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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Najo" data-source="post: 1327332" data-attributes="member: 9959">A couple of things have come up and I felt I should put my own 2 cents in on them briefly:Regarding getting advice from here first, I disagree. Yeah, alot of gamers post here and most of the advice you may get you need to ignore or take some salt with it, but many of the manufacturers, distributors and retailers pay attention here as well, they just rarely post. No offense intended to anyone, but this place will lead Arthur to others who can help. Second, the biggest deterant to theft and loss of profits to discounters is personalized customer service. Get to know the customers, communicate with them, take care of their needs and know their likes and dislikes. DO NOT think of them as a wallet, treat them as a person, see to their needs and they will spend their money in your store, not the other way around. With that said, still watch your over head. Instead of special ordering mutliple times a week, keep your store well stocked and be regular with your weekly orders. Know what is going on and do your best to stay on top of things, keeping your customers informed.Third, there is a reason products do well nationally. Pay attention to national interests and ask yourself why or why not those things work in your area. Makes sure you have those things products well supported if your in a major metropolitain area, or near one. With that said, don't ignore local interests either. This falls into understanding the needs of your customers. But the big games are big for a reason, don't ignore that. Finally, my wife and I have travelled ALL over the country checking out game stores to learn from their good and bad points. The number one strength and weakness of game stores is they are usually ran by gamers. That means great game knowledge but typically unprofessional customer service and poor business management. I have actaully been in two stores where the employees SMOKED while working in the store itself! Unbelievable. DO NOT DO THINGS LIKE THIS! Be professional, clean, have good customer service, organized product, the whole nine yards. There is alot more that can be said here, especially about the business management. But I think that your friend has to first accomplish the business research and planning. Likewise, if you need someone to look at her plan I don't mind throwing my thoughts in either.NateBorderlands</blockquote>

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