Warning! You might be Wasting Money on Electricity Bills!

March 9, 2013 1 Comment

You might be wasting money on electricity bills

Here is a quick question – When was the last time you checked your electric bill? Do you remember how much it was? If you are like most small business owners you do not pay attention to how much you are paying towards electric bill. You take it for granted that the electricity expense is fixed and there is not much you can do to bring that expense down. This could be a mistake because even a small monthly savings of $50 in electric bill can add up to substantial amount at the end of the year.
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Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: ,

How to Revitalise Your Salon Business for Next-to-Nothing

February 16, 2013 1 Comment

How to revitalize your salon business
Get your salon equipment right, and the rest will follow. Of course, all stylists are looking to strike a balance between low cost salon equipment and high end products, but there doesn’t necessarily need to be a trade-off between the two.
You can save money and retain your favourite supplies – it’s possible! But it’s also possible to get creative with your boutique’s budget. Read on for more information on how to revitalise your salon for next-to-nothing.
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Filed Under: Management, Purchasing Tagged With: , , ,

Should you Outsource Computer Support for your Small Business

August 12, 2012 1 Comment

Sponsored Post (Brought to you by Greeks Mobile)

Technology has become an integral part for all businesses these days. Whether you are operating a multinational corporation or a small mom-and-pop business you cannot build a successful business without integrating computer technology. While technology can be a great boon to grow your business, it can become equally frustrating when something goes wrong with it. Just think about the last time you called customer support of a company and you heard the representative say – “I am sorry, but my computer just crashed. I am afraid I cannot help you.” This type of situation can not only leave you and your customers frustrated, but it can result in lost sales.
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Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: ,

How to Reduce Real Estate Cost with Virtual Office

August 3, 2012 5 Comments


If the economic downturn of the last few years has taught anything to business owners it is to stay flexible and nimble. This applies to large corporations, but it has been even more critical for small business owners. After all, small businesses are working on a shoestring budget and do not have much room for error. I discussed the actions small business owners can take to become flexible in earlier post. I also showed a framework that can help you reduce costs in a systematic fashion. It involves looking at various costs and eliminate, rent, share and optimize them in that order.
For small business owners one of the biggest costs and impediments to being flexible is the real estate expense – either owned or leased. Lately, some entrepreneurs have come up with novel approach to help you reduce this cost, while still letting you keep the appearance of having full service office. Let’s look at how it works and what you can gain from it.
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Filed Under: Operations, Technology Tagged With: , ,

What can Small Business Owners learn from Greek Crisis

June 6, 2012 1 Comment


Unless you have been hiding in a cave for the last couple of years you know Greece is on the verge of economic collapse on the scale not seen before. The unemployment rate is a staggering 22% and they are expected to default on their loans unless they receive yet another round of financial help from their neighbors and EU partners.
While it may be tempting to think of Greek situation as unique, it is not far-fetched to think of an analogous scenario for small businesses. After all, as we show below the reasons behind Greek crisis are prevalent in many of the businesses – both large and small. That’s why Greek crisis holds important lessons for business owners in how not to get into the financial disaster. Below is our attempt to explore reasons behind Greece’s failure and how they apply to small business owners.
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Filed Under: Finance, Management, Strategy Tagged With: , , ,

Factors that Influence Pricing

April 10, 2012 3 Comments


Pricing is both an art as well as science as we discussed in earlier post on Ten Commandments of pricing. There is no one right way to determine the price of products or services you are selling. To a large extent, the price is based on the value customers perceive to get from the product and what they are willing to pay for it.
The law of pricing says that you should charge each customer the exact amount he/she is willing to pay for it for maximum profit. This is how auction system works. You let each customers announce how much he wants to pay and pick the highest bid. While it would be ideal to determine the price in this fashion, in practice it becomes a challenge to sell your products this way. That’s why it is necessary for business owners to come up with an advertised price and augment it with other ways such as coupons to attract more customers.
So what factors do you need to consider when pricing your products and services?
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Filed Under: Customers, Strategy Tagged With: , , , ,

7 Common Mistakes that Impact Cash Flow and How to Avoid Them

January 3, 2012 3 Comments


Cash flow is a lifeblood for small business. Fail to plan properly for the month-end cash flow needs and you will start losing your sleep when the time arrives to write paychecks for employees or to pay vendor bills. That’s why it is very important to keep a keen eye on money coming in and going out, and plan for those times when you will need sizeable cash outflow. Not only that, but you have to take into account unexpected emergencies that will force you to spend money here and now. In earlier post, we showed how managing your inventory, account payables and receivables can help you better manage your cash flow.
In addition to those tips, you should also look at the obvious as well as not-so-easy-to-find ways in which small business owners squander cash and end up in dire situations. Here are examples of the mistakes many small business owners make and how you can avoid them.
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Filed Under: Employees, Finance, Management, Marketing, Purchasing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Smart Cash Flow Strategies for Small Business Owners

December 11, 2011 2 Comments


Cash flow management is one of the most important tasks small business owners need to pay attention to. If you are not paying attention to how your business generates and spends cash you may end up in real trouble, real fast. Cash flow management touches many parts of business, including inventory management, accounts payable, accounts receivable and so on. Below we provide you with insights that will help manage your cash flow better.
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Filed Under: Finance, Management Tagged With: ,

Tips for Setting Up Merchant Account to Accept Credit Cards

November 27, 2011 4 Comments


This blog post is written by Shannon Martin.
Most small businesses are overpaying for credit card processing. In our conversations with number of small business owners we have not come across a single owner who does not hate credit card processing companies for the exorbitant amount of money they charge. That is why it is important to do your homework before you sign up with the merchant processing company. In this post we provide useful tips you should keep in mind when talking to credit card service providers.
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Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: , ,

When is a Good Time to Increase Your Payroll?

November 3, 2011 Leave a Comment


This blog post was created by Bert Deorhoff, CPA, who specializes in small business bookkeeping in Jefferson City.
If you are running a small business, then you are making a lot of big decisions daily. As your business grows, you will need to start thinking about increasing your payroll and hiring new employees.
The first thing you need to do is start planning. You will have to do quite a bit of number crunching in terms of how another employee will affect monthly, quarterly and yearly expenses.
Ask yourself, “Do I have enough work to justify hiring another person? Am I meeting the needs of my customers?”
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Filed Under: Employees, Management Tagged With: ,
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