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Consulting Services: The Scrapbook Patch RETAILING – CONSULTING - WHOLESALING
Learn the business the easy way & profit.
Dear Friend, We are delighted in your interest in starting a scrapbook store of your own. We remember what it was like starting our first store. You’re embarking down a very long road. Hopefully we can make it easier and more profitable. Scrapbooking is an explosive market, which lends itself to opportunities generally not seen in typical retail ventures. The Craft Trend professionals, as represented in The Wall Street Journal and many other national magazines and papers, are certain that this market will continue to grow at a record setting pace never experienced in the retail craft industry. This is very exciting. We currently consult with an average of 8 new stores each month. New stores are appearing in the U.S at a rate of over 100 stores a year. Our program is very professional and comprehensive. Our clients range from first time retailers to very large industry leaders such as Family Treasures. Our program is guaranteed to save the first time retailers in excess of 30 to 40% in startup inventory costs. Additionally, we will help you avoid spending thousands of dollars on slow and non-selling merchandise and mistakes. We will show you which product to carry and in ratios that will maximize your revenue and profit per square foot. Anyone can order a bunch of catalogs, sign a lease and put an open sign out. We want to show you how to run your business so you can stay in business. Our training is based on the mistakes and results of our Nevada stores in addition to nearly 9 years of independent business management marketing and sales in a variety of markets. Please read the information we have provided and notify us of any additional questions you may have. If you choose to enroll in a consulting program, please notify us right away and we will forward an agreement for services. No one wants to loose his or her investment. Because your money was hard earned we know you don’t want to gamble. Spend a week with us in Las Vegas and learn the business inside and out. See the products, reports, earnings, marketing, merchandising, vendors, and more. Our stores have been featured in several national craft trend magazines. Don’t learn the hard way. It’s too expensive. Call 702 898 7414 for more information. Sincerely, James Ruesch The Scrapbook Patch
What you are about to read is a partial list of the important information we have to offer that should be of extreme value to any individual who is thinking of opening a retail scrapbook store. Although we have not tried to compile a complete list, we have represented enough to help you see just how valuable our services can be in not only saving you time, but in saving you thousands and thousands of dollars. Our most popular package is a 3-day in-store-training program here in Las Vegas. Our availability is restricted to 3 groups of 2 to insure individual attention and to guarantee the results you want. A calendar of available dates is at the end of this document. CONSULTING FEES Costs vary depending on the actual programs. Our 3-day package is $1,599.00 and our one-day package is $1,000.00. If additional days are needed they are charged at $400.00 a day. We also offer on location consulting which is bid out separately depending on the time of year and your specific needs. We also offer telephone consultations for $ 250.00 per hour. Phone calls do NOT include Vendor or product Information nor Fax or Mailed Material. On location work is available to assist those who have traveled to Las Vegas for our
consulting services. We will help you with site location and lease negotiation,
space planning, fixture design or construction. A 12-hour day costs $300.00 a day +
expenses. While we do not believe in being a prisoner to our business, we understand its demands. A business will not grow without sacrifice, and before starting any venture the individual must first consider if they are prepared and able to accept the responsibilities. The up side to owning your own business should be a quality of life not presently enjoyed. We know that this business, much like others, has the potential of offering this, but not without commitment. NON BINDING Our program is in no way binding upon any aspect of your venture. We are not a franchise and will not have any control or say so over your business. With the information we provide, you will be free to purchase any products you like and from anyone you choose. NON COMPETE As apart of our standard agreement, the recipients of our consulting agree not to open a similar type business within 100 miles of any Scrapbook Patch or scrapbook retail store under the ownership of the consultant. BUSINESS PLAN Whether you fund your venture on your own, through the SBA, or an uncle, you will undoubtedly want to see the numbers. What’s the startup cost? How long until the company covers its’ own bills? What’s the overhead?, When can you start taking money out? These questions and their answers are crucial to a business plan and very necessary to determine your own interest in the market. All the numbers are discussed on the very first day. You will be given month end reports for each and every month of our first year operation. You will see the overhead for our multiple sized stores. The costs, the earnings and the profit will all be disclosed. STARTUP COSTS One of the most common questions we are asked is "what is it going to cost?" The question is pretty vague but hopefully we can help. We have prepared a worksheet with over a hundred startup considerations. By working your way down the list from bug spray and paperclips to computers you will get an accurate idea of actual startup costs for your location and size. LOCATION & LEASE NEGOTIATIONS If there was one aspect of your business that could contribute to its’ success or failure more than any other, I would say it is in the selection of your location and the negotiation of your lease. Never sign a boilerplate lease. Leases are a contract, and contracts need to be negotiated. Without a doubt, a landlord’s lease will be one sided. Make sure you insist on certain safeguards for your protection. We have a lot to say about this topic because of the potential impact on the success or failure of your business. SPACE PLANNING Without the proper tools and knowledge, space planning can be a very frustrating challenge when determining where everything is going to go and what you have room for. The hard way of finding out is signing a lease without considering anything first. We have developed a simple space planning kit that makes this task easy. RACKS AND DISPLAYS. It’s one thing ordering a bunch of product, but once you get it, what are you going to do with it. You could order each company's individual display if you don’t mind looking like a used rack shop, or you could even do that stackable office tray thing that hides more product than it shows. The way product is merchandised means everything. To make a point, consider how often the department stores change and renew their displays. Your displays should reflect the theme of your store. We will talk to you about metal grid and slot wall among other attractive options that will optimize your chances in moving product. MANUFACTURERS & SUPPLIERS Our program will provide you with all the names, addresses & numbers of all manufacturers and suppliers of scrapbook related products along with their initial and reorder requirements, their shipping terms, conditions and history. SUPPLIER PROBLEMS Unlike the market a year ago, there are now manufacturers and distributors of scrapbook supplies everywhere. Many of these new companies are extremely under funded and understaffed. Their ability to perform as represented in marketing pieces and catalogs is highly questionable. Many new stores have suffered severely as 2nd and 3rd position distributors fail to satisfy orders by scheduled store openings. The purchasing agent for the Nevada stores has created a warning list of businesses that you may want to exercise caution if you choose to work with them. PRODUCT RATIOS If you knew that pattern paper sold 5 to 1 over stationery, it would undoubtedly make a difference in how you stocked your store. We will give you all the ratios of product so you can maximize you revenue per square foot. Your space planning and entire setup will depend on this vital information. CO-OP PURCHASING Recipients of the consulting are also enabled to participate in our multi-store co-op purchasing. This will allow you to buy with the strength of a large chain while still small. SHORT ORDER SAVINGS ADVANTAGE Because of our program, some manufacturers are now cooperating with us in providing short order incentives for first time retailers. On your own you would be forced to purchase nearly all stationery and pattern papers in quantities of 100. Because startup costs are high enough as it is, we have negotiated the ability to order in short quantities for your first initial order. This will make the difference of 75% in your start up costs for many product lines. While there is no obligation in any way to purchase product from our companies wholesale department, we have started a program also by which recipients of the consulting may purchase in minimal quantities. We believe that excess startup capital is better spent in marketing than sitting inventory. POINT OF SALE SOFTWARE There are a number of software packages available for point of sale software. We will provide training on the brand we use without prejudice towards any other brand. What we will stress however is that you at least use a quality program. Your point of sale software is the nucleus of your business. 80% of the scrapbook stores opening today are opening with a $250.00 cash register from some office supply store. If they fail, it wouldn’t be anyone’s fault but their own. You can not run a business without information. You can not make decisions based on good feelings or emotion. There is very little room in business for emotion. The objective of business is to make profits. Unless you are investing in the business to feel good you should get the tools to help you run your business like a business. We will demonstrate how to use month end reports to make intelligent decisions. Although many are starting without it, We don’t feel point of sale software is an option. Setting up point of sale software with it’s thousands of items, vendors, wholesale and retail costs, and re-order entries takes days of data entry. The information has to be sought from catalogs, brochures, invoices and long distance calls. We have compiled all this information into a single data disc in ASCI format. To the computer literate, this means we can save days in your typical P.O.S. setup. What a bonus! COMPETITION Are you going to be the first scrapbook store in your area? If so, you are one step ahead of everyone else. How long do you think it will last? What are you going to do when someone opens another store down the street from you? In our case, we had two stores open up within a few miles of our first store just two months after our grand opening. It’s nice to monopolize a market, but chances are if you are as successful as you want to be, others will want to get in on the action. What are you going to do to compensate for declining sales? Should you drop your price or maybe spend more in advertisement? Most retailers never think about this until it’s upon them. We have a lot of experience in how to deal with the competition. Because this is an emotional topic at the time of it’s happening, most companies make all the wrong moves. This may not be helpful for you now, but you will appreciate our insight down the road. EMPLOYEES & HIRING. In the beginning you may run your own store day to day, but there will be a time that you are going to turn some things over to hired help. Many retail stores enjoyed accelerated earnings up and to the point they started hiring employees. In retail, your employees mean everything. We will discuss how to hire, how to test integrity, how to test and train and how to protect yourself against the employee. CHILDREN & LIABILITIES Have you thought much about children in your store? Maybe you think you would like a nice little kids room for them to play in. Maybe you should think again. Let us give you the facts so you can reconsider you position on children. RETAIL SCAMS We want to think that our patrons are honest and that this market is made up of sweet and wonderful individuals. The fact is, theft happens everyday and even in scrapbook stores. We can’t be naïve to the unethical patron. If you are, you will loose big. Throughout the nation, retailers in every market are finding themselves victims to retail scams. These are very clever people, but we will teach you of the scams we have encountered. MARKETING Marketing is one of the most misunderstood tools of business. Either a company does nothing at all and suffers or it wastes money in all the wrong types of marketing. If we have a specialty, it would be in the area of marketing. We will cover conventional marketing that is working for stores throughout the US and also an abundance of ways to market your business for free. (Very Valuable) REVENUE CENTERS There are many additional revenue centers that go hand in hand with a scrapbook retail store. Many of these revenue centers have been tried and tested by recipients of our consulting who have since notified us of their positive impact on their gross monthly sales. We will identify over 25 additional ways to make money beyond your typical scrapbook sales. FORMS & POLICIES Out of necessity, we have adopted several forms and policies that we feel will be of extreme importance in reducing costly liabilities and decreasing confusion among patron suppliers and employees. Some you will use and some you won’t. At the very least, they will be a good outline for your own. WORKSHOPS & INSTRUCTION Workshops and instruction are a very important part of generating business. We will share through our consulting the ideas and techniques that make workshops work for you. LIABILITIES Any business is susceptible to costly liabilities. By virtue of being in business you may become a target. We will share ideas that may help to protect you and your investment. STORE TOUR Part of our program includes a half-day store tour of 5 scrapbook stores. The weaknesses and strengths of each are represented in the way of space planning, product ratios and security. By observing our critiques and compliments of each, the issues raised become obvious and valuable when considering the layout of your own store. ONGOING CONSULTATION Recipients of the consulting are entitled to ongoing advice and training by phone for the period of one year in addition to a subscription to our ongoing newsletter for the period of 6 months. The newsletter is a compilation of ideas and marketing strategies as represented by the many stores now open and in operation. Everyone shares what is working and what is not. GUARANTEED STARTUP SAVINGS We guarantee to represent ways to save 30 to 40% of your initial startup costs. This coupled with the thousands you will save through product awareness and merchandising techniques will make your consulting investment the best money you could spend before opening your store. REFERENCES As a result of the confidentiality agreements we have entered into with the recipients
of our consulting, we do not disclose names for reference. We do however list the names of
several industry leaders who are aware of our service. These individuals have talked to
the recipients of our program and therefor are aware of our reputation.
CALENDAR The presently scheduled times are as follows December 9th Through December 11th January 6th Through January 8th January 27th Through January 29th February 24th Through January 26th Single Day packages are scheduled at random. Saturday training rates are 20% more than represented above. WHAT TO BRING It is recommended that recipients of the consulting program bring video and still cameras for store photographs, Tape recorder and tapes for discussion recordings, Paper and pads ACCOMMODATIONS All accommodations are the responsibility of the RECIPIENT. Rates in Las Vegas are lowest Tuesday through Thursday. The following reservation companies have been provided for your service. A TO Z RESERVATIONS OF LAS VEGAS 800 634 6727 ACCOMMODATIONS EXPRESS 800 211 3836 HORIZON TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATIONS 702 451 0406
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