What Wal-Mart's Q2 Turnaround Can Teach Your Small Business

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., announced today that it has all things considered reversed eight straight quarters of same-store sales decline in its U.S. outlets. The company's response to the dawdling U.S. economy is something from which small businesses can draw an important lesson.

Wal-Mart, while sometimes held up as the scourge of small retailers, shares a lot of the same problems as its small-business competitors, just on a grander scale. Without today's usually positive numbers, this would have been the ninth straight quarter of declining same-store sales, reflecting a bad couple of years that has affected near every player in the retail industry.

That it was Sam's Club stores that to tell the truth had the rise in sales is a big clue about how consumers feel: Sam's Club traditionally sells goods in bulk, at prices that are usually even lower than big-box retailers and grocery store chains. This is a hard nut to crack for small business, since it's Wal-Mart's massive buying power that enables them to purchase goods for sale so cheaply.

Look at your bill for online

Also take a look at your bill for online and IT services. Are you paying too much for high-speed Internet service? There's a good chance you are. And what about phone service? You may be able to save funds by switching from a traditional POTS line to a voice-over-IP service that piggy-backs your Internet connection. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) isn't for every one, but sometimes it can provide real savings.

Brian Proffitt is a veteran research journalist, analyst, and author with experience in a variety of technologies, including cloud, virtualization, and consumer devices.Follow him on Twitter @TheTechScribe and Google+ at +Brian Proffitt.

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