After almost 20 years in retail, I'm on the look out for new resources, sites and books that help the retail owner be successful.

As a business owner you live and die by ROI: Return on investment. You want to ensure that the dollars you spend on cost of goods, payroll, advertising and G&A bring a return that allows a nice percentage of top line sales flow to the bottom line.

ROI also stands for Retail Owners Institute, an online resource with tons of valuable information for the new and experience retail owner/franchisee/manager.

ROI, the website, offers articles, tips, links and even a Retail Financial Basics course that you can sign up for.

There are 56 different retail industries segmented and once you become a member of ROI you have the opportunity to view articles, and benchmarks for your specific segment of the retail world. Imagine knowing if your 27% cost of goods sold is good or offers room for improvement.

There are even quizzes you can take that address some of the key issues you face as a retail owner.

Good stuff.

Deborah Chaddock Brown