small-biz Xpress blog

Golden rules when dealing with the media

2007-02-20T11:34:00.003-05:00

Once you start to deal with the media, you need to be aware of a few golden rules:

Everything you say to a journalist is a matter of public record and can be referenced as part of a story unless you specifically ask to speak off the record and get the journalist to agree
Never ask to see the story before it goes to print – the journalist may in some cases allow this, but they are not required to
Be aware that your story may not get published in the next issue, or even at all, if a more pressing story comes in and the editor changes the layout, the journalist is under no obligation to print
Deadline is king – ALWAYS ask a journalist when their deadline is (there is always a deadline) and make sure you get them what they need within that timescale

From the excellent DIY PR Tips - How to get your company in the news

ATT Small Business Resources Portal

2007-02-19T09:07:00.002-05:00

As part of its recognition of and commitment to supporting the growth and success of its small business customers, ATT Inc. announced the introduction of a variety of resources geared to small business owners, including free advice, online courses and special offers that can all be accessed through a new Web portal at www.att.com/OnwardSmallBiz.

ATT is promoting the availability of its new online resource center for small businesses as part of a new "Onward Business"-themed integrated advertising campaign that will run in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and select magazines which began this month, coupled with online, print and radio advertising in local markets throughout the year.

The new small business portal gives visitors the option to select topics of interest for a more personalized online experience. Content features and links on the new ATT Onward Small Biz portal include:

A daily feed of small business news, including streaming video segments from SBTV.com — Small Business Television.
Free instructional Web-based seminars and training courses hosted by experts.
Tips on starting, managing and relocating a small business from a variety of experts and sources.
Money-saving promotional offers from leading brands serving small business needs
The ability to submit questions and to receive one-on-one advice from SCORE — Counselors to America’s Small Business.
Information on ATT products and services, money-saving bundles and special offers for small business are also available on the portal.
Easy access to ATT’s online support, e-bill and account management services.

Plan the Vital Q4

2006-10-17T03:38:00.000-04:00

Very interesting article run by MSNBC:

The fourth quarter is arguably the most important time of the year for a small business owners — it’s when they should be doing year-end tax planning and looking ahead to 2007. Capital spending, hiring plans and employee compensation
should all be items on the agenda.

There can be a heavy price, and not just in taxes, to be paid early in the new year, if you haven’t looked at your books and thought about how your company is likely to fare for the rest of 2006 and into early next year.

Now is the time to be thinking about capital spending. Many owners are anxious to take advantage of what’s known as the Section 179 deduction, which allows a small business to deduct up front rather than depreciate over time the cost of certain kinds of equipment bought and put into service during the tax year.

Tips for a Successfull Start-Up

2006-10-13T08:58:00.000-04:00

Here are eight guidelines you'll want to follow to help you make sure the business you're starting or buying has a fighting chance to survive -- for both the short and long term:

1. Find something you'll enjoy daily. It's important that you enjoy both what your company does and what running the company entails.

2. Don't start if you can't ensure a solid profit margin. Make sure your business will have a solid profit margin, which is vital to long-term success.

3. If it's your first business, think about buying an existing business or a franchise. Your first business will always be the toughest because you have so much to learn. An existing business or franchise provides a shortcut through much of that process.

4. Buy into a growing industry and market. Remember, you're building your business for the long term, so think about how your company will evolve over a 10-year period. You want to have a good sense that there'll still be a demand for your product or service 10 years out.

5. Marketing and selling to new customers is expensive. Repeat business is where the profit is in just about every venture. Make sure you have it.

6. Keep recurring costs to a minimum. There'll be times when you're first starting out that you'll have slow cashflow. Don't cripple yourself by committing to expenses years in advance.

7. Get good advice. Work with the best and learn from these mentors. Don't just get them to do a job for you -- learn why they do what they do so you gain knowledge in their field.

8. Be prepared to work really hard for the first year or two. Strong sales, effective marketing and nonstop networking all are vital to building a solid cashflow and profit. At times, you'll probably feel like it's too hard and you'll want to give up, but if you stick with it, things will get easier.

via

10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Should Avoid

2006-10-12T08:37:00.000-04:00

Continuing the lists of mistakes that should be avoided by any entrepreneur, Paul Lemberg of BusinessCoach put up a list of another 10 entrepreneurial mistakes:

1. Big Customer Syndrome

If more than 50 percent of your revenues come from any one customer you may be headed for a meltdown. Always look for new business. And always seek to diversify your revenue sources.

2. Creating products in a vacuum.

Do not be a product searching for a market. Do the "market research" up front. Test the idea. Talk to potential customers, at least a dozen of them. Find out if anyone wants to buy it. Do this before anything else.

3. Equal partnerships

Suppose you and your new partner split the company 50/50. That seems fine and fair right now, but as your personal and professional interests diverge, it is a sure recipe for disaster. Either party's veto power can stall the growth and development of your company. 51/49 works much better than 50/50.

4. Low prices

Set your prices as high as your market will bear. Even if you can sell more units and generate greater dollar volume at the lower price (which is not always the case) you may not be better off. Make sure you do all the math before you decide on a low price strategy. Figure all your incremental costs. Figure in the extra stress as well.

5. Not enough capital

Be conservative in all your projections. Make sure you have at least as much capital as you need to make it through the sales cycle, or until the next planned round of funding. Or lower your burn rate so that you do.

6. Out of Focus

Concentrating your attention in a limited area leads to better-than-average results, almost always surpassing the profits generated from diversification. Al Reis, of Positioning fame, wrote a book that covers just this subject. It's called Focus.

7. First class and infrastructure crazy

The best entrepreneurs know how to stretch their cash and use it for key business-building processes like product development, sales and marketing. Spend all the money really necessary to achieve your objectives.

8. Perfection-itis

Focus on creating a market-beating product within the allotted time. Set a deadline and build a product development plan to match. Know when you have to stop development to make a delivery date. When your time's up, it's up. Release your product.

9. No clear return on investment

Do the analysis. Talk to your customers, create case studies. Come up with ways to quantify the benefits. If you can't justify the purchase, don't expect your customer will. If you can demonstrate the great return on investment your product provides, sales are a slam dunk.

10. Not admitting your mistakes.

OK, everybody makes mistakes. Just try to catch them quickly, before they kill your company. To avoid some mistakes in the future, it sometimes helps to ask good questions ahead of time. Click the link if you would like a copy of my fractal strategic planning questionnaire.

via photo

8 Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid

2006-10-12T02:30:00.000-04:00

While including the necessary items in a business plan is important, you also want to make sure you don't commit any of the following common business plan mistakes:

Putting it off. Too many businesses make business plans only when they have no choice in the matter. Unless the bank or the investors want a plan, there is no plan.

Cash flow casualness. Most people think in terms of profits instead of cash. Understanding cash flow is critical. If you have only one table in your business plan, make it the cash flow table.

Idea inflation. Don't overestimate the importance of the idea.Plans don't sell new business ideas to investors. People do. Investors invest in people, not ideas.

Fear and dread. Doing a business plan isn't as hard as you might think. You don't have to write a doctoral thesis or a novel.

Spongy, vague goals. Leave out the vague and the meaningless babble of business phrases (such as "being the best") because they are simply hype. Remember that the objective of a plan is its results, and for results, you need tracking and follow up.

One size fits all. Tailor your plan to its real business purpose. Business plans can be different things: they are often just sales documents to sell an idea for a new business.

Diluted priorities. nRemember, strategy is focus. A priority list with 3-4 items is focus. A priority list with 20 items is certainly not strategic, and rarely if ever effective.

Hockey-stick shaped growth projections. Sales grow slowly at first, but then shoot up boldly with huge growth rates, as soon as 'something' happens. Have projections that are conservative so you can defend them.

via. photo.

10 Steps Every Business Owner Must Follow

2006-10-10T14:38:00.000-04:00

Stephen James considers that if you take action in each of these 10 areas, you will not only be 2 steps in front of your competition, but you may very well be within touching distance of living your dream.

1. Business Plan. A business plan is critical to achieving consistent growth in any business. The benefits of a business plan are realised immediately through the process of just thinking clearly about your business for an extended period of time, and through illuminating the areas of your business that need fixing.

2. Customer Database. At the end of the day, your customers are the most valuable asset you have in your business. You should be taking every opportunity to collect the names and contact details of your customers and communicating with them on a regular basis.

3. Systems. Systems are essential for ensuring that you provide a consistent level of service to your customers and so that you understand the financial performance of your business.

4. Staff Incentives. To attract great people, progressive companies are keenly aware that they need to foster personal responsibility and provide direct reward for measurable results.

5. Staff meetings. Meetings are an opportunity to inspire your people and thereby your business. They also give your people a sense of belonging through the process of sharing information.

6. Marketing. Marketing is the most important of all success strategies in your business, because if you can't find a buyer for your product or service, nothing else you do will matter!

7. Branding. Branding is about creating and communicating a set of values to the consumer of your product or service.

8. Business Image. First impressions count for a lot. Addressing your business image is all about paying attention to the little things that will exceed your customers expectations.

9. Guarantee. How does a customer truly believe they are going to receive value from doing business with you? They will only know this if you are prepared to take more risk in the transaction than they are…and this promise is delivered through your guarantee.

10. Customer care. Every business should have a follow up system that extends sincere thanks to every new customer and for their ongoing patronage.

via photo

3 Steps to Take Before You Setup Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

2006-10-10T11:37:00.000-04:00

Along with your business plan, your small business marketing plan is one of the most important long-term plans you'll make for your small business.

Brandt Stoht, from the smallbusinessmktng.com has three steps to setup your small business marketing strategy:

1. Know your market
Ask yourself: Who are my customers? Once you've identified who they are, ask yourself: What are my customers' problems? What are their dreams and aspirations? The surest way to answer those 3questions, of course, is to ask your customers themselves.

2. Know yourself
Ask yourself: What does my business do? How is my business different than my competitors? How does my business help solve my customers' problems or help them achieve their dreams? Brandt Stohr advises answering these questions will help you to define your unique selling proposition those aspects that set you apart from your competitors.

3. Analyze your competitors' small business marketing strategies
First, look at your competitors' small business marketing strategies. Are there obvious gaps that you could fill (and thereby stand out among the competition)? For example, if you see that none of your competitors have websites, you could stand out with a small business marketing strategy online.

Top Home-Based Business Trends in 2007

2006-10-09T09:32:00.000-04:00

Homestead Technologies commissioned the findings researched by Darrell Zahorsky, small business expert for About.com and author of upcoming book, "1001 Small Innovations," to encourage the growing numbers of workers seeking greater work-life balance and wealth-building opportunities in recognition of "Home-Based Business Week"

Here is the list of the top ten home based businesses for 2007:

E-Learning: With advances in new web application tools such as podcasts and video blogs, development costs will decrease.
E-Bay Aftermarket: Helping companies conduct market research, pricing strategies, shipping, and competitive analysis is a great niche business.
Children Arts Education: There is a major market for teachers of right-brained education who are thought to help foster the development of future innovators.
Garage Organizers: Just as organizing closets was the next big thing in the 80's, the messy garage is the final space to clean up.
Background Checks: Small businesses with limited resources are turning to background check companies to handle investigation and due diligence.
Pet Sitting: An ideal home-based business where you get paid to walk and enjoy the companionship of pets.
Specialized Coaching: The coaching market has boomed in the recent years including specialized areas such as life, spiritual, corporate, relationship and business.
Home-based Debt Collection: Debt has become a way of life for many Americans. Operating a low overhead home-based collection service can serve the niche sections of this market.
Specialized Outsourcing: The small business market has limited resources and a focus on core competencies. Specialized outsourcing from home to small business will have a solid position market position for years to come.
Scrap Booking: In today's easy to save and store digital age, opportunities abound for the home-based scrapbook artist, workshop teacher, or a direct sales rep.

via

4 Marketing Attitudes to Avoid

2006-10-09T09:16:00.000-04:00

C.J. Hayden, Contributing Editor for RainToday.com and author of Get Clients Now!: A 28-day Marketing Program for Professionals, Consultants, And Coaches has come up with a list of 3 common marketing attitudes to avoid:

1. "I shouldn't have to market."

If you perceive marketing as a dirty business, try thinking of it as the diapers you need to change in order to have the joys of being a parent. But instead of focusing on what you dislike, tie your marketing chores to your vision of a successful business.

2. "I don't have time for marketing."

Whether your responsibilities preventing you from marketing are within the business or outside it, you need to allocate a minimum amount of time each week, no matter what. Even two hours per week can make a significant difference, if you consistently use that time for marketing.

3. "I don't want to bug people."

Consistent and persistent follow-up isn't bugging people – it's the mark of a true professional. You want to convince your prospects that you are hard-working and reliable, and that you truly care about helping them solve their problems. If they hear from you more than once that you would really like to be of service to them and are available to help, you will build their trust, not their annoyance.

4. "My marketing isn't working."

So how many prospects do you need to make contact with for just one to be interested in a presentation? Ten, maybe? That means you need to make contact with 60 prospects each month in order to land your two new clients. If you do this math for yourself, you may quickly find that the only thing wrong with your marketing is that there hasn't been enough of it

Read full article here. Via

5 Vital Things You Need To Know About Packaging Your Products

2006-10-06T10:20:00.000-04:00

Soapwire:
When you are getting started it's so hard to understand the integral role packaging has to play in marketing and selling your product. Put simply, it's one of the most important product decisions you will have to make. There is a universe of packaging suppliers, materials and even regulations. Not to be overwhelmed, it is easy to navigate if you take it one step at a time. It is a process just like any other component in product development. They key is to know which packaging factors will influence your products success -- or failure.

Here are 5 vital things you need to know as you start on your journey that packages your product to sell.

You can't have a product without a package
The package could cost more than what is inside.
Your package has to sell the product not just protect it.
Most packaging materials suppliers require large quantity orders.
Packaging trends and innovations can influence whether your product will ever get onto the stores shelf.

4 Expert Tips for a Succesfull Small Business Marketing Strategy

2006-10-05T08:55:00.000-04:00

Developing that unique selling proposition should be your first step in crafting a successful small business marketing strategy. To make sure that your small business marketing is all that it can be, follow these four expert tips:

1. Focus on the benefits to the customer

Your prospective customers don’t really care what great features you’re offering. They care about how your product/service will help them – how it will solve their problems or help them achieve their dreams. So instead of listing the 100 fabulous features that your product/service has that the other guy doesn’t, list the 10 ways that your product/service will help your prospective customers, and you’ll be on your way to successful small business marketing.

2. Consider your product/service from the customer’s point of view

Even if you can’t hire an expensive marketing firm to set up focus groups for you, you can create a small business marketing solution. Assemble a group of friends and family who are similar to your prospective customers and ask them what their needs and wants are. Then incorporate their responses into your marketing materials. Voila – you’re now speaking directly to the customer, from his or her point of view!

3. Prove it!

One of the easiest, least expensive small business marketing strategies for backing up your claims with prospective customers is to include testimonials from satisfied current clients in your small business marketing materials.

4. Project an image of confidence and authority

Whether you’re selling widgets or consulting services, small business marketing is really about selling yourself – your expertise, your integrity, and your reputation. Even if you’re just starting out in business, you are an expert in your own right. So act like one! If you see yourself as a confident, authoritative business person, your customers will, too.

BlackBerry Server for Small Businesses

2006-10-05T07:04:00.000-04:00

For BlackBerry-obsessed business owners, the cost of trading e-mails on the go is about to get a lot cheaper.

In hopes of expanding its customer base beyond the corporate set, Research in Motion recently released the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express, designed specifically for small and midsize businesses.

The Server Express sells for $1,099 and includes five licenses -- close to $2,000 less than the nearest Enterprise Solution package.

The Server Express software is available by download for new customers, as well as current BlackBerry customers who signed on within the past 30 days. Like BlackBerry’s larger Enterprise Solution, the new server can be integrated with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus, Domino, or Novell GroupWise.

“Small-business people were looking for a solution that had the security and liability of BlackBerry at an affordable price,” said David Wilmering, RIM’s director of product marketing.

8 Reasons to Consider Blogging A Marketing Weapon

2006-10-05T05:59:00.000-04:00

7CMarketing on Blogging as a marketing tool for small businesses:

Business blogging provides a way for companies and readers to meet on common ground and discuss ideas, products and services in the hopes of building an audience that can become customers. A business blog provides a cost-effective alternative to having a website. For small and medium sized business entrepreneurs without the time and the means to set up a website, business blogging offers an inexpensive tool to herald the company's presence on the powerful Internet.

And more:

Business blogs provide SMBs with an avenue to share their expertise and knowledge with a bigger audience.
An effective business blog can help give a human face to a business.
A business blog if used productively can improve customer service
A business blog keeps an archive of older posts organized by date and categorized by topic.
A business blog can increase the chances of prospective clients to visit a company's website.
Regularly posting valuable content on a business blog builds company credibility and creates sound business reputation.
A business blog can be an avenue to introduce company products or services
However, a business blog is not urgent but important for small and medium sized businesses. A business blog alone is not enough to market a company product or service.

Top 10 Myths of a Geek Start-up

2006-10-05T04:13:00.000-04:00

Ron has put up a top ten list of myths and classic mistakes that geeks make when trying to raise money for a new business. Even if the list is addressing mainly the start-ups in the IT field, most of the issues presented are addressing any kind of small business start-up and it makes an interesting reading:

This is one I really like:

Having no competition is a good thing.
Reality: If you have no competition the most likely reason for that is that there's no money to be made. There are six billion people on this planet, and it's very unlikely that every last of them will have left a lucrative market niche completely unexploited

And here is the list of them all:

A brilliant idea will make you rich

If you build it they will come

Someone will steal your idea if you don't protect it.

What you think matters

Financial models are bogus

What you know matters more than who you know.

A Ph.D. means something

I need $5 million to start my business

The idea is the most important part of my business plan

Having no competition is a good thing

Getting Experience, Confidence and Clients as Start-Up

2006-10-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

Seeds of Growth blog on how to get experience and credibility when you are just starting your business:

Gaining Experience

If you are brand new in your field, you might want to "test drive" your service as a volunteer. Choose an individual or organization that would be an excellent case study and that would provide clear "before and after" results. Gain agreement from your client that if she is satisfied with the results, you may use her as a reference for future clients and would use her project as a case study for your marketing.

Gaining Confidence

Find yourself a mentor. There is nothing like hearing "stories from the trenches" from someone who used to be in your position and now has a thriving practice. You can get information, resources and confidence-building from the right person, or group of people. You may also join a professional organization or community. They are usually very open and supportive people and I am sure would share tips and tricks with you, as well as give you encouragement to make the leap.

Getting Clients

Obviously, there is an art and a science to small business marketing. If you are concerned with just getting things going and taking on a few clients, start with defining your niche. That is the specific segment of people that you will target for your marketing efforts.

For just about anyone these days (well, anyone with the something meaty to share and who likes to write), I would recommend starting a blog on your topic, since it is a great way to showcase your expertise, build community, test ideas and develop a friendly relationship with potential clients.

7 Reality Checks for Your Small Business

2006-07-20T07:59:00.000-04:00

American Chronicle is presenting 7 Reality Checks to help you reconcile your dreams with reality so that you can build your dream into a thriving business:

In spite of your best intentions you will make mistakes
Things go "wrong"
Not everyone wants or needs what you have.
Humbly welcome opportunities to profit.
Customers have bad days, too
Sometimes whole systems go wrong or you find out too late that a new project was not quite ready for prime time
Owning a business can be isolating

Small Business Branding

2006-07-20T07:23:00.000-04:00

LA Times:

Branding your firm is a crucial part of your overall marketing strategy. Establishing a brand involves defining your company, knowing exactly what niche you serve in your industry and convincing your potential customers that your product or service is the only solution to their problem.

The smaller the enterprise, the more important branding is because small firms tend to have fewer resources and lower marketing budgets.

If you have established a strong brand, you will not have to do as much marketing to have an effect on potential customers.

5 Elements of a Good Marketing Plan

2006-07-18T07:42:00.000-04:00

John Jantsch in Small Business Marketing Ain't For the Timid found 5 elements of a good marketing plan:

Strategy

Simplicity

Consistency

Multiple facets

Self-promotion

Tags: marketing plan

Small Business Global Trends

2006-07-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

Top Ten Trends according to McKinsey:

1. Centers of economic activity will shift profoundly, not just globally, but also regionally - Asia will overtake Europe economically, although the U.S. will have the largest economic growth for the next 20 years.

2. Public-sector activities will balloon, making productivity gains essential - Aging populations are creating demand for public services, which in turn will increase taxes.

3. The consumer landscape will change and expand significantly - Consumer spending power in emerging economies is growing. Here in the U.S., the Hispanic consumer is growing.

4. Technological connectivity will transform the way people live and interact - The article notes, “For perhaps the first time in history, geography is not the primary constraint on the limits of social and economic organization.”

5. The battlefield for talent will shift - A global labor market is opening up.

6. The role and behavior of big business will come under increasingly sharp scrutiny.

7. Demand for natural resources will grow, as will the strain on the environment.

8. New global industry structures are emerging - According to the article, “In many industries, a barbell-like structure is appearing, with a few giants on top, a narrow middle, and then a flourish of smaller, fast-moving players on the bottom. ”

9. Management will go from art to science. Gut instinct management is dead, the authors say. I say, “maybe.”

10. Ubiquitous access to information is changing the economics of knowledge - Think open-source knowledge creation.

Read the whole article at the McKinsey Quarterly (requires free registration)

9 Tips to Balance Your Home and Business Life under One Roof

2006-03-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

Since we checked to see if You Outgrown Your Home Office lets see some tips to balance your personal life and home base business under same roof:

1. Set goals.
2. Establish and honor your home office.
3. Make the most of your time.
4. Set office hours.
5. Stick to your guns.
6. Get away often.
7. Project a professional image.
8. Stay motivated.
9. Develop a strategy for fighting isolation.

Link
Tags:home business, balancing life, set+goals, organize

Three Myths of Management

2006-03-30T01:18:00.000-05:00

1. Casual benchmarking
There is nothing wrong with learning from others' experience-vicarious learning, as contrasted with direct experience, is an important way for both people and organizations to learn how to navigate a path through the world. After all, it is a lot cheaper and easier to learn from the mistakes, setbacks, and successes of others than to treat every management challenge as something no organization has ever faced before. So benchmarking-using other companies' performance and experience to set standards for your own company-makes a lot of sense. In the end, good or bad performance is defined and measured largely in relation to what others are doing.

The fundamental problem is that few companies, in their urge to copy ever ask the basic question of why something might enhance performance. Before you run off to benchmark mindlessly, spending effort and money that results in no payoff, or worse yet, in problems that you never had before, ask yourself:

Is the success you observe by the benchmarking target because of the practice you seek to emulate?

Why is a particular practice linked to performance improvement-what is the logic?

What are the downsides and disadvantages to implementing the practice, even if it is a good idea? Are there ways of mitigating these problems, perhaps ways your target uses that you aren't seeing?

2. Doing what (seems to have) worked in the past
There is nothing wrong with learning from experience and developing proficiency at certain strategies and tactics. The problems come when the new situation is different from the past and when what we "learned" was right in the past may have been wrong, or incomplete, in the first place.

As in benchmarking, asking some simple questions and acting on their answers can help avoid the bad results that come from mindlessly repeating the past:

Are you sure that the practice that you are about to repeat is associated with the past success? Be careful to not confuse success that has occurred in spite of some policy or action with success that has occurred because of that action.

Is the new situation-the business, the technology, the customers, the business model, the competitive environment-so similar to past situations that what worked in the past will work in the new setting?

Why do you think the past practice you intend to use again has been effective? If you cannot unpack the logic of why things have worked, it is unlikely you will be able to determine whether or not they will work this time.

3. Following deeply held yet unexamined ideologies
The third flawed and widespread basis for decisions often does the most damage because it is the most difficult to change. It happens when people are overly influenced by deeply held ideologies or beliefs—causing their organization to adopt some management practice not because it is based on sound logic or hard facts but because managers "believe" it works, or it matches their (sometimes flawed) assumptions about what propels people and organizations to be successful.
To avoid succumbing to using belief or ideology over evidence, ask yourself:

Is my preference for a particular management practice solely or mostly because it fits with my intuitions about people and organizations?

Am I requiring the same level of proof and the same amount of data regardless of whether or not the issue is one I believe in?

And, most important, are my colleagues and I allowing our beliefs to cloud our willingness to gather and consider data that may be pertinent to our choices?

For more on this check the book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management or this post.

Tags: management, management myths, benchmarking, small business

Top 5 Financial Mistakes Small Businesses Make

2006-03-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

5. Failure to use your time wisely
80% of your top results come from 20% of your efforts/customers/actions.
4. Failure to keep overhead low
There are three ways to make more money in your business: Sell more, Raise your prices, Reduce your overhead. Businesses that underperform from a financial perspective often have allowed success to creep in and increase overhead;
3. Not dancing with the one that brought ya
You got to where you are in business by having a few or many customers who believed in you and liked what you do. But if you don't continue to nurture your best customers, you run the risk of failure.
2. Not charging enough.
Far too many small-business owners, especially owners of service businesses, set their prices some time in the distant past and then failed to raise them as necessary.
1. Not earmarking enough money to marketing and advertising
The only way new customers will hear about your business, by and large, is through marketing and advertising.

Link

Tags: financial mistakes, small business, 80 20 rule, overhead, marketing, advertising

Have You Outgrown Your Home Office?

2006-03-29T08:34:00.000-05:00

1. Can you walk to your desk without tripping over something?
2. Are you hemmed in by filing cabinets and shelving units?
3. Have you taken over your children’s closets?
4. Does the living room look like an extension of your office?
5. Do you have to move a pile of papers off of your printer to use it?
6. When was the last time you saw the surface of your desk?
7. Do you have to move boxes off of chairs when company comes over?
8. Does your entire house look like an office building?
9. Does family members roll their eyes when they see you bringing in more equipment?
10. Do you dread going into the “pit” that has become your office?

If you have answered yes to more than three of these questions, your home office needs more room. It may just be a question of rearranging the rooms of your house. If there is a larger room that can accommodate your office, try switching rooms.

Link

Tags: home office, home business, office organization

Stick to What You Know - A Recipe for Smal Biz Success

2006-03-29T08:10:00.000-05:00

Pioneering research into the nature of innovation in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has revealed that ambitious, smaller enterprises are more likely to focus on incremental innovation, rather than radical developments.

The research, carried out by Cranfield School of Management, contradicts the traditional and widely held belief that SMEs tend to focus on radical innovations because of their agility, flexibility and entrepreneurial management style.

The most successful, ambitious SMEs are in fact those which have achieved growth by ‘sticking to the knitting’ – selling more of their existing products or services to their existing market.

Link

Tags: small business success, pioneering, research: