A shopping mall usually represents a high concentration of active shoppers within a contained environment. As such the thought of buying a store in a mall can be very enticing. By the law of averages, a certain number of all those shoppers are bound to come into your store, right?

Before you go ahead and consider your options it is good to weigh some important considerations.

Firstly, you should begin by taking a close look at the demographics. Your ideal customers should be already shopping in the mall you are considering. Look carefully at the other tenants inside the mall – are they directed toward the same kind of consumer, and if so, are these stores turning a good profit? It’s unlikely that you’ll be very successful if you’re the only store in a mall catering to a specific demographic, for instance upscale suburban women.

By and large, a mall is only as good as its anchor stores. While there might be a few big box retailers in the mall, consider would happen if even just one of them closed their doors permanently. A locked, boarded up store is a terrible sign, and it usually doesn’t bode well for the ongoing success of the other tenants either. If possible, only consider malls that have several anchor stores. In times of economic downturn this can help a lot.

You must be sure that your landlord is willing to be flexible. Mall landlords are notorious for including inflexible clauses within their contracts.

You might be confronted with all sorts of problems, including irrational requirements that might force you to change the physical location of your store without much notice. Question some of their dictatorial restrictions, including the need to use only their nominated construction companies and electricians. Don’t forget to ensure that you’re allowed to display “for sale” signs in your windows, and also check to see if you can place “special offer” items outside your main doors. Go through the lease agreement with a fine tooth comb and make sure that you are happy with its clauses.

Get your attorney or advisor to check up on the financial health of the mall itself. Find out about tenancy rates, gross revenues and projections. Almost certainly, the information will be available in annual reports and filing statements or you could get this information from the company’s website.

The best research you can do is to go in and speak to the other shop owners. You can state you are looking to buy a store in the mall (NEVER tell them which one) and ask about the landlord, retail business activity, and any other concerns you have.

Before you go too far conduct a complete physical inspection of the mall. This is a good way to assess its financial health, as when things are not going too well you could find that external maintenance is not being kept up. Sidewalks, masonry, landscaping, doors and roofing services should be clean and well-maintained. Parking lots should be functional and well kept and while you are at it, take a visit to the bathroom and food court. Poor restroom maintenance is one of the first signs of a mall in decline. Food court activity is an indication of mall activity.

Your visual tour may not be definitive when it comes to assessing the mall’s overall financial health, but it can be a quick way to eliminate some locations from your consideration.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream of buying a business.

In every human endeavour there is an element of risk; personal, project or financial, or a combination of them all. The task of the responsible individual is to identify the risk and act accordingly. We all do these ‘risky’ things, almost daily, aware that we are taking a risk. Instead of staying clear of the risk we become proficient at recognizing it and developing a plan for dealing with it should it appear. This is what risk management is about, and is a skill that is important in virtually every endeavour.

The common misconception that risk management is hard to understand or complex in its nature originates from the bureaucratic approaches of some system-oriented organisations and managers. It’s not complex or bureaucratic, and it doesn’t need to be. Risk management is a fundamentally uncomplicated proposition with a complexity directly related to the nature of the situation to which it is assigned – usually a project, and the people involved. In its basic form risk management involves:

1. Identifying risk – Looking for anything that threatens the successful completion of the project against the original requirement. Risks can be environmental, organisational, technical, legal, economic or commercial.

2. Counteracting risk – Taking action to remove or reduce the probability of a risk being realised. The response depends on the nature or seriousness of the risk.

3. Acting when the risk event occurs – Invoking whatever contingency measures were devised for the risk that has materialised.

And for this to happen requires:

4. Monitoring at all stages – This typically means documenting a risk assessment in a profile that identifies the risk, the probability of its occurrence, and the impact if it does materialise. Factors that score highest are those that require the greatest attention and monitoring. A good risk manager will devise contingency plans that reduce either the probability or the impact of these occurrences, and so remove them from the scene.

Working within a formal structured management system similar to that defined by ISO 9001 requires the application of risk assessment practices to satisfy the requirements of the Standard. Auditors who work within systems such as these might not initially notice any specific references to risk management in these domains even though the identification of potential failure (8.5.3) encompasses a broad topic that can only be called “risk management”.

Properly managed risk taking is a widespread trait in any successful forward thinking enterprise, since risk is a key aspect of any progression, advancement or improvement. It’s the personal acceptance of efficient risk management along with the unwavering impulse to push forward from a relaxed position which creates progress and advancement. Doing what we always do purely because the risks appear to be negligible or are well known is to be ‘risk averse’, and for progressive organisations cannot be acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to go after new ideas without detailed knowledge of their possible benefit, careful planning, a clear understanding of the potential threats to these gains being realised, and a plan for handling them should they appear. We should strive to manage in a way which isn’t predictable or reckless. Risk assessment is an essential tool to support this strategy. We ignore it at our peril…

Ed. Bones is a chartered quality professional and an IRCA registered Lead Auditor. He is also a senior partner with the Meon Consulting Group, supplying expert audit and consultant services for ISO9001 & ISO14001 management systems. The company web site provides detailed information for your perusal, and includes the special offer of FREE Advice. Want to learn more?

In order to make money by products sell on eBay stores, you must make sure that you keep a few things in mind about it. In order to sell on eBay stores, which you can start , anyone can register to become a seller on eBay, you can promote your company and products to a global audience, the initial costs are very minimal when you begin to sell on eBay stores and you can also see the results almost from day one. In order to know how to sell on eBay stores, read through the various steps described below. You must be registered on eBay in order to start selling your products. You can use Paypal to open an account, this amount that you will pay is for to sell on eBay and when you can withdraw the money to put ads.

In this part you might not want to give your account information or credit card or checking account but this is the only way of opening an account on eBay.Research announcements of similar products this is very important if you want to make successful sales on your eBay account. Before listing any products as a seller, go through some of the lists of similar products that are already on the site. Look through the feedback history of the seller’s, check for items that move faster as compared to others, the number of bids submitted for each product or list and the design and product description. Doing this will give you a lot of ideas about how to prepare a list of your products that can help you to attract buyers quickly.

You can also find out how much insurance can cost as an option and put in case the customer wants to pay. Sign in to eBay and search for products similar to yours and check who sells on eBay stores also see what is the shipping cost and the delay to give you an idea of who they are and what your competitors have the product and the shipping cost because if your going to sell the same or similar prices and you do not fail in the attempt. This way you will be able to successfully Sell On eBay Stores and make money by doing so. There is another way to know more about selling on eBay and that is with the help of Salehoo.

Those of you with experience in the pharmaceutical sector know that research can be financially and brand rewarding, but there is a huge effort involved with the process before any money can be made. Clinical trials, regulations and audits all have to be met before a new product can enter the market. The amount of products entering the market at any one time means that it is very hard for your company’s product to survive in the long term without marketing help.

The only way a company can make the most out of what it has got is to employ the services of a pharmaceutical consultancy firms. They are the ones to provide you with the right advice to improve your productivity, solve clinical operations problems, create a new brand and more.

But because of the large number of pharmaceutical consultancy firms already offering their services, and more emerging each week, it is difficult to choose the right one for your company. You should read the following advice on what to look for before you make any big decisions that could affect your business.

1. What Do You Need?
Knowing how you want your business to change or what processes you could improve on is important before hiring a consultancy firm so that you have a jump off point.

2. Experience Over Words
Experience and documented results should be looked for when choosing your firm. Just because a firm has been around for years does not mean they are the best, as they might practise out of date techniques. A small, relatively new consulting firm may have been started by people with decades of experience in the business.

3. Any Additional Services?
Long-term solutions to any issue in your business will require training your staff on them. Every employee needs to know about the changes that are being made at the company, so that your investment earns its money. The consultants can’t run the company for you, all the time.

4. Comprehensive Service
Making sure that the consultancy firm you choose works to the best standards and complies with every related regulation is vital. Choose a firm that knows how to do things properly, as quality pays off at crucial moments, like audits and inspections. It would be foolish to choose a different pharmaceutical consultancy firm for every area that needs working on, as your business will not run smoothly, so pick one that can specialise in every aspect through the expertise of its consultants.