When I started in business, I didn’t realize the importance of wearing many hats, but today, I totally get it! Whether working the books, or working the sales, or likely working both simultaneously, one thing remains true: Your time is a valuable commodity and must be protected.
Great customer service isn’t just about keeping your customers satisfied. It’s about making them love you so much that they would never dream of going elsewhere.
How do you know when your company has “made it”? What are the signs that your startup has officially become viable? Or your viable startup has become a mature company? Or your mature company has become the business you always dreamed it could be? You can check metrics, of course. Revenue and profit curves, contract renewals, employee retention and other hard data will quickly reveal if a business is a success by traditional standards.
As the U.S. job market springs back to life, small businesses may have a hard time holding on to their best and brightest employees. Those employees may start getting job offers elsewhere or, worse, start actively seeking out new employment opportunities. How can you keep your star employees happy and situated, when there may be temptations to leave?
The number one rule in real estate is location, location, location, and this is especially true for small businesses. Whether you’re looking to open a new store, or moving to a different city, the site you select can either make or break your business. The Small Business Administration (SBA) says choosing a location is perhaps the most important decision a small business owner will make, and that finding an optimal location takes planning and research. To ensure you choose the best venue for your business, avoid making these five common mistakes:
If the best things in life are free why not give your customer the best thing for free? It won’t cost you a dime and it’s likely to encourage your customer’s loyalty. “It” is a smile—a genuine smile. The keyword is “genuine” and we’ll get to that in a moment. I recently read an article in my hometown newspaper about a barber who celebrated 40 years in business. When the reporter asked Cosmo Panetta the secret to his business longevity he said, “The main thing is when a customer comes through the door, you have to smile at them…make sure when they walk out of the door they say, ‘Man, I feel great!’”
If you’re an entrepreneur—or an aspiring one—you’re probably getting a ton of solicited (and unsolicited) advice on how to create your business, grow your business, hire for your business, market your business, finance your business, tax your business, and on and on. As an entrepreneur myself, I love the “how tos” and the “five tips for” and the “make sure yous”—so much so that I share my own with you here! But what I really need to keep myself motivated, curious, and constantly growing is to make sure that within all that practical advice, I stay inspired. So, this week I’m bringing you five of my favorite TED talks. The speakers all come from different backgrounds and address all sorts of themes and issues, but each has inspired me to approach my life, work, and community with a whole new perspective—and that’s been the source of some of my most successful business ideas.
We live in a Golden Age of apps. There’s no end of apps for our smartphones that can improve our lives, whether it’s keeping us entertained on the bus or improving our day-to-day health. There’s also no end of apps that can make a major impact on your small business. Here our ten essential apps we think you should get to help streamline everything from business trips to keeping track of your expenses.
Opening your own business is an exhilarating undertaking made even more exciting if you’re successful. No matter how skilled a business person you are, venturing into stagnating or dwindling industries makes it more likely that your business will be one of the50 percent that fails within the first five years. Help ensure your success by steering clear of these likely-to-fail businesses.
“Do you hire stupid people or people you don’t like?” Imagine the astonished reactions when that question was posed to a group of Estes Valley business leaders who gathered for a roundtable discussion, “How to Enlist Employees as Brand Champions.”