Shop Talk

Getting Value Right
Andrea Hill
Getting Value Right

The key is knowing what your customers want and need from you When you run a business like a furniture store, your job is to produce and sell value. It’s both as simple and as complicated as that. When I see businesses getting value wrong, I have a physical reaction

Illustration of a forklift carrying a box.
Jef Spencer
5 Things to Inspect When Buying a Used Forklift

So your operation has grown to needing a forklift, or another forklift and you’re looking for a forklift for sale. Buying new may be out of your budget and it’s time to consider the used forklift market. But where do you start? If you are planning to buy a forklift,

Retail Challenges
David McMahon
Finding good employees

…and other retail challenges In a two-year study in conjunction with the Home Furnishings Association, we asked furniture retailers to state their top challenges. The results support what I’ve heard from our performance group members as well as consulting clients, with just six challenges making up the majority (more than

Man trying to pull money away from someone else
Ginny Gaylor
Chargebacks: Necessary evil or antiquated system?

If only the sofas, chairs and casegoods you sell could be packaged and shipped like other products you buy—safe and snug in packaging that protects it from the bumps, grinds and sharp objects of the world. Unfortunately, the packaging for furniture doesn’t always rival the luxurious protection of a smartphone,

Man walking on a structure of dominos
Nellie Akalp
Did you pick the right business structure?

Find out how restructuring could save you money. Nothing about this time of year—not the heat, nor your upcoming vacation nor next month’s Labor Day sale—brings to mind taxes. However, this might be the perfect time to talk about them. Indeed, this might be the perfect time to consider your

Business Planning
Andrea Hill
Making the time now to plan for later

2018 may be several pages removed on the calendar, but it’s closer than you think. The fourth quarter is almost here, and your head is probably in go-go-go-for-the-holidays mode. That’s good—you’re supposed to make hay while the sun shines, right? But the risk is you’ll wake up one day soon,

Cartoon caricature of death
Wayne Rivers
Death and Family Business Succession Planning

We’re living longer, but that doesn’t mean you can put off planning for your store’s future Recently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a paper called “Death in the United States, 2017.” While this might seem to be a morbidly unusual article, please bear with me because this

owners of Sunnyland Outdoor Furniture
Robert Bell
Their Future’s so Bright

You can do just about anything at Sunnyland—even buy outdoor furniture if you like. When you think about it, David and Brad Schweig work hard to make their customers feel relaxed. As the owners of Sunnyland Outdoor Furniture, the Schweigs long ago caught on to the trend that homeowners are

Employee Benefits
Rieva Lesonsky
Are You Ready for the New Age of Employee Benefits?

Is your small business’s approach to employee benefits stuck in the past? The workforce is evolving rapidly, and your employee benefits offerings need to keep pace if you expect to attract, engage and retain top employees. MetLife recently polled both employers and employees for their 15th annual Employee Benefit Trends

Sales person comically pressuring customer
Ron Martin
Pro-Active, No-Pressure Selling

Sometimes you have to say “no” for the customer to say “yes.” There’s an existing paradigm that salespeople are pushy and high pressure. Of course, some are so it’s important to create a paradigm shift as early in the selling process as you can. You must demonstrate to the customer

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