Images_Digital_Edition_February_2020

www.images-magazine.com FEBRUARY 2020 images 25 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Combining all these factors along with a professional appearance and great customer service will create an enticing store that both existing and prospective customers will want to visit. By giving your customers a reason to visit you, they will get to see and touch the products and talk to you about their needs and your proposition. It’ll allow them to get a real feel for your business and brand, which isn’t always possible to achieve via a website. Despite the steady year-on-year growth of personalised clothing being sold online, there is still no replacement for seeing in the flesh the quality of both a product and a service. I n-store marketing is an often-undervalued part of a marketing strategy, but for garment decorators whose premises are open to customers and are looking to increase footfall, it can play a critical role. Customers trust you with their branding needs, so ensure yours is also on point from the moment the customer locks eyes on your building and enters your showroom. Catching a customer’s attention visually is key, whether this is using point of sales materials and marketing collateral in store, or using decorated windows, sandwich boards and/or other visual devices outside to display your latest offers, promotions and range of products. Appeal to customers and market your business at the same time by giving out promotional items that are branded with your information and details, as well as branded samples and swatches – anything that enhances your business’s brand and will be of use to your customers. You can also extend your offers to be in-store only. Offering showroom-specific deals, discounts and incentives that can only be used at your store will give your existing and potential customers a reason to visit you. In-store marketing Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk I made an avoidable mistake. I did what so many small business owners do – I entered a business partnership without proper consideration. Consequently, the partnership lasted less than a year. I dare say my ex- partner would agree that he didn’t give the matter proper consideration either. If we had conducted the research and soul searching that I now know is essential, we would have realised that we had different goals for the business, vastly different management styles, and personalities that are incompatible for a partnership. You’ve bandied about your business model exhaustively, and all that remains is to decide whether you’re going to go it alone or enter into a partnership. It makes no difference if yours is a new business about to be launched or an existing business at a crossroad – the decision requires the same degree of contemplation. Should you retain full ownership and hire the expertise and raise the capital you may not have, or should you trade away partial ownership and control to a partner or partners in exchange for expertise and capital? Interrogate yourself mercilessly. How does the proposed partner’s personality, work habits and work ethic fit with yours? Can you accept that you’ll have to compromise sometimes? Do you or your potential partner have any personality traits that are difficult to work with? A clear understanding of each partner’s contribution in terms of expertise, effort and capital has to be reached. A management and administrative structure should be agreed upon. All of the details should be carefully documented in a partnership or An avoidable mistake shareholders’ agreement, which must include a termination mechanism. Many business partnerships don’t survive for the same reason that so many marriages don’t survive: irreconcilable differences. Because the statistical odds are stacked against partnerships, if you enter into one tread carefully and thoughtfully and with a big stick in the form of a comprehensive partnership or shareholders’ agreement that contains an escape clause. Michael Best is a print industry veteran, accountant and author of Characters Who Can Make Or Break Your Small Business . Through 39 characters, Michael covers all aspects most small business owners can expect to encounter in the life of a business from inception to disposition. It is available from Amazon and www.smallbusinesscharacters.com .