Guerrilla Loss Prevention Tip: Even if you don't have a EAS system, consider buying some tags anyway. There are suppliers who sell recycled tags inexpensively. Shoplifters will recognize tags, but since they don't see any sensor gates at exit, they may think you are using a new system that they aren't yet aware of. It might just be enough to deter theft.

6.MONITOR YOUR FITTING ROOMS Do not let customers enter and exit your fitting rooms without encountering your staff. A fitting room is an ideal place to conceal merchandise: if shoplifters can get merchandise into fitting room, they have complete privacy, and even a mirror to gauge how nicely merchandise is concealed.

A favorite shoplifting method is to place several items of clothing on a single hanger. This relies upon inattentive employee counting number of hangers, not number of clothing items. Or worse, barely lifting their eyes as they ask "How many?"

Shoplifters then enter fitting room and conceal extra merchandise brought in on single hanger. Generally, it will be extra clothing brought into fitting rooms, but I have brought 35mm cameras in with a pair of jeans draped over my arm (and camers).

Make sure your fitting rooms do not have anyplace to discard labels and pricetags.

7.SIGNAGE Posting correct signs around your store can deter many shoplifters, even (possibly especially) experienced shoplifters.

Guerrilla Loss Prevention Tip: Shoplifters are dishonest people, so don't feel guilty about stretching truth a little on your signage, for effect. For example, you might post classic sign that says simply, "Smile,You're on Candid Camera", whether you use cameras or not.

Or a sign with changeable numerals on J-hooks that says "## Shoplifters Prosecuted This Year. Are you next?" Be creative. All retail greats were creative people. And remember your primary goal is to coerce shoplifters into taking their craft elsewhere.

8.CAMERA DOMES A recent study has showed that closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras are now most feared anti-shoplifting device. Perhaps this is due to cameras being mentioned so often in nightly news.

Whatever reason, shoplifters don't like them. CCTV systems can be costly. But as with signage, if shoplifters can be deceptive, why can't you?

Guerrilla Loss Prevention Tip: The smoke-colored dome housings used to mount CCTV are fairly inexpensive. Buy several, and place a lot of them in ceiling tiles all around your store.

Smart shoplifters know that not every dome has a camera inside. But then question in shoplifters mind is, "Am I standing under one that does have a camera in it?" This is extremely effective. To see it in action, next time you visit a Wal-Mart, look up.

You don't have to prove you have any cameras at all in order to deter theft, all you have to do is make shoplifter think you have cameras!

9.PROSECUTE ALL THIEVES Call police on every shoplifter you catch. No exceptions.

In shoplifters' minds, if you don't call police, they win, and they will continue to hit your store over and over.

Do not release juvenile shoplifters to their parents; prosecute them. The only time I was ever caught, I was thirteen years old. The police were not called, and I continued shoplifting another 15 years --including from store in which I was caught.

Prosecute all thieves. Period.

10. EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE This is, far and away, single most effective thing you can do to deter shoplifting. By knowing where your customers are, offering your assistance, and anticipating their needs, you will virtually eliminate shoplifting. An alert employee is your most effective weapons against thieves who thrive on anonymity.

Isn't it strange how virtually everything about successful retailing eventually comes around to quality customer service?

On other hand, reading and responding to email, monitoring and tweaking your search engine positioning and web site updating don't usually require peak concentration to be effective, nor do they require a continuous block of time to accomplish. So schedule these activities for time other than your peak concentration time.

As a general rule, try and get as much done as possible in one sitting during your peak concentration time. The other stuff that doesn't require much in way of concentration can be squeezed in during your spare half hours here and there between other things.

The first step in managing your time is understanding it. Understanding where it is and how best to utilize it. By taking time to work up a weekly grid every Sunday night and allocating your discretionary activities for week to your discretionary time in a way that takes maximum advantage of your peak concentration time, you can't help but work more efficiently and, therefore, more productively.

If you don't have a plan for your time, what's first thing you're going to do at 6:00 am on Monday morning in that precious hour of peak concentration time you have to work on your business before you have to start getting ready for work? Yep, that's right. You'll download and read your email. What *should* you be doing with that hour? Writing an article for this week's ezine.

You can read and respond to email any time during day. It doesn't require peak concentration! So you've just blown that hour. And in evening when you're tired and your concentration's shot, think you're going to write that article then? Hardly. What you're going to do is turn on TV right? And not even remember what it was you watched when you wake up at 6:00 again next morning and do same thing all over again.

And then, of course, when weekend rolls around and you still haven't written that article and you have to send your ezine out on Sunday night, you're spending your weekend writing your article (in between running errands) and before you know it, Sunday night's here, it's time to send out your ezine again and *weekend's over* already and you don't know where it went and tomorrow's Monday and you're so behind and frazzled that you don't work up your grid for next week and so Monday rolls around and you get up at 6:00 and you don't have a plan so what do you do? Yep, you download and read your email ...

=== "To know what has to be done, then do it, comprises whole philosophy of practical life." Sir William Osler ===

Stop spiral. Be smart. Take CONTROL of your time. Don't let it control you. Time can be your greatest friend or your greatest enemy. Don't let it slip through your fingers with nothing to show for it. Schedule time every Sunday night to work up a time grid for coming week. Who knows, you may even be able to enjoy next weekend!

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Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ... practical home business ideas for work-from-home entrepreneur. http://www.ahbbo.com