How to Choose a Store Closing Specialist to Assist You with Your Going Out of Business Sale

The difference between closing your business profitably or closing at a loss can be the result of hiring the best store closing specialist.  The traditional “going out of business sale” can be a profitable undertaking with a carefully planned exit strategy.  A hasty store closing can result in the liquidation of assets that might otherwise have been sold at a profit by the business owner.  Using the Internet can be a helpful tool but you will want to speak with anyone you are considering hiring and check references to see if they more than just a flashy advertising billboard style web page, or a seasoned professional who can truly help you.

During this economic downturn numerous fly-by-night store closing specialist have appeared on the Internet.  These newly minted specialists rarely have any retail experience and are more often than not looking for a fast rather that profitable store closing.  There are important questions you need to ask the prospective retail crisis manager.  How many years have you worked in the retail industry?  Have you ever owned a retail business? How many profitable store closings have you implemented? Do you have references?  May we speak with those on your reference list?

Long time store closing specialists The Waldoff Group have been in the retail industry since the 1950s and offers sage advice.  “You need to find a company that will develop realistic goals based on your situation, your problems, your needs and your desires.  You need a retail crisis specialist who is solutions driven, able to devote the time and effort to addressing your problems while you continue to operate your business.” Waldoff continued “A well planned and well executed store closing takes planning, which includes many hours of time.  Well planned involves timing, merchandised correctly, advertised wisely, working with the stores management and personnel in a manner to maximize results.”

Many store closing consultants present information that infers closing your business is a promotional event.  Their services revolve around custom signs, lead generation and video production.  Closing a business is for the owner not a media event, but the end of their life’s work.  It is a personal loss that requires individualized hands on solutions not cookie cutter rhetoric.

It is a major step to admit to yourself “I need to close my retail store”.  Finding a retail specialist who has the years of experience combined with proven individualized strategies should be your first step.  Your retail store is not “just another closing”.  It is personal and deserves the best solutions for a profitable outcome.

Lee Hiller Copyright 2009 =====================================================

I am a writer, website designer, and  America’s Favorite Love Columnist as ranked by Google, MSN & Yahoo.  My Photography, Poetry and Graphic Designs can be viewed at Lee Hiller Designs. My Current passion & inspiration for photography is in the Hot Springs National Park Mountains, currently my home.  Yes, I am still designing womens shoes and have over 850 designs to date. In my spare time I am Co-Founder of the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.  I am fortunate to work side by side at Pen and Ink Inc. with partner and my fiance Rick London of Londons Times Cartoons and Shoes That Amuse.

Dreams Plus Action Equals Reality

By Lee Hiller (Hot Springs, AR)

How often have you had a daydream about a future you wish you were experiencing? What is the difference between that daydream and the life you are living? Fear of change often leaves us paralyzed and unable to move forward. Yet one step forward into the unknown could result in the realization of our dreams. Our own inaction is the only thing holding us back from the life we desire. Taking action is the only way to move forward changing dreams into reality.

When I stepped onto the path of change it sent a ripple out that affected many people. I had been living in a cloud of confusion for nearly five years and I was afraid to be myself. One day I awakened to find I was not the woman I had once been. I no longer pursued the interests at the core of whom I really was. As time passed, harsh circumstances locked me into a role that was destroying my soul. The day I wrote my first paragraph in ten years I felt free to be myself. As I typed each word it opened the cell door a bit more that I was locked behind. When I completed my new article I knew there was no going back and I must continue to grow and change.

Change is rarely easy and can cause those around you to feel you are abandoning them. They too, have become comfortable in their role and do not want anything to disturb their comfort zone. Change can be as simple as dressing differently or as complex as ending a long-term relationship. Many around you will believe as you move forward it will mean leaving them behind. To find your true self again this might be true.

Are you being true to yourself? Have you been conforming to the perception of you that others have created? Your dreams cannot and should not be dismissed. Take one hour each day to pursue your dream. Try it on and test the fit. See how it feels to actually live your dream. Does it make you happy? If yes, you must now decide, “Am I willing to make changes to continue on a new path?”

There will be naysayers and those who will accuse you of making waves. Some of your family and friends may try to dissuade you from achieving your dream. They may not want you to be yourself for fear they will not know what their place will be in your life. It will take courage and commitment to live your dreams and to be the person that is best for you. Doing something that is only for you may be difficult in the beginning. Recognize that what you feel is real and valid. You are worthy of following your own dream.

Nearly nine months have passed since I began to see that to be myself I must change. I took many steps backward before I could begin to see the path I must follow. In being true to myself I am now engaged to Rick London, my love and my business partner in our new SEO and Branding Company Pen and Ink Inc. I publish a weekly Love advice Column in the “Insiders” section of The Herald de Paris (heralddeparis.com) and enjoy the status as “expert author” at EzineArticles. Change is never easy but living my dreams is worth all the pain and every obstacle I had to endure to be myself.

Lee Hiller Copyright 2009 =====================================================

I am a writer, website designer, and  America’s Favorite Love Columnist as ranked by Google, MSN & Yahoo.  My Photography, Poetry and Graphic Designs can be viewed at Lee Hiller Designs. My Current passion & inspiration for photography is in the Hot Springs National Park Mountains, currently my home.  Yes, I am still designing womens shoes and have over 850 designs to date. In my spare time I am Co-Founder of the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.  I am fortunate to work side by side at Pen and Ink Inc. with partner and my fiance Rick London of Londons Times Cartoons and Shoes That Amuse.

Do I Need to Liquidate Merchandise, Close My Retail Store or Restructure My Business

By Lee Hiller (Hot Springs, AR)

Rising unemployment and lower than expected sales figure over the traditional holiday shopping season will leave many retailers seeing red.  Questions such as “How do I close my retail store”, “I need to liquidate merchandise?”, and “What is a retail crisis manager?”, are now popular Internet search phrases.  Once thriving retail businesses are closing at a staggering rate; leaving vacant stores in malls and city centered across the United States.  Few if any prepared an exit strategy along with their original business plan to open a retail establishment.  Many retailers are wondering if they waited too long to seek help in closing or restructuring their stores. If one even suspects there are financial issues, the sooner the call to a retail crisis specialist, the better.

Hiring a professional to assess your business is the first step in determining whether you will need to close or restructure your retail business.  This is an important step as it removes emotional decision making from this critical process.  A retail crisis manager will look with an unbiased eye at the current health of your sales.  Their report will give you a realistic view of the next steps you should take.  They will be able to guide you towards a feasible goal for your business.   This is an important call for every retail store owner struggling in this economy.

Internet research shows that the top ranked retail crisis specialist Milton Waldoff of the Waldoff group offers sage advice during these tough economic times and is number one at the game of retail turnarounds.  He poses a question to me “Why hire a professional?” and then answers if for me. “A professional knows that often in attempting to come up with the right solutions, there is usually a litany of problems that must be addressed immediately, while the solutions are being developed and put into place.” He continues, “They know what must be done to assist you in developing realistic goals based on your situation, your problems, your needs, your desires plus they can devote the time and effort to addressing your problems while you continue to operate your business.” His final statement is preceded by a long silence, “A professional knows the tested and perfected methods in working through problems often require an unemotional approach, rarely achievable by owners.”

Making the important decision to get help is often difference between a liquidation sale and structuring your business.  Putting off asking for help and hoping for the economy to improve will not save your business. You need to be proactive. A retail crisis manger can provide you with multiple solutions and begin implementing changes needed for a successful liquidation or turnaround.

Lee Hiller Copyright 2009 =====================================================

I am a writer, website designer, and  America’s Favorite Love Columnist as ranked by Google, MSN & Yahoo.  My Photography, Poetry and Graphic Designs can be viewed at Lee Hiller Designs. My Current passion & inspiration for photography is in the Hot Springs National Park Mountains, currently my home.  Yes, I am still designing womens shoes and have over 850 designs to date. In my spare time I am Co-Founder of the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.  I am fortunate to work side by side at Pen and Ink Inc. with partner and my fiance Rick London of Londons Times Cartoons and Shoes That Amuse.

Depression Era Holiday Season forces Emergency Inventory Liquidation Sales

By Lee Hiller (Hot Springs, AR)

As television, magazines and newspapers try to sugar-coat “Black Friday” 2009 the truth is far more important to report.  Sales this “Black Friday” weekend are in negative figures.  We are in a depression and people are spending less this holiday shopping season.  Many small retailers who depend on these sales to make it through the year will be closing their doors in 2010.

“Black Friday” 2009 might be an analogy for the lights going out on retail businesses across America.  Dismal sales figures will increase the number of emergency inventory liquidation sales and the need to hire a retail liquidation specialist.  For the second year “Black Friday” saw a -2% decrease in sales sending a ripple through the New York Stock Exchange. “Walmart fell 33 cents to $54.63 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Richfield, Minnesota-based Best Buy lost 43 cents to $42.83. Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, and dropped 59 cents to $16.97 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange.” (Source: Bloomberg.com)

Many retailers are counting on “Cyber Monday” to lift their lagging holiday sales figures. “More data about “Black Friday” sales came to light on Sunday, with a bit more pessimism than earlier reports. Meanwhile, the focus is shifting toward “Cyber Monday,” where more online deals are expected.” (Source: PCMagazine)  “Cyber Monday – the Monday following the Black Friday and the busiest day of the year for e-commerce – is about to begin (or has already begun by many online retailers.) (Source: Noobpreneur)   Smaller retail establishments that do not have an online retail presence will have to re-evaluate their ability to last another year.  Higher rents and declining sales in 2009 have force many brick and mortar stores to close their doors.

The Waldoff Group is the Internet’s #1 ranked retail crisis liquidation firm and their CEO Milton Waldoff says, “A well planned and well executed store closing takes planning, which include many hours of time.  Well planned involves timing, merchandised correctly, advertised wisely, working with the stores management and personnel in a manner to maximize results.”  He continues “Too often store owners undertake this once in a life time opportunity with very limited experience and a lack of knowledge of how to make a store closing profitable.”

According to the Waldoff Group website “When a business needs to be closed, whether it is the owners desire or simply something that must be done, a professional knows how to maximize this once in a life- time opportunity.  The professional can devote the time and effort to addressing your problems while you continue to operate your business.”

This holiday shopping season will be the final for many retail stores.  The choice of how they liquidate their inventory will be as important as the decision to close.  A successful closing with the assistance of a retail crisis manager in most cases will allow the store owner to leave profitably.  To ensure the closing process is effective a professional should be contacted at the earliest possible moment in the planning stages.  If black Friday was not profitable the time to contact a retail crisis manager is now.

Lee Hiller Copyright 2009 =====================================================

I am a writer, website designer, and  America’s Favorite Love Columnist as ranked by Google, MSN & Yahoo.  My Photography, Poetry and Graphic Designs can be viewed at Lee Hiller Designs. My Current passion & inspiration for photography is in the Hot Springs National Park Mountains, currently my home.  Yes, I am still designing womens shoes and have over 850 designs to date. In my spare time I am Co-Founder of the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.  I am fortunate to work side by side at Pen and Ink Inc. with partner and my fiance Rick London of Londons Times Cartoons and Shoes That Amuse.