By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

​In today’s business culture, authority roles and responsibilities are usually shared throughout a company. With everything that a retailer has on their plate it is almost impossible to get it all done as a one man (or woman) show. We are no
longer specializing in one product line or one category. In order to remain competitive, we are constantly evolving and changing to meet the different wants, needs and buying habits of diverse consumers.

How many hats did you wear today? Manager of payroll, IT, marketing, inventory, logistics, human resources, social media and of course keeper of the keys to name a few. What hat can you let go? Who on your staff could assist you in taking on some of these tasks so that you have more time to spend in other areas of your business? Have you ever taken a survey of your employees’ skill sets that could be an untapped resource? You may not know it but there may be a social media expert, marketing or promotions manager, demonstration cook, speaker or home show coordinator already on staff that you have overlooked just because the right questions were never asked.

You’re a busy person, juggling family, life, hobbies and a business. There are more stressors in business today than in any other time in history. The internet age has totally changed the way we live, work and think. It has also made it easier today for people to acquire a whole new repertoire of skill sets. Today’s employee can be a bigger asset to an employer than ever before. Don’t let these skills go to waste. If you haven’t already, I suggest you hold a company town hall meeting or survey to find out exactly who works for you and how they can help to make your job easier, help to run your company more efficiently and who knows, you may even tap into hidden talents that can be used to push your company to the top of your market.

Happy Retailing,
Moe Lastfogel
​moe@retailobserver.com

​By Eliana Barriga
Publisher and Managing Editor for The Retail Observer

I recently came across an interesting article by Darren Hardy, the publisher of Success Magazine and author of The Compound Effect.

He stressed the urgency to not waste one day of life by staying aware of the “time” you
have left to live. Similar to investments, there is a compounding effect to life so the choices you make every day DO count. According to Hardy, if you improve 1/10 of 1% in an any area of importance to you every single day, that within one year you will improve in that area by 1000%. So, if you started today, by the end of next year your health would be 1000% better, your bank account, your relationships, the list goes on and on.

It may seem a bit morbid for most of us to consider how much time we have left to live, but taking a moment to accept that our time is limited can motivate us to reassess our priorities and spend more time focusing on what’s really important.

Of course, none of us really knows how long we will live, but we do know that the average life expectancy in the U.S. is currently 78 years. I plugged my birth date into the “Countdown timer of your life” calculator and got these stats:

​If I live to 80 years - here’s my time left:
837,302,400 seconds
13,955,040 minutes
232,584 hours
9,691 days

When I realized I only have 9,691 days to live, it was a huge eye-opener for me.What’s really important to me? What do I really want to accomplish and experience in my lifetime? What legacy do I want to leave? Am I using my time to achieve these lifetime goals? Sadly, the answer was “sometimes.” I sometimes make time for the things that are really important to me like my health, my family, my passions, etc... and always make time for things that aren’t really important at all.

So, I’m in the middle of readjusting where my time is spent and am making better use of my time left on the running clock. And if that means most of what’s on my to-do list doesn’t get completed, well then, that’s okay by me–because every night I want to go to bed knowing that I’m taking nothing for granted and living out every moment of my life to its fullest!

To life—Every second of it!
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com