Finance Coach - Vol. 8

Here's a copy of the message sent out to my Facebook group - Finance Coach (by Gareth Cotten)...

Finance tip: Shopping

Avoid big carts. When doing your grocery shopping, avoid using the bigger carts available. It has been shown that shoppers buy more (potentially more than they need) when using a big cart - psychologically, they may feel more compelled to fill the space available to justify using such a big cart. Rather use a smaller cart, or even better, a hand-basket or two. That way, you will only buy what you need (you should be shopping off of a list if you've been following Finance Coach!), and will save a small fortune on unnecessary goods.

Business tip: Market to watch

Baby-boomers. If you are looking at starting a new business, or wanting to expand into a profitable market, consider developing a product or service aimed at baby-boomers. These are roughly defined as people born in the 10-15 years after WWII (ie. 1945-60). Many businesses that have become huge successes have targeted this market, as it represented a sudden burst of consumers, over and above the average birth rate. Some companies have marketed to this group over their entire lifespan, but the best thing about targeting them now is that they are at or near the peaks of their careers, and thus have enormous spending power and a relatively high degree of disposable income. This has created a vast new range of offerings, from senior care facilities, to plastic surgery services for the middle-aged, to holiday packages and resorts aimed at older couples, etc. Is there something you could offer that could target this highly profitable group?

From my side, while I love sending out these messages, and sharing what I have learnt, I would really like to get some feedback from you, the reader. Tell me what you think: Did a particular edition speak to you? Inspire you to action? Have you made regular use of one of the tips provided? I'm happy to admit that it can be daunting to write out into the big wide world, but it makes it so much more worthwhile when you know you're having an effect. So, drop me a message, post something on the Group wall, and invite people to join - we're hitting a little bit of a plateau in terms of member numbers, and I want to blow past it, so keep those invites going!