Real-time Accounting Comes to Your Mobile Device
It wasn’t that long ago when managers waited with bated breath as their accountants or bookkeepers “closed out” a month or a quarter. That’s when the results came in and they could officially judge the company’s performance. When you’re chasing profitability, operating within this system made you feel like you were in one of those dreams where no matter how hard you try, you’re always running in slow motion. Technology has been changing this and a recent introduction by Sage – Sage Live – pulls performance figures into real time and also delivers them to you no matter where you are. And even beyond all the accounting information you need to make timely decisions, Sage Live integrates with the Salesforce1 cloud platform, so you’re able to bring together everything and everyone critical to driving the top line and see how the results filter down to the bottom line. You load up Sage Live on your mobile devices so you can tap into your company’s performance 24-7. It even works on your Apple Watch, so you might find yourself checking the time someday and find that it’s “half past profitability.” Accounting for a new era For many industry sectors, I think we’re witnessing the slow death of the “home office” that was the base for the old-fashioned accounting practices I mentioned above. In fact, many successful companies today have no office at all; teams coordinate and work together in the virtual space. I can easily see how Sage Live is going to empower these virtual teams and give them a huge advantage over their less nimble competitors. Armed with mobile devices loaded with Sage Live, management and sales reps have all the information they need to make the best strategic decisions at any moment in time. Shrinking the globe The beauty of the Internet is that it allows even small businesses to be present almost anywhere. Toss in some of the trade agreements that are about to hit, and that geographic area encompasses most of the globe. Being able to communicate to employees and motivate them across all those miles and time zones is going to be one of the biggest challenges any business seriously pursuing excellence will face. A tool like Sage Live puts everyone on the same page, aiming at the same targets, and giving them the ability to communicate clearly about the current situation and how it impacts company goals. And even if you’re a small shop, being able to grab your tablet or smart phone and check the status of your company while you’re on the train commuting to the office or waiting for your plane to start boarding will prove to be a huge productivity booster. If you follow this space very much, you know that I’m a believer in the Sage products and that the Sage Summit is an event I look forward to each year. I encourage you to check out Sage Live and see if it’s not everything I think it...
read moreThis Week in Small Business: Personal growth, personal marketing and small business fundamentals
With this week’s best curated content, you’ll learn how technology is being leveraged in new ways and how you need to drop some old habits if you really want to achieve the success you’ve always dreamed about. Leadership, management and productivity The four technology trends discussed in this Heartlandblog will impact the way you manage your small business in 2016. As a small business owner, are you feeling stuck? If so, examine yourself against this list of four behaviors that prevent growth. Are you achieving customer experience excellence or are customers slipping into customer quicksand? Here are the top 10 trends that will impact the way you run your small business in 2016. Marketing and sales It’s simple to say that local marketing is critical for success. This article gives you 10 ways to simplify your local marketing strategies as well. In many ways, you are your small business. That means you need a personal marketing plan for 2016. Is your email marketing plan not living up to your expectations? Here are nine ways to get it in shape. Mike Lieberman says you’ll struggle in 2016 if you don’t have an inbound marketing strategy. Survey: Technology and social media are in the driver’s seat for marketing in 2016. If you know what you’re doing, Facebook can be a small business marketing bonanza. Master these seven marketing tips to boost Facebook engagement. This infographic will give beginners the information they need to launch a successful small business marketing campaign. And this article will get you started with a social media marketing plan! Entrepreneurship, startups and innovation The Internet of Everything is in the process of revolutionizing air travel. You can adapt some of these strategies to innovate your small business. Politics, government and the economy John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, urges our decision makers to let small business again fuel job growth. The SBA may be in the middle of a management crisis and Congress is going to take a look at the...
read moreHow to Boost Profits By Cutting Costs Now
Editor’s Note: This post is sponsored by Staples. All the comments and opinions are my own. If you’ve been running your small business for almost any length of time, you’ve seen some pretty dramatic ups and downs in the economy. Frankly, I don’t care if you and your team are the best salespeople in the country, there are times when sales slow down. In other words, you can’t always control the top line as much as you would like to. A very wise and experienced entrepreneur once told me that while you can’t always control sales, you should (expletive deleted)-well be able to control expenses. And if you do the math by controlling costs you can still exert a good amount of control over the bottom line, even during a period of time when you can’t dictate the top line. Let me add one more element to this picture. There are certain overhead expenses that are necessary in virtually any small business and that means that if we apply the principle I just outlined – controlling expenses – to this universal category of expenses, virtually any small business owner in any industry sector can make a positive impact on his or her bottom line. (By the way, as I’m writing this, the stock market took a major plunge and the pundits are chalking this up to some economic news that casts a pretty big shadow over the prospects of 2016. This year may be an especially important time to control costs with small business money saving tips and it’s always far wiser to start earlier rather than later.) These are some of the reasons why I appreciate Staples’ “Less List.” If you’ve been following business news in recent months, you know that Staples is making a major effort to help small business owners. Not only are they doing this with policies like their 110 percent price-match guarantee, they are posting valuable small business information and working with noted experts who are sharing their expertise and small business money saving tips and management advice. If you check out the Less List, you’ll find a solid assortment of the kind of products that small businesses run on. In fact, the list offers 28 items that are absolutely essential to running a successful small business. These are priced to really help small business owners hold down their overhead costs. Here are just a few current examples: 100 Assorted Manila File Folders for $6. (Even as we move to a “paperless” office, we consume a lot of these each year!) Bonded Leather High-Back Manager’s Chair for $99. (Treat yourself or some members of your team to comfort in 2016.) 12-packs of Legal Pads for $6. (I’ve been addicted to these forever and I think it’s funny how smart phone note apps often mimic the look of a yellow legal pad. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!) If you want to check the quality of these items you can always head to your local Staples and do some browsing. I think you’ll find that their Staples brand products always come in below what you’ve budgeted and surpass your expectations in terms of quality. Once you’ve established the items you’ll regularly need, then you can order online and get next day delivery if it’s...
read moreHow to Boost Sales with ‘Plan B’
How would you like to increase demand for your product virtually overnight? The way to do it is deceptively simple: find another use for your product and get people using it in that way. I remember when Avon’s Skin So Soft started to get used as an insect repellent. At first I was a little incredulous, but I tried it on some summer outings, and it worked as well, if not better than products marketed as insect repellents. I believe it was users that made this discovery, and I’m not sure exactly what Avon thought at the time. But before too long they started marketing it as Skin So Soft Bug Guard, as well as with its original labeling. As this use caught on with consumers, burly men out training their hunting dogs were slopping it on like it was going out of style. Avon must have at least doubled its market for this product. Big Pharma knows it works The major pharmaceutical companies are becoming the experts at this. As profitable drugs reach the end of their patent protection years, they go into full research mode to find other diseases that the drugs could treat. If they find one, they can protect their property rights longer. Most of us probably know Rogaine for its use in treating baldness. However, it was originally developed to treat high blood pressure. Finding new applications for existing products (or services) extends the life of the product, opens up new markets and is a lot less expensive when compared to developing entirely new products. Are those enough reasons to get you thinking seriously about it? You don’t need to be in Big Pharma or one of the world’s largest multi-level marketing companies to pull this off. If you make or sell food products, for example, you can probably use this strategy. A hot and saucy idea Not long ago I heard about a company that sells a honey infused with spicy hot peppers. It puts a lot of effort into teaching its buyers different ways to use the condiment it makes. Perhaps most people would think about using it on meat or poultry as a rub or dip. But show people enjoying it on their pizza or in their cocktails and you open up entirely new areas where it can be used. Even if you don’t bring a whole new group of users onboard, your existing users will tend to go through their supplies faster when you can sell them on more ways to use the condiment. I remember a video that was bouncing around Facebook for a while. The video came from a company that made an extra-long scarf and it showed a woman as she used the scarf in about 20 different ways. I had no idea a simple scarf could be so versatile. Fire up your social media What’s the key here? The key is to keep the lines of communication open between you and your customers. Showing your customers new ways to use your products is the ideal task for content marketing – blogs, videos and pictures posted to sites like Pinterest and Instagram. And hey, if you can’t think of second and third uses for what you sell, crowdsource it: ask your customers. Have them post their pictures and...
read more11 Great Ways To Work Smarter and Better in 2016
In terms of the economy and its outlook there may only be thing that small business owners can agree on: It’s been quite unsettled for a long time. There have certainly been some positive signs, but as often as not, they seem to get offset by bad – or at least mediocre – news. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that as coming year becomes the focus of small business owners, many will be committing themselves to redoubling their efforts at achieving success. This is great, but I want to take a quick look at the various approaches small business owners take when they decide to “really go for it.” Their options are: Work longer. Work smarter. Work better. Of course, some will adopt a blend of two or more of these three approaches. However, of these three, only one as the unfortunate quality of delivering severely diminishing returns the more you do it. If your approach to pushing your small business forward in 2016 is to work longer hours, I fear that you will be disappointed in both the results and the impact it has on your overall quality of life. I remember hearing someone once say that no one on their death bed says, “I wish I would have spent more time in the office!” I understand that small business owners have to meet their commitments and sometimes that requires long hours. But please, don’t consider working longer hours a “strategy” to achieve success next year. If you work better and smarter, you can achieve more, spend less, and maintain your mental and physical health at the same time. Let’s take a quick look at 11 strategies to help you work better and smarter in the coming year. Work better Complete small tasks. Divide bigger projects into smaller tasks that you can attack and complete successfully. Respect the length of the workday for yourself and your team. Eliminate distractions. Keep the main thing, the main thing. Tame social media for yourself and your employees. There may even be some clients that are more of a distraction to your business than they are a profitable pursuit. Don’t be afraid to trim. Get organized, stay organized, and establish good habits. For example, if you find yourself picking up and reviewing the same invoice a half dozen times before you deal with it, you have a problem. Live by a “once-and-done” philosophy. Get some exercise. Don’t let yourself or your team get physically run down. You’ll lose productivity and people’s attitudes aren’t the best when they aren’t physically active. Make it a priority. Be sure you have the right people doing the right things. Don’t force people to work outside of their strengths. This is a common small business problem. Sled dogs love to pull sleds. Hunting dogs love to be out on the hunt. When you try to force them into roles outside of their strengths, they don’t flourish. Find the right roles for your team. Work smarter Commit to self improvement. You are the most valuable asset in your small business. Invest in that asset and grow it! Take a mile-high look at your business and organization. One of the highest compliments among NASA astronauts and engineers is to be called a...
read more