Monday, February 3, 2014

The Legacy Of Fred Smith


by Franklin Skribbit


There is a common fallacy that perpetuates itself among small business owners who believe that they only way to substantially boost their profits is by increasing sales.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart created a business model that combined hard work with a little bit of wackiness and a lot of innovation to insure that his company was one of the most successful of its time, and in fact, remains successful twenty years after his death. And beyond his monetary success (and maybe the biggest contributor to this success) was his "ahead of his time" efficiency that he introduced to retail and that still drives his sores, and many others, to this very day.

The main goal of Walmart was to sell their products at the lowest price they could possibly manage, and overall, they were very successful in this venture. Walton maintained low prices by completely removing middle men from the equation, and negotiating directly with manufacturers. This decision was able to bring prices down to amazingly low areas, and increase the number of consumers who visited his stores.

Even when Fred created FedEx created his overnight delivery service, he wasn't all of the sudden just satisfied. He continued to progress by improving management in the company. He did hundreds of small innovations in order to keep the company on top.

His influence, through partnerships with manufacturers, allowed him to not only increase the efficiency of those manufacturers, but also virtually decide on the prices for products he purchased himself. His overwhelming power made him a business leader, and allowed him to be as successful as he was both in life, and in the legacy of his company.

The first step is to truly understand what one's gross profit margins are, or how much money is being brought in on every sale. Calculating all the expenses with the total cost of each service or product offered will give an accurate calculation of one's gross profit margin; but such costs as overhead and employee costs do not figure into the profit margin so exclude these and similar expenses for now as the goal is to increase the profit margin itself and not a total balancing of the bookkeeping.

After a clear picture of the businesses profit margins has been established, an owner should analyze the profit margins for each of their products or services. As this happens, it is possible that the owner will discover that they may have products or services that garner little by way of total profit while others excel; at which point the owner can make the decision to cut the low profit products or services to focus resources on their products or services that actually make them money.

As you begin to attend college in pursuit of a Human Resources, New Media Marketing, or Business Administration Degree, remember the amazing opportunities with which your education can provide you.

As you strive to better your social and economic status, remember that education is a key to the success of any individual, and that it may mean the difference between your huge success and failure as a business owner.




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