2016 holiday spending and what it means for your small business
If 2016 holiday spending taught us anything, it underscored a message every retailer needs to understand and act on: Sales are moving online and moving to mobile. Failing to appreciate and strategically respond to that fact will doom many retailers – from the corporate giants to the local small businesses. It is already clouding the futures of some national brands, including Macy’s and Kohl’s. Due to its weak 2016 performance, including a poor holiday season, Macy’s announced plans to cut about 10,000 jobs. Its stock, along with Kohl’s and others took major hits, as chronicled in Fred Imbert’s CNBC article. Today when families are watching the traditional holiday movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” few remember that Gimbles was a major force in U.S. retail and staged a Thanksgiving Day parade before Macy’s launched theirs. If Macy’s doesn’t turn around its fortunes, it could someday go the way of Gimbles and become not much more than a Wikipedia entry. The important point, however, is that many retailers did poorly despite the fact that, overall, 2016 posted the best holiday sale growth in five seasons. Who did so well that their sales more than made up for the bad showings of Macy’s et. al.? Online retailers, as you probably suspected. Visa has pulled together the numbers in its Visa Retail Spending Monitor: Overall 2016 November and December retail sales grew 4.8 percent over the same period in 2015. 2016 holiday e-commerce sales accounted for 24 percent of these sales, compared to 21 percent in 2015. Cyber Monday was the biggest day for e-commerce during the season. Visa also reports that more buyers grabbed their mobile devices to do their 2016 holiday shopping than in the previous year. There are two lessons to be learned here: Retailers must sell via the Internet and they need to create sites that are mobile friendly. Unfortunately, too many small businesses still have no website and many who are already on the Internet, view their websites as little more than an online business card. They create it, post their address and phone number, then forget about it. If that describes you, don’t worry, you can probably fix your problem easily. (More specifics on this in just a moment.) If you have a site, but are not using it to make sales, it will take a little more effort. This gets a more challenging when you factor in the rising importance of mobile devices to e-commerce. You need to be sure you optimally curate your offerings so shoppers can easily find and buy your most important items. Let me share a few final words on how you should design your site. Some small business owners had the foresight to create websites for their businesses early in the so-called Internet Age. The problem is that many of these are custom sites; changing anything on them can be a chore and expensive. If that is you, I suggest you jettison your old owner-unfriendly site and rebuild with either WordPress or one of the services I describe in this guide to online website building services. The services I cover in that article include robust e-commerce features and most of the templates also have mobile-friendly versions. From an implementation standpoint, you can easily get an e-commerce site that is mobile capable...
read more13 top small biz influencers share their single most important word of advice
Every new year brings new business initiatives. I thought it would be good to ask 13 small business influencers for what they considered to be their single most important word of advice for anyone considering a new business launch in 2017. Read what they have to say. You’ll see that a range of critical issues are covered along with some warnings that any entrepreneur would be wise to internalize. Here’s a good suggestion: Boil each of these down to a short sentence or phrase, paste them onto a single page, print it out, grab a magnet, and stick it to the door of your refrigerator. David Smethie @DavidSmethie Evaluate the profitability of your niche. In an ideal world, you could start a business and make money from whatever it is that you’re most passionate about. While it’s important to enjoy what you do, the reality is that some niches don’t provide enough demand to sustain a profitable business. If there are no competitors in your niche, it’s likely that there isn’t any money to be made. Do your due diligence before sinking time and money into any business. Denise O’Berry @deniseoberry Conserve your cash. When first starting your business there will be plenty of things (services, tools, and products) you’ll need to get it rolling. And you’ll have more cash flowing out than cash rolling in. Only spend money on those things that you need right now. Don’t invest in something you might need six months from now. It always takes longer to become profitable than you think it will so approach purchases for running your business using the “just in time” approach. Buy it when you need it and not before. Don’t let your optimism and enthusiasm for your new business get in the way of your success. Use your head, not your heart when spending your cash and you’ll have a lot better chance for success in the long run. John Spence @AwesomelySimple Make sure there is a market that would eagerly pay a profitable price for your product. Alasdair Inglis @wearegrow Test your product or service fearlessly. Use the feedback you get to make something that customers love and will pay for. Catherine Morgan @PointA_PointB The most important skill to master as a small business owner is what I call the “graceful swan dive face plant.” You will fail sometimes so get used to it and like a champion gymnast, stick that landing with your arms high above your head, brush yourself off, and move on. Richard Gilbert @richarddgilbert When starting a business, small business owners MUST focus on cash flow, especially at the earliest stages. Quite often owners are developing business models and thinking a about PROFITABILITY. The importance of managing CASH FLOW is that it creates a daily mindset around managing the business’ daily inflows and outflows. Without this daily ritual, small business often run into liquidity crunches, which can cause business failure. Antonina Mamzenko @amamzenko “Treat it as a business right from the start and don’t turn it into an expensive hobby. Especially if you’re in a creative business like me, it’s so easy to ignore the numbers and do it for the art’s sake. Don’t. Do your sums, and charge what you need to charge to make a living. Your time away...
read moreWhat are you reading? Business books to boost your success.
Today, January 23, is National Reading Day which was launched to encourage young children to read more. However, I think it’s a good time to give all of you a little nudge too. Today’s business environment is changing so rapidly that it’s nearly impossible to keep up, particularly if you aren’t exposing yourself to new ideas and thoughts. So here are a few of my recommendations to give your business a boost. One Word: The Powerful Secret to Creating a Business and Life That Matter: A great new book authored by Evan Carmichael. Carmichael challenges you to reexamine your beliefs and the way you see the world. “Some have used the ideas in this book to build multi-billion dollar businesses. I’m going to give you the surprising simple-yet-powerful formula that they used, and you can also use, to realize your dreams,” he explains. Keep it Simple: Unclutter your mind. Uncomplicate your life. Chosen as Forbes.com #1 pick of the Top Ten Business Books of 2016 is definite must read. Written by Joe Calloway, an expert in how to focus and simplify. Calloway explains by gaining clarity on what is truly most important, you can streamline your life, reduce stress, and achieve the personal and business results that you desire. More Sales. Less Time. Sales guru, Jill Konrath, takes the concept of “simple” and applies it to sales to help you ramp up your game. The book is filled with fresh strategies, actionable ideas and unique experiments to help you free up 1-2 hours daily, focus on what matters and close more sales. These are just a few of the many great business books on the market to help your success in your business. By the way, I have a new book coming in October of 2017 called THE One Percent Edge: The Key to Remaining Relevant in Today’s Changing Market. Stay tuned for more info coming soon. ...
read moreThis week in small business: Success. Is it all in your mind(set)?
There’s lots of great information in this week’s curated content collection that will boost your professional and personal productivity, including tips to beat back burnout and get your mind set on success. Also, we have some social media slip-ups you must avoid and tips to land the small business loan you need to propel your 2017 growth. Leadership, management, and productivity Are you putting all of your retirement “eggs” in one basket? Kerry Hannon offers five retirement planning tips for small business owners. The buzz is that loans are getting easier for small businesses. If you’ll be in the market for one, review “the Three C’s” that Brock Black says will help you qualify. To make 2017 your most productive year ever, review these 12 powerful habits for growth mindset success from Ari Kopoulos. Marketing and sales Jennifer Lonoff Schiff points out nine social media faux pas many small business owners are guilty of in this CIO.com article. Did you do any livestreaming in 2016? Tarun Wadhwa and Sachin Maini say that last year marked the medium’s “coming of age.” Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation If burnout is knocking (or pounding) at your door, check out the four ways KC Agu says entrepreneurs can get the rest they need and thrive. It may run contrary to conventional wisdom, but eccentric entrepreneur Shaun Neff says inexperience helped him succeed. Kayla Jacobs profiles Jana Blankenship in this article titled, “Meet The Mogul Mom Who Makes Being A Green Beauty Entrepreneur Look...
read moreYour 2017 social media marketing campaign: The time is now
When I talk to small business owners, they often tell me that they are “doing” social media marketing. I’m glad they are, but the way they explain what their process is, tells me that they don’t have the kind of focus they need and that only comes when you define a social media marketing campaign. Imagine a general going to war and sending his troops out on the battlefield willy-nilly, just striking out at whatever is close at hand. Generals wage “campaigns” and what makes this different is that a campaign has a clearly defined goal. Aiming your social media marketing campaign Without a goal to shoot for, how can you ever know if you have hit your target? Some common goals are Get more followers Create interest in a specific product or service Heighten brand awareness Increase sharing You may launch 2017 social media marketing campaigns that shoot for more than one of these goals, or other goals that you come up with on your own. Once you set your goal(s), you need to decide: Which social media platforms to use, What kind of content to create, and How to measure results. Measuring your campaign Let’s look at measuring results for a moment. If you have a specific product or service that you want to get prospects interested in, results might be measured by the traffic you drive to a web page, for example. If you feel you have enough followers, but they aren’t sharing your posts as much as you would like, you can use various analytics to rank your shared posts and see what performs best for you. Another good approach for your 2017 social media marketing campaign(s) is to build it around a theme. This could be captured in a hashtag or you might use a contest as the “fuel” to get your campaign off the ground. (About midway through 2016 Aaron Agius did a nice “best of 2016 so far” rundown of social media marketing campaigns and I like the variety of campaigns he included. Check it out for inspiration.) Finally, you can wage more than one campaign at a time; the goals aren’t always mutually exclusive. You can be building your following while you’re trying to drive traffic to a specific page on your website, for example. Planning your year Further, now that I have you thinking a bit more strategically about what you want to accomplish with your social media marketing, take the time to sit down with a calendar and plan the year. It might make sense for you to launch some campaigns that center on holidays or seasons. If that’s the case, think about how much lead time you need to build into these campaigns. Don’t wait until the last minute and then try to generate some creative posts and graphics. Farm the work out well ahead of time. And, while I’m thinking about it, here’s something you might try to cash in on: August 21, 2017 is going to be the “Great American Total Solar Eclipse.” When you’re planning your 2017 social media marketing campaigns, that might be one big event where you don’t want to be left out in the dark…at least regarding your social media...
read more4 new entrepreneur problems you’re going to face and how to road-map them
There are common new entrepreneur problems that are almost universally faced no matter what industry you start your business in. There’s an old saying that “Forewarned is forearmed,” so I want to help you go into your new enterprise with your eyes wide open and have a few tips on how to prepare yourself. 1. Money The fact that you’re likely to face money problems as a new entrepreneur probably isn’t a shocking revelation, but let’s break it down to specifics so you get the big picture. Living funds. The enormity of this problem varies with new entrepreneurs. If you’re single the problem may not be so difficult, if you’re married with a family, the landscape changes. Neil Patel wrote a lively piece for Forbes arguing that entrepreneurs should live with their parents. It’s certainly an option. As I said, if others are involved, such as a spouse and children, you need to understand that the decision isn’t yours alone. Don’t let your passion become a set of blinders. Be prepared financially and be certain that those involved know the risks and the hardships – including financial and personal. Operating funds. There are many tried-and-true ways to get the money to fund your startup, including saving, holding down a second job, borrowing, selling assets, and more. Crowdfunding will payoff for some. I’m encouraged that a possible easing of Dodd-Frank will help loosen up bank loans for small businesses. Bumps in the road. Whatever your spreadsheet says you’ll need, double it. And track your expenditures to see if your burn rate is matching your expectations. If you’re outpacing your spending plans, you need to make quick adjustments. 2. Defining your niche Defining a niche for the new entrepreneur is a process of: Deciding what you want to do, your passion, Getting a feel for the competition, and Finding your target prospect. I’ll assume that number one from the list above isn’t a new entrepreneur problem you’re facing right now. If you’ve made it this far in my article, you must have some basic idea of what you want to do. Now you need to spend some time researching the competition so you understand the playing field better than anyone else out there. If you’re planning a local business, I describe how to use a great free online tool to evaluate nearby competition in this article. Lilach Bulloch has a good rundown of tools over on her website as well. But with all of this information under your belt, you still have the most difficult task ahead of you: Defining why anyone should choose to do business with you over the competitors you have found. To be successful at this not only do you have to have a good answer to that question, you need to know how you will reach these prospects. 3. Reacting to change The first steam-powered machine was built in 1698. The first effective gasoline engine was developed in 1859. The speed of technological change is quite a bit quicker today and you have to expect it. Not only can you expect some fundamental technological changes in your marketplace, there may be technological changes that affect the way you do business. In other words, a competitor who starts later than you might start with better technology and...
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