nickshanagher

In person, Frank Furness presents his ideas so that they really inspire. He is a natural story teller and his material joins up in your mind into a long list of actions. In print, the energy levels are lower and it may be that people who have not been to one of Furness's seminars will find it harder to use. However, Walking with Tigers is a book that has lots of great ideas in it. For example, on the subject of goal setting: "Years ago I was somewhat reluctant to buy a course on the subject. At the time it cost two months' salary and I didn't even know what goal setting was. But the salesman assured me it was all I needed to accomplish my dreams. I was really excited about it when I got the books and the tapes and spent hours absorbing the information - and that's an important part of the process. Goal setting is all about repetitiveness until the message is ingrained." I think this really captures the uncertainty that people feel about investing...

I snapped David Morgan of Real Organic as he received feedback  from trade journalists on the quality of his range of cooking sauces. Mr Morgan joined around 50 other small suppliers in the Market that was bolted on to the front of wholesaler Palmer and Harvey's Pro-retail show in Telford last month. In a fantastic book introducing the small suppliers, the wholesaler says: "By chatting to these [suppliers] we hope you'll gain new insights into what could be the next big thing in retail: small." Whether or not this was the case, by chatting to these small businesspeople, independent retailers will  have had an opportunity to recharge their entrepreneurial batteries. If supermarkets put fruit and vegetables inside the front door to slow shoppers down and get them picking products up - stimulating the buying process - then the market must have worked similarly for retailers on the hunt for new ideas to use in their shops. It certainly worked for me. Steve Bailey...

Tony Wheeler and his wife created a £90 million business, Lonely Planet, by simply doing what they loved - travelling. They recently provided the FT with a list of 10 success tips, three of which make interesting reading for local shopkeepers. One. Keep appealing to young customers. The 18-year-olds could be with you in 50 years' time, the 68-year-olds won't. Good advice but probably advice that you want to flex. Your young customers are probably people in their 40s and 50s and your aim is to have them shop with you from 60 to 85, when they won't need to make a weekly trip to the supermarket. Two. Make work as much fun as possible. I've always been proud that people say we're a company that knows how to party. It pays off, even when the party's over. For local retailers, what opportunities do you have to apply this advice? How do you make more of them? Three. Engage your customers. They come up with great ideas and there's absolutely no better prom...