From retailer to ‘information entrepreneur’

Back in 1981, fresh out of college, Bob Negen started the Mackinaw Kite Co. out of a love for his product—but without all the basic retail skills and systems necessary to run a retail business effectively. Over the next 18 years the store grew into a successful chain of specialty toy and kite shops.

The journey was not without its bumps. In the beginning, Negen and his partner and brother, Steve, successfully developed ideas, strategies and systems on their own. However, as the business grew, the problems became more complex and the solutions less evident.

“Finally, I realized that ‘reinventing the wheel’ was not an effective way to become successful,” said Negen. “The knowledge, skills and systems I needed had already been developed and perfected by others over many years.”

Through attending seminars, cultivating relationships with mentors, reading articles and books, and, most importantly, hiring people with skills he did not possess, Negen learned the important skills and systems necessary to run a successful, specialty retail business.
“I went to every Harry Friedman workshop I could find,” Negen said.

In the course of those years, he also recognized two things: “an incredible need for nuts-and-bolts training among retailers” and his own passion and talent for public speaking. So after 18 years as a retailer, he sold his store chain to his partner and persuaded his wife, Susan, to join him in becoming what he calls “information entrepreneurs.” Their new enterprise: Whizbang! Training in Grand Haven.

“After two decades of collecting bits and pieces of information about retail, we organized it all into a usable and effective structure,” said Negen. “We started this business so that others do not have to spend that same amount of time reinventing the wheel.”

Susan Negen began her retail career at large department stores. She held a number of positions at Lord and Taylor, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s California, including department manager, buyer and group sales manager.

Susan’s areas of expertise include in-store operations, purchasing, inventory management and employee management. In joining the Mackinaw Kite Co. as a store manager and later as director of merchandising, she transferred her skills to the specialty retail environment.

“The problems of managing departments in a multibillion-dollar retail company and the problems of the specialty retailer are not that much different!” said Susan.

Whizbang! Training now has clients worldwide. Bob speaks at about 40 events a year, mostly for national and regional groups but also for local chambers of commerce, DDAs and other small-business groups. Recently he received an invitation to speak for a small-business group in Singapore.

Whizbang’s seminar topics range from customer service and marketing to staff development and website design. The Negens will also work with a client to produce a training seminar tailored to more specific needs.

Earlier this year, the Negens released their first book, Marketing Your Retail Store in the Internet Age, which spent a few weeks on the best-sellers list in the business section of Amazon.com. Their e-newsletter, “Whizbang! Tip of the Week,” reaches thousands of business owners around the world, with distributors in India, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Whizbang’s personalized coaching programs—in which a small group of business owners spend eight weeks working closely with Bob (in his Marketing Mentor Program) or Susan (in her Inventory Mastery Program or others)—help business owners find new success strategies. After the eight-week course, participants receive follow-up mentoring for guidance in putting what they’ve learned into practice.

The most recent addition to the company’s lineup is Whizbang! Websites, a web-based service that assists business owners in creating and maintaining a website, with integrated e-mail marketing. Whizbang! staff support the clients—assisting, training and troubleshooting for clients who use the service.

Hear Bob in February
Both Bob and Susan are enthusiastic speakers and accomplished trainers. After receiving rave reviews from Susan’s workshops at MRA’s annual Retail Education Conference earlier this year, MRA booked Bob as the featured speaker at MRA’s 2008 conference in February (see box).

At the conference, which will be held in conjunction with the Lansing Gift Show, Bob will present two seminars: “Explode Your Sales—Marketing Ideas That Are So Simple And Effective They Will Blow Your Mind!” and “Customer-Friendly Selling—How To Make The Sale Without Being Pushy.”

The first workshop teaches “20 highly effective, inexpensive ways to make every relationship more valuable and inexpensive, innovative ways to get lots of new customers.” It is the most popular and well-received workshop Whizbang! offers, according to Bob.

The second workshop gets at the problem of retailers who “don’t want to be seen as ‘pushy,’” Bob explained. “With this workshop I challenge some outdated ways of looking at sales, and teach the skills needed to create confident, customer-focused salespeople.”

Bob believes that “success is an inside game”—that is, the difference between a successful business and a struggling one is found in the attitudes and thought patterns of the owner.

“In every town I visit, I spot a few thriving businesses, others just holding on, and others failing,” explained Bob. The successful ones are the ones in the front row, working every day on learning something new and applying some new idea.”

“They’re the type to get out from behind the counter and look at their business from a different perspective. They work on their businesses instead of always working at their business. They attend seminars such as the retail education conference.”

The biggest obstacle facing retailers today is not the state’s weak economy, Negen said. It’s complacency, or its counterpart, hopelessness, which both lead to inaction—for instance, blaming poor sales on the economy and waiting for things to improve.

“Even in the worst of economies, there’s always something more you can do,” he said. “Maintaining this attitude can be a battle, with the news media dwelling on the negative, but it’s critical to running a successful business.”

This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer.