(MoneyNewsWire.Net, July 21, 2014 ) Norwich, VT -- For the past year, the owner of a specialty food company noticed something odd about who was visiting her website. Yes, people learned about her unique sweet potato salsas. But a growing number of the visitors were there for a very specific purpose: to learn how to run their own businesses better.
In 2011, Lisa Johnson, owner and "Yambassador" of Yummy Yammy in Vermont, wrote a simple article to help some of her less experienced colleagues grasp the difference between two technical, almost math-based terms in her industry: margin and markup.
"It's a very simple thing, really," explains Johnson, "but if you are a small business owner, it is really essential that you understand it."
She wrote the article, and didn't think much about it again. Until about a year ago, when she noticed that the number of visitors to that post was starting to be higher than the number of people checking out her salsa recipes.
Currently, her casually written post ranks on page one of Google results for searches like "margin markup" -- usually link number three or four.
"Well, once I saw that, and saw that about 1200 people a month or more are coming to the site just for that article, I could see that there are a lot of folks who need to grasp this," Johnson reports. "So I created a training toolkit. It took a while, but it's finally ready and live on Amazon."
Because of the demands of running a food business and getting her salsa into Whole Foods among other locations, as well as taking care of her family, it was about a year before Johnson had the materials ready for sale.
The Margin vs Markup Training Posters Toolkit is now available on Amazon.com, and includes a four-piece full-color laminated set of permanent training and reference materials. Two are 9"x12" posters for the wall, and two are small cheat-sheets for the side of the calculator or computer and feature what Johnson says are the key formulas every business manager or owner needs to know every day.
"Most folks aren't math whizzes, so having the pricing formulas you need every day, right where you need them, is really handy. And if you run your business by margin, you still run into someone every day who wants to talk in markup, and you need to be able to translate," suggests Johnson.
"I ran independent grocery stores for 12 years, and I wasn't there for the math," she says. "I had to learn how to make the math work for me, so I could get on with serving my customers. I know this will help people run their businesses better. If you think you're earning a 40% margin, but you're really working on a 40% markup, you'll be out of business and your investment will be lost. I hate to see that, just because of a few math formulas."
Johnson also seems to have spent some time conducting trainings, because in addition to the visuals on the toolkit, she offers her purchasers access to a series of free training videos where she explains the material in person with a flip chart case study.
At long last the 1200 visitors a month can now get a cheat sheet to get it right. Is it worth it? You do the math.
About Yummy Yammy
Yummy Yammy produces the world's only sweet potato salsa. All their superfood salsas are made with 100% pure flame-roasted sweet potato as the main ingredient instead of tomato. Yummy Yammy is a Vermont company delightfully bringing sweet potatoes to the nation.
Yummy Yammy
Leila Belcher of LJB PR
802-291-1718
Leila@LJBPublicRelations.com
Source: EmailWire.Com
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