This week in small business: Learning from the Olympics, working on Wall Street and for the feds…
Pop-up stores, dream jobs, and marketing lessons from Olympics ads are among the topics covered in the many useful articles that comprise this week’s collection of curated content. Leadership, management, and productivity Read how Sallie Krawcheck, a former senior executive at Bank of America, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch, has made it her mission to end male-domination of finance. Continuing on that theme, in this Business Insider article, six Wall Street women share their best career advice. It’s true. Sometimes it’s lonely being a small business owner. This piece helps us handle the isolation. Want to land a federal contract? Maggie Ybarra says that your best tactic is to already be working with the feds. Ouch. Marketing and sales Creating accounts on Facebook and Instagram is far from the only tactics small business owners should be doing on the social media platforms. Learn how a cosmetics entrepreneur leveraged pop-up stores and social media to power a $120-million business. Step aside athletes with multi-million dollar contracts – we are entering the age of micro-influencers! Hitting blind spots on the way to gold? Marketing Land columnist Joshua Reynolds shows us how Olympics ads remind marketers to sweat the data details. B2B marketing has its own challenges and that’s why this article by Sujan Patel giving us three B2B content marketing tips is so welcomed. Want to know which social media marketing strategies are the most effective? The five insights shared here will steer you in the right direction. Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation Madison Conradis discusses the value of an education and its impact in pursuing your dreams through entrepreneurship. Lisa Uhrik and her husband Dave secured a $1.65-million SBA loan to buy, then relocate their dream job. Here’s their story. Ailsa Page, small-business marketing expert, argues that not everyone is an entrepreneur, but that people can become more entrepreneurial if they’re willing to step outside their comfort zone. There are several great points to think about and ideas to adopt in this discussion of entrepreneurship, risk, and intelligent...
read more7 Critical Topics for Your Hands-on Business Plan
Isn’t it sad that so many eager wannabe small business owners end up stuffing their business plans in the top drawer of an old desk? Or never even bother to write a business plan? I have a hunch that this happens a lot because the very idea of writing a business plan seems daunting, or because an overly formal document gets produced that turns out to be of little practical use. First, let me say that I’m not telling you to blow off writing a business plan. They’re important, and in fact, I’m on record recommending that you refer to and update them often. If you’re going after funding from outside sources, every element of your business plan needs to be fully fleshed out and communicated. But, no matter where your funding is coming from, every budding small business owner needs to create a business plan that deals with all of the day-to-day items that are required to open the doors and keep the doors open. That’s what we’re going to focus on here: A practical small business plan that covers the following topics: Location and facilities. Choosing the wrong location can lead to a quick failure or a slow and agonizing death for your small business. Do all the research necessary to find a location where you can be successful. Be careful and get good advice when you negotiate your lease. Do you need warehouse space or a will you use a fulfillment service? Organization and personnel. Will you be hiring immediately? Take time to understand who will be reporting to whom, if they don’t all directly report to you. If your business will be open for longer hours than you plan on working each day, at least one employee is going to have to be given more responsibility than some others. Be sure to have good job descriptions. Further, you need at least a bare-bones employee handbook that outlines your workplace policies and employee benefits. Equipment, processes, and systems. What equipment will you need and what systems and processes do you need to put in place to give you “repeatability”? These vary widely. The requirements of a manufacturer will be different than those of a retailer. However, the retailer can’t slack off and think that employees will know how to handle situations without any documents and training to guide them. You also need processes in place to handle the financial side of your business, including accounts receivable and accounts payable. This leads us to the topic of computer systems. What software will power your business? Be sure to do your homework here because committing to a bad system can cause huge headaches and costs down the line. Sales and marketing. How are you going to get the word out about your new business? You’ll need to think about your startup period as well as how you will sustain your marketing, advertising, and selling. Inventory. This category cuts across several topics. It is important from a financial point of view because your inventory is a major cost that also has tax implications. Efficient inventory control can greatly enhance your chances at success. How you handle your inventory will also impact your facilities and the processes you put in place. Fulfillment. How to handle distribution and shipping is a...
read more4 customers you should fire
Not long ago we published a guest post from the noted customer service guru, Shep Hyken, titled “Don’t Just Fix the Problem, Fix the Customer.” Shep wisely points out that it’s just as important to repair your relationship with customers as it is to deal with the technical side of whatever problems they are experiencing with your product or service. However, there are times when you need to sever your relationship with certain customers or clients. In other words, as much as we hate to do it: Sometimes you have to fire the customer. This is, of course, a decision that cannot be taken lightly. Right now you may be feeling uneasy about one or more of your customers, but you just aren’t comfortable about what to do next. Let me give you some perspective, guidelines, and rationale that will help you make the right decision and give you the confidence to carry out your decision. 1. Customer demands too much time You know the costs that go into manufacturing your product, buying your inventory, or providing your service. However, do you know the hours your team spends selling and servicing these items? If you own a print shop, for example, and you find that one customer takes up three times as many hours as your average customer, it’s probably time to start turning down that person’s business. The same thing applies to your salesforce. If closing a sale and maintaining a particular account eats up far more time than the average account, you might be best served by moving on. The old saying that “time is money” is true and when certain customers routinely take far more time than average, you have entered into a lost-opportunity situation. In other words, your time would be better spent finding new and less demanding customers. 2. Customer is disrupting your business There are some customers that are a pain in the you-know-what to deal with. If they are merely picky or eccentric, that’s usually fine. However, there are some behaviors that cross the line, such as: Disrespecting your employees, Ignoring personal boundaries, Dishonesty, and Causing too much negativity. You need to put your team first. If your employees feel safe and happy at work, that will be reflected in everything they do and your small business will greatly benefit. But if they feel threatened, belittled, or engulfed in a cloud of negativity, that will also be reflected in their work. Productivity will go down. Customer relationships will suffer, and turnover will go through the roof. Also, if a customer proves to be dishonest, it’s really impossible to develop a long-term business relationship. You must know that your customers will keep up their end of any business agreement you enter into together. If you continue to work with a customer that you know is dishonest, you will eventually get burned and it will be your fault. In the long run, your business will prosper more without these problem customers. 3. Customer is chronically late with payment It is common for small business owners to work with customers who are having trouble paying their bills. However, there must be a point at which you draw the line, stop extending credit, and cease selling to or servicing the customer. Look at the progress the...
read moreBalancing two needs: self-service and personal attention
The big push in customer service today is self-serve. When we’re on websites, we like to be able to answer questions without having to pick up the phone, fill out a contact form, or send an email. Life – and commerce – is usually much more convenient when we don’t have to depend on others to achieve our goals. However, as I’ve said many times before, “people do business with people,” and apart from a pure ecommerce setting, there are many times when the right attention from the right person can enhance an interaction in a business setting. (Even in ecommerce, if something goes wrong, or you have a question, you want to connect with a person who understands your situation and can correct it, don’t you?) Getting the balance between self-service offerings and providing a good customer experience can be tricky. That’s why I was curious to see how things would go when I recently headed to my local Staples store to get a few things done with their Print & Marketing Services. Staples, after all, has made a splash with its Make More Happen marketing campaign in recent years, so this trip would be a good way to see if the company could maintain its promise with a self-serve, in-store experience. First, the scanner on my printer wasn’t working properly and I needed to sign and scan a document for a client. I drove to the nearest Staples store and went in to use its self-serve printing services. I logged onto the computer, printed the contract, scanned it, and sent it off to my client. Good so far. I should add that while they call it self-serve, the staff was right there to help me navigate my way through the process. I also observed them helping another customer who had a large copying project and was completely confused about how to operate the equipment. They helped her through the process and she left happy to have accomplished an important task. In addition to my self-serve printing project, I wanted to publish a small book called “66 Great Ideas to Build Brand Buzz.” The team member, Gomez, showed me various options and explained the benefits of each. I chose a nice quality paper with a spiral binding. He asked me how soon I needed the project completed and then took my number and said they would call when the job was completed. It was ready the very next day. Specifying what I needed and getting it ordered was easy.The end result looks amazing.In fact, if you’re one of the first 10 people to comment on this post, I’ll send you a copy. One final thought and an important point for small business owners: before checking out, the clerk recommended that I join the Staples Rewards program. It delivered an immediate savings and I will continue earn up to5 percent back in rewards. Be sure your employees are trained on the best way to promote your loyalty program and that they’re consistent about doing it. A good loyalty program properly promoted can dramatically raise the lifetime value of your customers. I invite you to take a few minutes and share your thoughts with me. Remember, the first 10 responses will receive a free copy of “66 Great Ideas to...
read moreHow to know when it’s time to fire an employee
Deciding when it’s time to fire an employee isn’t an exact science. Occasionally a burst of outrageous behavior will make the decision obvious, but that’s seldom the case (fortunately!). Putting the issue in a broader perspective helps. I once heard someone divide employees into four groups: Type D: Those who won’t do their work, or rarely do their work, or require constant supervision Type C: Those who will do their work when told Type B: Those who will do the work they’re told to do and then ask what else they can do Type A: Those who will do the work they’re told to do and then find what else needs to be accomplished and do it on their own. Ideally, you want all the positions in your small business to be filled with Type A and Type B workers. They make your job much easier and they make your small business much better. But we live in the real world, and not everyone you hire will fall into one of those top two desirable categories. When Type D employees aren’t doing the work they were hired to do and you have given them sufficient training and sufficient feedback, then you’ve given them a sufficient chance to make it – fire them. While the process or act of firing anyone is never easy, in these cases at least, the decision should be obvious. When to fire ‘adequate’ employees Your job as a small business owner and employee supervisor is to help your employees get better at their jobs and also become better employees. In other words, you should try to help Type C employees become Type A or B employees, and Type B employees become Type A employees. You should put Type A employees on a path of increasing responsibilities and don’t be surprised one day if they decide it’s time to go off on their own and start their own business. But despite your best efforts, there’s a good chance that some of your employees will be solid Type C workers and unlikely to progress any further. They are happy where they are at and have no desire or drive to be promoted. To help you determine if you should keep them on your team, evaluate them in light of the following questions. Is the employee bringing people down, having a negative influence? If the employee’s work habits are detrimental to others, then it’s probably a good time to part ways. This assumes, of course, that you have spoken to the employee and worked with him to turn around the negativity. Is the employee demanding too much of your time, or of his direct supervisor’s time? If the employee is a high-maintenance “time eater” then it’s a good idea to fire him. Your productivity and the productivity of the employee’s supervisor are being diminished. You might find that firing this employee is almost like hiring someone because overall, more will get accomplished! Will the employee be easy to replace at the same salary? Can you afford to pay more? If the Type C employee is being paid very little, it will be far more difficult to find a replacement who is a Type B or Type A “out of the box.” If you can, bump the pay rate....
read moreThis week in small business: Entrepreneurial tips for everyone!
The old InterWeb was teeming with articles and advice on entrepreneurship this week, so if you want to start or significantly grow your business, you’re in for a treat. Entrepreneurship, startups, and innovation Apparently it’s not such a gamble for women entrepreneurs and business owners in Nevada. They are closing the gender gap. Melissa Halliburton combined her love for pets with a problem that needed solving and used it to launch a very promising startup. Struggling? Then this piece that outlines entrepreneurial success through failure is a must-read. Also on the topic of entrepreneurial success, you’ll want to check yourself against these three habits. Today, extremely useful tools are no further away than your computer or smartphone. Mike Templeman lists 11 online tools every entrepreneur needs. Want to grow your company 57,000 percent over, say, three year’s time? Read this. Leadership, management, and productivity Busy parents who are trying to “juggle it all” will appreciate the seven podcasts described here. If you’re looking for a way to expand your business, you might be inspired by the story of All Seasons in Morehead, Kentucky. Marketing and sales The single most important strategy in content marketing today is video, whether it’s video on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or Youtube, says Gary Vaynerchuk. Sean G. McCormick says that in marketing, 2017 promises to be “The Year of Change Management.” If you need a boost to your online marketing strategy, check out the 10 tips in this article. You’ve heard me say that the riches are in the niches and this article on how to reach those niche audiences plays well into that strategy. Julia McCoy essentially makes the case (citing 10 statistics) that “content marketing” is really just “marketing” today. In this LinkedIn Solutions Blog article, we get 20 content marketing optimization ideas from Andy Crestodina. There are many business sectors that can benefit enormously from visual content marketing so this article dishes up 19 Instagram...
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