PERSONAL TOUCH; CONSULTANT ENCOURAGES SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer Far from bringing a message of doom to those who anticipate competition from the big-box stores This article has multiple issues: * Its factual accuracy is disputed. * It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by citing reliable sources. that are coming, a business expert told small-business owners Wednesday they have it all over their corporate competitors. During a series of one-on-one consultations, Kent Burnes told merchants that they have the advantage of providing the personal touch and of having a product knowledge and expertise not found at the larger chain stores. ``There is so much that the little guy has in their arsenal that's very powerful, extremely powerful,'' said Burnes, a Grass Valley, Calif.-based consultant of 20 years. Burnes' visit to Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , which began on Tuesday night with a workshop, was co-sponsored by the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and Pacific Bell. He will continue his individual consultations today and will end the week with a Chamber luncheon Friday at the Radisson Hotel. He was expected to see approximately 15 businesses during his stay. ``Kent has met every expectation we've had,'' said Leah Engdahl, executive director of the Chamber. ``Our membership is made up of primarily small businesses. We were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a program specifically targeted to them. I felt his program was definitely something that our small businesses could use.'' She said the Chamber has not had any members complain that the openings of several large discount stores in the last year have hurt them or, worse, shut them down. On Wednesday morning, Burnes visited businesses as diverse as New Technique hair salon A hair salon (also called 'Hairdresser' and 'Hair Parlour')is a place where one goes to get their hair cut, as well as styled, highlighted or coloured. There are many different types of hair salons that one can choose to go to. , Dennert Garage Door Co. and Bright Gift Solutions. He said the concern he heard most from owners is the difficulty in getting the word out about their stores, of advertising to the public. He suggested ways to increase business, including setting up shopping sites on the World Wide Web, sending e-mail greetings rather than mailing cards and newsletters, and improving inventory methods to track what is selling and what is not. Most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into owners and their tenants have to be willing to do promotions on the weekends to bring in foot traffic to older centers. Charlotte Bright, owner of Bright Gift Solutions, said she had already put into motion things like a gift registry The configuration database in all 32-bit versions of Windows that contains settings for the hardware and software in the PC it is installed in. The Registry is made up of the SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files. Many settings previously stored in the WIN.INI and SYSTEM. and establishing a Web site to compliment Not to be confused with Complement. Compliment may be
``It helps getting somebody to confirm that you're on the right track and to tell you that you're not on the right track in some areas,'' she said. Burnes said that as the economy continues to grow, people are buying more and more things that they'd have done without in years passed. That has opened the door to greater prosperity for the entrepreneur entrepreneur (än'trəprənûr`) [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. . Still, he said the small-business person has never really gone away, despite the introduction of the big box. He said 60 percent of sales in the country are made by businesses with less than 20 employees; 92 percent of businesses in California employed less than 20; and 80 percent of all jobs are directly or indirectly tied to small business. Kathy Carr CARR Carrier CARR Customer Acceptance Readiness Review CARR Carrollton Railroad CARR Corrective Action Request and Report CARR City Area Rural Rides (Texas) CARR Configuration Audit Readiness Review CARR Customer Acceptance Requirements Review , regional small-business manager for Pacific Bell, said the company's consultant program was established seven years ago as a way to help small businesses survive. The phone company has an interest in the issue because the majority of the ads taken out in Pacific Bell's Yellow Pages are bought by small businesses. ``Their health is the health of the community,'' Carr said. ``Everyone's health is tied to theirs, and we don't often help them like we should. ``When you go get a business license from the city, you take it and walk away,'' she added. ``There is no training, no mentoring. We're trying to avoid the mistakes committed over and over in the business world.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour Simi edition only) Business consultant Kent Burnes of Grass Valley, Calif., gives tips to Charlotte Bright, owner of Bright Gift Solutions in Simi Valley. (2 -- color in Simi edition only) Kent Burnes meets with small-business owners, who provide a personal touch such as the angel in Bright Gift Solutions. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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