Well, these mistakes do exist and they are not just reserved for the rookie companies. Many working businesses, including those you might think are successful because theyve been around for 10+ years, are often still making them and are possibly losing a lot of money and/or wasting a lot of time in the process.

Although some of these big and sneaky mistakes seem aimed more at service type companies, they really do fit the bill for almost any type of industry. Ive done my best with the listings below to give examples to prove it.

Underestimating Project/Service Time- This is a big one and it pertains to service companies as well as companies that sell a product. This is a service companys bread and butter. If you dont estimate your time to perform each and every service in your repertoire, you will get burned and there is little you can do about it but bite the bullet and learn from it. The best way to estimate time is to do it once yourself or watch your best employee do the task and then throw in a little fudge factor on top of it. For product companies, time becomes an issue with logistics so be aware!

Not Knowing YOUR Company Numbers/Incorrectly Setting Prices- Notice I emphasized the word your. Its a common mistake to use a competitors as your pricing gauge without actually knowing why they use those numbers. Think about the nightmare you will get yourself into if you take a competitors price, cut it by 10% and then start selling. What if the competition has a bad pricing structure and is barely making money or even losing money?!?! What if your costs are more than theirs?!?! You can use competitor as a starting point but you cant base your whole strategy on it.

Different industries have their own variables as far as costs go and you need to be aware of them for your project or product pricing. What you pay for a product you are going to sell is not the only cost to have in your head when you are pricing products. How much your labor and materials cost for a service is only a piece of an hourly rate. Employees cost more than just salary and not every employee is part of your labor cost. Every company has insurance to pay for. There are tons of overhead expenditures that need to be part of your price. Oh, by the way, the big one that many people forget about in their price is the quality factor. What you include as standard services or standard product features as well as job site etiquette or in store service or warranties all need to go into your pricing. Ill get to more on why in the next segment.

Not Charging for All of Your Time & Costs- This seems like a stupid statement to some but I bet most business owners will admit that they have given away a little too much of the farm at times. Hey, there is nothing wrong with giving a little extra here and there to show you care. But either way, thats not what Im talking about here. What concerns me are those that put a lot of quality into their work or products or stores and do not cover the cost for it. As an example, say you run a service company and your competitors dont do a certain standard service that you do. You cant just undercut their price to steal a job; you need to have that cost covered in your rate and advertise the fact that it comes with the price upfront. Stores undermine themselves, for example, when they put more people on the floor for customer service but dont charge for it. These things cost you money and when your competitors dont do them it costs them less money. Put out better service and then under price them, and your competition just has to wait a little bit for you to fall on your face so they can swoop back in.

As a business owner you need to believe that you are providing your clients worthwhile wares that deserve to be paid for. If you get the chance to explain why your prices are higher, then take that opportunity and do it. If they dont like the fact that you include things that others charge extra for later or that you treat them better, then they are most likely completely price shoppers. You dont want them as regular customers anyway. Trust me.

Not Getting Paid Fast Enough- Thats right, the old cash flow issue. As long as you are actually making enough money to pay the bills, this problem can be solved, prevented or at least made to be not as bad as it could be. Heres the deal:

First off all, bill customers very promptly. It is very common for a small business to not have the procedures or systems in place to get invoices generated and out the door in a timely fashion (see the next segment for more). Again, this would seem unlikely since thats the reason why we are doing the work- to get paid. But it is very easy for the people responsible for getting this info to the billing people to be too busy to get it there or not have enough organization to give it to them the right way.

The second part to slowing down or stopping a regular cash flow crunch is to make the quickest payment deals possible with customers and the slowest possible with vendors and employees. If there is any way not to pay employees any more than twice a month, you better do it. Contractors always have an issue with this. If you must pay weekly, then tell them before they are hired that they will be getting the first week held back, essentially buying you a week. It will help, I promise.

Part three involves credit. If your company can get a credit card, then get it. This allows for certain important things to be bought (that you can afford) that might come up during a cash flow crunch. Better yet, especially if you have no choice but to deal with 45+ day customer payments, do your best to get a company line of credit. This is a must if you plan on selling to the government or doing commercial service work. These clients often have 60 to 90 day wait periods.

Failure to Have Solid Systems and Procedures in Place- Too many procedures (known as red tape) is the reason why many people start their own business in the first place. Unfortunately, having no procedures and systems in place at all is not an alternative. Depending on the type of industry, business owners must come to a happy medium or chaos and the unknown will ensue. Some basic examples where procedures or systems are needed include billing, collections, payroll, hr (interviewing, hiring, vacations, benefits, job responsibilities, etc.), manufacturing, operating equipment, maintaining equipment, inventory, sales calls/visits and logistics to name a few.

Even a one person show needs to have some admin procedures in place. This will make it easier to hire temps and subcontractors and control what they are doing for you. Without at least a watered down version of a system or procedure to do everyday work, you will be to blame for causing many major headaches as your company grows. I cant emphasize how important this is for when you bring on new employees. Im sure you heard this before, but I am also a big proponent of having an employee handbook even for one employee. Its amazing the trouble people can cause business owners just because they allow you to pay them.

Spending Advertising Money Just to Say You Advertise- I would almost rather see my clients not advertise then to spend without regard to tracking the results. There is no point in a marketing campaign if you do not put things in place that allow you to measure how well the plan is working. The other wasteful part of marketing that many people make the mistake of doing, is not tracking their previously successful campaigns. Why some people think that just because a $400 dollar a month ad worked once very well for one busy season, that it will automatically work every year after that is beyond me.

Spreading Yourself Too Thin- This is a classic mistake made by every entrepreneur. The key is to figure out when you are at that wearing too many hats point and start getting some help. The solution here is to know your strengths and to be able see when you are not performing the duties that demand these skills. If you are the best sales person on the company, you cant get caught up in day-to-day operations. If you do, sales will slip and eventually you wont have any operations to worry about. Think about this to help you figure out if you are spread too thin: Did you really go into business for yourself to work 80+ hours a week?

Not Getting Help Soon Enough- Set goals to know when to hire people to take over where you are light on knowledge. Not getting help or waiting too long can kill a company. Most people who start a business do it because they are good at the technical end or the sales end. If you know the best way to make a widget, then your strength is in production and that is where your time should be spent. Hire an outside company or consultant to take care of the sales and marketing and then hire inside when you can afford someone full time. Dont be something to your company that you are not. It will only hold you back.

The three big issues people like to tackle themselves but usually are least knowledgeable about are legal issues, accounting/bookkeeping issues and daily operations issues. The odds are that these three things are your weakest link so if you dont have a partner that has the background for these subjects, then be prepared to get help as soon as possible. Its preferable that you do this before you start a business.

Although looking for these problems at any time is a good idea, the end of a year or season is an excellent business interval to make sure you are not making these errors. Take the time, or make the time, to fix these problems. If you dont know how to reverse the problems, then get some help. If you really dont have enough time to either figure out if you have these issues or know they are there and cant break away long enough to do it right, then get some help.

8 BIG Small Business Mistakes is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

The core of every business is sales. Many of the strategies to increase sales offline are applicable online, but not all of them. On the Internet, everybody can effort to fail fast and learn from it. Better still, after years of testing and tracking what works online, people can just learn from other people’s experience and cut the learning curve tremendously.

Here are 5 of the surefire ways to increase sales:

1. Establish a sound affiliate program

If it is just another affiliate program, then don’t expect to have different results. Focus on building a sound affiliate program, with the tools and materials to support affiliates to promote a program easily. After all, affiliates work like clockwork and should be seen as a team. Provide them with the right promotion tools and they will more likely promote the program.

Give the customers an option to join the affiliate program after purchase. Satisfied customers are one of the best marketing for any business. Spread the good words through word of mouth. Best of all, they are paid just for doing that.

2. Follow-up after first purchase

The hardest task in any business is acquiring the first sale. Make sure that capturing customers’ name and email addresses are the least information gathered from a sale. With that information in hand, follow-up with existing customers, probably through an automated mechanism like timely autoresponder.

This effort has been proven to decrease refund on products and increase customers’ satisfaction. Every once in a while, mention a related product that might be of interest to the customers. Write a review and provide real results. Such promotion is extremely inexpensive, but very effective in practice. The product can be anything, including an affiliate program.

3. Use up-sell technique

Just before a customer check out to the payment gateway, prompt for optional upgrade to the better, bigger, or nicer product for a fairly steep discount, preferably not available elsewhere.

A certain number of customers will choose the option, which translates into additional sales, almost without additional effort.

4. Provide discount coupons

Coupons urge customers to come back and shop. Promotional coupons work for both advertising and some forms of joint venture. Customers love to know that they get lower price for what they buy. Coupons make it so real and tangible.

5. Cross-promote with other related products

There is no limit as to how this could be accomplished. Joint venture with other business or even competitors is feasible as long as it brings a win-win situation.

One example would be to give away sample of other product or service as part of the whole package. As long as the sample is relevant to the customer, this promotion could only be seen as an added value instead of pure advertising.

There are many other tactics to increase sales but above tips have been proven to work again and again. Choose one at a time and take action. Good luck.

5 Surefire Ways to Increase Sales is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

Preparez avant tout votre presentation. L’ideal serait de se mettre a la place de votre auditoire, compose essentiellement de personnes surchargees de mails et de coups de telephones et qui, parmi leur quinzaine de rendez-vous professionnels et leur rendez-vous familiaux, esperent que votre presentation ne sera que de courte duree et passionnante. Pour cela, ecrivez un resume de votre discours ne tenant que sur une page, ce qui donnera le sentiment que vous ma?triser parfaitement le sujet et non le besoin de lire vos notes.

L’autre point essentiel qui devra ?tre aborde lors de ce seminaire porte donc sur la maniere de capter l’attention du public mais surtout d’eviter les pieges type. Parler de vous personnellement n’interesse que tres peu de personnes et savoir s’adresser aux gens n’est qu’une infime partie de votre succes prochain. Votre enseignant devra donc vous inculquer comment faire de votre auditoire une star, comment intercaler lors de vos discours votre presentation et s’adresser a eux en leurs posant les questions opportunes, et gerer votre temps de parole et leur temps de reponse. En les questionnant, leur esprit de competition se voit decupler et enthousiasmer.

Toujours dans ce contexte, laissez a votre public le temps d’achever votre phrase. Cela est essentiel. Attention toutefois de ne pas en faire trop et d’utiliser des phrases a double sens. Utilisez de preference des phrases types dont tout le monde conna?t deja la fin. Vous serez incroyablement surpris de voir combien votre public sera attentionne a vos paroles et ne risqueront pas de vous oublier.

Maintenant, disons que vous reussissez du premier coup l’application de ce premier conseil, cela n’est pas tout pour assurer un succ?s garanti a 100%. Que pensez vous devoir faire ensuite? Un bon porte-parole doit savoir bouger sur l’estrade ou plus clairement, doit savoir occuper l’espace le temps de son discours. Rester debout derri?re votre pupitre sur votre podium et lire vos notes sans vous preoccuper des reactions de votre entourage est le signe vers la reussite de votre plus gros echec. En effet, donner du mouvement a vos paroles est un art qui s’apprend qu’avec l’aide d’un professionnel. Par exemple: saviez vous que si vous vous adressez au cote droit d’une salle vous devez vous placer sur la gauche? Pourquoi? Parce qu’en vous pla?ant sur la droite pour vous adresser au public place sur la droite vous perdez l’attention du public place du cote gauche.

Par consequent, ne jamais vous eloignez d’une personne vous posant une question. Allez toujours vers le cote oppose de l’estrade de fa?on a leur donner l’avantage. A nouveau, la derni?re chose a faire est de perdre l’audience principale et de vous focaliser juste sur une personne. Placez vous alors vers le fond de la salle pour pouvoir repondre a la question posee et dont tout le monde desire entendre la reponse.

Ainsi, plus l’osmose entre votre publique et vous sera forte, plus grandes seront vos chances d’obtenir d’excellents resultats en matiere de chiffre d’affaires. Et n’oubliez pas, plus l’auditoire se sentira roi, plus concentre il sera.

Comment Developper votre Business par l’Expression Orale is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

You can find many types of networking opportunities around you. Every club and every association that you belong too is going to be a part of your network. From there, every person you come into contact with and every person you talk with is going to be part of your network.

Make a lasting impression
You can make a lasting impression on the people that you meet by talking about what you know best, and by talking about topics that are vital to your business. If you are not sure about a topic that is being approached during a conversation, ask questions. This will show you are part of the conversation and that you still want to know more. Just listening is going to keep you out of the conversation and will not make a lasting impression of you on any one.

Make your voice known
Join local chambers of commerce; join local men and womens associations. Join the local PTA, the sports boards, and join clubs that interest you. If you dont find a club locally that does interest you, create one and build your local network from that point. The more people that you can put yourself into contact with is going to increase awareness of yourself, of your business and what you have to offer. Even if you are selling online, you have to be proud of what you are doing, and talk about it as often as possible to build a network of people that will call on you when they need your products or services.

Once you have built a good network it is important that you maintain and set goals for yourself. As you have set goals, you need to keep them. This means, that if you strive to meet one new person a week, or to make it a point to call one person you know each week that is not a current customer, you are going to increase your business. Think about this, for every five calls you make, and only one turns into a sale, that is one more sale than what you had. Increase exposure for your business, and use this for your personal success.

Business networking locally is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

1. Implement Unconventional Marketing Strategies
Standing out from the crowd is sometimes hard to do with so many businesses mimicking the marketing campaigns of their competitors. Sure, we all want to be successful, and when we see others using a method and prospering there’s an urge to jump on the band wagon and enjoy the same success.

Rather than joining the pack, look for ways to advertise that no one else is using. Internet marketing is a good example. Most Internet marketers use …you guessed it the Internet to market their products. Why not get high impact postcards printed and use them to direct people to your Website? Hey, no one else is doing it!

2. Discover Hidden Markets
Your competitors are missing out on something! Dig around until you discover what it is, and get a corner on that market niche. Once you’ve discovered your secret gold mine, revise your sales copy, and Website to address the specific market you’ve uncovered.

If you’re a Multi Level Marketing representative you might want to consider the following niches.

” Employees: The freedom that comes with being your own boss is a dream that many employees hope for, but never experience. Go ahead…let them know that dreams do come true…there’s an opportunity to be their own boss waiting just for them.
” Stay-at-home Moms: Most stay at home Moms are sacrificing finances for the well-being of their children. They would jump at the chance to raise their children and make a little money too.
” Retirees: What does the future hold for someone looking at retirement? It could be that there is a lot of spark, and dreams still pulsing inside…and now…they’ll have the time to invest their long time dreams!

3. Become the Expert
We all respect the opinions and insight of someone who really knows a subject inside and out. Yeah, take the time to research, get to know all of the ins and outs of your product…then emphasize it in your marketing campaign. True knowledge can’t be aped. Consumers will know who the expert is.

You don’t have to put all of your eggs in one basket to zero in on one product, but you can emphasize your expertise in one area. Remember that people often expect to pay more for expert advice! You may want to raise your price a little bit, get testimonials, and find another expert to endorse you.

You don’t have to let the competition get one over on you when you position yourself for success!

3 Foolproof Ways To Outsmart Your Competition is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

1) Less Overhead
How much is all this office space, furniture, computer equipment along with your IT department to maintain them, utility bills etc. costing you? Telecommuters do not require any of the above, which will cut your overhead cost tremendously. Telecommuters use their own office, their own equipment from computers to paperclips; use their own power, phone and Internet connection. If their computer acts up, its up to them to get it up and running again.

2) Less Benefits To Pay
Most telecommuters are independent contractors. You do not have to provide for health care, workmans compensation or paid vacation. Consider the tax benefits as well; there is no employer portion of federal and state tax to pay.

3) Hire Experts When Needed
Do you need someone to write the occasional press release and maybe come up with a revision to your brochure every once in a while? Instead of hiring someone fulltime as your marketing person, consider outsourcing the tasks to a freelance telecommuter. You will pay per project, or hire your freelancer for a few hours per month, instead of creating a marketing position. Freelancers give even small businesses the opportunity to hire an expert for almost any task.

4) On Demand Work
Do you expect a temporary increase in your workload, be it seasonal, or because you just landed a large project? Why not pick up a few telecommuters for the task instead of working with inexperienced temps, or hiring in-office personnel that you may not need three months down the road. Telecommuters combine the flexibility of temps with the on-the-job experience of permanent employees. You get the best of both worlds.

5) More Motivated Workers
Telecommuters have a very good reason why they want to work from home. Whether that reason is being able to stay home with the kids, a disability, or avoiding a long commute, being able to work from home makes them happy. As you well know, happy employees are more motivated, dont count the minutes until they can leave the office and overall get more work done.

If you havent already done so, I encourage you to give telecommuter a try the next time you need a highly motivated, experienced worker, but arent in a position to create a permanent onsite position. Once you have experienced all the benefits a telecommuter brings to your organization, you may even consider converting even more positions to telecommuting.

5 Great Reasons To Hire A Telecommuter is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

2. Warm the open end of the cigar (aka ‘the foot’ of the cigar) slowly over the flame, without touching it to the fire. Let a black ring form around the end.

3. Place the cigar in your mouth and draw in slowly. Hold the cigar over the flame, about half an inch above it, again without touching. Continue to draw in until the cigar draws the flame. Turn the cigar slowly, spinning it to establish an even burn.

4. Once your cigar is lit, take it out of your mouth and observe the burn you have established. If the burn appears to be uneven, simply blow on the unlit sections to draw the burn, and then take one or two draws from the cigar to reestablish an even burn.

4 Tips for Lighting a Cigar is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

Recognizing the power of free offers to drive consumer purchases, NetFree Direct LLC, a leading Internet marketing company, has taken the concept to the next level. Through the company’s Web site, consumers can obtain a variety of rewards including mobile phones, flat-screen TVs, laptops, PlayStations and other game consoles, digital cameras, gift cards and more, simply by completing advertisers’ surveys and signing up for subscriptions and free trial offers.

The Web site is sponsored by well-known advertisers such as BMG, Blockbuster, Netflix, Discover Card, USA Today, Disney and hundreds of others. Upon registration, consumers are directed to a special area of the site where they can complete advertisers’ surveys and sign up for subscriptions or free trials and redeem their rewards. Trials or subscriptions can be canceled without obligation.

Giveaways by Web Site Draw in Consumers is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

1. The service is free to the franchisee, with the franchiser covering the consulting fees.

2. The service is personal and confidential.

3. The consultant guides the potential franchisee through the entire process of deciding whether to become a franchisee, and how to go about it.

4. A detailed profile including an evaluation of the potential owner’s experience, interests, and goals is complied in order to match the new franchisee with the most suitable opportunity.

5. Education is provided on the various types of ownership and investment options.

6. Investigation into the most suitable opportunities that are available is done by the consultant.

7. Initiation of contact with company representatives is part of the service.

8. The consultant helps to verify each company’s success and track record.

9. The potential business owner saves time and money by having the experts perform research on various opportunities.

10. The consultant acts as the one-stop shop, answering questions and referring the potential owner to other resources as necessary, such as financial or legal advisors.

11. The consultant works with all types of franchises, including full-time, part-time, new units, and re-sale franchises.

12. Complications and confusion are virtually eliminated by having an expert perform these services.

Overall, a franchise consultant will help you determine if franchising is right for you and if so, what type of franchise opportunities you are most likely to succeed in.

12 Reasons To Use A Franchise Consultant is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site

A Brief Education on Education Verification is a post from: Surf Your Work Business Site