This is a book review of Rick Segel’s Retail Business Kit For Dummies.
Rick Segel’s Retail Business Kit For Dummies is a book that I read when I was in the retail business several years ago. Personally, I love the book because it shows you the basics of the retail business.
If you are getting into the retail business for the first time or if you have been in the retail business for several years, this book will break down retail into simple steps.
There are several marketing strategies that you could use right away to help you get more leads or develop your brand. This book is mostly catered to the small business owner NOT necessarily the retail magnet who plans on having a chain of retail stores.
What I like about the book is that most strategies recommended by Rick are simple and easy to follow. He has a chapter on branding, inventory management – which is a major challenge for retailers, retail marketing, book keeping and retail sales among others.
The chapters I found most useful were the ones on inventory management, sales, book keeping and some parts of marketing. The old complicated inventory management system followed by several retailers is confusing and hard to follow, Rick explores another system that he calls “open to thrive” that anybody can understand in 5 minutes or less.
The chapter on book keeping is a great resource for the small business owner that could save the small retailer a lot of heart ache. The sales chapter also has a simple system that can be easily followed.
Overall, the book has lots of tips and retail marketing ideas that can be used by the independent retailer but it lacks in depth and the chapter on branding needs to be rewritten.
I would the give the book a rating of 3 out of 5.
Should you buy the book? Yes, you should buy the book if you are starting off in the retail business but you may not want to make it your bible. Pick some of the tips and tricks in the book but also explore other books on branding, retail, marketing and planning and devise a strategy that is most suitable to you.
This book is available for purchase on Amazon and other leading book stores.
