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Revealed: Why its essential to be Marketing For Small Business to stay afloat!
Posted on 11 February 2011.
Revealed: Why its essential to be Marketing For Small Business to stay afloat!
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Home Page > Business > Business Ideas > Revealed: Why its essential to be Marketing For Small Business to stay afloat!
Revealed: Why its essential to be Marketing For Small Business to stay afloat!
Posted: Dec 02, 2010 |Comments: 0
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The term marketing is defined in the dictionary as “the process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services”.
In the current tough climate it can more accurately be defined as the key to not only staying afloat but also to thriving when your competitors are failing.
Marketing For Small Business meets the same needs as the big boys, just on a smaller scale but this does not mean less effective. Knowing how to provide effective Marketing For Small Business is key and your small size and closeness to your local market can give you big advantages over them.
There are various methods of marketing from big TV ads and sports sponsorship to co-ordinated radio, magazine and newspaper campaigns. Many of these are used by the big boys with great success but what if you are a small business and simply don’t have the marketing budget that can scratch the surface of these marketing campaigns?
Plenty! There are many economical and yet highly effective ways for you to reach your potential customers by using a variety of different tactics. So if your marketing budget is only a fraction of that of a Dominos, Pizza Hut or McDonalds, then these methods are for you.
Marketing For Small Business – The Smart Way
Effective marketing relies on you being able to reach your prospects at their level, telling them the benefits of your goods or services in a way they easily understand. This means no technical jargon just plain easily understood language about how their lives will be better after they have enjoyed your pizza or you have designed their new garage conversion.
Being able to compete with the big boys on a smaller budget means that you need to use technology and the tools of the internet effectively to reach your customers and beat your competitors.
The biggest medium you need to use when Marketing For Small Business is the internet and here’s why:-
• Google logs more than 2 Billion searches per day
• More than 30 million UK adults access the internet every day. That’s 60% of the population.
• There are more than 31 Million internet shoppers in the UK. That’s 62% of the population.
• More than 73% of households in the UK have an internet connection and with the rise of smartphones like the iPhone many people have mobile internet access.
With so many potential customers online its clear that you need to be targeting customers through this medium. If you are not and your competitors are you will be missing out on a lot of sales.
Some of the techniques and tools you need to become expert in to master the internet include:-
Get Listed on Local Listings
There is currently a revolution happening online where the major search engine companies are targeting local results when people search. If someone searches the internet for a Glasgow Architect then the results can be made to favour a local Glasgow based architect over a big national chain.
In order to use this you need to be setup and optimised on the big search engines local services. This can result in you can gaining hundreds of prospects a month from this one technique.
Get A Website
One of the best ways to utilize Marketing For Small Business and reach a lot of potential customer is by having a website. The internet is so much a part of our everyday lives now that it is expected that your business will have an online presence to display your goods and services, opening hours, contact details and location etc.
As a small business owner you should look at a website as an investment rather than an expense and always bear in mind that you get what you pay for. Shop around for a website supplier that you feel you can work with, get testimonials from their previous clients and make sure you know what you are getting for your investment.
A key point to bear in mind before you start your site is your objective for it. Is it merely an online version of your catalogue or menu that is just there to look good, or like the smart small business marketer you are, is it a vital part of your sales process, capturing leads, letting you communicate with your customers and feeding prospects into your sales funnel?
In order to achieve your Marketing For Small Business objective your website must be designed to achieve it. Having flashy graphics and funky music can look and sound great initially but if its not clear to your visitor how to contact you, place an order or sign up for your catalogue then you’ve wasted their time and your money. In short your website must be designed to convert!
Optimise Your Website
Once you are clear that your website will look how you want and will achieve its purpose, you must make sure it can be found. Most website designers are great at producing fabulous looking sites that are all singing and all dancing, with flashy graphics, but if no-one can find it what’s the point?
Quite simply designers are not marketers and don’t claim to be so having an online marketing consultant look over your site can really make your investment pay off.
Search Engine Optimisation is all about making your website attractive to search engines such as Google and Yahoo! When people search for things on the web the terms they type are know as ‘keywords’. When you optimise your site it needs to be targeted at these ‘keywords’.
As a result when a person types “Edinburgh Pizza” into Google if you have optimised your site for the keyword “Edinburgh Pizza” then your page will be shown on the first page of results and the person will click on it and come to your website to place their order.
By using a variety of different strategies your website can become one of the biggest and most cost effective ways your customers find you.
Make Your Website Important the Marketing For Small Business way
Websites seem important to search engines when lots of other web pages point to them (a term called back-links). This means that the more pages pointing to your website there are, the more important your website becomes in the eyes of Google etc.
To do this effectively takes time but it is worth the effort. Writing quality, keyword oriented articles and submitting them to hundreds of article directories is one great technique to get these back-links and make your website more important to the search engines.
If you don’t have the time or the inclination to research keywords, write articles and submit them to hundreds of directories there are companies who will do this for you. Using their services should also be viewed as an investment and having a look at your ‘Return on Investment’ can let you determine whether they are worthwhile for you and offer better value than conventional methods such as newspaper advertising.
Marketing For Small Business What Does All This Mean For Me?
All the Marketing For Small Business methods above are designed to put new customers at your door. Websites, keywords and back-links all comes down to one thing – they drive a stampede of customers to your door.
There’s a revolution happening online now and you can be sure that if you aren’t using these techniques your competitors are and you will be losing business to them while they grow.
To find out more about the techniques and tools you can use for Marketing For Small Business go to MFSB Driving Your Customer Stampede where you will find essential tools, articles and advice if you want to thrive in the current market.
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Lorna Mclaren is an online marketing consultant for Marketing For Small Business who specialise in advice, support and tools that help small businesses compete with the big boys.
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Where can I take a class tolearn about buying a business? A franchise or small business…so I don’t make any errors when investing my lifetime savings?
Which Online Project management Software is good for small business entrepreneurs?
I am buying a small business and my solicitor is insisting that i have an asbestos report but the vendors solicitors say it is not needed as the building is too small
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Lorna Mclaren is an online marketing consultant for Marketing For Small Business who specialise in advice, support and tools that help small businesses compete with the big boys.
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28 Essential Sites to Help you Invest in yourself and your Online Business
Posted on 03 February 2011.
28 Essential Sites to Help you Invest in yourself and your Online Business
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Home Page > Internet > 28 Essential Sites to Help you Invest in yourself and your Online Business
28 Essential Sites to Help you Invest in yourself and your Online Business
Posted: Jan 31, 2008 |Comments: 0
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Copyright (c) 2008 Donna Gunter
I’ll admit it — I’m an information junkie. I love to learn new things, so it’s a good thing that I’m in small business marketing where new ideas and new trends emerge every day. Continuing to enhance your own professional/personal development, or investing in yourself, is a primary responsibility that owners of small service businesses often forget to do when they’ve got lots of business. Taking the time to read just one more article or go to just one more teleseminar or professional conference when you’ve got your plate full with clients is probably not on your top 10 list of preferred activities. However, remember that your clients are looking to you for cutting-edge information to best help them with their problems. Without this continued learning, you may find yourself quickly left behind.
Here are some resources that I read regularly and highly recommend to keep me in the loop to better serve my clients and enhance my own business:
Technology:
–PC World, PCWorld.com (I subscribe to the print version of this magazine)
–Steve Bass’s Home Office newsletter (email newsletter) from PC World, http://www.pcworld.com/newsletters/index.html
–Lynette Chandler’s Tech Based Marketing Blog, http://techbasedmarketing.com/blog/
–Sandra De Freitas’ Tech Coach for Coaches (email newsletter), TechCoachforCoaches.com
Marketing:
–Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week (email newsletter and blog), PublicityHound.com
–Straight-Shooter Marketing by Alexandria Brown (email newsletter), EzineQueen.com
–Marcia Yudkin’s Marketing Minute (email newsletter), Yudkin.com
–Robert Middleton’s More Clients (email newsletter), ActionPlanMarketing.com
–John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing (email newsletter and blog), DuctTapeMarketing.com
–Ralph Wilson’s Web Marketing Today (email newsletter), WilsonWeb.com
–Cathy Stucker’s Bright Ideas (email newsletter), IdeaLady.com
–David Frey’s Marketing Best Practices (video newsletter), MarketingBestPractices.com
–Fabienne Fredrickson’s Client Attraction (email newsletter), ClientAttraction.com
–The Blog Squad’s Savvy eBiz Tips (email newsletter and blog), BlogSquad.biz
–Kendall Summerhawk’s Weekly Marketing Wisdom (email newsletter), KendallSummerhawk.com
Personal Development/Inspiration:
–Barbara Winter’s Joyfully Jobless News and Winning Ways (email and print newsletters), BarbaraWinter.com
–Valerie Young’s Changing Course (email newsletter),ChangingCourse.com
–Cheryl Richardson’s Life Makeover (email newsletter), CherylRichardson.com
–Notes from the Universe (daily emails), http://www.tut.com/nftu.htm
–Rebecca Hanson’s Museletter (email newsletter and blog), LawofAttractionTrainingCenter.com
Writing/Self-Publishing:
–Dan Poynter’s Publishing Poynters (email newsletter), ParaPub.com
–Penny Sansevieri’s Book Marketing Expert Newsletter (email newsletter), AMarketingExpert.com
–John Kremer’s Book Marketing Tip of the Week (email newsletter), BookMarket.com
–Gail Richard’s Author Smart (email newsletter), AuthorSmart.com
Speaking:
–Speaker Net News (email newsletter), SpeakerNetNews.com
Getting Organized/Feng Shui:
–Vicky White’s Design Your Life (email newsletter), LifeDesignStrategies.com
–Beth Schneider’s Process Prodigy (email newsletter), ProcessProdigy.com
General Business Management:
–Joan Friedlander’s Business Your Way (email newsletter), LifeWorkPartners.com
This list is just the tip of the iceberg for me. New sources come to light every day. Set aside at least 3 hours per week for your own self-education. Your clients will thank you and your business will grow!
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Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at http://www.AskDonnaGunter.com.
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What are the legal requirements in setting up an online business in turkey? At this stage I have only registered a (.com) domain name. Any help or advice would be greatful. Thank you
I want to open an online business, possibly selling go carts. Legally can someone sue me if he gets hurt hurts someone or damages property.Do I need to get some sort of insurance, etc. to protect me
If i have an online business, such as selling go carts.If a person who buys it gets hurt, or hurts someone/damages property, etc. can I be help responsible(sued).Do I have to buy liability insurance
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Posted in Small Biz ResourcesComments (0)
Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
Posted on 09 December 2010.
Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
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Home Page > Business > Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
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Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
By: SS AK
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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
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Bookkeeping Software Spreadsheets Are Essential Small Business Accounting Tools
By Terry Cartwright
Businesses generally make extensive use of spreadsheets both in accounting and all other business fields. Being a numerically based system of analysing information spreadsheets are used throughout every accounting function as the technique presents an ideal basis to maintain accuracy and automate the collection of financial information.
Every small business needs to keep records of sales invoices and income received and purchase invoices in respect of expenses. It is not sufficient for accounting and taxation purposes for these receipts and payments to be left in the office or the back of a van in a carrier bag. At some stage these prime bookkeeping documents need to be processed.
Processing the financial documents related to a business enterprise basically means they need to be listed. For taxation and financial control purposes the invoices also need to be added up and analysed. The most basic method would be to simply make a list of the sales income and a second list of the purchase expenses.
Using a manual method of listing the information falls short of the analysis required and is more time consuming that using a little technology to both ensure the summation is accurate and the analysis simplified. Listing the sales and expenses of a small business on spreadsheets is no more difficult then a manual paper system and has tremendous advantages in automating and ensuring accuracy.
Hence the use of bookkeeping spreadsheets to prepare the accounting information required.
Instead of listing the items on a paper list the items can be just as easily listed on a spreadsheet which will add up the items as required without the requirement to double check the adding up is accurate. Such a list has a history in accounting term as a sales daybook and a purchase daybook
To achieve the required analysis of sales and purchases all that is required is to write into the top of each of the spreadsheet columns the titles of the analysis headings required. Then repeat the value of each transaction in the total column into the analysis columns. Use the spreadsheet technology to add up each column and you have an effective bookkeeping spreadsheet.
Preparing such a bookkeeping spreadsheet might and often does suffice the needs of the smallest business enterprise and is a close step towards achieving a valuable tool for this purpose, bookkeeping software. Bookkeeping software can be as simple as a home produced spreadsheet but with additional facets that can have significant financial benefits to the business.
Bookkeeping software produced on spreadsheets would normally be a series of spreadsheets with the columns preset and titled and formulae written into the sheet to automatically add up each column. In addition the columns used would normally be restricted to general headings to include a full analysis of all items.
Small businesses that might produce their own spreadsheet would often do this on an annual basis. Bookkeeping software is much more likely to provide these bookkeeping spreadsheet templates on a monthly basis to enable a degree of financial control to be exercised by the small business.
That is the second real value of bookkeeping spreadsheets, the ability to provide the business with financial information and through that data financial control over the business activities. The first value is of course the simplicity of listing with automated summation of the figures.
Small businesses can also benefit from professionally produced bookkeeping spreadsheets that have been specifically arranged not just to produce a list of income and expenses but also in a way that analyses that information in the way the small business requires it. There are two main requirements of the way the financial records are analysed being to produce a financial profit and loss account for the business on a periodic basis but also to provide the totals of the categories required for taxation purposes.
Buying a piece of bookkeeping software written on spreadsheets can thus become an essential tool for the business. The essential element being to both make the accounting simple and easy as listing items, automated analysis and summation assisting the financial control and improved financial performance while also producing the benefits of being analysed to make the completion of annual tax return forms easier.
Everyone in business wants to make a profit making financial control important. Everyone in business has to fill in tax forms and submit accounts in the tax authority format. Bookkeeping spreadsheets provide an essential accounting tool for every business to achieve these objectives.
Terry Cartwright a qualified accountant at DIY Accounting in the UK designs Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets providing complete Small Business Accounting Software http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk solutions with single and double entry Bookkeeping Software for both limited companies and self employed business
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Posted in Small Business ToolsComments (0)
Small Business Tax Management Essential to Business Success
Posted on 31 July 2010.
They say the only sure things in life are death and taxes. For small businesses, the adage should be if you donât manage your taxes, they will be the death of your business! Failure to keep up with tax liability is a common pitfall for business owners, but there is no reason to fear the tax man. Setting your business up to stay on top of your federal and state responsibilities is not particularly difficult, and all entrepreneurs should be eager to develop internal systems to ensure that taxes are never a problem.
Depending on your type of business, your tax liabilities will vary. For most, the list includes state and local licenses and permits, sales and use tax, employment taxes, and, for corporations, federal and state income taxes.
Licenses and Fees
Licenses and permits vary according to where your business is based and include state entity registration fees (for LLCs and corporations), county or city business licenses, and any local permits your type of business requires. It is critical that you pay these fees on time. Failing to stay up-to-date will end up costing you more and putting the protection afforded by your LLC or corporation at risk.
Protect your business by calendaring the due dates for all fees due at least 10 business days before they are due. If your expected fees are high, as in the annual franchise tax in California or any sales-based fees, be sure to work those fees into your expense budget. You can set aside some each month or plan for the full amount the month it is due, but be sure you have enough cash to cover the bill when the time comes. Keep all license and permit information filed together — a 3-ring binder can be an excellent way to store these important papers — and develop a system for tracking the due dates of every fee.
Sales Tax
Paying the government their share of sales through state and local sales tax is a common problem for small businesses. Often, the sales tax collected in the daily receipts is deposited along with the storeâs income and considered available cash by the owners. Once the due date comes around (usually once per quarter), the sales tax bill is much higher than anticipated and creates a serious cash flow problem. As in, there is not enough cash flow to cover the sales tax! A few sales tax periods later, the business is on the verge of self-destruction. These amounts add up quickly — just $100 of sales tax collected per day equals over a $9000 tax bill inside of three months!
There are a couple of easy remedies for this problem. First, consider opening a separate bank account to hold the sales tax receipts. Your accounting software or point-of-sale system will record the amount of sales tax collected each day, and you can deposit or transfer that amount to the tax account on a daily or weekly basis. This way, you are guaranteed to have the cash on hand when the tax bill is due and will be less tempted to spend the cash on other supplies or inventory. Also, you will earn interest on the deposits over the few months they sit idle. Itâs not much, but it is your money!
A second method to avoid spending sales tax proceeds is to use your accounting system to determine how much cash you have available to spend. If set up correctly from the beginning, your accounting software will allocate the sales tax collected to its own account, separate from your cash on hand account. As long as you donât rely on the actual bank balance to tell you how much you have to spend, the cash will still be there when the bill comes due.
Employment Taxes
Employment taxes are another common pitfall for small business owners. It is critical that you completely understand your responsibility as an employer before you hire your first employee. Tax liability for employees is divided between both the employee and employer — altogether, federal taxes due equal 15.3% of your employeesâ pay; half is withheld from the paycheck, the other half the employer pays out-of-pocket. Therefore, the business is responsible for submitting both the amount withheld from the paycheck and the employerâs portion. If your area has a state income tax, you are liable for submitting those payments as well. Again, employment taxes are generally due quarterly, unless your payroll exceeds a certain amount or you have a poor record of paying on time.
Small business owners run into the same problem with these tax payments as they do with sales tax. Unless a system is established to set aside the correct amount due during the period, it is very difficult to come up with the full payment on time. In addition, some employers find the paperwork and withholding procedures to be confusing and just choose not to participate. As you probably have learned, ignoring a problem doesnât make it go away! Before you hire employees, learn all you can about your tax-related responsibilities and set up your accounting software with the correct numbers.
Income Taxes
If you register your business as a corporation, you will need to file an annual federal, and possibly state, income tax return. Generally, you will be expected to submit quarterly estimated tax payments to the government so they can hold your deposits until tax time. Failure to submit the correct quarterly amounts or to file on time can result in significant penalties come tax time, so it is important to stay on top of these due dates as well. If you register your entity as an LLC, you will likely be required to submit quarterly payments for your personal income taxes. Self-employment taxes are 15.3% of your income — the same total as is normally paid by the employee and employer together. If you are taking regular distributions from your LLC, it is recommended that you set aside your 15.3% each pay period to cover your income tax due.
Bottom Line
The bottom line to tax management for your business is to understand the various types and amounts of tax due and develop a system for setting aside the cash and paying on time. Like anything else related to your business, good planning before taxes become an issue will save you a lot of headaches, and will increase your ventureâs chances of success!
K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur with a J.D. from Duke University, is co-founder of LaunchX LLC. The LaunchX System, a five Unit series of step-by-step startup procedures, key business software, and marketing reference books, is designed to assist entrepreneurs in developing a business idea into a successful company. Take the free Business Readiness Assessment and get on the road to business startup today.
Posted in FranchisingComments (0)
Small Business Marketing: An Essential Step In Success
Posted on 12 June 2010.
Regardless of the size, a small business must focus on marketing, just like any business of a substantial size. Unlike big businesses, small businesses have a lot of factors that make marketing more difficult. Primarily, these efforts are hindered by budgets and resources.
A marketing strategy is a step-by-step process that examines a business situation or environment. The plan identifies a target client/market, key competition, challenges and opportunities in the market.
Marketing is such an important part of the business process. It’s what brings consumers and products together in a market place.
When you have a well thought out plan in place, you generate more sales because you capture the attention of the market quickly. Small business marketing often has to be especially innovative to overcome the challenges of the limited resources. Your marketing plan forms the foundation for your business decision making, and acts a reference point for making decisions about direction changes. Marketing plans allow you to work towards your predetermined goal.
Primarily, this type of marketing focuses on developing a product or brand identity. A good marketing plan begins with understanding your company’s unique selling position in the marketing place. What is it that makes your products or services unique? Your brand incorporates that unique selling position and establishes an impression of your company in the mind of the target customer.
Many small businesses choose to use some simple methods of marketing their products and brand to their clients. Some methods of marketing include development of a web site, direct mailing efforts such as postcards or brochures, or email marketing campaigns, including newsletters. These marketing efforts are very cost effective they allow you to contact clients at very little cost and begin the steps of developing brand recognition.
One of the advantages a small business has is flexibility. Although a small company doesn’t have an unlimited amount of money to invest in marketing, they have the advantage of being able to make decisions quickly. If a marketing strategy isn’t working, these businesses can quickly change direction and respond to the needs of a changing market place. Small businesses do have some advantages over the giants how many can change their marketing strategy within a week?
Marketing for a small business is something that has to be consistently done, almost on a daily basis. You can easily implement a number of marketing tools, such as daily emails, blogs to your website, flyers on windshields or door hangers, etc.
One option a business has is to partner with another business and stretch marketing. Look for a small business that offers a supporting product or service and try to partner with them. Working in partnership with another company gives you flexibility to share expenses, such as graphic designers, printers, web site designers, etc. By sharing resources and times, you may stretch your budget much farther.
Small business marketing is necessary for success. In many cases, your best marketing tool is word of mouth from satisfied clients. Marketing is essential part of any small business success. Whether you focus your time on developing a marketing plan yourself, or use the advice of experienced professionals, marketing will help establish your company brand and image.
James Copper is a writer for http://www.marketinglinx.com where you can find help with small business marketing
Posted in Innovation & TechnologyComments (0)
Essential Management Principles for Every Small Business
Posted on 11 June 2010.
I have read, over my business career, well over 10,000 different articles and lists about how anyone can be successful with a small business be it an independent business or a franchise. Many well intentioned and intelligent consultants I have come across professionally believe that a great idea with a great marketing scheme and superior desire can make anyone successful. Do yourself a favor and tell the next person spewing this nonsense that they are absolutely wrong!
The success or failure of the vast majority of all small businesses has little to do with the desire, marketing scheme or the great idea that created the business. While these three items must be present in every successful business, solid fundamental management principles will allow a small business to prosper and succeed. Every successful company, be it a small, medium or large business, uses the same set of management principals. The size of the business determines the individuals principals used and the sophistication of the principle. As an example, a small business normally has informal and perhaps even unwritten employee hiring guidelines. A medium sized company has a legally approved, comprehensive employee manual with employee hiring guidelines as a separate section. A large global business has an entire department writing several employee manuals in several languages with employee hiring guidelines based upon legal and social issues in each country. However, the common sense management principal that all companies should have a fair, consistent and applicable employment program must be used by every company.
As I have spent the vast majority of my career with small and medium sized businesses, here is a simple and select set of management principles that every small and medium business should follow to ensure success and profitability:
A good accounting department with timely monthly financial statements provides the basis for all management decisions. Any business owner or officer who believes purely in his or her “gut” feel, is running what will be a failed business. Regardless of the business size, every owner and senior executive must have valid data to confirm the decisions their “gut” tells them to make. Your financial statements are a factual record of your business history and we must all clearly understand our history so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. How can you determine whether your recent marketing campaign is a success unless you see and evaluate the financial results? We have all heard stories about the marketing campaign that brought many new customers to the company but killed the company because the advertising expense was greater than the profit margin on the new sales. A business owner does not need an accounting degree but should know enough to understand and participate in the financial information review.
Running a small business based on the cash balance in the business checking account also violates this management principle and will severely inhibit the growth and success of the business. Unless you want to remain a “mom and pop” business forever, good accounting information is a requirement.
Standardize and automate all routine functions. Have you ever noticed that most successful business people have a routine for most of their daily functions? They have staff meetings at the same time, they want all reports in a specific format, they want all PC’s and software to be the same in the office and they want the external phone calls to be answered with a specific greeting. By standardizing all routine functions, successful business people do not have to think about or manage these functions. They can concentrate their time and efforts on managing non routine situations.
This same principle also applies to your business. I personally know a company that, 10 years ago, had a credit department with 15 employees and 3 managers who made many decisions daily. Today, that company has doubled its sales and now has a credit department consisting of 5 employees, one manager and a set of software programs that manages electronic payments and even sends out reminder letters and emails to customers.
Review and analyze the Balance Sheet before the Profit and Loss Statement. Your monthly P & L tells you whether you were successful last month from your operations but your Balance Sheet tells you what shape your business is in and what you can do in the future. I have seen a company that doubled sales one year and closed their doors less than six months later. I have also seen a business that went bankrupt even though their P & L’s showed reasonable success. The company Balance Sheet shows how the company uses its daily operations to fund the long term success of the business. Analyzing Fixed Assets, Accounts Receivable, Long Term Debt and Retained Earnings will give us the long term view for our company. It is not as exciting as analyzing our new customers and product offerings but is necessary for the long term.
Business Planning and Budgeting will allow you to slow down the daily business fires and take advantage of opportunities. There are an unusual number of small and medium businesses that do not work hard at either annual or strategic planning and budgeting. Most are too busy fighting fires and struggling to keep up with daily business activity. There is no time for planning and budgeting in their 80 hours work weeks. We have all been in this position. The unfortunate issue here is that the fire fighting and long weeks will never slow down or cease until some planning and budgeting is put in place. The need for planning and budgeting becomes more intense as a business grows due to your inability to “manage by walking around.” The planning and budgeting can start simple and will grow naturally as the business expands. This management principle will allow all employees to see the vision and the focus of the business which will start to reduce the daily fires that pop up.
The greatest advantage of planning and budgeting is that it allows every business owner to evaluate quickly and easily how an unexpected opportunity might be of benefit to the business. I have talked to many business owners who stumbled across a sudden and potentially great opportunity such as a competitor for sale, a good supplier needing a partner, a potential new customer that would immediately double sales or a potential new product that would require an entirely new set of tools and equipment. These opportunities happen to all business owners regularly but many also go away quickly. Those companies that have a good plan and budget in place can evaluate these opportunities quickly and easily to determine if the new opportunity fits into the company’s long term plans. These companies also have the ability to quickly approach a bank with solid financial proformas if additional capital is needed.
It isn’t a sale unless you collect. Most small and medium businesses spend way too much time in the sales process and far too little time with the collection process. Most companies are willing to pay a six figure salary to a salesman who can generate tremendous sales for the company and, at the same time, put an entry level accounting clerk in charge of collection with little or no oversight and procedures. The company borrows more and more money to increase sales while an accounting clerk with no customer service experience struggles to collect. The sales department in every business must have a part in the collection process and the company must have a strong, fair and customer oriented collection process to ensure that a sale really means money in the bank.
This process must always start before the sale is made. Collecting information up front to determine whether the potential customer is able to pay and ensuring the potential customer clearly understands the credit terms and payment requirement will benefit all parties. All good potential customers will appreciate this process because we all enjoy dealing with quality companies. I have never found any company that was unwilling to pay for quality products and services when everyone understood the terms and requirements.
The credit department must also have a good set of processes and procedures to ensure that the payment process flows smoothly and efficiently. Supplier employee turnover, cash flow issues and other unexpected issues stop or slow down the payment process. The credit department must, in a customer oriented fashion, work to keep our cash flowing.
Run the business as if it your grandchildren will take it over. Every business is a living and vibrant organization that has many similarities to our children. Your business starts out as an infant and learns to crawl and eventually walk. We would never make a decision for our child that does not take into account the child’s future and we should not do this with our business either.
Working with a supplier who has inferior quality but the cheapest price might be a great short term cash solution for our company but will eventually run off our customers and destroy our business. How many times has a business lost all its records because it decided it couldn’t afford computer backups or a fire alarm system on its warehouse? Have you hired an employee before you had them take a drug test? I even once jumped at the chance to hire a salesman from a competitor because I thought he would be able to bring over many customers. Unfortunately, he cost too much and didn’t bring over any good paying customers at all. There is no such thing as a good short cut for efficient management principals and the long term success of your organization.
Hire the smartest and best people. How many of us have hired our friends, the salesman we thought was a bargain, the bookkeeper who spoke the best during the interview or the manager we thought was most like us? Many small and medium sized businesses are littered with employees who were hired for these reasons because small businesses can’t afford high wages and all the fringe benefit packages that large companies can afford. We tend to hire the best we think we can get.
We need to set our expectations higher and use our planning process to find perfect employees. The first issue is that your company must have a good annual plan as well as a logical 5 year plan on where the company will be. Your company can then lay out what employees will be needed during this 5 year period. Now that we have defined what employees and what responsibilities are required, we need to find the individuals who meet these requirements and not just who we can afford today.
I have always tried to hire people who are smarter and have more experience than I have at the specific position. Any owner who believes he is the smartest individual in every area will never be able to hire the right people. A company will never be greater than its weakest employee so we must always hire the best.
The last company I worked with laid out a plan showing they were going to need their first CPA in 5 years. After 3 years, they told me they hired this CPA and were very surprised because this individual had other job opportunities with large national firms who were offering huge benefits. However, this small firm could offer professional growth and responsibility not available at the larger company. The vast majority of good employees prefer to have a more responsible position with a smaller company with a grand future than a less responsible position with a large company.
You can grow yourself out of business. Cash is king in business and those who recognize this fact will succeed and prosper. I have seen far more businesses that grow too fast with no good business plan and are forced to close their doors or find a quick buyer. Companies that are struggling watch their cash daily and doing what they need to keep the doors open. However, those companies doubling their sales see huge profits on their monthly financial statements and get caught up in the emotion and success. They watch their Accounts Receivable double, their Inventory double because they must buy much more product, their employees double because they must take care of these sales and suddenly they do not have the ability to make this week’s payroll because they have no cash in their checking account. Their company literally grew itself out of business which many small and medium business owners have trouble understanding until they have lived through it.
The culture of every business is as important as its mission. As mentioned earlier, a business is a living and breathing organization. The culture of every business is as important to the overall success of the company as the products and services offered. The owner of the business cannot delegate this function and must be involved. There is no right or wrong here as the business culture is a reflection of the quality, morals and ethics of its owner. A successful company’s culture is not a constantly changing but evolves based upon the growth and expansion of the organization. Constantly changing a company’s culture is a sure way to close a business.
A company with a strict dress code, time clocks that are strictly enforced, and many processes and procedures is no better than another company with no dress code, few processes, and telecommuting for employees. The only difference is the type of employees they retain and the way they do business.
Your quality competitors are essential to your long term success. You can stop laughing now because this is really a fact that every successful company understands. This is an unusual concept but one that great businessmen and women all embrace. Competition is a wonderful concept in every free market economy and quality competition makes us all better. Quality competitors push us to come up with quality improvements, quality products and services and ensure that we have a quality customer oriented operation. We have all seen businesses spring up offering a 50% price reduction for a cheap knock off of our products. Our sales drop and we spend time and effort away from our core business chasing this situation. They stay in business for a short period of time and accomplish nothing more than causing our customers to question our industry. Quality competitors push us all toward greatness and there is plenty of room in every industry for multiple organizations.
Outsourcing reduces costs and improves your weaknesses. Many individuals hear the jokes about the language issues at large company call centers in India or the Philippines and tell themselves they will never make that mistake. However, that might be one situation that is not really a mistake. A good IT programmer in the U.S. can cost upwards of $100,000 annually with payroll taxes, fringe benefits, etc. That employee in India with the exact same intelligence, skills and experience can cost as little as $30,000 annually.
The management principle here is that we should all concentrate on our strengths and outsource everything else where feasible. No business person thinks twice about using an outside tax accountant to do our Federal and State taxes. This is a highly technical area that changes constantly. Most of us also have an outside legal firm. Why do we primarily limit our use of outsourcing to those two areas?? Today, there are professional payroll firms, employee leasing firms, credit and collection firms, IT and Web programming firms and marketing firms. These companies work with many business organizations, stay on top of industry best practices and can better stay on top of the technical changes in their area of expertise.
The only area of any company that I advise against outsourcing is the area that is crucial to the success of your company. Never allow the core of your success to get outside your control. As an example, if your company has a proprietary marketing scheme or a customer database or an engineering method or a production process that is key to your success, do not let it out of your control.
Mel Luigs is the President and CEO of AML & Associates, a national management consulting company, which provides a “Part Time” CFO for small and medium business that want to grow and expand. He is a highly accomplished executive with a solid history of developing critical business solutions and demonstrated leadership in both small and Fortune 500 companies. He has a strong combination of operational and financial expertise in both the manufacturing, retail and franchise business areas along with a solid background building strong working relationships, growing small companies or departments, building customer oriented teams and obtaining results. His company website is www.aml-associates.com
Posted in FranchisingComments (0)
Small Business Networking: 6 Essential Router Features
Posted on 11 June 2010.
A small business network needs more security and features than a typical consumer router can provide. Here’s our take on the six must-have features to look for in a small business router.
View full post on Yahoo! News Search Results for small business
Posted in NewsComments (0)
26 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
Posted on 04 May 2010.
26 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed
The week gone by was loaded with essential reading, especially in the tech department. We know you’re busy, and digging through that RSS reader for all the good stuff you missed is a chore. That’s why we’ve once again gathered the Crème de la Crème in our weekly super-post. Take a weekend stroll through this garden of resources that includes a few environmentally friendly gadget guides, some …
Read more on Mashable
Posted in Tech EdgeComments (0)
10 Absolutely Essential eBusiness Building Principles
Posted on 24 April 2010.
Does starting an ebusiness appeal to you? Or are you struggling with an existing ebusiness? For most entrepreneurs, the opportunity of running and operating a business from anywhere with an Internet connection is too enticing to pass up. The excitement, however, soon deflates as the hard work of making an ebusiness successful becomes reality. Here are the top 10 absolutely essential principles to make your ebusiness a success:
1.Find a need and address it
2.Leverage existing services – YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
3.Use what you know and love – this will help you become an authority in the area and help you persevere in hard times.
4.Use offline marketing – advertise in newspapers, use business cards and print materials, etc.
5.Be patient
6.Choose a domain name wisely – dot com is best. The shorter and easy to remember and spell the better.
7.Content is key – write clear Web copy that is not cold and impersonal.
8.Have a call to action – make it easy for visitors to buy and contact you.
9.Build trust and confidence – show your address and telephone number. Use testimonials.
10.Build a professional website – it doesn’t need to be a complex website. In fact, simple designs that are clean with easy-to-use navigation and that make good use of white space and color are best.
There is no magic formula. Nothing replaces hard work but hard work must be well directed and spent. The aforementioned 10 principles will help you get a solid footing on starting and building your ebusiness. For more elaborate explanations on the above 10 principles visit www.thebizpages.com where you can read the entire series on this subject.
Tom runs the ebusiness blog and news site at www.thebizpages.com. For small business accounting services visit Small Biz Pros
Posted in e-BusinessComments (0)
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mycreativefreedom: I would move on to a job you can love in the mean ...
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marieforleo: @mycreativefreedom absolutely agree! ...
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dharmasmami: So true, totally love this:) Mel...
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tatter2: I would say, that the best way to generate prospec...
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greatgirlstuff: Make sure you are networking in the community. It ...
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