Category: newsagency management

Advice for anyone considering buying a local retail newsagency

Buying a newsagency can be a good move. They are solid businesses with plenty of opportunity. From the traditional to the innovative, the local Aussie retail newsagency is a good business to own, one in which new retailers and experienced retailers can thrive.

newsXpress helps local Aussie retail newsagents make the most from their businesses.

There has been a surge of interest in buying a newsagency in the last couple of years. It makes sense. newsagencies are good businesses to own. Hard work, for sure, but good solid businesses that can improve in value.

Retail businesses in our channel are appealing, and, looking out in the market, there are some excellent opportunities.

A common question we are asked by people who find me through is what should I ask for when looking at buying a newsagency?

The question itself, when asked, indicates how green a prospective purchaser is when it comes to purchasing a business. Our first advice is that they better understand the newsagency business of today, to understand what they could be buying into.

There are newsagencies for sale today that are ready to run, and that are easy to run. There are others that need some love and attention. Either could be right for you, depending on your circumstances and what you are looking for.

This is why it is important to you are sure about what it is you are looking for from a retail newsagency you buy. Yes, it starts with what you want.

Here is an updated list of data we suggest prospective newsagency business purchasers access from the vendor or their representative:

P&L from the accountant for the last two years. i.e. not a spreadsheet created for the purpose.

A list of add-backs used to achieve a profit figure on which the asking price is based.

Tax returns for the same two years. While note always appropriate given business structures, they can provide a cross check with the accountant P&L.

Sales data reports, for the last two years, from the POS software in use – to verify the income claim. This source data is key.

Sales data reports from the lottery terminal to verify the income claim.

BAS forms to confirm data in the P&L.

A list of all inventory in the business including the purchase price and date last sold for each item. And, copies of invoices from which you can randomly select to verify.

A copy of the shop lease.

A copy of any leases the vendor expects you to take on board.

A list of all forward orders placed on behalf of the business.

A list of all employees: name, hourly rate, nature of employment, start date, accrued leave and accrued long service leave.

This is good basic information, a starting point, which will enable any purchaser to undertake reasonable assessment of a business.

Our advice to newsagents looking to sell who may be concerned about this list is: think about it now and focus on your business so the data we have listed looks good. The time to prepare your newsagency for sale is every day you are in the business.

This is why we say every day is your pay day. Run a smart, lean and profit focused business and you will have a good pay day today and a good one when you come to sell.

The most appealing businesses are those that are easier to run and are making money.

Sure a purchaser can turn a business around. They should get the rewards if they are expected to do that for your business.

The price you can sell your business for will be based on what it is making now.

But back to those considering buying a newsagency:

Know what you want.

Know what you are capable of.

Know what you could achieve in a retail newsagency.

Buy based on opportunity.

Own the decisions yourself. It would be a mistake to buy a business Ess solely based on what someone else tells you you can do if they themselves are not going to be there to help you achieve those things. It’s why we say you need to own the decisions yourself in terms off what you can do.

newsXpress supports local retail newsagents. We do offer advice and practical help. we nurture, encourage and train. We provide a toolkit and commercial opportunities.

newsXpress can be the sounding board, the support network, the well of assistance. But, ultimately, your local retail newsagency is yours to run how you choose.

newsXpress can be a good support for anyone buying their first newsagency business. We can help you achieve.

Why shopping local matters to the local community and how newsXpress helps local retail newsagents serve locally

Shopping local has a big impact on the local community. Here are four reasons why shopping local matters:

1. It supports the local economy.

When you shop at a locally owned business, more of your money stays in the local economy. This is especially important in small towns and rural areas, where every dollar counts.

2. It creates jobs.

Local businesses are often the biggest employers in their community. By shopping local, you’re supporting the businesses that provide jobs for your friends and neighbors.

3. It helps the environment.

Local businesses tend to use less energy and resources than big box stores. They also generate less waste. And since they’re often located in downtown areas, shopping local can also reduce your carbon footprint by cutting down on transportation emissions.

4. It builds community.

Local businesses are usually owned by people who live in the community. They’re more likely to give back to local causes and sponsor community events. When you shop local, you’re investing in the community that you call home.

Where you shop is a choice you can make, and 100% it is your to make. But if you are in a community group that needs support, the more local businesses you support the more they are able to support local community groups.

Additionally, many local business donate a certain amount of their proceeds to local charities or they fundraising for local groups and often sponsor local community events. So, not only are you supporting the local economy, but also causes that may be important to you.

When people shop at large corporations, very little of that money actually stays in the community. In fact, most of it goes to shareholders who live in other parts of the country or even in other parts of the world. Corporations have a primary responsibility of driving shareholder value.

But when you shop local, the vast majority of the money you spend stays right here in town, benefiting everyone who lives and works here.

Plus, local businesses are more likely to hire people from the community, so you’re also supporting your friends and neighbors.

So the next time you need to buy something, think about shopping local first. It’s good for the community, and it’s good for you, too.

So, the next time you need a birthday card, some stationery, pens, pencils, magazines or even wonderful gifts, shop your local retail newsagency and see the difference in and value from supporting local retail businesses.

newsXpress helps local retailers, local retail newsagency businesses to transform into more valuably current retail experiences, offering more products people want today and doing this in a way that respects the local community.

In your local newsXpress retail; business you are bound to find plenty of Aussie made products, which help support local Aussie jobs.

Find a newsagent near me – helping Aussies find their local newsagent

If you are looking for your local retail newsagent, a newsagent near you, you are probably looking for somewhere to buy awesome cards, or everyday stationery or magazines you love or newspapers.

Today, many Australians shop at their local newsagency, the newsagency near them, for awesome gifts, and homewares, and toys, and games, and jigsaws.

The local Australian newsagency business has changed so much, has evolved into a wonderful retail business.

Years ago, the local newsagency business was your smokes, lotteries, magazines and newspaper shop. What many would call an agency business. Today, the local newsagency shop is more likely to be an engaged retail business, somewhere fun and enjoyable and innovating.

Retail has changed so much and so has the local Aussie newsagent.

newsXpress is part of that change. we help local Aussie newsagents transform their businesses into appealing, growing and more valuable shops.

We achieve this by working with local newsagents, providing them access to better products at great margins, improving their shop fit and appearance and driving traffic into their shops through our national marketing programs.

At every step of the way the newsagent is in control, owning their own future. newsXpress provides advise, ideas and access to resources. The actual decisions are for the local business owner to make.

This is the way local retail business should be – with the owner in control, determining their own future.

When you look for a local newsagent near me you are likely to be offered a range of quite different businesses because, today, no two newsagents are the same. The consistency of decades ago has gone, which is a good thing because a local business needs to reflect the local community, it needs to serve the local community – and local communities themselves have changed.

Your local newsXpress newsagency business will be a place of innovation and change, a place where you can find wonderful gifts, a range of truly beautiful cards your family and friends will love, a place where your home office needs can be met and a place where you can find items of happiness and joy.

Your local newsXpress newsagency is a local shop serving the local community, which is terrific for the community and all who live there.

When you are looking for a newsagent near me, we hope you will find your local newsXpress newsagency and shop there.

We achieved this by working with local newsagents, providing them access to better products at great margins, improving their shop fit and appearance and driving traffic into their shops through our national marketing programs.

newsXpress is not a newsagency franchise and why that matters to local Aussie newsagents

newsXpress is not a franchise group and as such does not operate under the obligations and requirements of the franchise code of conduct.

newsXpress is a marketing group, a local retail business marketing group. It provides support, advice and nourishment for local retail newsagents around Australia.

It is the how and what of newsXpress that sets it as not being a franchise group.

newsXpress is not intrusive or demanding. It does not make demands in terms of products ranged, prices set or how a business operates. newsXpress does not have demands in terms of business name, layout or uniforms.

All of these things and more demonstrate that newsXpress is not a franchise and that newsXpress local retailers are not franchisees, which is liberating for them.

By not being a franchise, newsXpress can be more flexible in terms of what it offers its members while at the same time enabling a more flexible operation by newsXpress member businesses themselves.

This is good news for local small business retailers who value independence.

Now, let’s turn to the what of newsXpress …

The more money you make in your retail business today, the more valuable it is when you decide to sell.

This is key to cultivating joy in your newsagency business.

Focussing on profitability today is vital not only financially but also in terms of your happiness.

Growing profit is achieved through ranging products that attract new shoppers, pricing to maximise the opportunity, marketing outside your usual reach and turning product faster than usual.

newsXpress helps with each of these opportunities, and more. We have added many new suppliers this year, delivered unexpected bonus margin and delivered money-making strategies that go to the core of success.

We offer evidence-based advice to back our suggestions. What you do in your business is 100% up to you.

Here at newsXpress we help businesses that have limited or no capital grow in value. Our team of twelve retail professionals has a deep well of skills and experience.

For $175.00 a month, we think that newsXpress offers the most valuable marketing group membership available.

We’d love to help you run a more valuable business and more enjoyable business. If you’d like that, let’s talk.

Advice for retail newsagents and other retailers getting the most from your POS software commented Shopify website

newsXpress is grateful to share its e-commerce experience with other retailers through structured consulting and support for retailers going online through Shopify and delivering POS software connected Shopify websites.

What a retailer gets out of having a Shopify site is up to them. 100%

A website, is a hungry beast, it needs to be fed, with new content and changes, regularly.

Here is some advice based on our personal experience from years of successful selling online and experience and our work helping many small business retailers to bring to life POS software connected Shopify websites.

  1. Continue to add products and ensure they are named and described how people would search for them. For example, if you sell a Mickey Mouse teacup, in your POS software you might call it teacup – Mickey. From a search perspective, it needs to be called: Disney Mickey Mouse teacup.
  2. Refresh your collection / category landing page descriptions. A landing page is a collection page on which you have items for that collection. Write 3 or 4 crisp sentences of 15 or 20 words each with the sentences punching keywords people are likely to search for. Remember, you are writing for the search engines.
  3. The best photos are those you take, of single products. A photo of a display is not easily understood by humans or Google.
  4. Add articles. Your knowledge could be what differentiates your business from any competitor. Indeed, non-product content will most likely drive more traffic than product content. Write articles about what you sell and your business more broadly. Fresh text-based content helps drive the authority of your website. Each article should these rules to engage with Google:
    1. Be at least 350 words.
    2. Use a keyword or key phrase at 5+ times through the article.
    3. Be your own written fresh content.
    4. Cover a single topic or focus.
  5. Get suppliers and others to link to you. The more the better.
  6. Sell products on additional channels: Facebook, Instagram & eBay.
  7. Regularly pitch your site on social media.
  8. Use Shopify’s abandoned cart feature to push sales.
  9. Pitch promotional discounts to draw in new customers.

newsXpress would love to help you bring your retail business online through a Shopify site connected to your Point of Sale software.

E-Commerce strategies help newsagents find new customers

The e-commerce services offered by newsXpress help retail newsagents and other retailers to grow their businesses by commenting their POS software to Shopify and other platforms right from the sales counter of the retail business.

Using our own technical services based in Melbourne, Victoria, newsXpress and its e-commerce services is able to help retailers to develop and run successful e-commerce websites and through this top find new shoppers who can benefit the business beyond the local shoppers walking past the door.

The e-commerce services offered by newsXpress are backed by excellent technical skills including web development, SEO management and SEM for finding those most important shoppers.

The services offered by newsXpress help small business retailers to make the most of the Shopify POS software integration opportunity.

The reality is that a website will take more time than you can imagine. It most likely will not obviously make money, many don’t. We say obviously because there are ways websites make money beyond direct sales.

We suggest you approach launching a website as a start-up business. Sure, it may sell some or all of what you sell in your shop. However, it is different, it is its own thing with different needs and different opportunities. Seeing it as a start-up can help. Also, seeing it as a start-up could take you on a fresh path.

You need to love your website. If you don’t it will not get the attention and support it needs from you. By lovewe mean love what it sells, how it does this and how it represents you.

This brings us to what you sell online. That can only be resolved by you. It needs to be something, or a category of things, that people are searching for because if they are not looking, finding shoppers is much harder, something you feel good about.

Starting is key. In our experience, where people land with a website a year on, 2 years on and more is different to where they start. They would not have got there if they had not started. That is key in our view – starting, gaining experience, maybe stumbling or falling before moving on.

Think carefully about what you would like to sell, research it. Take your time. Make the move once you know. Starting before you know what you want to do could be a mistake.

Newsagents hear the most heartwarming stories

Storytime:  Some days, newsagents share the most heartwarming stories. A colleague shared this with me a few days ago. It chokes me up to think about it. Here is the story they shared…

A regular customer of mine, ‘Viktor’, put a small stack of cards on the counter, covering all the highlights of life: 18th birthday, 21st birthday, engagement, wedding, new home, first anniversary, second anniversary, a couple of new baby cards, some blank cards and a you’ve got this card.

I knew Viktor and said him “that’s a lot of cards there mate.” He glanced at me before looking away, saying nothing. I scanned all the cards, worked out that he bought enough for a couple of free ones, gave him the discount and put the purchases in a bag.

Viktor stood for a moment after paying. He took a breath, and told me the story. “The cancer they thought was gone, is back, in a couple of other places. Six months, maybe a little more, they think. I figured cards are the best way I can be part of Mel’s life as she grows up. So, I’m going home to write on these over the next few days and give them to Jill to give to Mel on each occasion. It’s the best way I can be there for her.”

My heart was full on hearing Viktor’s story from my colleague and what he planned to do for his teenage daughter. #love #compassion #family

newsXpress helps Australian newsagents turn their situation around

newsXpress has plenty of experience in turnaround situations, helping newsagents. While we will not reveal details of our strategy here, we note that it takes time, commitment, honest communication and a wish for change. We start by understanding the truth of a situation. We dig deep into the newsagent business data to get to the facts. This provides a basis for advice we provide.

Our turnaround work can consist of as little as suggestions on changes or as much as developing a comprehensive long-term plan.  Each newsagent turnaround situation is different – hence our position that a turnaround starts with understanding the situation of the business and the business owners.

We actively work with newsXpress members to understand the needs of their newsagent businesses, working individually, practically and locally.

This is another service from our engaged newsagency marketing group, helping newsagents create more valuable and sustainable retail businesses.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US?

By understanding what is important to us you can discover what we focus on for newsXpress members. Here are the top things we think are important:

  • Helping you save money. Because, cash is king.
  • Exclusive products. Through which to differentiate your business.
  • Helping you find customers you would not usually reach.
  • Change is inevitable. COVID-19 brought about urgent change and newsXpress was engaged from the outset, supporting, guiding, helping … providing confidence.
  • Good business data can help reveal trends. newsXpress has been first with advice to leverage fads and when to exit.
  • Brands support newsXpress and member businesses. We put brands first.
  • We love to see and hear newsXpress members talking with each other, sharing experiences and insights. Great ideas have been discovered on a shop floor.
  • The journey. We prefer to focus on the steps we take today rather than where we might be tomorrow because we know in small business, in retail and in newsagencies, tomorrow is an unknown. We focus on what we know and the next step we will take.
  • New traffic. We chase products and opportunities to drive new traffic, people you do not usually see in your business – ideally, new traffic that will return.

newsXpress helps newsagents through COVID-19

Newsagency marketing group newsXpress continues to support small business newsagents through the challenges of COVID-19. It is doing this through a range of platforms such as:

  • Daily Zoom meetings. These are a live meeting of members who are available at 2pm every day Monday to Friday. The sessions and filmed and made available to those unable to attend live.
  • Personal support. We work with retailers one-on-one on re-casting their business based on data and using videos and photos from in-store.
  • Virtual trade shows. Introducing suppliers and their products to retailers through video presentation and live Q&A – like a personal trade show experience.
  • New suppliers. newsXpress has welcomes eight new suppliers in recent weeks with each helping extend the shopper appeal for newsXpress members.
  • Mental health support. Offering encouragement and strategies for dealing with the mental health challenges of 2020.
  • Deals. newsXpress has unlocked some high value deals for its members, helping them drive excellent gross product percentage results that are best-practice.
  • Cash flow beneficial. newsXpress has provided cash-flow benefits to members through a range of negotiated arrangements.

COVID-19 is challenging for many. newsXpress is here to support retailers and provide them with tools they can leverage for a better 2020 for their business and all who rely on it.

We hope your 2020 is going well and that you are safe.

We are newsXpress #notanewsagent

Your local newsXpress is not a newsagent. In fact, your local newsXpress is nothing like a newsagency you may remember and here is how:

  1. We love trusted brands.
  2. We love collectors who love collecting.
  3. We love beautiful things and try and fill our shops with these.
  4. We love hunting down that special gift you are looking for.
  5. We love colour.
  6. We love quality.
  7. We love the keepsake of a beautiful card for that special occasion.
  8. We love the laughter of children as they play with the toys and gifts we sell.
  9. We love supporting community groups that support local retail shops.
  10. We love the internet and the new people it connects us with.
  11. We love seeing people celebrate life’s milestones through carefully selected cards.
  12. We love the opportunity of a future of change.

Like we said #notanewsagent

newsXpress offering free social media master class

newsXpress trains its members on how to use Facebook and other social media to attract new customers. As a gift, this training is being made available to all newsagents in a FREE live workshop.

  1. Discover how to attract new shoppers with Facebook.
  2. Learn the most time-efficient way to post to Facebook.
  3. Look behind the scenes at the best newsagent Facebook posts and learn how to use these ideas in your business.
  4. Find out how to reach beyond those who like your page.
  5. See how to thoughtfully target Facebook posts so they reach those you really want to reach.
  6. Find out how to organise photos for the best possible impact.
  7. Join a discussion about what time of day it is best to post.
  8. Find out which posts Facebook users like the least.
  9. We will do posts live for in the workshop, so you can learn first-hand.

BOOK NOW. Here are the dates:

  1. ADELAIDE. November 9 @ 10am. Rydges South Terrace. Book now.
  2. GOLD COAST. November 10 @ 12 noon. Sofitel. Book now.
  3. MELBOURNE. November 15 @ 10am. Hawthorn Arts Centre. Book now.
  4. SYDNEY. November 16 @ 10am. The Lakes Golf Club. Book now.
  5. BRISBANE. Nov. 17 @ 10am. The River View Hotel Kingsford Smith Drive. Book now.

How newsXpress helps newsagents confront challenges and changes

newsXpress is a newsagency marketing group. We provide marketing assistance, management advice, supplier deals, business planning support and a range of other services to newsagents in businesses of any size and in any location.

In this document we put in writing what we do for newsXpress members. By putting this in writing, we hold ourselves to account and provide you a document you can use to compare us.

The most important service provided by newsXpress is the optimism it builds with members and those who work for them:

  • optimism in a bright future, that you can change your business
  • optimism that you can overcome road blocks
  • optimism that you can enjoy your newsagency business
  • optimism that you can make your business asset more valuable.

Watch this video explaining what we do and why it matters:

newsXpress helping small business newsagents at the Melbourne Gift Fair

Wow! what a terrific few days this week at the Melbourne Gift Fair. newsXpress offered a range of business meeting opportunities for its members as well as networking opportunities. Indeed, over the course of the Fair there were five separate events offering value to newsXpress members.

This is in addition to the considerable one on one support and assistance provided by newsXpress through the event – including hosted tours of supplier stands at the gift fair.

newsXpress provides small business newsagents with free lease advice

Newsagency members of the newsXpress newsagency marketing group have access to a free lease advice service. Not mandatory, the service offers lease terms reviews, negotiation support, operating cost guidance and plenty more in pursuit of more equitable terms for newsXpress members in their landlord dealings.

In one recent case a newsXpress member achieved a rent level 30% lower than the landlord starting point and 20% lower than the amount the newsXpress member budgeted for the major shopping centre location.