http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Curt+Barry Business Management Curt Barry Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=329054&ca=Business+Management Many businesses are being asked to cut cost and save money within their current operations. And in today's world market it is even more important than ever to find way to improve the company’s bottom line, many are being asked to reduce costs or better yet, increase productivity and efficiency and l... Business Management Curt Barry Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=284299&ca=Business+Management Typically, labor rates were in the $7.00/hour range five years ago. In many direct businesses today they have reached $12.00 to $13.00, plus a 20% benefit rate added on. But overall productivity has remained flat over a 5- to 10-year period. So, after factoring in the increasing labor rates, product... Business Curt Barry Thu, 29 May 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=257115&ca=Business Here’s the picture: A multichannel company with sales of $20 million has an aging order management system that has been in place for over 20 years. While there are some things that the users like about it, they have basically outgrown the system. They need far better marketing information, e-commerc... Business Curt Barry Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=222518&ca=Business Although the 2007 holiday season hasn’t ended yet for many multichannel merchants, many of our clients are already preparing for holiday 2008. You should, too, by conducting a post-season audit. This process enables you to challenge your group to find ways to reduce costs and at the same time get cr... Finances Curt Barry Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=207088&ca=Finances In the next few weeks, all the carriers will complete their 2008 pricing announcements. As we look at the future, it’s probably a good bet that these carriers’ rates aren’t going down any more than the cost of oil. So what’s the impact and action plan for your business? Given the size of the increas... Business Curt Barry Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=181245&ca=Business Multichannel business managers frequently voice the desire to have one system or software package that is capable of managing the entire enterprise, encompassing all functional areas. Enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems have been available for years. Because the multichannel phenomenon—tradi... Business Curt Barry Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=178864&ca=Business Begin by finding a company that provides due diligence services to potential investors in the multichannel retail arena to investigate the feasibility of, or provide support for, mergers, acquisitions, and/or investment opportunities. My firm, F. Curtis Barry and Company, has been working in this ma... Computers and Technology Curt Barry Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=172821&ca=Computers+and+Technology Q: We are in the process of planning our file conversion as we implement our new catalog management system. Our vendor is telling us that they normally don’t write a file conversion program for most files. What’s your recommendation? A: Today’s comprehensive order management system performs integrat... Business Management Curt Barry Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=147303&ca=Business+Management Question: Our company installed our new order management system in the last 30 days. While we spent considerable time educating our users and completing the conversion, I’m concerned that we are learning how to manage our business with the new system too slowly. What should our plan of action be? At...