How to Advertise your Brand on a Budget

Small businesses have a need for powerful advertising as much as any other business.

Exhibition stands have the power to enhance your image and make yourself visible to your target audience. Aside from introducing your products and services in an eye-catching and memorable way, smart exhibition stands can also help to generate sales leads.

Using exhibition stands

Whether it’s trade shows, shop stands or pop-up displays, Display advertising (phyiscally) is often a very effective route. Assuming you’ve hand-picked the right marketing events and conventions to engage your target audience that is. I also recommend you check out expressexhibitiondisplays.co.uk’s cheap exhibitions stands, they’re the price leader when it comes to quality display gear, definitely an excellent way to secure powerful advertising for your brand on a budget.

Trade shows

Trade shows offer a perfect opportunity to advertise your brand using attractive exhibition stands that don’t have to blow your budget. You can easily create a display that

Trade shows can be a very powerful marketing medium due to the fact that they bring thousands of potential customers directly to you. Consider what trade shows may be worth attending in your industry, and request media kits for each show so you can decide if it’s right for your brand.

Above all else, trade shows are a fantastic way to keep up with competitors and get your name out in circulation. It doesn’t have to cost the earth to get a fantastic display. Simply opt for a tablecloth and accessories that represent your brand’s image or match your brand’s colours, and this will help your exhibition stand to pop.

Pop-up displays

Another great way to make use of exhibition stands is pop-up displays. Whether on the street or in a shopping mall, brightly coloured and exciting displays attract immediate attention without the need for a big budget.

Consider implementing an interactive element in your display, such as a video playing on a loop, or a short PowerPoint presentation, which is something you can also promote on your social media channels. Less is more in this regard, so make sure that you use short, sharp bursts of text and colour. You don’t want to overload your audience with information, you just want your brand’s image to shine through and be memorable.

It’s a good idea to include pictures, bright colours and a snappy slogan – this makes your display easy to digest as potential customers are passing by.

Promoting your brand

An exhibition stand is fantastic when it comes to grabbing attention, but what to do once you have the attention you want? It’s important to be able to follow up on this by giving your potential customers something that will ensure they keep you in mind.

Promotional material such as flyers, business cards and even pens don’t cost much to produce and give you something to hand out to people who stop by your stand. Consider fun giveaway items too, such as magnets, postcards or even sweets. Anything that ensures your brand is remembered is positive.

Overall, you don’t need to spend a fortune to advertise your brand and ensure it stands out. The right exhibition display can be a powerful tool to help launch your brand and make it stick in the mind of the consumer.

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PR Metrics You Need to Share with your Team

The PR metrics that you should consider sharing with your team are based on the objectives of your business. PR is a tool for communication designed to help you meet your business objectives. Within PR, spending a significant amount of time on tracking metrics is necessary in order to communicate the value of this function.

Determining Metrics

Revenue is among the top metrics that require close monitoring along with others that can help you reach your full potential. When you measure PR efforts in an accurate and efficient manner, you are in a better position to link them directly to how your customers behave.
Technological advancements have made it easier for PR professionals to capture PR metrics that add value.
When considering which PR metrics to share, it is important to understand why PR is taking place. PR is an investment typically made to address the need to make your audience do something or react in a certain way.
Desired actions from customers range from making purchases to filling out forms. You may also want them to distribute your content or go to your site for information. Such activities will help you determine which PR metrics will be most valuable for you and your team. The metrics should have poor definition in order for you to be able to gauge the success of your business.

Revenue

Revenue is a value and data driven metric that needs to be visible. It is important for you to determine how you can stimulate growth that will lead to an increase in revenue. For businesses that engage in ecommerce, various campaigns can be useful to drive sales.
If you operate an online business, aspects such as content, social media and emails are essential. These efforts need measuring to find out the number of leads and conversions generated.
Online resources are available to help you know where your traffic is coming from as well as the likelihood of conversions. Invest in the resources that you need to monitor your public relations efforts and note how much revenue the business earns.

Sales Conversions and Leads

Some PR strategies focus on converting site visits into sales opportunities. PR campaigns have the potential to create an increase in sales conversions and leads. PR aim at showcasing brands positively and conveying the company’s area of expertise. Measuring leads is a good metric for PR efforts.

Mentions

Mentions indicate how many times your brand has had a referral it within a specified period. While some PR professionals may be skeptical about the value of mentions, the reality is that the number of mentions helps you know how effective your communication has been among influencers.

The impact of your activities on how often your brand gets a mention or trends is a useful way to track your PR results. It helps you understand how successful your messages are in comparison to your competitors.

Audience

Audience is an important metric that shows you how many people link to your brand. People such as visitors to your site, followers on social media platforms and subscribers to your blog let you know if you are on the right track. Monitoring the growth of your audience enables you to know if you are using the right strategies.

ROI

Return on investment or ROI is a valuable metric when determining PR success. It can often be challenging to calculate but it is necessary for establishing how PR benefits translate into business profits. Analytics software is usually the best way to keep track of ROI related metrics and measure PR effectiveness. Some PR platforms have built in reporting or analytics sections where data for such ROI calculations can be extracted. Other standalone analytics platforms such as PanXpan have specific modules that allow for ROI and PR effectiveness to be tracked. ROI can be tracked through measures such as CPM (cost per thousand reached), cost per conversion or the cost to generate a dollar in revenue.

Impressions

Impressions on social media are readily quantifiable when measuring how successful a PR campaign is. Links to websites and social media pages make it possible for users to interact regularly. This type of interaction provides PR professionals with the chance to measure their efforts in a timely and precise manner.

Impressions give insight into the number of times users view a particular message. They are important because they can create awareness.

Remember to Share

After defining your metrics and investing in the tools you need to measure them, it is important to share them with your team. Make sure that the set metrics are manageable and will add value to your organization. Metrics are a useful component of the learning process within an organization.

Communicate with other members of the team about the progress made. Progress should undergo regular review while sharing different experiences and challenges along the way.

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6 Tips on Small Business finance

As competition between business firms is on a constant rise, it has become more and more difficult to find capital for your small business. An organization’s access to more capital is a major discerning factor that separates it from the rest. Things have changed dramatically since the 2008 Global Depression and finance to small organizations is not that readily available as it used to. Read on for 6 Tips on Small Business finance.

Hence, there are several extra milers that business owners have to do in order to secure additional finance to expand their small businesses. This becomes even more difficult due to the lack of any performance history, which doesn’t work very well in the books of investors. If you are trying to elaborate your business and need extra capital, here are some tips that might be helpful in securing finance for your organization.

1. Personal Investment is the Key

You cannot hope to risk someone else’s investment, without risking your personal capital in the business. A finance partner will not show much interest unless they make sure that you have invested a significant amount of capital in the business. Nevertheless, it is almost impossible to get debt financing for a startup unless a valuable personal asset is kept as collateral. Try to maximize the amount of personal money invested in the business to stand a better chance of approval.

2. Be Specific about the Type of Finance You’re Looking For

While most of us know it already, it is common for people to be oblivious to the different types of finance models in the market. An applicant must be clear about the type of finance they require. Whether it is working capital finance or finance to buy new equipment, business owners must have a precise idea about the purpose and the amount of capital that is required.

3. Crowdfunding

One of the most popular ways to raise small capital in a small time is through Crowdfunding. The term Crowdfunding is a way to raise money through your social contacts like family, friends and others through the internet. Although, this is more of a short-term solution to your capital needs, it can definitely work when nothing else does. Sites like Kickstarter and FundRazr etc. can be accessed by people in order to raise some short term capital for their small projects and fresh startups.

4. Microloans

Even after you have invested a significant amount of capital, there might be a chance that financers might still not provide you with the capital you need. This might be due to the lack of any credit history and any prior experience. The best way to get an easy cash advance is by applying for a microloan. This is specifically for small businesses that need some additional working capital for their day to day expenses. The minimum amount for a microloan can be as low as $500 upto $35,000. Most microloan organizations have flexible and lenient criteria and don’t require a lot of documentation.

5. Clean Credit Record

It is already clear that investing in a new business is a risky affair for most financers and you do not want to ruin your chances by having a bad credit history. Most finance companies do a thorough background check on most investors and also check their credit scores. If the investors find too many discrepancies in your credit history and a low credit score, there are slim chances that they might invest in you. Keeping a good check on your credit scores and settling all the payments that might affect your history is always a good thing before seeking an investor.

6. Long-Term Planning

While there are countless ways of securing small finance, planning for long-term business is the key to success. Investors will often look at the longevity of your business plan rather than its uniqueness. Hence, determining the amount of capital needed based on your long term plans is always the best option.

Apart from these, there are several other ways like using your credit card and applying for a bank loan to get easy finance for your small organization. Nevertheless, it is always careful planning and limiting your expenses that will help secure additional capital for your business.

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3 Golden Rules of Developing Customer Loyalty on a Tight Budget

Every company clearly benefits from customer loyalty. However, your business may not have the millions of dollars that the leaders in your industry have to put towards endless layers of advertising to attract those customers. Fortunately, there are many ways that you can develop customer loyalty on a tight budget. Here are some of the top ways.

1 – Respond more quickly to customer queries than anyone in your industry

Social media, citation aggregation software and customer management software give you the ability to access everything that your customers say about you almost in real time. Never before have businesses been blessed with the ability to not only sell across oceans, but provide customer service across those same oceans without spending a great deal of money.

Nine out of every 10 people believe that companies have a responsibility to answer queries on Facebook. However, only one in four businesses actually does this. Is it any wonder that customer loyalty has dropped in the past 20 years? Use all of the information that have on your customers to create a great customer experience for each of them. From this kind of service, your business will certainly build and maintain more customer loyalty.

2 – Get to know your best customers

The Pareto rule, or the 80/20 rule of buying and selling, says that 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your customers. These 20 percent of customers are the ones who are most likely to become loyal if given the chance. However, you should know never to take anything for granted in the modern business landscape.

In order to convert the customers who are supposed to become loyal to your company, you need a consistent and wide-open two-way line of communication. This can be created through social media very easily; however, there is another level to this endeavor. Your loyal customers deserve personalized service, and no matter how small your budget may be, you can definitely afford to give it to them. Maintaining a customer costs a business around 15 percent of what it takes to build a relationship with a brand-new customer.

Hold events and contests for your best customers. If you are having a sale, incorporate location-based technology and opt in demographic lists so that your best customers truly have the first opportunity to take you up on your offers.

3 – Create programs that naturally develop customer loyalty

The first program that you can incorporate into your business is a product that requires customer loyalty. If you constantly have iterations and improvements on your product, then people will be inclined to come back for more. This is one of the basic tenants of the automobile industry – the best brands are the ones that are always announcing new features for next year’s model. For instance, if you have a product that requires listening, incorporating closed captioning services into the product is a great way to engender customer loyalty.

Aside from having products that are consistently being improved, you can also create programs that will help to engage your customer base. For instance, getting involved in the communities of your good customers is a great way to keep them engaged with your business. This does not have to be a physical location; it can very easily be an online community as well. This is why message boards and niche forums are actually more important for a small business than the major three search engines.

If your business gets involved with a charity, this is another way to ensure that you will always have customers will rally to your cause. Even if you end up giving a great deal of money away, you must consider that you would not have brought in this money if you did not have the offer in the first place. In many cases, doing business with a charity ends up being more profitable for both ends. Never mistake the nonprofit industry for an unprofitable industry – there is definitely a great deal of money being made that you can pick up on.

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5 Tips for Managing Small Business Finances

Professional financial management is essential for the success of any business that is just getting on its feet. Money matters are very crucial since the entire basis of the business is to generate an income. Many small business owners often fail to invest in this crucial part of their business and tend to make losses or end up shutting down altogether. The following are some of the essentials of money management in business:

Open a commercial bank account

Every business should have recognition as an entity on its own. Therefore, you need to open a commercial bank account with the registered name of your business. Do not mix business money with personal money. Choose a small business friendly bank to bank with. You should deposit all the money from the business to this account. This creates a line of credit whereby you can use this bank account to get loans and other forms of financing if need be.

Bookkeeping

Proper bookkeeping is also very essential. You can either do the bookkeeping or hire an accountant. Even if you choose to do the book keeping by yourself, you still need professional help- when it comes to making tax forms and end year financial statements. You can keep your own books using convenient computer software that makes your work much easier, simply filling in the figures and letting the software do the rest. You can use this software to create invoices, keep track of payable and receivable accounts and track spending as well.

Create and track different payment options

Nowadays, customers can pay for goods and services through so many different ways. They can use checks, debit cards, credit cards or even electronic cash transfer. As a matter of convenience to your clients, you need to avail these different means of payment and track these payments as well. Cash payments are easy because there is no processing time, but when it comes to cards and electronic transfer methods, you need to develop a working system that enables continuous flow of business considering the processing time.

Establish payment terms

You need to have a clear payment terms policy that all your customers and adhere to. One of the crippling challenges that most small businesses face is the friendliness that comes from dealing with a small market and this leads to extending credit to customers who are not worth it. You need to standardize the way customers pay while still offering some form of flexibility to customers who cannot front the full payment. Have written payment terms describing deposits, instalment payments and credit extensions.

Debt collection

One of the necessary evils of running a business is debt collection. When you extend lines of credit to customers, there is always the risk that you will receive late payment or not receive any at all. It is essential to chase these payments because they are a part of the business cash flow. Debt collection is a legal process and you can hire a debt collection professional to help you collect payments from delinquent clients. It is advisable to keep the lines of communication with the customer open. Have a specific set of days after which to call a debt collector. For most businesses, 90 days is an acceptable grace period.

To know more about small business finances, visit – http://leasequit.com/.

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Online Business Data Tools for Small Business

Growth and traction are among the primary goals of any startup, along with raising brand awareness and loyalty. For any business to take a sustainable path to growth, entrepreneurs will need to make decisions that will affect various factors like product lifecycle, human resources, marketing, and others. To ensure positive impact, these decisions will need to be based on data.

Why Make Decisions Based on Data

Data driven decisions help your business by ensuring you’re working toward continuous improvement, meeting accountability requirements, focusing your efforts and monitoring progress, and developing a sense of community through your organization.

Every business has to start with a plan. And no matter how well thought out and executed that plan may be, it will likely deviate from what you expected. You’ll need to use the data you’ve collected from your operations or customers to make educated changes to the plan, to make sure your business stays on the right track to growth and success.

The data will help you see how well you’re meeting goals, keeping you accountable. You’ll be able to use it to set new goals once you’ve reached the first ones you established. And when everyone works together as a team to use the data to move the business forward, you’ll foster community with the staff.

How to Incorporate Data in Your Decision Making

First, determine what it is you want to know. Data can be used to determine a lot of information about a business, for instance:

How are customers responding to our sales and marketing campaigns?
Which employee is bringing in the most sales?
Which customers are giving the most value?

Next, determine which data you’ll need to get the answers you’re looking for. This can be anything from web analytics to CRM data.

From there, collect the data. The more sources of data you have at your disposal, the better informed your decisions can be.

Gather insights. Look at the data to determine answers to your questions. Look at all the data you have available to discover what other information it provides, and keep it in mind for making other decisions as they arise. For example, your web analytics data can tell you how long people are spending on your website, where they spend most of the time, and the path they take through your site. If bounce rates are high, or if conversions are less than ideal, it could mean you need to further optimize your web copy, navigation, layout or other elements.

The final step is to use the data to make recommendations/decisions. Once you determine which employee brings in the most sales, for instance, you could decide to reward his or her efforts. Once you find out who your most valuable customers are, you could reward them with a special discount or promotion to encourage more sales, or to encourage word-of-mouth marketing from them.

Tools for Acquiring Data

Many tools for data acquisition are now available as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product, which means these are accessible enough for small businesses, but scalable enough to accommodate growth. Here are a few notable examples.

Cyfe is a social media analytics tool and business dashboard that allows you to examine your audience from a variety of channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to see what’s going on with your outreach and engagement activities. With the available data, you can then determine whether or not changes need to be made to your strategy and campaigns.

NetBiscuits is an analytics platform designed to help marketers and web developers improve their channels for multi-screen devices. It detects the device, and then displays analytics data for each – so marketers can see how well their website is performing on a desktop/laptop compared to a smartphone or even a smart-TV. The platform also allows marketers to ensure the right content is delivered to the right device to improve the user experience.

Google Analytics is a free, robust web analytics tool that allows you to track a variety of metrics. Find out where people are coming to your website from (so you can spend your marketing budget wisely), what page they’re leaving your website from, how long they’re staying on each page, how many people are converting (you can set custom conversion goals), and how well your AdWords campaigns are working (analytics for that can be integrated), and more.

Cooladata is a data powerhouse. It allows you to see data for nearly any business question you want to ask, giving you the power to really harness the data. Keep a close eye on key performance indicators (KPIs), segment your audience, analyze your sales funnel, and more.

Where to Apply Data Driven Decisions

Social media can tell you a lot about how customers are responding to your business. You can gather data about who’s talking about your products and services, who’s interested in what you have for sale, who’s not interested, who’s had a positive experience with your company, who has had a negative experience with your company, and more.

Email marketing is a wonderful way to reach current and new customers. Data about how many subscribers you have, how many people unsubscribe, how many people open your messages and click through to the websites you link in them is critical to learning how to adjust your campaigns. With data, you can determine the best day of the week or time of the day to send your messages. Data can also help you optimize email subject lines to attract more opens or clicks. You can also optimize frequency and the types of messaging, in order to improve conversions.

Customer service is key to the success of your business. After all, 86% of customers will leave a business, based on bad customer service experience, and 54% will share a bad customer service experience, compared to 33% who share a good one. Data about the customer service experience will help you see what’s working, and what’s not, so you can find ways to improve your customer service.

Conclusion

In the end, data-driven decisions have the power to propel your business. Ignoring the data – or failing to collect it in the first place – has the potential to sink your business. Why not use data to your advantage? If the big corporations do it, small businesses can, too.

(Image Credit: 1,2)

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Are You a Potential Microfinance Ireland Client?

Michael Johnston explains what a typical microfinance Ireland client looks like. They are the mum and pap, the normal, every day life business. The core of the (rural) Irish economy. Nearly everyone really.

You can apply here for a loan http://microfinanceireland.ie/how-to-apply/

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Seven Accounting Formulas Every Business Owner Should Know

In today’s highly competitive business world, not all math wizards have what it takes run an enterprise, Likewise, not all business owners can be expected to be accounting experts. However, quite a few entrepreneurs believe that their business efforts will be more productive if they are in control of their company’s accounting.

Business owners who have taken accounting courses, or who have some level of bookkeeping experience, will generally feel comfortable running their own books as long as their enterprise does not grow too fast. There may come a time when managing a business while also keeping its books may be too much for one person to handle, but being able to look at financial statements from an accounting point of view is something that all business owners should be able to do.

The following seven equations and formulas are essential knowledge for all business owners, not only those who want to be their own accountants. Versions of these calculations are usually found in business plans as forecasts and projections; in their most basic forms, these formulas can show just how viable a business is at any given time.

Seven Accounting Formulas

1 – Net Income

How much money does a company really make? A popular business adage is that it takes money to make money, which means that expenses must be subtracted from revenues for the purpose of calculating just how profitable a company is a at any given time. In other words, net income = revenue – expenses, and the result of this calculation must be positive in order to show profit.

2 – Cash Ratio

How much cash are is a business supposed to have in its register or operating account? This is a simple calculation: cash / liabilities = cash ratio. The cash part is easy to determine since it consists of the currency plus any investments that can be readily converted into cash. The liabilities are any debts currently in effect.

3 – Business Assets

Business ownership is typically expressed as a percentage of equity. When the general liability of a business is added to the equity that the owner holds, the result represents the assets of a business. Thus, equity held by owner + business liability = business assets. Please note that since liabilities are usually expressed as negatives, and thus this equation is actually a subtraction most of the time.

4 – Breakeven Point

How much does a business need to sell or produce in order to cover the costs of running the company? Basically, fixed costs / variable cost per unit = breakeven point. Fixed costs may range from employee salaries to lease payments, tolls, monthly loan obligations, etc. This is an equation that can be easily calculated with a Business Process Management Software (BPMS) solution, which is strongly recommended for company owners who wish to manage their businesses efficiently.

5 – Profit Margin

Calculating net income is only the beginning when trying to determine the viability of a business. The profit margin is a much better indicator of the health of an enterprise. Essentially, net income / sales = profit margin, but here’s a better example: Let’s say a restaurant holding company owns three pizzerias that together produced $1 million in sales and $100,000 in net income; this implies a 10 percent profit margin, which is low for the specific industry.

6 – Cost of Goods Sold

This formula does not apply too much to business owners that provide services; it is mostly for manufacturers, distributors and some retailers. Cost of materials – cost of outputs = cost of goods sold, which can illustrate if the materials acquired and the manufacturing or distribution efforts are in line with the revenue earned.

7 – Debt-to-Equity

This is a calculation that is used when commercial loans are sought by a business owner. Total liabilities / total equity = debt-to-equity. To obtain the ratio as a percentage, multiply by 100.

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Making Money is Killing Your Business

I am a huge fan of the German approach to business. The mittlestand, family businesses that are homegrown, anchored in the locality, with a long term multi generational perspective, focused on creating wealth. Particularly “Hidden champions” opened my eyes.

So I was very taken with “Making money is killing your business”.

Time to grow up

It is time for a lot of business owners to grow up. It is time for businesses to grow up. Chuck Blakeman has an interesting perspective on start ups and small business. Too many do not grow up and you have created your own job, not your own business.

The tyranny of the urgent

He refers to it as the tyranny of the urgent versus the priority of the important.

Urgent is reactive, short term and defensive and is the treadmill of making money. Important is proactive and long term. It is about making money versus building a business.

Wealth

It comes down to the definition of wealth, which is the ability to choose what do with your time and your money. Can you?

Are you the main producer/deliverer by choice or necessity?
Does the business make money when you are somewhere else?
Are you making decision based on where you are, or where you want to be?

Chuck blames the focus on exit and selling your business. In his view that is similar to selling your children. Why would you invest all that love, time and passion to sell it off, instead of creating an ongoing stream of long term wealth?

Time and money are at a premium

Gallup research tells that the average business owners work 52 hours a week (hose are the lazy or lucky ones). They work 6 days a week, some have zero vacation and when they do over 50% still answer work related e-mails and calls. Only 3% of business owners create 86% of the revenue in the USA. So time and money are at a premium. How can you earn more money in less time?

Are you on the treadmill?

According to Blakeman there are seven stages of business

Stage 1 Concept and start up
the trick here is to move as quick as possible from dreaming to doing. Dreaming includes thinking, researching and planning. The number one indication of success is the speed of execution.

Stage 2 Survival
you have burned a lot of fuel, time is grinding, sales are difficult and you are focused on making money. You are now on treadmill of urgent.

Stage 3 Subsistence
you can pay your bills and are making money. There is little time to relax and your focus is on keeping it going. If you don’t watch it you are back in stage 2.

Stage 4 Stability
you are making a net profit and you have freedom money to spend. You can choose what you can do with your money. Time is still a big issue. You have created yourself a well paid job. You are an employee of yourself. An hostage to your own business.

Stage 1 to 4 are treadmills. You focused on the wrong question, which is “How do I make money”. Making money is NOT an empowering vision.

You need to get off the business treadmill!

The basics of a mature business are that you are not the main producer and it makes money when you are not there. Which moves us to stage 5 to 7.

Stage 5 Success
you have shifted your mindset to building a business versus building a job. You are moving from production to process. This is where Chuck introduces “freedom mapping”, which is a version of process mapping that brings clarity to what people are supposed to do and how it fits into the overall customer delivery process. It makes things consistent, repeatable and replicable.

Stage 6 Significance
you role has shifted to becoming a leader and you are less and less involved in direct delivery and production. You business is starting to make an impact. You are free. However, leadership is in place, leadership is not in charge. It is vision and guidance, which means you still need to keep an eye on the business and guide management.

Which brings you to the last stage. Stage 7 Succession. This is where leadership is in charge and you have ingrained a culture that embraces you vision. Only vision. You are truly free.

The key question

What is stopping you to get to stage 7? Chuck thinks it is only one reason. You are not asking the right question. How do you build a mature business and when do I want to get there?

What do you need to do?

It is very simple. Intentionality. Make the decision, put a date on it and go public. Going public changes everything (the Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed).

As a business owner you owe to yourself to try. Why would you not? How could you not? Particularly if you know that retirement as we know it now is bankrupt. Create your own retirement on your own terms.

Pick a date. You now have a clock ticking in your head. Define what does your business look like at maturity. Consider your lifetime goals (why, why, why, what is the transformative purpose). Consider the time and money required to create your ideal lifestyle.

More money, less time

Now back to basics I. More money in less time. How to increase revenue and continually reduce time to bring in that revenue.

The freedom questions

Is this (whatever you are doing right now), the best use of your time? If this is not the highest and best use of your time, how do you ensure you do it for the last time? Those two questions need to be asked constantly in all parts of the business. Parts such as leadership, business development, operation and delivery, financial management, customer and employee satisfaction and to community and family impact.

Systems and processes are the key. What is your yield per hour now? What should it be? Do the activities you are involved with now, warrant the yield per hour you want?

Back to basics II

Back to the big why. Why are doing this? Why do you matter? Why does your business matter? Why is it significant? What do you want to be remembered by? Purpose and passion. Using time, money and energy to create significance. Every book on strategy we covered on Bookbuzz always boils down to that question. See http://www.bookbuzz.biz/the-strategist/ for example.

You then need a strategic plan. You don’t need a business plan. Chuck is not a fan of business plans. Planning does not create, movement does. And the size of commitment to the intent. Straight from Do! by Kevin Kelly . Develop a two page strategic plan with key milestones and with an action plan attached. You review that strategic plan every day. You need to be able to recite that plan verbatim any time, any place within a maximum of 3 minutes. In the meantime the business maturity date is ticking in the background……

You need then set of outside eyes. A group of mentors. An advisory board. Make sure you are not alone.

In the book Chuck Blakeman gives a wide range of toolsets to figure out your lifetime goals, strategic plan, your leadership profile, etc. But the most important tool is the freedom mapping. Your franchise handbook. Your process descriptions. If you do one thing, do that. Map your overall business process and then break it down.

Stop playing office

Build a business engine. Create wealth, not money. Become a master of your own destiny. Become intentional, set the date, tell the world and move.

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Small Business Secrets: Technologies To Invest In

Almost every business today, whether large or small can see the amazing effects the right technology has on total revenue. Many of today’s customers relate well to technology whether utilized for marketing and advertising, bill paying, or communicating. Although it may seem expensive to invest in at times, the initial cost of better technology will reap dividends in the future. These four options are among the best types of technology for small businesses to invest in now.

Small Business Secrets

Accounting Software

Although most large businesses have their own accounting staff or hire out for their accounting needs, small businesses don’t have the capital to invest in such large services. In addition, many small business owners, while having what it takes to run their businesses, may not have the financial knowledge it takes to keep detailed books, do end of year taxes, or payroll. Accounting software doesn’t require a large financial investment, but instead decreases the amount of time spent doing the books each week.

Cloud Storage

Speaking of online programs, a smart choice small businesses can make is to store company information in a digital cloud. While many companies have recognized the importance of changing their filing systems from paper to digital, this process can become even safer by using an online cloud. The cloud safely stores any information in a variety of off-site servers, ensuring that if anything happens to the business’s on-site computer systems the information remains safe on the cloud.

Company Website

A company website is vital in today’s marketplace, since most customers will turn to online browsing to find products or services. A website is often the first introduction consumers have to a business. Small businesses should either invest in a premium website building service, or hire an IT services company to build a unique website that includes search engine optimization. The best websites catch the eye, show up in the top search engine results, and include a blog and social media links. SEO services will help you connect with more business for an investment that’s well worth the cost.

Online Security

As with any part of your company, data and information need to be kept stored and secure. Your website and online programs that will launch you into the modern world will need to be refined with better security. A good option is to outsource here as well to IT services like the Bedrock managed services in Ottawa who work with local businesses to protect websites and programs against outside attacks. You should also consider getting new anti-spam and malware services.

Each of these technologies will take a substantial amount of money and time for any business to set up initially, and learn how to use. But because these services will save employee time and be cost-effective overall, they are each well worth the investment. As information technology and online services boom, businesses of all sizes must keep up in order to retain current clients and gain new customers.

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