Market Update

Tulipia Bridal wishes you a Happy New Year and the best in all of your endeavors in 2009. We wish you a new and refreshing business season, with profits and growth in your personal and professional lives.

2009 has kicked of fairly well. The stock markets are improving, and although the economy is still reacting to the recession, the future still looks bright. It is easy to remain pessimistic when nationally the retail industry sales are down, but it is easier to look on the bright side when we look the wedding industry.

The Metro News from Ottawa, Canada, states that the brides are not looking to cut back, while some vendors in the wedding industry are looking forward to a very profitable year. The Providence Journal, of Rhode Island, also reports further wedding industry growth in the region. While both articles agree that the effects of the economic decline on the brides does not restrict their spending limits and that the business is looking to increase, the brides are working under a strict budget and are looking to get the best deal with the most value. Richard Markel of Association for Wedding Professionals International looks to add, “While the brides still look for bargains, as they did before, they will still buy based on their criteria.”

Thus, we continue to confirm that the wedding industry is looking to turn around the economic down sets of 2008 and looks to greater growth in 2009. The business is still the same, capturing the bride’s attention, fitting her criteria. We must work smarter, add more value and be more creative.

Your Business

Every New Year we make resolutions to improve our lives somehow in the next year. The gyms notice an increasing growth of attendees in the first few months, salads begin to outsell burgers, and people begin to set goals and plans for themselves. While few stay true and committed to their established resolutions, even fewer people make resolutions for their businesses.

Facing slow business, both due to economic recession and seasonality of the wedding industry, we need to look over our business and slim down our extra pounds. This is the perfect time to take some time to re-evaluate your business. The following is a simple, yet effective way to lose the extra weight in your business and get back in shape as the industry turns around.

1. Look over your business plan – If you don’t have one, make one. If you have the time, you can get technical and make an extensive plan. Doing so, you will learn a lot about your business, your industry, and your competition through research. But if  you do not have the time, don’t sweat it. Simply look at your product(s) and analyze your strengths (look at “Being Unique in a Copycat World!” article). Understand who you are and what you do best.

A simple way to do this is by using this statement:

Tulipia Bridal’s looks like this

Simple, yet very clear. This should be the direction where you want to go. Remember, you cannot be everything to everyone. Just think of an average diner. Lots of options, but all subpar.

2. Return to basics ¬– After you analyze who you are, and who you strive to be, stick to that. If your core strengths are customer service, then return to focus on that. Very often when things get busy, or we are worried by micromanaging our businesses, we forget what is really important. Find the passion and the reason why you are in the business once again, and focus on what you are the best in the world at.

3. Cut the Extra Weight – The longer you are in business the more things we add on to our processes. However, sometimes the way things are done isn’t the healthiest for your business. You don’t say, “I eat a bag of chips before dinner everyday, because that’s the way things are done.” While it might be the way things are done, they will not help you with your New Year’s resolution of losing weight, for example. So if giving your customers 10% off on every sale is the way things are done, then maybe you should change the habit (see “Killer Discounts” article). Maybe that very attractive, but useless and expensive letterhead you use isn’t the best investment you can make.

Another great way to cut expenses is to analyze your process, from purchasing to final sale. Maybe you can decrease your purchasing expenses, handling costs, storage, or reduce your expenses in final sales. Be careful to only reduce costs in non-value adding expenses. If you provide a great wedding dress storage bag, and brides absolutely rave about it, then keep doing that, but if it doesn’t really matter to them, don’t wait until someone says something. No one complains about a freebie if it doesn’t harm them.

Tulipia and You

Once again, Tulipia Bridal is a great place for you to start slimming down and looking great in 2009. After you’ve looked over your business plan and are truly looking to have a unique and exclusive collection of bridal gowns, then our collections speak for themselves. As you are looking to improve your core business, Tulipia Bridal is there to enhance both your company and your bottom line.
As you begin to return to the basics, whether it is providing great customer service or unbeatable selections, Tulipia Bridal becomes a part of your value chain. We work individually on every order, helping you do what you do best, while fulfilling your customers dreams. Bringing our unique and exclusive wedding gowns, we do not add on any special charges, or extra problems. We try to become the most profitable and effective part of your value chain. There is no pork-barrel spending in the Tulipia Bridal Bailout Plan.

Wishing you a happy and leaner New Year.

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