The Fall and Winter holidays are fast approaching and before you know it, 2009 will be a distant memory.

What have you done to ensure that 2010 is more profitable than 2009? If you're not satisfied with your answer (or if you don't have an answer), you should start NOW to put together a 2010 Open to Buy Plan, because this is such an important part of sound business management.

Early this past Spring, I wrote an article entitled "Intelligent Expense Management" that explains the reasons for Open to Buy planning. Normally I wouldn't republish an article, but this is so important for succeeding in business, that it definitely deserves a second reading.

Intelligent Expense Management

Managing expenses this year is going to be a make or break activity for many companies. But this doesn't mean attacking your costs with a sledge hammer. It means making careful and thoughtful decisions about when and where to spend your resources - using a surgical knife instead.

Running an Open to Buy Plan for your business is one of the most important expense management tools you can have in your arsenal.

Why? Because your inventory is your biggest expense (and probably your biggest asset). You have to manage your inventory like your business depends on it - because it does.

Too much inventory means either big markdowns, or low or no profits. This can mean not having the funds to pay your vendors. In a recession with flat or decreasing sales, this is a short path to closing your doors for good.

On the other hand, too little inventory means you won't have the merchandise that you customers want. In today's economy, you can't afford to send a single customer to the competition for something you should have had in stock. This may be a longer path, but the destination is the same.

Again, the answer is an  Open to Buy plan.  If you don't know where to begin, take a look at CounterPoint's Open to Buy option. It will put you ahead of the game.