[4] How the "Ripple Effect" impacts Retail Business

You undoubtedly already know that word-of-mouth advertising can be pretty effective. If one satisfied customer brings in another, and if you can keep them both happy, your business is likely to grow. Essentially, that's the "ripple effect."

The "ripple effect" is a major factor in the growth - or death - of almost any retail business. Since people usually go shopping with friends and family, the "ripple effect" works!

Because of the "ripple effect," it is vitally important to your business success to understand FOUR IMPORTANT FACTS about "disabled Americans":

• About 22% of the U.S. population have a disability
"severe enough to impair their mobility"
... that's more than one out of five of us!
• Senior Citizens control over 77% of America's wealth
and more than 53% of Senior Citizens are disabled.
• Collectively, "disabled Americans" earn
more than a TRILLION DOLLARS a year.
• Disabled Americans have more than $220 BILLION in disposable annual income ... that's money we have to spend after we've paid our bills, also sometimes referred to as "consumer spending power."

So what do all these facts mean to your business?

Well, first of all, it means:
If folks who live in - or visit - your area don't know:
(a) that your business is barrier-free, and
(b) that you value their business and are willing and able to accommodate their special needs ...
You've just LOST more than TWENTY-TWO PERCENT of your potential customer base.

Those people won't be coming to your store ... ever!

As far as most people with disabilities are concerned, if you can't accommodate their needs, your store is USELESS to them, and might as well not even exist!

But the REAL impact on your bottom line can go much further than that, when you consider the "ripple effect."

Since the Fixed Costs (rent, utilities, etc.) of running any retail business are a significant part of its total operating budget, a 22% increase in sales tends to generate substantially more than a 22% increase in bottom-line profits.

However, the "ripple effect" works both ways. And a 22% DECREASE in sales is always likely to generate significantly more than a 22% DECREASE in profits.

And while good news travels fast, BAD news travels even faster.

And right now, you may be losing much more business than you realize.

Is potential business slipping through your fingers because people just don't know that your store is barrier-free and can accomodate their needs?

Let's look at a hypothetical example on the next page.