow- and non-selling items, and get them ready to mark down and display AFTER the New Year.
Until next time,
Mike Massie
MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
P.S. - Remember all that work equipment that I told you to hang on to after you replaced it with shiny new stuff? Well, we're going to sell that at 50% of retail, too - and that's going to pay for all our shiny new stuff. So, spend a few minutes cleaning and sanitizing that gear, and set it out for display when you have your clearance sale after the holidays. Just be sure to clearly mark it as "used" gear.
P.S.S. - Why not have that clearance sale now? One word, TIMING. People are naturally looking for clearance sales and deals after the holidays, and your bargain hunters are more likely to spend money on a good deal then. Also, almost everyone has their shopping money tied up in other things right now. And finally, you really don't need a huge amount of extra income right at the end of the year, because it just means you'll have to pay taxes on it in April. So, wait until January 2nd to have that clearance sale.
