Smart Questions To Grow Your Businessby Adele Howell Pryce 3/1/2012 When business gets tough, as it has this year, we just buckle down and "do more". We convince ourselves that we need to work a little harder; put in longer hours; keep slogging away so we can generate enough business. I know what it is like, because that was my own mindset for years. "I just have to work harder!" We all know, and may even use the business adage "Work Smarter Not Harder" but for most of us that sounds like something that is great in theory but just simply not based in reality - not for your business anyway! However, I have to tell you that there is an alternative to just working harder. It isn’t a magic wand, it isn’t going to change things overnight, but I have been using a process called "strategic questioning" for the past 3 years to gradually change the way I do business. A simple process like this can change the way you think about your business - which is the first step. So, what exactly is "strategic questioning"? In its simplest form it is a process whereby you ask yourself bigger; better and bolder questions. These questions open up the ... |
Starting and Building Your Businessby Graham K Boanas 3/1/2012 I regularly speak to people who are new to business ( I love their infectious enthusiasm) but some have little or no experience in running a business. Their inexperience shows in their selling techniques. It might be a book, a video or a friend that’s told them how to sell and you can see it. Now, I don’t want to be harsh on these people, after all we all had to start somewhere but starting and running a business is all about having experience, understanding your market (more importantly your customer) and adapting to situations and that takes time and effort. Let me explain. Image Linford Cristie, one of the fastest ever UK Sprinters, did he become the fastest while he was in nappies? No, he stood up as a child, wobbled, and then fell down. He did this many times, then he walked, then he ran, then he sprinted! And that’s exactly how we hone our business skills. Were not born with them instantly, we have to try, we experiment and we refine. No business person has "never" made a mistake, believe me, if they say they haven’t their lying! It’s important to constantly look at yourself and your company and learn and adapt to your mistakes. If you’re reading this and have just started in business I can tell you now you’re going to make mistakes, but just learn from them. I see so many people that say "no were not interested in the little ... |
Why Do People Start Businesses?by Victoria Delaney 3/1/2012 It is not surprising that only 5% of the people in the world are successful at starting a new business. Why Do People Start Businesses? Most new businesses are started for one of three reasons: 1. Need to make money, can’t get a job, or because they want to. (Newbie) 2. Have a passion for an industry and perceive they can do it better (Sole Proprietor) 3. Entrepreneurial. The individual starting the business has other businesses and passions and wants to create a new business. Entrepreneurs create businesses because they can. Road Blocks to a New Business: On Your Own: A newbie just starting out has all sorts of challenges to deal with. The biggest being their own fear and a lack of clarity as to why they want to have a business. "It was a good idea at the time" is a costly reason. Tens of thousands of dollars have been wasted because the person looking for a business did not understand why they wanted a business. If you are a newbie, and have not spent your fortune yet, I would encourage you to sit down and figure out why you ... |
Make Your Small Business More Effectiveby Peter R A Johnson 3/1/2012 I ask the question why? When there are packages available that they can use to run their business on a day to day basis that will provide them with all of the information they need to run and grow their business. QuickBooks, Xero or MYOB for your bookkeeping and accounting needs and they have plenty of support available. ACT, Zoho, Sales Force or PlanPlus Online Customer Relationship Management packages for managing your sales and customer contact programs. Point of sale systems for retail outlets to assist them in managing their sales and controlling your inventory. Service Management systems such as Miracle Service for businesses that send technicians into the field to service equipment and bill out on a time and materials basis. Studio Management Systems for photographers, graphic designers and website developers. Job Bag systems for printing companies, that track the customers job through the printing process. These are just a few off the shelf systems that are available for small business owners to manage the day to day operations of their business and at the same time collect valuable information that is critical to the ... |
The Importance of Small Business Networking Onlineby TJ Philpott 3/1/2012 Getting involved in small business networking is not something most internet entrepreneurs typically consider! The reason being is many people feel that as an entrepreneur you must learn to ’go it alone’ but this perception is flawed! The fact is that you can actually grow your business much faster and with less effort by sharing and combining your ideas and efforts! If your intentions are to earn an income online there is no better way than by networking with like minded individuals! Traffic By involving yourself with other internet entrepreneurs you also open the door to joint ventures from which both you and others can benefit! Traffic sharing is a perfect example as to how businesses can come together and ’combine’ their resources to accelerate their growth! This is especially valuable to most who work online since in the majority of cases people will be working alone therefore increasing work efficiency is important! Exchange Ideas Simply having others with whom you can share ideas and discuss common problems is a vitally important component when trying to build businesses! The fresh perspectives that others can present helps to open the doors to new possibilities while solving old problems! There is a saying ’two heads are better than one’ and never is this more true then when trying to earn an income online! Internet entrepreneurs are constantly challenged by the ongoing changes this dynamic environment offers and networking tends to make these changes easier to manage! Increase Exposure Where having one business contact is good having many is even ... |
Keep On Smilingby Randal Roberts 3/1/2012 One of the difficulties small business owners have is maintaining a positive attitude and keeping employees excited about their jobs. Sometimes this kind of attitude can move toward depression, laziness, not taking care of business and just total rebellion from what you know you and your employees should be doing. When this kind of attitude hits, some people will choose to eat sugary foods, drink alcohol or take some kind of substance that will make them "feel better", if only for a short period of time. Some will get angry and will take out their frustrations on their family members or on their employees. Some of us will just stop working and waste time playing computer games or sleeping or who knows what. I guess there are as many so called "remedies" as there are small business owners. I have this problem from time to time, in fact, I probably have had this problem more often than I care to admit. So what do I do to try to get through these kinds of times in my life? Well, there is never just one thing for me, so I will go through a couple of remedies that I use to get me out of a funk. I hope they may help you or at least get you thinking of ways to help yourself out of the fog of being on your own and "going it alone". When I get low or discouraged or depressed that I cannot move my business in the correct ... |
Tips For Marketing A Small Business Effectivelyby Mike Sprouse 4/15/2011 Over the course of several years, I have made a list of 34 marketing strategies (not tactics - that number is much higher) I would recommend utilizing to market a small business. I will provide you with a handful of ideas below that small business owners should focus on. Broadly, let’s cover a few things in online marketing, social media and guerilla marketing. 1) Online Marketing You would be shocked at how many small businesses still don’t have a website that accurately portrays their product or service. Focus on making sure that the content on the website fully supports your brand and your marketing message. Marketing a small business starts with your website as one of your focal points. Optimize your website for search. In other ... |
7 Useful Tips for Every Small Businessby Jim Crider 4/15/2011 There are two ways of earning money: 1) by working for someone else or 2) by being your own boss. Being self-employed isn’t as tough as you might think; however it does requite quite a bit of gumption. For a person who works for themselves to earn enough money to live off of, self-confidence is important and it comes out of one’s own strength and talent. Today, many people working for someone else are leaving their jobs only to create their own future by starting small business firms. By this, they not only want to make their own future but also want to create employment for many more people. Companies are categorized into micro, small and large businesses based on qualifications such as their startup cost, their turnover rate, gross revenues, output and so on. Small business is quite safe for new entrepreneurs because there is not as much risk to take and the outcome can range from a good 3% to 50% of returns. It all depends on how one drives the small business. Here are 7 very useful tips to successfully running a small business and make profits. They are as follows: 1. Leadership: In a small company, unlike in larger firms, the decision making process can be much faster because of less people involved. It is not that there shouldn’t be more than one leader, yet, having more leaders would only delay the decision make process. The leadership advantage a smaller company has over larger businesses is this ability ... |
Email and Internet Usage at Work - A Right or a Privilege?by Dianne Austin Shaddock 4/15/2011 Employees spend on average 8 hours or more a day on the job working at least 5 days a week. Is there any harm in allowing staff to use the email or the Internet on occasion? Your employees may not be aware of the fact that the email account that they use on a daily basis is not private and that their Internet usage can be monitored. Many of your staff may even assume that because they were assigned an email account, (with their name as part of the email address), that this makes the email account personal, even though access was issued as part of doing business on behalf of their employer. Case in point: An employee who resigned from a company that I worked with contacted me a few weeks after leaving to ask if he could get access to his email account as he had "personal" information that he absolutely needed to retrieve from his account. This former employee could not understand why we would not allow him to have access to the personal information that he had stored on the account. After all, it was his email account. He believed that the company did not have the right to deny him access to the account, even though the account was issued as a standard part of doing business and not for personal use. It is a privilege to use email and the Internet at work for personal reasons if you as the employer chooses to allow it since the access ... |
5 Habits to Achieve Small Business Excellenceby John Gotidoc 4/15/2011 Most small businesses gain their success in the industry not just because they introduced great ideas or because of their excellent customer services. There is a lot more than just having a great idea or friendly customer service department that makes a small business shine from the rest of the pack. In order to have a quality business outfit, entrepreneurs need to develop these five practices and apply them effectively with your team: 1. Set Your Expectations Clear - You need to determine what you want and what the rest of the team’s goal is for the business. It is important that your business is going for a specific goal whether in terms of employees, services to customers, sales and the teamwork of the people involved. If you have clear goals, you can set your expectations and get them as you motivate everyone who is with you in reaching that goal. 2. Gather the Necessary Data and Analyze Them - All businesses have the passion for data gathering. A manager is working on the establishment’s data throughout the day. This is because it is important that the management team is up-to-date with what is happening within the business. There should be a regular flow of information coming into the management team. 3. Exceeding Expectations - Every business organization has their expectations and needs to handle 100% of that to their services. However, in case there is a need for more products or to give out more than 100% of the expected service, your business ... |
How to Keep Your Clients and Keep Them Happyby Danielle Cuddie 4/15/2011 The most important thing you do as a business owner is to make your current customers happy. This is the basis for repeat business, referrals and overall ongoing new business for you company. If you cannot retain your current customers you will have a very short-lived existence in the business world. I wanted to break this down to a step-by-step how-to for not only keeping clients but how to keep them happy and coming back! 1. Show that you Value Your Clients Time and Choice to Work with You! - Your client could have gone with any number of other contractors or consultants and they chose you. Your acknowledgment of that fact will show by how you manage your time for them. If you say you will be there - get there and be prepared - on time and without excuses. "To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late." 2. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. - So many times, people get contracts and dig right in and do not let the customer know of progress being made. The customer then either thinks they have been forgotten or that they hired a bad choice and start looking for ways to fix their mistake. It is YOUR job to relay to the customer what progress is being made and what timeline you are on for finishing... but do not make the mistake of over promising. Make your time goals realistic and then add a few days for the unseen ... |
What to Include in a Small Business Planby Ewen Chia 10/20/2010 Putting up a small entrepreneurial venture? You need a good small business plan then. A good business plan that details everything you need to get your new company up and running. Here’s a list of the bare essentials you need to include in your business plan: Most experts agree on the standard contents a business plan should contain. A small business plan is no exception, it should still have these basic sections. An executive summary. The not so technical highlights like the mission, objectives, and such concepts as the keys to success. Ideas, mostly. You don’t need charts and tables on this one. But though this section may not be as technical as others, it is one of the contents that should definitely be in your business plan. The company profile. A summarized description of the company-to-be, its ownership, and everything else there is to know about the whole legal establishment, including locations and facilities. The goods and services. Of course the plan should have a section dedicated to the goods and services your business will have to offer. Now though you may want to list down the features of your products, remember that your customers to be will be thinking what’s in it for them. So while you may indeed lavishly enumerate your products’ features, make sure you explain how those features benefit customers. Strategies and implementations. A very important section that outlines strategies that will be employed, and implementation procedures to use. In this part of your business plan you cannot afford to ... |
How to Avoid Making Small Business Mistakesby Lisa A. Kanarek 10/20/2010 A business mistake, whether large or small, can potentially cost a small business owner time, money and aggravation. Before you make mistakes that outweigh your successes, take note of five common business mistakes and how to avoid them. Mistake #1: Spending too much money on overhead. A suite of offices may sound appealing to you, but if you conduct your business primarily by phone and e-mail, why waste money on rent? Instead - at least for your first year in business - run your business from home. You could use the money you save on rent, on office equipment or other supplies. Mistake #2: Failing to research demand for your product or service. You may have an innovative product or service, yet if no one needs it you’re wasting your time and money. Conduct informal online surveys and get the opinions of friends and business professionals whose opinion you trust, to find out how interested they are in your product. The time you spend researching your idea will save you time in the long run. Mistake #3: Ignoring the competition. Don’t obsess over what your competition is doing, yet don’t discount new services or products they have to offer or even a new website they’ve created. Although imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, resist the urge to copy your competition. Find your niche and develop a market around it. Eventually your competition will start taking a closer look at you. Mistake #4: Not networking. When you go out on your own, e-mail and ... |
Small Business Marketingby Marc Mays 10/20/2010 One of the most overlooked elements for many small business owners is the role that gatekeepers can play in whether or not their products or services are adopted. These gatekeepers can take many forms; from the technical gatekeepers who ensure that certain technical standards are satisfied, to popular product and service review guides, whose stamp of approval can make (or break) sales opportunities. Here are some ways to satisfy the gatekeepers, so that your products and services can pass their screening to eventually be evaluated by end users: * Send a sample of your product or service (if possible) * Provide favorable commentary on your product or service from acknowledged experts who specialize in the field * Provide favorable commentary on your product or service from other technical professionals (who work in similar industries, or better yet, the same industry) * Include previous reviews from highly satisfied customers * Show how any technical limitations are compensated for by other attributes of your product or service * Include technical specifications and details, as technical gatekeepers will appreciate the finer attributes of your products and services * Show how the best attributes of your product or service contribute to bottom line results (i.e. give higher level managers a chance to overrule any technical objections) If all else fails, it cannot hurt to ask what features and specifications their gatekeepers require in order ... |
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