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President's Note
Time for an Upgrade
This year changes, challenges and opportunities will be coming at our industry from both known and new areas. While change is a constant for our industry, we have seen accelerated changes over the past two years. It’s time to upgrade yourself and your business to address these changes.
RSPA’s “business engine”, (for lack of a better term), is a lot like the average reseller. We worry about the cost for health care, maintaining cash flow, a productive and content staff and of course customer (member) satisfaction. We are continually upgrading our knowledge and business to stay in a leadership position. We’ve upgraded our line of credit to take advantage of the low interest rates, shopped around our health care to find a better program at lower cost and moved our office to a “right sized” space. We also continually keep up with technology, and market trends to ensure we are providing our member/customers with the latest information and best practices.
We encourage everyone to perform a personal and business upgrade in 2011. Funding sources for your business and customers will continue to be a challenge. The traditional business model is changing with more adoption of Software or Solutions as a Service (SaaS). Consumer based tablet and smart phone products with Apple and Android apps are beginning to impact our business. There is no end game yet in place for the PCI compliance issue – how do you implement best practices to protect your business and customers. Finally, there is the generational transition taking place within the reseller channel. Traveling down the same road may not always work in 2011. Here are some tips to make sure you are on the right road. Make sure your business has a secure financial base, get up to date on the new technologies, get educated on new business tools and make sure you have a tangible marketing program for your products and your company. Opportunities and risk abound in 2011, be sure to upgrade so that you can take advantage of all the opportunities.
Strategic Planning
On December 13th RSPA was privileged to have many of our industry's best minds at an Association Strategic Planning Meeting. This meeting was similar to the one conducted when we launched the industry association four years ago. The strategic planning meeting was an opportunity for RSPA to sit at the table with our members and discuss our industry’s current and future needs. Our goal for the meeting was to leave with a three year roadmap or strategic vision for the association to address our members’ needs. Each of our industry’s stake holder areas were represented – providing a very broad and deep view of the retail technology industry and market. I was particularly pleased with eagerness to be involved expressed by the resellers and vendor participants. All of this work helps your association continue to provide you with relevant benefits and actions that help your business. Thanks to all of the participants for sharing your time and collective knowledge.
Leaders at INSPIRE
If RetailNOW is where the industry meets, then INSPIRE is where the industry leaders meet. Each year we have been able to enhance the quality of the executive-level education and networking opportunities. Yes, if you are not at INSPIRE, you are missing a golden opportunity to help your business.
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