Business | Social Business

Reach Out to the World With Your Business

A popular new reality show gives start up entrepreneurs the chance to get a cash infusion for their businesses, but first that need to survive the “Shark Tank.” In this show, a panel of successful business folks are willing to put their own money on the line for an idea they feel can be marketed in a big way. Not everyone with a solid business idea will make it onto the “Shark Tank”, but that doesn’t mean you can’t develop you own marketing strategies. The goal is to share your home base business with the rest of the world.

There was a time when Sears cornered the mail order business by annual issues of their catalogue. Now those catalogues have been replaced by websites. So, how strong is your internet presence? The website for your business will be the first impression you potential customers will make about your company. Are the products displayed and written about in an engaging manner? Is it easy to order items? Does the website add fresh content? Those are all key components for any business that wants to market their product globally.

One successful path to growing your home business is finding compatible partners. These are companies whose customers might benefit from your product. For instance, if you are in the business of making uniquely colored shoelaces then you need to get with a sneaker company. If a Google search can help customers find your company then it can also help you research other businesses that would be a good fit for your expansion.

Just because you’ve got an awesome website for your company doesn’t mean you can stop there. There many more avenues to explore on the web to get the word out on your product. By targeting other social networks you can build strong brand recognition and profit.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Business, Sears, Shark Tank

Take a Lesson from the Colonel

It was at the age of 40 when Colonel Sanders first began selling his famous fried chicken. However, he wasn’t selling this chicken from a KFC restaurant. Instead, the Colonel was offering his special recipe fried chicken to customers at his gas station. Soon, more people were coming for the chicken and not the gas. At that point, Sanders had a decision to make: Should he expand his business? Fortunately for those of us who enjoy the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, Sanders moved his chicken business to a café and a new fast food was born.

Is it time for you to expand your business? If you have a traditional “brick and mortar” type operation that is achieving a consistent level of success, then it might make sense to open a second location. Just as you prepared for your first opening, this expansion should follow the same rules. You should put together a complete business plan. You’ll also need to do your research about picking the perfect second location spot. Most importantly, you should consider what kind of strain opening a second location might have on your current business. Once all of those factors have been weighed and signs point to a “yes” then expansion could be in your future.

Another great lesson to take from Colonel Sanders is what happened when his first restaurant failed. Yes, it’s true, Colonel Sanders’ first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant failed when an interstate project drove away all his foot traffic. Instead of accepting failure, the Colonel decided it was time to branch out and franchise his chicken business. He toured the country with his special fryer and seasonings to show burgeoning fast food entrepreneurs how they could get into business for themselves. Of course, the Colonel got a piece of every franchise operations. Maybe your business is also ready to become franchise!

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Chicken, Colonel Sanders, KFC

Traits of an Effective Business Leader

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You likely started a business to pursue a personal passion. That is the true beauty of entrepreneurship; you come up with your own ideas and bring them to life. However, all entrepreneurs are not natural-born leaders. Along with other necessary business traits, such as sound accounting skills, the life of your business depends on effective leadership skills. Every team needs a leader to help keep them driven and focused. If you cannot lead your workforce, then your employees will not be as effective. As a result, your sales will not be as profitable.

One of the most important things to relay to your team is enthusiasm. If you are not an enthusiastic leader, then how can you expect your team to exhibit enthusiasm? Your attitude will always affect the way your business turns out. Customers want to deal with businesses that are confident and warm, not ones that are unenthusiastic and unsure of why they are there. Keep the workplace fun but still professional. Everyone should understand their purpose in your business.

Communication is an essential trait of an effective leader. Constantly keep in touch with your employees. Talk to them on a daily basis, especially if you are there at the place of business. If you operate multiple businesses, then keep in touch on a weekly basis at the bare minimum.

Recognize success just as much as down-falls. As a leader keeping tabs on a business as well as the people who make it happen, it is easy to get caught up in the mistakes. If you are constantly pointing out others’ mistakes, you will come across as nagging and pessimistic. This decreases morale in your team. For these reasons, it is vital that you point out the great work that your employees do. Not only will this make them feel valued, but you are helping to set an example so that other employees can follow suit.

Filed Under: Business, Employment Tagged With: Business, Employment, Leadership

How Managers Directly Affect Employment Morale and Business Production

As a business owner, it takes a lot of trust to let someone else run your business. But this is inevitable, especially as your business continuously grows. Adding managers to your team also helps give you the personal time you need away from your business so that you can return refreshed each day you are at the office.

Finding appropriate managers can be a big task. This is especially the case if you are hiring from outside of the company. Every business owner looks for similar traits in their managers: passion, trustworthiness, a good work ethic, enthusiasm, leadership, and experience. Once you have found the perfect manager, you cannot just leave it at that and be on your way. No one is perfect, and even managers can sometimes fall off the bandwagon.

Every team needs a leader, and you cannot always be around. The leadership role is then the responsibility of your management team. A leader always sets the tone of the business. If a manager is having an “off” day, then your employees may also be down. Everyone has their bad days, and this type of scenario has a quick turn-around. However, the danger is that customers do not get into the buying spirit if they are in a depressing place of business.

In more serious situations, managers might become disgruntled. They often share their misery with other employees, causing backlash against the company. This is potentially dangerous, since again, their attitudes directly affect the customers.

Avoid negative impacts on your business by keeping in constant communication with your managers. Touch base one-on-one at least once a week. Also reward your managers for hard work and great accomplishments. This will keep up the morale and decrease the chances of discontent with the job. Finally, if another employee raises concerns about a particular manager, listen closely and do your own investigations. Talk to your manager and see what can be done to improve the situation. If your manager does not wish to improve, then it is time that you both parted ways professionally.

Filed Under: Business, Employment Tagged With: Business, Employment, Management

When Sharing Information with Your Employees Gets Too Personal

As a business owner and manager, it is important that you inject an atmosphere of friendliness and teamwork within your business. It is normal to chat with employees and to get to know one another. There is a long-held belief that personal matters should stay out of the workplace. This holds true for employer-employee relationships. There are reasons to justify this stance:

You might make your employees feel uncomfortable. A story to share with your closest friends may not sit well with an employee, particularly if you don’t know him on the same level as your friends.
Your employee might spread gossip. When talking about your personal life, it is easy to let things slip. Although a piece of information might seem harmless to you, it can turn into something big. For example, think of what could blow out of proportion if you tell an employee that you drank too much that weekend. Unfortunately, it is a part of human nature to talk and to share news about each other.
Your stories might be offensive. Your business is likely dynamic and diverse. You should keep your small talk G-rated in order to avoid any type of backlash.
A disgruntled employee might turn other employees against you.

So what can you do to maintain the friendliness in your place of business without crossing the line? First and foremost, your focus should be work. It is okay to get to know your employees and talk, but do not take it too far. At the same time, if you notice an employee being too gossipy, seek her out and talk to her about it. It is best to address any type of job dissatisfaction directly with the employee before it gets out of control and affects the atmosphere of the whole business.

Filed Under: Business, Employment Tagged With: Business, Employee Relations, Employment

Advertising Your Business: Which Form is Best for You?

Advertising is an important part of your business. Although you might have customers now, you constantly need to reach out for new ones. Let’s face it: your current customer pool doesn’t likely purchase goods or services from you on a daily basis. Advertising also plays a role in keeping your customers interested and excited about your business.

The confusion begins once you decide how and where to advertise. There are several venues to choose from for different markets. Different types of advertising also vary in costs, with business cards being the cheapest and television ads being the most expensive. Here is a breakdown of different types of advertising and what they entail:

Business cards. These are useful to pass out to potential customers and to give to your current customers so they can share information with friends. Depending on how fancy you get, a pack of 500 cards can range from $20 to $150.
Yellow pages. These are hit-and-miss unless your customer is specifically looking for your service. No target market reads the yellow pages front to back. These are more appropriate for specialized businesses. Examples might be a wedding boutique or a pediatrician.
Magazine and newspaper ads. These run a set amount of time. You can choose between different sizes and colors, and perhaps even page placement at an additional cost. Newspaper ads are the least likely to capture attention unless you run it every single day.
Radio advertising. This is expensive and is becoming more outdated as more people are using satellite radio and different forms of media to play music. Many radio ads yell at their targets in hopes of getting their attention. If this is not how you want to be portrayed, you may want to skip it.
Television advertising. The most expensive, with ads ranging between 15 and 30 seconds long. Not only do you have to pay a company to help you create the ad, but you also have to pay to air it. Television ads are not for newbie business owners on a tight budget.
Word-of-mouth: free and based on excellent customer care.

Filed Under: Advertising, Business, Employment Tagged With: Advertising, Business, Yellow Pages

Company Production: How to Determine When to Hire More Employees

As the economy is slowly on the rebound, you may have found that production has increased in your business, whether in the form of services or goods. You may have even found that your business is so busy that you do not have enough employees to accommodate customers. This can be anywhere from an increase in clients, patients, and retail shoppers. It may be time to hire more employees. At the same time, this will cost you more money. There are some things to consider before expanding your team:

Can the business really afford another team member? Although you may want more employees, it is time to be realistic. Is the increased amount of people at your place of business actually purchasing what you have to sell?
Consider the amount of people you want to hire and plug in the numbers. Calculate potential salaries, 401k sharing, paid time off, and benefits.
Is the influx in business seasonal? Does customer volume increase during the summer or winter? If this is the case, you might consider hiring seasonal or temporary employees to help cover the workload. Keep in mind that you should tell potential employees this before they are hired.

Finally, it is important to figure out what having more employees means in terms of your bottom line. Some business owners are concerned about quick profits to turn their business around. If this is the case, you might need to stick it out with the employees you do have until you make enough money to get out of the hole and have enough profits to expand your personnel.

If you do have the money and do not want to spend it on hiring other people, consider this: will not having enough employees impact customer satisfaction? If the answer is yes, then you will potentially lose customers for future business. The point of a business is to profit, but you cannot accomplish this without happy customers.

Filed Under: Business, Employment Tagged With: Business, Customer, Employment

Business Cards: Is this Type of Advertising Worth the Cost?

Business cards have a history in Europe and in Asia as method of introducing yourself and others. United States business owners started utilizing cards during the late 1800s as a method of advertising. Today, cards are used as a way to introduce yourself, and also as a keepsake for a potential customer. Given the nature of business cards, it is easy to understand why there are so many types of cards. The standard, plain 3 x 2 card simply does not stand out anymore. However, before you buy 1,000 glossy double-sided cards, consider whether this investment will have a return in revenue for your business.

Business cards are essential for those that are selling goods and services. A basic card lists your name, business location, phone number, and perhaps a website or e-mail address. There are different finishes you can choose. A basic white paper stock is the least expensive, and perhaps the most practical if you are just starting out or hand out dozens of business cards a day. You can also choose a matte or glossy finish to your cards. You can even add text and art to both sides of the card. Keep in mind that such editions will double or even triple the cost of business cards. Glossy finishes and double-sided cards are also difficult for your customers to write additional information on, unless they happen to carry a sharpie marker with them.

There are websites that offer free standard business cards so long as you pay shipping. If you go to a store, you are likely to get better quality cards. A pack of 1,000 cards can range between $50 and $200, depending on what features you use.

business owner should have some type of business card. Not only does it make you appear professional, but the information is handy for customers. The issue should not be whether you should have business cards, but rather what type. If you want to stand out from the competition, have the most creative card your budget can allow you. Remember to purchase only what you can afford.

Filed Under: Advertising, Business, Finance Tagged With: Advertising, Business, Business card

Becoming an Entrepreneur

In a globe that is as commercially-based as ours, it can also be very interesting for one to have one business or the other that you will also be managing. If you are even fortunate enough, you can nurture your business to maturity. If you are able to do this, then you will be compared to the great entrepreneurs of the world like Warren Buffett, John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and the likes. In this regard and considering the achievements of these great men, not a few people will also want to be entrepreneurs. This is a dream that can come to fruition, to be a great entrepreneur is a height anyone can aspire to.

To become an entrepreneur, and not an ordinary one but an outstanding one at that, there are some things that you must know. The very first thing that most entrepreneurs will tell you is that to succeed in the business world, then you must have a product or service that you will offer the people. The more relevant, unique and useful your products are, then the brighter your chances of succeeding at any business that you do.

Apart from having a product that you can sell, another thing that can make you survive and succeed in the business world is that you must have excellent networking abilities. Such a tremendous ability to network and have links with many people across the world is one thing that will help you spread the message concerning your products and brand and this will help you expand your base and pool of potential clients. And this is important considering the fact that it is these clients that will pay you the money, from which you derive your own profits. Thus, it will be in your own interest to treat them well.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Business, Entrepreneur

Pitfalls in Business

It is quite easy and interesting to see that our world that revolves around business. If you doubt this, even though there is no basis for denying something that is this obvious, then it is either you are being mischievous, funny or simply under-estimating the power and influence of business. The number of businesses that are spread all over the globe cannot be counted. It is also interesting to know that the richest individuals in the world are those that have been long established in one business or the other. This brings into mind the likes of Bill Gates of the United States, Mukesh Ambani of India, Lilian Bettencourt of France and Aliko Dangote of Nigeria and some other billionaires that have been in the business for various lengths of time.

However, it is important to know that it is not all entrepreneurs that make the millions of profit when they do business. There are also some business executives that have suffered for long before they made the huge profits that have made them the mega rich that they are today. As a matter of fact, there are so many pitfalls that entrepreneurs have to face in business before becoming quite successful, even though some of them do not recover from such pitfalls.

At this point, it is important and imperative that these pitfalls be discussed so that important lessons can be learnt. One of the commonest pitfalls that one can come across in the world of business is to fall a victim of fraud and inexperience. For some many business executives, they have many tales of fraud that they have to tell, especially as at the time that they started their businesses. Not a few entrepreneurs have lost huge sums to the activities of fraudsters. Another thng that business people have to cope with are losses.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Business