Yottaquest- an American small business success story!

Let's start by saying thanks to Matthew Fay, the owner of Yottaquest, for his time in answering some questions about his shop and his success story.

YottaQuest, LLC
7607 Hamilton Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio
45231
513-923-1985

1)Today we hear a lot of economic gloom and doom, and most of it frankly has good reasoning behind it; However, America is still the land of opportunity even for small retailing stores for owners who work both hard and smart. One of these in the Cincinnati area is Matt Fay owner of Yottaquest, a specialty retailer, dealing mostly in games.

Matthew Fay: Our store is a specialty retail store, but it is also very much a service business. Our customers actually refer to Yottaquest as” their” game store; they have taken “ownership” of the experience here. This is a community where they belong.


2)Tell about some of your store’s prestigious awards:

Matthew Fay: Yottaquest won Goodman Games award of being
“America’s Favorite Game Store.” The City of Mount Healthy has declared a Matthew Fay day.

3)What was your idea for the store?

Matthew Fay: One day I just wanted a game store-How hard can it be? I made many mistakes, but I learned from each one of them very quickly; I had no choice. . I talked to all sorts of people, other game store owners, distributors, game designers, and gamers/customers. I asked, “What did they like about a store.” I also drew on my prior experience. I worked at a White Castle and I learned about customer service there. From my time in the US Navy, I learned how to lead people.

4)Let’s go back to the beginning; one thing every prospective new business owner wants to know is how did you raise the initial cash to launch the store?

Matthew Fay: I used a home equity loan to raise the initial capital, but that went pretty fast. I also had signature loans and things like that to help get me through. Mostly, I had help from my family, my parents, who helped me when I was at the store a great deal of the time and my children who began as “unpaid labor.” Yottaquest truly is a family store.

5)The first 6 months to a year is vital when did you know that “Hey, I think we’re off and running?

Matthew Fay: Part of the success is when I learned to say no. Some times I said no to things repeatedly. If I wanted or needed something, then I did the research, and then went out to purchase game lines or equipment, anything.
I really think our 5 year anniversary was the day that I thought,” we are up and running.” Our sales tripled our best day ever, but I put all that money back into the business.

6)How important is networking for your business?

Matthew Fay: Well, I am President of the Mount Healthy Business Association, President of the Northwest Kiwanis, Active in American Legion, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Free Masons, A mentor in GAMA (the Game Manufacturers Association) , and Co-Leader of Celebrate Mount Healthy, and a member of the Better Business Bureau. Being a member of these groups is like taking a college class in business, I have learned a lot and continue to learn.


6)You seem to have a specialized clientele, what is your approach to customer service?

Matthew Fay: This business is a service industry. You are servicing the gaming community. Another group I sponsor through meetup.com is the local gaming community in our area. This store provides a place for like minded people to meet, and meet and play, that’s what this is all about. One of the biggest hurdles in playing games is finding people to play with, Yottaquest fills that need.


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The first voice on the phone matters!

Probably the least paid person in any organization is the company receptionist, but having a good person at this post is vital to your business. We have all heard the old adage that “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If you are hiring a receptionist for the first time here are some things you might want to consider.

Is this person polite? I don’t know about you, but politeness always works with me. A person could probably tell me to go jump off a cliff, and if it was said with a smile and polite demeanor, I would probably at least take a look at the ledge. Politeness includes good grammar and pleasant respectful tone of voice and demeanor.

Is this person technically adept? There is nothing more irritating to me than a receptionist that mistakenly hangs up on me, or leaves me on hold for more than 1 minute. Another receptionist sin is sending a potential customer call to the wrong person. Doing any of the above wastes your sales and marketing efforts and can cast your business in a bad light.

Does the potential receptionist know the area? This is a very important skill when potential customers are trying to find your business. A good interview question for a receptionist might be “describe to a lost but important potential customer how to arrive at our location.” If he/she can do that, you have a potential winner!

Finally, many customer service trainers will counsel new customer service representatives to smile while they are on the phone. Some companies like GE buy mirrors for representatives, so that customer service people can check to see if they are smiling. It helps to keep a pleasant attitude especially if they are primarily on the telephone which is a main job function of the company receptionist.

Try these tips next time you are looking for a potential receptionist and may your find a winner!

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Sales-Networking is King

Sales-Networking is King


Before I entered the world of corporate finance, I was a more than pretty fair salesman (I made the million dollar round table). I learned outside sales the hard way-I started hauling around copiers in Oklahoma City in the back of a Chevy Chevette hatchback-yippee! I learned the basics of "prospecting," "cold calling,” "the demo” and "closing" the deal."

The sales game has changed however, salespeople no longer go business to business-I remember one time on a Friday there were 5 different sales guys (I was one) going up a skyscraper from different copier companies. Building security rounded us all up, and threw us out about 3:30-we all shook hands and went to a bar down the street to tell war stories. Frankly, that bit of networking was the most positive thing any of us did all day.

Networking gets you by the gate keepers who frankly are a waste of your time. So how do you find a decision maker, Try trade societies or clubs, sometimes large entities (like school systems or business incubators) hold vendor meetings (complete with food) and many are free. As a factoring broker, I met some of my best banking contacts at chamber of commerce meetings. My line was simple, send me who you don't want or can't work with (known in banking as "not bankable"). I will factor them, and in 18 months to 2 years, I send them back to you. When I speak with any client that you send me, I will only speak about your bank and your bank products. This was a promise I am proud to say, I always kept. After a while, the bankers I interacted with knew they could trust me. It worked both ways, when I found a client that I was ready to “graduate.” I always kept those bankers who gave me leads in mind if they had the right banking products.

That way my network grew and so did sales leads. It’s easier and far more effective to meet a friend (networking contact) or perspective new friend (from networking contacts -giving you a "warm introduction") than to be on the phone “prospecting.”

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Make Your Customers Pay

When you are a small or medium business, a few customers not paying for their products and services could be very detrimental. Unlike larger companies who can afford the occasional delinquency, every penny counts, especially at a time when many SMBs are struggling to stay afloat. And with the economy still trying to improve, chances are your customers aren't paying or are requesting extensions on payment deadlines.

As a matter of fact, according to the American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, at least 60% of business owners are currently experiencing cash-flow issues and about 26% are worried about customers paying bills on time. There are ways to handle this that involve collection agencies and attorneys but those can be costly and just as much a hassle for you as they are the customer. Before you hire a third party or seek legal action, there are a few other things you can do.

First of all, you should probably start checking a customer's payment history. So many businesses do this these days and for good reason. For a reasonable price (as little as $3.00), you can get some credit and payment history information on a customer before you agree to do business with them. Even if you don't want to check the credit history, ask around. See if your customer has dealt with other people in your industry and find out what their experience was like. This method allows you to weed out anyone you might see as a high-risk and gives you more information about just who you are dealing with.


Another way to ensure prompt customer payment is to make it easy for the customer to pay. Offer variety and let the customer choose what payment method he or she is most comfortable with. Maybe you offer Paypal but you don't Google Checkout. Consider signing up for that, too. Bill Me Later is another great option that customers can use. And whatever outlets you decide on, make sure a customer can pay via credit card, checking account, or any other method they may need to use. Also, don't forget to make your payment options clear. Feature them on the homepage of your website or talk to your customers about them up front.

One last idea you can use to prompt your customers to pay on time is using mobile devices. Equipping whomever will be accepting your payments with a cell phone or Bluetooth device that will swipe credit cards is a convenient idea for customers who aren't always carrying cash with them.

Credit Card Companies Saving Themselves

Today credit card companies are doing more and more to try and save themselves from the crisis that is effecting so many of our financial intuitions. But in reality they may just end up losing and hurting their customers. The latest scheme now being used by some credit card companies involves watching where and how you use your credit card. When they observe purchases that they deem to be a characteristic of a risky customer they play to lower you credit limit and even possibly closes your credit card.

As credit tightens the credit card companies only want to give credit to the people that are 100% sure to be responsible customers and pay back their debt. They will also keep track of what you say when you call the customer service number in order to figure out if you are a risk for the company or not. The top places that could hurt you when using a credit card are: Bars, nightclubs, gambling institutions, cash advances, charging the necessities, marriage counseling, and massage parlors and strip clubs.

The credit card companies are now starting to look at the lifestyles of their customer and decide whether or not they are the type of customer they want to do business with. Not all credit card companies are of course adopting all of these tactics but the trend is disturbing. For example Visa may not have the same list of purchases that are disapproved of as American Express, and the next company may have no such policy at all. Each company is developing their own model that they go by to determine what and who is a risky customer making risky purchases.