Posted by Chris on April 29, 2009 under Management, Service, Training | 
Every business needs employees who are competent in their fields and can be relied upon to reliably perform their job. This is even more important if your have outside partners you rely on to deliver your business.
One business owner has a reputation in their community for having the most competent employees in his region. Why? Because he trains them in their skills and to deliver great service – even if they are already have relevant experience.
They have a planned training program for each of their employees. They let them go to seminars, and they supplement this with their own in-house video training library. Learning progress is closely monitored so they only do work they are ready and qualified to perform. Bottom Line: his customers only get works whom the customers trusts and is very competent in what they do – which translates to better results for the company’s bottom line.
Action Step:
List three ways you can use this idea in your business?
When will you start implementing it?
What results do you want to get?
Feel free to post your answers below, for some “extra” accountability and leverage on yourself. Getting stuck or not seeing the results you’d like? Let us know…
Posted by Chris on April 27, 2009 under Marketing Monday, Service |
People go into business for many reasons – make more money, be their own boss, have more control over their time and lives, etc. Ultimately, though, one’s financial success is frequently determined by how much they can be of service.
Regardless of what you sell, you are offering your customers, and you market, a service. It’s a problem solving service – you are saving them time, you are offering an innovative solution, you have incredible resources at your service that you can rapidly bring to bear on their problem. To get the edge required in today’s market, however, you need to do more and go farther than your competition is willing to.
Action Step:
Ask yourself these questions and see how you can improve. Then, take 4 of the answers and implement them over the next 4 weeks, one new one each week:
- Can you provide Audio / Video / Written instructions for your product or service, and thus make it easier for your customers to use?
- Can you deliver your product or service in less time, thereby delivering the value more quickly?
- Can you cut any of your operating costs and still provide the same level of service?
- Are there any accessories, or any other complimentary products or services, that you could offer? Could you start an affiliate program or partnership(s), and offer these to your market?
- Could something as simple as a name or branding change, influence how your customers perceive the value of your product or service (and maybe enable you to increase your prices)?
- Can you offer your customers something for free, that your competition charges for?
- Can you follow up with and engage your customers better and faster than your competition? How can you leverage Twitter and Facebook in your business?
Posted by Chris on April 22, 2009 under Management, Mindset, Service |
Straight and to-the-point, here are 10 things you can do right now to make sure you are on the path to a successful business – and if you’ve “heard it before”, then our question to you is, “Why aren’t you doing it?” Knowledge is not power. Knowledge is potential power. Here are 10 ways you can turn that knowledge into real power:
- Formulate, then write down, your goals and how you intend to achieve them. If you cannot state them clearly, you probably aren’t going to achieve them. “Clearly” means defining the metrics you will use to measure your progress. And be prepared to update and revise them as needed; unanticipated events may occur that will require you to change course.
- Learn to do as much as you can for yourself. It’s your business. One of the best ways to know how to manage an area is to have some first-hand experience in that area. You don’t have to master an area, but first-hand knowledge is irreplaceable, and will help you make better decisions when it does come time to hire someone or else outsource that to another partner. Just remember that there will come a day where you will need to have other people help you. But your first hand knowledge will give you greater awareness about what you are doing – and you might be able to help out in a pinch, too!
- Ask. Watch. Read. Think. Do. (…and usually in that order). Don’t substitute an “expert’s” opinion for your own good judgment. And don’t forget to regularly talk to your suppliers and partners; you will be surprised at what you will learn. And once you’ve learned it, be determined to creatively apply it to your own business (that’s what we help you do here, at AskABusinessGuy.com)
- Always keep some money in reserve. You never know where your next opportunity may come from, and it’s good to keep some cash in reserve to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. In many cases, it’s better to have “lost opportunity” than it is to have “lost Capital”.
- Any time is a good time to start a business. There is never a “good” or “right” time. There are always excellent reasons to NOT start a business.The time to start is when you are “ready-enough”. The time to start is NOW!
- It doesn’t take money to make money. It might “feel” a little easier, but don’t let that sidetrack you. Start from where you are with what you can afford, or feel comfortable risking. If you need something, can you partner with someone else to get it? Can you barter services for what you need? One of my clients has a 12-person company earning $1.5/yr, and they don’t pay for their accounting services. Instead, they trade some of their unused office space, and give them a deep discount (and in some cases – free) access to their services, in return.
- Don’t believe the naysayers who say you won’t be able to compete with the “big dogs”. Small companies are more flexible and nimble by nature, than the larger companies. Small companies are the creative and economic growth engines of virtually any economy. They make decisions, change directions, innovate, produce new products and services faster, and are better able to find and service the niche markets that tend to experience faster rates of growth. Find your niche and exploit it to the fullest!
- Be honest. With your customers. With your partners. With your employees. With those who support you. But most importantly, be honest with yourself.
- Don’t pass on spending money, if that purchase will improve your business. This might sound like the opposite of #4, but at some point you have to take your shot and move forward.
- Courage and perseverance, followed with humility and self-confidence, are very important traits for business owners. Using these to guide your decisions and relationships will establish a strong foundation upon which to build your business.
Anything we forgot? Let us know, below…
Posted by Chris on April 20, 2009 under Marketing Monday |
“You have to know your market…and the more specific, the better.”
But how do you get access to the market research you need, at a low cost or (better yet) for free?
Ask.
Ask your network. Post a poll on a social networking site like LinkedIn, Plaxo or Facebook. Twitter is a great application to get a quick “pulse” on a particular topic. For example, last July I wrote an article for The National Networker, discussing the results of a poll I posted on Plaxo and LinkedIn. As Social Media tools evolve, we will see even more specialized functionality being deployed; Twitpoll is a great example of one application that is specifically designed for polling the Twitter community on various topics.
But don’t neglect the power of face-to-face interaction. Here are several offline methods that can give you real results; depending your product or service, these may or may not work for you:
- Susan Smith (name changed) built a $5 Million weight loss business, with 10 locations and over 100 employees. She started by going to shopping centers, talking to people to find out what they needed, and convincing them to come to one of her centers for a trial.
- Is your gadget still in the prototype phase? Do a low-cost launch and get feedback from people online or demonstrate it at a local swap meet. People will be able to experience your product and give you direct feedback – without the expensive overhead of going to a trade show or hiring high-priced marketing consultants and focus groups.
- Not your style? A little more courageous? Check out Meetup.com and find local entrepreneurial groups in your area. Very often they will have an “open mic nite” where you can present you business and get feedback. And if there isn’t one in your local area, you just may be able to find someone who is “local” to you on the Internet; if not, you can always start a Meetup group in your area.
A strong favorite of ours, though, is to collaborate with local universities. Students get the opportunity to work with a real-world business, and you get the opportunity for new perspectives on your product or service. And you don’t have to just work with institutions close to you – virtually any school with business disciplines are candidates to help you. And they don’t need to be MBAs; many local community colleges are great sources of talented students who are eager for an opportunity.
Action Step:
Take one of your current products or services (or even a new one you might be working on) and write down 7 things you’d like to know about your market before launching it – color? pricing? branding? content? etc. Pick one online and one offline method of market research, implement within the next 24 hours and ask your questions. Give yourself at least 5 days to get a “quick reaction” from the people you are asking. Let us know your results and how it goes!
Posted by Chris on April 17, 2009 under Uncategorized |
Starting a business is a scary and an exciting thing, all at the same time. While you’re telling everyone that things are great and you’ve got a lot of interest from potential customers, you’re also wondering how you’re going to pay your mortgage or make payroll in two weeks. Sometimes it’s both.
How do we know this?
We see it everyday in our clients. It hasn’t changed since we started working with Entrepreneurs and Business Owners in the late ’80s, and it probably goes back a lot farther than that. And it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon.
There is a lot of widely available information to educate yourself on what it’s like to be an Entrepreneur or a Business Owner; we’re not going to try and replicate that here. This site is a place for you to come and take action, foster accountability (both individually and as part of a like-minded community) and see real, tangible results in your business.
Technological improvements have been driving down the costs and other barriers to starting a business for over 15 years! What you’ll find here is a combination of online and offline techniques, tactics and strategies you can use in your business. Very often, a hybrid approach is the best approach.
Bottom line: if you don’t see results using the information on this site (either from the blog or the paid subscription), let us know. We’d like the opportunity to fix it if we can. The blog posts will give you examples and ideas, but it will be up to you to implement them in your business.
For the record, we cannot run your business for you, nor take responsibility for your results. That’s your job. Our job is to share with you the experience, ideas and help of others. Also, while any ideas, information, figures, etc. shared here (by you or us) are considered appropriate for public consumption, we will change identifying information in what we share unless we have specific permission from that individual. We can never know your business as well as you do, nor are we ever counseling you to take specific action (whether online or in any interactive sessions). Only you are responsible for deciding what to implement, and how to implement it. What works for one person in one industry, might not work for another. Take what works and leave the rest for another time.
The best time to start or grow a company is NOW! So, let’s get started!
