Small Business Information Insights and Ideas

Why a solid Network is a Key to Small Business Success

July 22, 2012

Building and running a successful small business is a team sport. You, as an owner, will probably play the role of a coach or a quarterback; but you are going to need more players with variety of skills to build a winning team. If someone tells you he single handedly built the successful small business, he is lying.
While it is true that you are the Chief Everything Officer (CEO) of the business responsible for taking care of all aspects it doesn’t mean that you have to do all the work yourself or that you are even capable of knowing it all. The key to success is to build a solid network of people with diverse skills who complement the skills you possess. This network acts an advisory board that you can go to for advice, concerns or to simply bounce off any ideas you might have before implementing them. This board needs to be chosen carefully so that you can get the right advice even if you may not like it or agree with it. So what types of skills should you look for when building an advisory board or a network of supporters?
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Filed Under: Customers, Management, Strategy Tagged With: Best-Practices, Business-Start, Customer-Service, Operating-Model

A Great Employee is 10X as Valuable as Good – How to Find One

July 18, 2012

A great employee can contribute to your business that 10 good employees combined cannot do. Behind a successful business owner there is a strong lieutenant who stands by him every step of the way and is not afraid to give right advice even if it means disagreeing with the owner. If there is one thing you must do to succeed in your business it is to hire great employees, even if it means paying more, and give them freedom to do the best. The return you get from them makes it more than worth.
Of course, hiring great employees is easier said than done. But it is possible to do it and it starts with spotting the right person. You first need to understand what sets great employees apart from the mediocre ones. One hint – it all starts with attitude. I mentioned in earlier post that when hiring employees you should first look for attitude, not the skills. You can teach old dog new tricks, but you will not be able to straighten its tail, as the saying goes in India. So what skills do great employees have that are not easily found in others?
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Filed Under: Employees, Management Tagged With: Best-Practices, Hiring

Effective Techniques for Logo Marketing

July 13, 2012

Sponsored Post (Brought to you by Specialty T-Shirts)

These days it has become increasingly difficult to escape advertising in our society. Advertisers are targeting variety of venues to put their logos. You can find them on the public buses, subway stations and even public restrooms!
Roadside billboards have long been the staple of advertising and part of American highway fabric. One place many advertisers often overlook is what I call the walking billboards. Large companies visiting the trade shows and other promotional events have long promoted their brands by putting their logos on the t-shirts. However, this has not been utilized by small business owners very well. Effective promotions on the t-shirts and other clothing accessories can generate awareness and subsequent inquiries for small business owners leading to higher sales.
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Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Advertising, Best-Practices

Can’t Keep Up? How to Delegate to Succeed in Small Business

July 11, 2012

“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit” – Andrew Carnegie. Show me a small business owner who doesn’t like to delegate, and I will show you someone who will not be able to grow beyond a certain point. Small business owners are called Chief Everything Officers (CEO) who are required to take care of all aspects of running a business. If you do not have good time management skills you are going to run out of steam at some point.
A big part of time management skills is learning to delegate tasks to others. The problem is, not everyone feels comfortable with delegation for the fear that if they do not take care of tasks themselves they will not be completed to their satisfaction. This is a myth! From my own experience I can tell you that with proper planning it is possible to successfully delegate tasks and get them completed to your satisfaction. After all, there are only 24 hours in a day, and you have to go to sleep at some point! So what is the secret to successful delegation? Read on…
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Filed Under: Management Tagged With: Best-Practices, Productivity, Time-Management

SohoOS Provides Free Tools for Small Business Owners

June 30, 2012

Those who are regular readers of this blog know that I am a big supporter of small businesses many of whom feel that they are at a disadvantage when competing with large corporations. I firmly believe that not only can small businesses compete with their larger rivals,but can beat them at their own game. We showed some of the techniques you can use to beat large competitors in earlier post.
In my view large corporations gain advantage against smaller rivals with economies of scale and having better access to capital and business tools. However, the Internet is changing the playing field in favor of small business owners. SohoOS is one promising start-up that aims to level the playing field in the area of business tools. SohoOS shares our vision of helping small business owners effectively compete with and beat their larger rivals who hold unfair advantage.
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Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: ecommerce, online, Performance

Do you Trust the Company you have Hired?

June 24, 2012

One of the greatest things about the Internet must be the availability of so much information for free. However, it’s also a public forum where anyone can publish so-called resources without a system of peer review. If you’re basing your business decisions on information gathered from the Internet, you need to make sure the sources are valid and reliable.
Wikipedia is a prime example of user-generated content that isn’t always reliable. However, it has a system of citation or reference that identifies the source so that users can follow the trail of information. In Wikipedia, citations are contained in footnotes (links at the bottom of the page), although they also sometimes appear in the main article of the body.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management Tagged With: due diligence, Hiring

Customer Service Lessons from my Poor Olive Garden Experience

June 19, 2012

I am always on the lookout for lessons to be learned from my own experience as a customer. I believe small business owners can learn a lot about management and customer service by putting themselves in the shoes of customers. I was presented with such an opportunity when we visited Olive Garden restaurant in Auburn Hills, Michigan over the weekend. This was a special treat from my daughters on Father’s Day.
While I have always liked Olive Garden’s delicious food particularly the soups and salad my experience on this day left a lot to be desired from such a reputable national restaurant. Here is what happened:
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Filed Under: Customers, Management Tagged With: Communication, Customer-Complaint, Customer-Service, Restaurant

Do not Take these 5 Actions when New Competitor Moves to your Neighborhood

June 16, 2012

The scenario may look familiar to many small business owners. You are doing a brisk business with loyal customer base. The sales are growing steadily. You are making decent profit. The same holds true for other competitors in the neighborhood. The existing customers in the town are divided between your and other businesses. In short, equilibrium has been established amongst existing businesses.
And then, a new competitor decides to get a piece of the action. Suddenly, everything changes. The new competitor tries to grab customers with lower price and increased marketing. The existing ones try to hold onto their customers. Employees will leave for bigger opportunities. It’s as if someone threw a stone in the calm waters causing ripples everywhere in the neighborhood.
The initial reaction for many existing business owners may be to counter the new competitor with force right away to ensure these ripples do not cause significant damage to your boat. However, this may be a mistake. The best strategy may be to watch and plan for the future before taking radical steps. In particular, it is important NOT to do the following right away.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Strategy Tagged With: Advertising, Best-Practices, Competition, Customer-Service, Pricing

Is your Business Prepared to Sell to these 5 Customer Types?

June 12, 2012

Many small business owners fail to understand the customer base they serve and end up not being prepared to sell to those customers. How many times have you thought about various types of customers that you are selling to? Is your business ready to serve those different types of customers? Do you have marketing programs in place to attract those customers in the first place? Important questions to think about, isn’t it?
Different customers have varying types of needs. Some are looking for bargains, while others will pay premium for the quality product. By understanding the needs of customers your business can determine which customers are right for your business. You can take this approach one step further and develop customer personas based on the customer needs and purchasing habits. Personas are helpful in not only identifying the customer types, but also tailoring your marketing and operations to serve their needs. Below we have identified 5 such customer personas. Think about which ones are usually doing business with you and whether your business is prepared to serve their needs.
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Filed Under: Customers, Management, Strategy Tagged With: Best-Practices, Customer-Service, Operating-Model, Pricing

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