Be Business Owner

Small biz owners: Keep these in mind

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:06:00 +0000

One of the most popular New Year's resolutions for individuals is to make themselves more financially fit, whether it's by monthly budgeting, limiting use of credit cards or paying off some debt.

But small businesses often look to tighten their financial belts, too. Here's some tips from local financial institution professionals Pete Soraparu, Andrew Katrichis, Rick Dusil and Wayne Breckon for small businesses looking to make the most of 2012.

Position your company/yourself as an essential and reliable partner for your customers
* Understand customers' needs and expectations, then strive to meet or exceed them.
* Source and deliver information and products that are important for your customers.
* Always follow up.

Deploy appropriate technology as much as possible
* Understand how your customers are using technology; that should drive your business' technology strategy.
* Simplify access and payments for your customers, making it easy for them to do business with you (point of purchase, online, mobile).
* Don't get too far ahead (or behind) the technology curve for your business.

Search for local financial solutions and readily available information and support
* Your time is your most scarce resource -- keep solutions easy to understand and close to home.
* Cash management is vital for near-term surviving and long-term thriving.
* Anticipate, and plan for, success, and find a financial partner that will work hard to help you achieve it.

Don't mix business with personal
Do your best not to mix business income with personal expenses. Business owners should pay themselves a salary or make formal distributions rather than cutting a check out of the business account to pay for a mortgage, entertainment, etc. This will ensure that an owner knows exactly what the business is doing -- and will make it much easier on the accountant come tax preparation.

Remember that a budget is a tool, not law
A small business owner should be reviewing the budget on a regular basis and if tweaks and changes need to be made to ensure a budget is realistic and attainable, make the changes. Many small business owners take the time to make a budget, but then do not look at it until the end of the year and then they wonder why things went wrong. Don't be afraid to admit extreme optimism and make the necessary changes to ensure success.

Get outside help
Don't be afraid to ask an accountant or consultant if a budget makes sense. A small business owner's accountant is an ideal person to review the budget, as they probably have some valuable industry information in that business' marketplace. They have seen successful companies and unsuccessful companies and they can give an owner some advice to ensure that the business is a successful company.

9 Things You Can Do To Win Customers and Keep Them Coming Back

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:55:00 +0000

Know Your Customer
Customer profiling is the first step to building successful customer relationships. There are no two ways about this…knowing your customer is the secret to business success.

When I say this I mean drawing up a customer profile in terms of: Age, gender, income, occupation, tastes, frequency of purchases, motivation for purchase and other factors that may be specific to your business.
I have had the same hair stylist for over thirteen years now and the reason I go to her is because she knows what I want, what my lifestyle is, just how much time I have on hand to take care of my crowning glory and what my strengths and weaknesses are in terms of facial features. She knows me and my hair care needs that is what matters.

Be Friendly
I was reading a short story the other day. It was about a little boy who was at the beach with his father. He came across a turtle and as soon as he touched it the turtle put his head inside his shell. The little boy began poking him with a stick but the turtle refused to stick his head out.

His father forbid him from doing that, instead he picked up the turtle and took him home where he put him by the fireplace. Soon the warmth in the room compelled the turtle to stick his head out. Moral of the story…People are like turtles…warm them up with affection and they will open up to you.

Use genuine warmth to draw customers to your venture or store. Even if the customer is angry, non-cooperative and disinterested, make a genuine effort to be warm and friendly. You never know he might just have a change of heart.

Look for Ways to Add Value
Look for ways to add value to the end deliverable and when I say this I don’t mean spend a lot of money. Helping a customer find a product that he needs instead of leaving him to scour shelves, offering to watch a child as a harried mother shops, offering to get your customer’s car out of parking while he gets his stuff out of the store are all small ways of adding to the shopping experience at your store.

Even something like referring a customer to a good tailor when you are only in the business of selling fabric is offering value. Think a step ahead and you will always be able to find things to add value in the end analysis.

Be Flexible
Exhibit a willingness to work around customer needs and specifications with regard to their budgets, tastes and preferences. Take the trouble of talking to them and finding out what they want instead of compelling them to buy what you have.

Designers who work with fabric that the customer brings in or are ready to incorporate the customer’s designs in to their outfits find more favor with people than those who want the customer to wear what’s on the rack at their store.

Make Customer Convenience Your Mission
Shopping today is more about convenience and personalization and less about affordability. People are willing to pay for both convenience and personalization. This is precisely why a kirana (small grocery store in India) finds favor in the face of competition from supermarkets.

The grocery store owner opens his store at 6 am and is open for business way up to midnight; he is happy to take orders down on the phone and will send your necessaries across no matter how small the quantity. He will remember which brand of soap you like and tell you if there’s an offer on a certain product. If you are in a hurry and pop in at his store he’ll give you goods even if you don’t have the money to pay him right away.
He’s teaching you lessons in customer convenience which is his mission…make it yours today!

Automate Payments or Offer Options
The best part about making a purchase is having lots of options to make payments and if there’s automation then that’s even better. Offer your customers the option to pay:

By Credit Card or Debit Card
By Cheque
PayPal
Cash on Delivery

It just makes life a lot easier on both sides.

Brand with Wheels
I have written an entire blog post on how brands with wheels can make a difference to a business. Let me tell you about a recent experience that I had and how brands with wheels really do make a mark in an intensely crowded market.

I always get my clothes tailored at a certain store but recently found that the tailor always delayed delivery and gave me a poor fitting despite my numerous rounds made first to collect my clothes and later to get them altered and get them back from him. I was fed up with the amount of time, money and effort that I was spending on getting my clothes stitched from him.

I then came across a lady who offered customized tailoring and got in touch with her through her page on Facebook. I spoke to her over the phone, met up with her once, picked out an outfit based on my budget and preferences with regard to color, embroidery and the like, gave her my measurements and was pleasantly surprised that she always delivers outfits at the customer’s doorstep. Though I needed some alterations she was more than happy to deliver it when she made her next round of deliveries on my side of the town.
Am I going back to her? Yes!

Keep them Posted
Let your customers know about the latest happenings at your store or venture. Strike a relationship with them through a Facebook page or tweeting on Twitter to let them know about your latest collection, a discount offer or a contest you may have organized.

Let them hear about your achievements too. So if you were featured as one of the top 10 social ventures in your city then scan a copy of the magazine that featured you and post it on your wall. Watch how quickly the word spreads and the kudos and compliments keep coming in.

Keeping customers in the loop is all about making them feel involved as far as your progress goes. They after all contributors to you being there and they should know about how the world perceives you and your efforts too!

Stand for Something
We live in times that are plagued with a number of problems and social issues like poverty, education to marginalized groups, neglect of the differently abled and businesses that set out to support a social cause tend to win more brownie points than those that are simply driven by profit.

It might be a simple move like an hotelier supporting budding artists by allowing them to display at his restaurant or a courier service that employs only handicapped people or the chocolatier whose chocolates are crafted by the blind. These are just some instances of businesses that stand for something and as such find favor with the public on account of their association with that cause.

If you can’t go all the way you could donate some part of your earnings or products to a charity like giving away surplus food to the nearest soup kitchen instead of throwing it away.

Tips for Start Ups: 13 Quick & Effective Small Business Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:41:00 +0000

Running your own business is the ultimate reward in any career in my mind. You get a sense of self achievement that no other job can give you. If you’ve just started off on the long and rocky road to running your own business, then you will appreciate the 13 effective small business marketing tips for start ups I’ve outlined below.

Small Business Marketing Tip #1 – Build a customer base

First thing to do is to build a customer base, and I’ve found the best way to do this is to either build a list of email or telephone contacts. You can use a list to promote new products, services or to simply send out newsletters and bulletins regarding your business in the future.

Small Business Marketing Tip #2 – Use a friendly and professional automated answer phone service

If you use a mobile phone for your business, get on it a record your own automated greeting answer phone message. Let potential clients be made aware that you have acknowledged their communication with you, and that you will get back in touch with them as soon as you become available.

Small Business Marketing Tip #3 – Build a website

No business in this day and age can survive without one, building a website doens’t have to be a challenge, there are many online site building tools available on the web to help you.

Small Business Marketing Tip #4 – Send out a press release

Get in touch with your local newspaper and see if you can get a mention about your local business services.

Small Business Marketing Tip #5 – Get customized invoices

If your business entails sending out invoices, one of the best ways to get your name about is to use customized invoices. A cheaper way would be to get a rubber stamp made up to stamp invoices with your business credentials before sending them out.

Small Business Marketing Tip #6 – Get business cards

Get onto VistaPrint and get some premium business cards printed.

Small Business Marketing Tip #7 – Raise funds for charity

This is a great way to promote your business. Consider raising funds for a local charity. Often you can generate lots of public interest and free local radio and press advertising by doing so.

Small Business Marketing Tip #8 – Cross promote your products and services

If you offer a wide range of products and services consider cross promoting them, hold limited time offers and promotions.

Small Business Marketing Tip #9 – Advertise on local radio

Contact your local radio station if possible, to see how much advertising would cost.

Small Business Marketing Tip #10 – Add your business to local directories

Local business directories including online business directories are affective for promoting and advertising your business locally. Many online directories even offer a free listing service which can save you money on advertising.

Small Business Marketing Tip #11 – Maintain a good level of customer service

Essentially the most important aspect of marketing and promoting your business, and that is to offer a flawless customer service experience for your clients.

Small Business Marketing Tip #12 – Ask for feedback

Feedback and testimonials can help attract more clients to use your business services based on others experiences with your company. Ensure that you kindly ask your recent customers to leave feedback where ever appropriate, i.e. your website or blog.

Small Business Marketing Tip #13 – Organise and hold a talk or seminar

Finally, you should also consider holding a talk or a seminar to discuss about the features and benefits of using your products or services. If your business provides a service that is essential to consumers in your locality, this can be a great way for you to get to know more about you customer base as well as demonstrate your expertise in your field.

Credit to: Fabrizio Van Marciano

Selling a business takes careful steps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:11:00 +0000

BY HENRY HUTCHESON - Correspondent

Two weeks ago, my article encouraged family business owners to be sure to include an assessment of their personal hopes and dreams, in addition to the dollars, when considering selling their business. Continuing on that theme, if you have ultimately decided that selling the business is the best choice, below are some tips for preparing your business for sale.

Preparing for a sale

There are three fundamental actions that need to be taken to increase the likelihood of receiving a good deal when selling your business. Clean up the financials. As a family-owned business, your financial objectives inherently differ from a publicly owned business.

"Family businesses have to do away with the 'Family Social Security System': tickets to sporting events, toys with motors, and nonworking family members who are on the payroll," says John Kober, a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis.

All of these types of items need to be removed from the company financials before presenting them to prospective buyer. Along these same lines, family-owned businesses can find it beneficial to bulk up the internal benefits in order to reduce profits, in turn lowering the tax burden.

While this might make sense from a tax view, from a buyer's perspective they want to see a record of profitable results. Finally, make sure the inventory in the warehouse matches the number on the balance sheet.
Audit financials. Once the financial statements are cleaned up, it is time to have an accounting firm declare them truthful. To the eye of the buyer, your financial statements may look wonderful, but it is equally important that they are accurate. Buyers will insist on audited financials anyhow, so having this item checked off shows that you are serious.

Strengthen management. If you are the business, then buying the company without you is pointless. If you are willing to stick around for a few years, then a deal may be worked out.

But if your goal is to receive a check and head off to the beach, then you will need to develop a company that can operate as much as possible without you by building a good management team. Not only will the buying company be looking for this, it will greatly increase the value of your company.

Assembling the team

There is an appropriate corollary to the age old advice that the worst lawyer to hire to defend you in court is yourself: The worst person you can have represent you in the sale of your business is yourself. There are three fundamental reasons for this:

This is not what you do for a living. Selling a business can be very complex. You may think you are saving money, but you are really just adding a lot of risk.

Business owners are emotionally susceptible to someone calling their baby ugly. A neutral third party can more rationally work through the issues that arise during negotiations.

Leaving yourself as the behind-the-scenes ultimate authority increases your overall negotiating leverage.
We had a client whose son had mismanaged the company, built up a mountain of debt and was losing money. Once we got the business back on an even keel, we recommended selling all or part of the business and getting some help to do it.

"Over my dead body" was the response. "I didn't build up this company just to hand it to someone else."
A couple of months later, I received a call from the son saying that he saw the light and even had a large buyer on the hook. While we again reiterated the importance of hiring a qualified professional to help them, they demurred. Sadly, we discovered later that the large company backed out at the last minute, driving them into bankruptcy, and enabling the large company to pick up the pieces for cents on the dollar.

The best answer is really to assemble a good team including a CPA, an attorney, and an investment banker. Furthermore, it is equally important to designate someone to be the team lead, preferably a neutral third party who can balance the different interests of the team members.

You, and possibly multiple generations, have spent a lifetime building up the family business. Deciding to sell it is difficult. You owe it to yourself and your family to take the proper steps to optimize the value of your business to a potential buyer.

Columnist Henry Hutcheson is a nationally recognized family business speaker, author and consultant with ReGeneration Partners in Raleigh.

Business tips: How to Settle Disputes Between Business Partners

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:54:00 +0000

When disputes between partners in a business arise, they can threaten the business more than any competitor can. Even partners with the best intentions are likely to end up at each other’s throats even though they had hoped to avoid such conflict. Here you will learn how to settle disputes between business partners: 8 tips that will make the difference between peace and war.

Stop fighting:

Discover the root of the problem:

Get neutral parties involved:

Re-evaluate the business:

Follow your exit strategy agreements:

Don’t let friendships get in the way:

Have a respectful dialogue:

Retain legal counsel:

Disputes between business partners can present situations every bit as frustrating and perplexing as those that spouses face. Use these 8 tips to settle differences between business partners. You will find that you can reduce the damage done to your business, and sometimes uncover new opportunities.

Six tax tips for new business owners

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:52:00 +0000

Here are six tax tips the IRS wants new business owners to know:

Decide what type of business entity you are going to establish. The type of business entity will determine which tax form you have to file. The most common types of business are the sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation and S corporation.

The type of business you operate determines what taxes you must pay and how you pay them. The four general types of business taxes are income tax, self-employment tax, employment tax and excise tax.

Good records will help you ensure successful operation of your new business. You may choose any recordkeeping system suited to your business that clearly shows your income and expenses. Except in a few cases, the law does not require any special kind of records. However, the business you are in affects the type of records you need to keep for federal tax purposes.

Every business taxpayer must figure taxable income on an annual accounting period called a tax year. The calendar year and the fiscal year are the most common tax years used.

Each taxpayer must also use a consistent accounting method, which is a set of rules for determining when to report income and expenses. The most commonly used accounting methods are the cash method and an accrual method. Under the cash method, you generally report income in the tax year you receive it and deduct expenses in the tax year you pay them. Under an accrual method, you generally report income in the tax year you earn it and deduct expenses in the tax year you incur them.

3 Tips of Small Business On Poster Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:33:00 +0000

Small businesses often have great product and service ideas and exciting promotional plans. They need to if they want to be able to compete with the big enterprises. With a smaller budget for marketing, they often resort to creative and effective ways to get the word out on their products.

As marketing is an essential part of any business, small business owners know that they need to be able to communicate with their target market if they want to be successful. No matter how phenomenal and outstanding the product or service, the consumers will not be attracted to it unless there is marketing involved. A business can hardly survive without marketing. People do not become customers in a snap. They need to hear and learn about your business before they can even be attracted to your offer.

A wise small business owner knows this and he or she will only spend his or her budget where it is believed to have a return for their investments.

Here is where poster printing can be a valuable tool for many small business owners. Print posters are effective marketing collaterals for any small business owner to have as they are affordable and are the easiest means for you to get the word out.

So how do you maximize your poster printing for your very own small business?

1. Focus on your poster design because a good one spells the difference between totally wasting your money or creating a spark of ingenuity that can make an impact on your target market. Your design can make you more visible especially if you have an outstanding offer. Do not blow your chances of getting seen by having a design that whispers. Also, do not be too preoccupied with the aesthetics of designing your print posters. Always remember that the main objective of your poster print is to attract people attention so make sure that your target clients get the message in your design.

2. Place your print posters in strategic locations. It is one of the most important factors when poster marketing. Being visible is the main ingredient to a successful and well placed poster. So make sure that you place them in areas where they can be easily visible and where traffic is high. But also be aware to put them where your target clients are. This means that you have to place your posters so the right audience will see them. Even if a large amount of foot traffic is in that location but the people who go there will not even be interested in what you have to say, then you are just wasting your time and money. No amount of great design can get these people to buy your product.

3. Print the amount you need. If you do not need to then do not have your poster printing company produces thousands of your collaterals. There are a lot of printers, online and otherwise, that can produce custom orders without any minimum required quantities. Order at least 50 posters and place them in strategic locations so your target audience can see them instantly.

Poster printing is one of the best means to market any business without having to spend a lot. For successful poster marketing, you can rely on these tips to get you the leads you need to grow your business.

How Creating an Online Business Works

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:22:00 +0000

What does it take to put together a nice and effective e-commerce Web site? Is it a lot of money? Sometimes. Is it a lot of skill? Many times. Is it a lot common sense and lot of patience? Always! Creating your online business can be a long and arduous process, or it can be done relatively easily. Just read all of the Web-hosting ads and it sounds like your site will be up and taking order before you can say "huh?"

There are many ways you can get your site developed and selling. In this article, we're going to focus on making it happen. We'll cover some of your options as far as the simplified tools you can use, the more complicated programs that can be used, as well as farming it out to the pros, and some of the other issues that you have to settle like your Web host and making your customers feel secure giving you their credit card numbers.

Looking for ways to help your online business succeed?

Risks of Starting Your Own Business

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:18:00 +0000

More than half of all entrepreneurial ventures fail. Having gotten that fact out in the open, we're now telling you to ignore it if you're considering starting your own business.

There are reasons that business ventures fail, and, when you know what they are, you can avoid them. Sure, there are risks involved with starting your own business. You could lose a lot of money. You could become estranged from your family if you put all your time and energy into work. You could lose your business to fire, an earthquake, or flood.

But there are risks involved with working for somebody else, too. You might lose your job. You might hate the job and be miserable every day of your life. You might have to take a salary cut, or become estranged from your family because you're traveling for weeks at a time.All of life involves risk. If you go into a business, or a marriage, or anything else thinking that you'll fail, then chances are that you will fail.

Most businesses fail because the person who started them didn't set goals, or failed to thoroughly think through what he would do, and how he would do it. Some entrepreneurs try to start a business without ever writing a business plan, which is a huge mistake.

A business plan is the entrepreneur's bible, and an absolute necessity. It not only serves as a road map for where your business will go and how you'll get it there, it will be an important sales document when you're trying to attract funding for your business.

If you do your homework, and adequately prepare before starting a business, chances are good that you can make it work. And remember that not attempting something you really want because you're afraid of the risk involved might be the biggest failure of all.

Starting Your Own Business Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:15:00 +0000

So you want to start your own business. What sort?

Sole Trading
The simplest and most common way to set up in business on your own is to set up as a sole trader. You need to notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Tax is rarely simple, but if you are going to set up in business, being a sole trader is probably the most straightforward route for income tax, and it is relatively easy to set up and shut down. Financing it on your own can be difficult, and you are liable for everything if you get into debt, so your personal assets can be at risk.

Partnership
Partnerships can have full partners (who work in the business) or sleeping partners (no hanky panky, they just put in money and take a share of any profits). Working this way means that you can have more start-up money, more skills, and there is usually shared responsibility - if you are sick someone should be able to take over your work temporarily. The downside is that if the business fails and one partner runs off, the other partner has to pay all the creditors back on their own, although these days there is the option of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) which could help reduce some of the risk.

Limited Company
These are the businesses with 'plc' and 'ltd' after their names. Setting one of these up means there is limited liability, so your personal assets can be separate from your business assets in most cases. You need at least one director in order to register the company. Then you have to provide the following details to the Registrar of Companies: your company name, registered office, shareholders, directors, and company secretary. It is more legally complicated than sole trading or partnership, taxation is different, and there is public access to accounts.

Cooperative
All workers in this set-up are entitled to a vote in decision-making, and profits are shared out equally. The amount of discussion in meetings often makes it difficult to have clear-cut plans or quick changes of direction, and group ideology may mean that the most financially rewarding options are not chosen.

Going Concern
Instead of starting a business by yourself, you can buy one that is already up and running. The assets, employees and customers are already in place, and a track record often makes it easier to raise finance. Don't believe everything the business seller and broker tell you, get all the facts checked independently, and make sure the business will pay you a living wage.

Franchise
This is where you buy the right to market a company's goods or services. A good franchise gives an instant market position, a well-known name, long-term support and a proven way of doing business. To check out a franchise opportunity, speak to franchisees in other areas about the business and the income - it may not match up with the figures you were originally quoted.