By John Matthews, Founder, Gray Cat Enterprises Recently, I had a terrific session with one of my clients on business planning. I have written articles before on the importance of business planning, but this session resonated with me. What was reinforced to me during our meeting is that no matter how you approach business planning,…
Local Store Marketing: Charities
By John Matthews, Founder, Gray Cat Enterprises. Some of the local store marketing strategies that I have highlighted over the past year are designed to increase awareness and sales for your brand, others because it’s the right thing to do. Working with charities over a period of time enables you to give back to the…
Creating A Branding Game Plan
By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. What is your branding game plan? Not the branding media schedule—that is just part of it—but rather, your overarching strategic decision-making game plan on all of your branding initiatives? Most advertising managers have a page or two media plan that an agency has produced…
Local Store Marketing: Retail-To-Retail Bouncebacks
By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. Budgets are tight, but you need to move top line sales—fast! What is a quick and easy way to expand your customer base? Partnering with noncompeting retailers to help your broaden exposure is a simple, yet terrific local store marketing idea. By crafting a…
G & A Budgeting
John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. Hurry, hurry, step right up! It is time to play the game called “G & A Budgeting.” This is the game where heads are counted; budgets are sandbagged and perks are justified. It is an annual ritual that becomes a core tenet in the over…
Local Store Marketing: Overcoming Retail Wallpaper
By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. Ever drive down the road and out of the corner of your eye you catch a glimpse of a 20-foot pink gorilla in a bathing suit on top of a store? That is a retailer attempting to overcome what I call the “retail wallpaper…
Creating A Policy And Procedure Handbook
By John Matthews, president of Gray Cat Enterprises. “Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!” – from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. As a small business owner, you may wonder why one would need to get organized from a policy and…
Creating An Advertising Plan
By John Matthews, president of Gray Cat Enterprises. As you have probably gathered from reading my other articles, I am a firm believer in planning for success. Whether it is operational excellence, de-branding a store or outlining your procedures and policies, prudent planning creates stronger execution and efficiency. While planning may come second nature to…
Managing Technology Within An Organization
“I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.” — From the HAL 9000 computer, 2001: A Space Odyssey When it comes to technology solutions for your business it is easy to get carried away with the latest-and-greatest gadgets and solutions.…
Half Century Man
By John Matthews, founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises Inc. Feb. 11 was a milepost of sorts – I turned 50! As I enter the second half of my life [sic], I look back at the first 50 years with a great sense of pride and exuberance. I have been blessed with the opportunities…