Great Place to Start a Business

If a person has the idea, the nerve and the cash, Colorado Springs is not a bad place to start a small business.
In fact, Colorado Springs earned an A+ in a recent survey of business owners who gave the city high marks for not having a lot of red tape.
Experts who counsel small-business owners say there has been an uptick in the number of new small businesses, especially service businesses. Enrollment in Pikes Peak Library District business classes has doubled in the past year. And the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance celebrated 59 small-business ribbon cuttings last year, with 12 more already on the books in 2013.
“It’s a very easy process here when it comes to getting what you need,” said Heather Rickerl, who recently opened Springs Garage Cuts, a male hair salon, with her business partner Angel Landis.
The cosmetologists were working for a large chain salon and had been toying with the idea of opening their own shop. One day after a company meeting, they walked out and said: “Let’s do it.”
That was June. In two months they found a location, got the proper licenses, remodeled the 850-square-foot shop at 23 E. Kiowa St. and opened for business. It’s a sweet spot to cater to the downtown businessmen, Rickerl said.
“I was excited and nervous,” she said. “And six months later, I’m still excited and nervous. I’ve got a mortgage and a car payment and I’ve always made a pretty good income. But, we thought if we don’t do it, we won’t find out if we can.”
Starting a small business in the Springs might be hassle-free as far as the regulations go, but it still is risky, experts say, and careful planning is the key to survival.
The way Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center consultant Steve Inke sees it, there are five things an enterprising small business owner needs to be successful: access to capital, business acumen, energy, industry knowledge — and a great idea.
“People are starting more service-based businesses,” he said. “They are less capital-intensive and require fewer regulatory hurdles.”

Information is gold

Inke cannot be sure if there is more or less red tape in Colorado Springs than in other cities, he said. Instead, he credits information as the key to small-business startup success. There are a number of organizations, from SCORE to the SBDC to the Colorado Springs Technology Incubator, all with the express goal of providing information to those who want to take the plunge into small-business startup.
“We have an immense amount of information through tools that makes it better to do requisite research to be better in the business endeavor,” Inke said. “I think the principal reason we are more business-friendly in Colorado Springs is the access to information that is provided to us from the Pikes Peak Library District.”
One hour with PPLD business services librarian Terry Zarsky will either scare the bejesus out of would-be business owners or prepare them for the risk they are about to take.
Zarsky’s mantra is clear: “Businesses don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.”
Prospective entrepreneurs who research their competition and the market have a better chance of survival, she said.
“Some people find out they don’t have the best idea — that maybe the market is oversaturated,” Zarsky said. “They find out there are already five businesses doing the same thing and that people are not spending more than the national average on the product or service.”
The library has a database, called Business Decision, which can run up to 29 reports on such things as market segment profiles, census information, disposable income and retail expenditures. Similar reports from market research companies can cost from $125 to thousands, she said.
Those reports can tell an aspiring business owner how much money people in a census tract spend on VCR and DVD players — important if your business idea is an electronics store, she said.
“This is a gold mine,” Zarsky said. “No business should operate without this information.”

Beyond the research

After the research and close study of the numbers and demographics, you’re either in or out, said Casey Bentzel, who opened Karma Therapeutics, a business that specializes in deep-tissue and couples massage, with business partner Megan Moriarty in November.
“While I was in (IntelliTec Medical Institute) I learned Colorado Springs is overflowing with massage therapists — there are four schools that teach it,” Bentzel said. “But we were also told that massage therapy is very personal and once a person finds someone they love, they stick with them.”
Bentzel and Moriarty felt confident that once clients tried their services, they would come back.
“By the end of December, our schedules were already completely full,” Bentzel said. “We decided we needed to bring in an additional therapist.”
In April, Karma Therapeutics will move to a new location, 6770 Foxtrot Lane at Woodmen and Black Forest roads on the city’s northeast edge, which more than doubles their current space and includes a yoga studio.
“Initially, I really didn’t expect to be as busy as we are,” Bentzel said. “I was awed by it all. The move is going to be a great thing in our ability to offer more services.”

Checklist for starting a small business

Do you have the money for startup and initial operating expenses?
Have you decided on a legal structure? Have you picked a name and registered the business with the city, state and or federal agencies?
Are you aware of the personal and business tax implications?
Have you defined the products or services you will provide? Is there a need for what you will provide in today’s marketplace?
Have you developed a financial plan, including profit and loss projections? Have you developed a sound business plan, with goals and objectives?
If you have employees, you must open federal, state, and local wage withholding and payroll tax accounts.
If your business will be selling, renting or leasing tangible personal property, you must obtain the proper state sales tax license from the Department of Revenue and determine if a separate local sales tax license is required.
Source:Colorado Springs Business Journal

Swimming Business Booming

Pikes Peak Athletics

Owners: Anna and George Heidinger
Website: pikespeakathletics.com
Anna Heidinger cannot recall the exact moment she fell in love with swimming, but it has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.
She took her first swim lesson when she was 4, set records at Cheyenne Mountain High School and then swam Division 1 in college. She met her future husband, George Heidinger on a pool deck where they were coaching.
Swimming has been their lives, their passion. And now it’s their business.
In summer 2011, they opened Pikes Peak Athletics to teach and coach swimmers from beginners to adult competitive swimmers. One moment they’re teaching a 67-year-old woman who is afraid of water to float. Another moment they will coach their masters swimmers to state champion victory.
“It takes a lot of energy, but that is what is fun about it,” Anna said.
This summer they expect to triple swim lesson enrollment to 900 — growing their program almost entirely by word-of-mouth. When they started in June 2011, they rented time in one pool and had three swimmers. Now they have three pool sites — Country Club of Colorado, the Olympic Training Center and the Club at Flying Horse — with more time slots available and a 15-member staff to teach lessons and coach 50 youth competitive swimmers and 60 adult competitive swimmers.
“It’s a big range — some people swim for fitness, some swim because they are competing in triathlons and some are in the masters,” Anna said.
Swim clubs and colleges around the country wanted the swim-coaching duo. Anna and George have been offered many coaching jobs. But there hasn’t been one good enough to woo them from Colorado Springs. And instead of working for someone else, they became their own bosses.
“We love it,” Anna said. “I’m very happy that we picked something we love.”
Anna grew up in the Springs and was a four-time Colorado State High School swimmer of the year and qualified for the Olympic trials in 2000, 2004 and 2008. She also was the assistant men’s and women’s swimming coach at the University of Denver. George had the swim coach bug since age 15 and went on to serve as camp coordinator in stroke technique camps at Carnegie Mellon University. He has been a coach for the Allegheny Mountain Zones All-Star team three times and worked with athletes who went on to excel in college swimming programs.
There really is no other profession they can imagine as they spend six days a week in and around the pool.
“Our rewards come when we see technical development based on fundamentals that set up long-term training and competition success,” George said.

Swim lessons

Anna thinks her mother was nervous around water so she sent all four of her children to swim lessons. Turns out all four children loved swimming and swam their way through college in Division 1. Anna’s oldest brother still holds a Cheyenne Mountain High School record. Some of Anna’s state swimming records were broken by Missy Franklin, a four-time Olympic gold medalist.
“If your record has to be broken it might as well be by an Olympian,” she said.
Not every kid wants to swim competitively, Anna said. But most of them want to learn to swim. The Heidingers’ special coaching qualities are knowing when kids are in it for fun and when they want to take it to the next level.
George has a way of connecting with swimmers, explaining the hows and whys of certain techniques. Anna has a soft voice but can be stern, pushing swimmers to their goals.
“One of our core values is we have a passion for the whole person,” Anna said. “To be a good coach, you have to understand there are other things going on in their lives.”
Part of their philosophy is to keep a low coach-to-swimmer ratio and spend time on stroke instruction, calisthenics, strength and conditioning, and cardiovascular training. They pay more for their instructors and want them to be at least college-aged. But they want to keep lessons affordable: $58 for four swimming lessons, $35 for private lessons, $65 a month for USA Swim Club and $40 a month for masters.
“I love working with families and giving kids something to strive for — to be better,” Anna said.
Source: Colorado Springs Business Journal

How to Hire the Best Employees

Hiring the wrong person can be disastrous for a small company. So, it’s critical that you get it right. It’s always a big moment when a small business owner hires their first employee. Having an extra pair of hands can help your business to really grow and, by taking some of the everyday tasks off you, enable you to re-focus on what you do best, whether that’s making sales, developing new ideas or working with your customers.
But, hiring the wrong person can be disastrous for a small company. So, it’s critical that you get it right. Here are five tips on how to ensure you hire the right person.
Who’s your ideal candidate?
Once you’ve written your job description detailing what the employee will do, compile a list of attributes the perfect employee would have. Don’t worry about setting the bar too high –after all, how will you be able to judge the applicants unless you know what you’re looking for in an ideal candidate?
Personality = performance.
Whatever experience or qualifications you might think a candidate must have to perform the role in fact often aren’t that important in how well they do the job. A person’s character is a much bigger factor in their performance than whether they have a college degree or know how to use a particular computer program. In a small business it’s their personality and attitude that will make the difference: are they a self-starter, how do they interact with customers, are they willing to roll up their sleeves and do anything that’s required, and how well do they cope under pressure. To help you pick the person with the right traits, ask candidates to tell you how in their previous jobs they have shown the attributes you’re looking for: how did they deal with an angry customer, or what did they do when there was an emergency and the boss was away, for example.
Promote yourself as a good employer.
Your small firm is unlikely to be able to compete with the salaries or promotion prospects that bigger companies can offer, so you will need to be imaginative to attract the best candidates. Start by asking yourself: why would I want to work for me? Some people prefer to work for small firms, because they don’t like to feel they’re a small cog in a big machine; they enjoy working in a little team and may not be too worried about having a structured career path providing they are offered the prospect of increasing responsibility as your company expands. As a small business owner, it’s just as important for you to sell the idea of working for your firm to a good candidate as it is for that person to make a favorable impression on you.
Offer interesting perks.
You will need to provide attractive benefits to lure the best candidates, though your budget may not stretch to medical insurance or an end-of-year bonus. But the perks you offer needn’t cost that much: they could be flexible working hours or getting your birthday off every year. Or why not give them something that appeals to their personal passions or pastimes? Perhaps a family pass to an amusement park, or tickets to a big baseball game. They might appreciate that more than a check, because it shows you’ve really thought about it. You want to make the ideal candidate think: “This is a company I really want to work for.”
Get it down on paper.
One of the hardest aspects of being a first-time boss is making the mental shift from working on your own to being an employer. That’s why it’s important to start off properly, even if you plan to have only one employee for the foreseeable future. That means drawing up a contract for your employee to sign, which sets out clearly what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. You are potentially vulnerable if something goes wrong and there isn’t a written employment agreement between you, even if your employee is a friend or family member who helps you for a few hours each week.
By Hiscox

Finding Suppliers in China

If you're making a product for sale, then the specific cost of manufacturing of that product will make all the difference to your bottom line. It's no secret that Chinese manufacturing can deliver a wide variety of products are very competitive rates.

If this is your first foray into the world of outsourcing manufacturing to China, you need a smart approach. Sourcing from China comes with its own set of challenges that need to be overcome. Here's how to not make it a problem.

Determine Your Needs

Sure, you know what you want to make but in China there are different approaches to each manufacturing contract. Basically there are big corporations that will take on the job or farm it out to a 3^rd party vendor. As a small business owner, you might want to seek out the smaller family owned business for the startup. This type of company will probably be in a better position to provide you with direct access and support. You will avoid the markup when a larger manufacturer subcontracts out your job.

Research All Angles

Before you book your first flight to China, you'll want to do a lot of research. Build up a database of potential manufacturers by searching trade directories, chamber of commerce listings in China, Export Development Corporations or business associations. This can happen when you research comparable products to yours online. You'll start seeing some of the same company names popping up. Clearly these are the dependable factories. They should be your first stop.

Pick Your Top 15 Suppliers

Once you've put a list together, start making calls or sending out emails to set up relationships. You'll want to find out all the costs associated in hiring this company from raw materials to transportation. Make a list of questions that you'll be asking of all of your suppliers and then you'll be able to narrow down the list to your top 15. These you might want to visit in person to make sure they can handle the job. It's going to take time to find the best fit for your company's needs but you're better off exhausting all the possibilities before firing up the assembly lines. Do not put your entire manufacturing assembly line on one company. Spread the work between two or three companies depending on your volume of work.

Get a Local Guide

If you are traveling to China you'll definitely want to find a local business representative to help show you around. Hopefully, this will be someone who comes highly recommended and who you've set up arrangements with before landing. The best guides are usually the government trade representatives between your country and China. You don't want to ask around at the airport for a guide!

Business Owner Skills

As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to balance the diverse set of skills needed to maintain a successful company. Whether your business is a law firm, flower shop, or construction company, basic principles like setting appropriate goals, managing money well, and keeping your integrity always apply. Here are six skills that you should constantly strive to improve upon as a business owner. As you read, ask yourself which skills you’re maintaining well and which ones you might be neglecting.
1. Organization and Time Management: Time management is essential to productivity throughout your day and the workweek. Organization and effective work habits are key, and this can be especially challenging for startup founders who are not used to making their own schedules. Faithfully keeping a calendar — especially an online version that syncs between your computer and smartphone — can help. Taking the time to get organized and stay organized will save you headaches in the long run.
2. The Ability to Lead Others: A business is like a team: a group of people working together toward a common goal. If you manage employees, getting in “head coach” mode is essential. The members of your team need to be inspired and motivated, and they must receive constructive criticism from their leader.
The first step to becoming a good leader is to simply get to know your personnel. What are their special talents? Maintaining an active interest in your employees will help you place them in the situations and roles to which they are best suited. Conveying your passion and work ethic will boost company morale enormously. It’s also important to learn how to provide good criticism and how to say “thank you” and mean it. Becoming a good leader is a process, and it’s something you should actively pursue on a daily basis.
3. A Constant Desire to Learn: In the evolving landscape of technology and social communication, a business owner can never stop learning. Businesses change, people change, and needs change, so you will have to change, too. Continually educate yourself on the latest technology, business models, and marketing channels so you’re always one step ahead. By keeping an open mind to new approaches, you will be prepared to adapt to keep your business relevant and profitable.
One way to not only adapt, but to stay profitable from year to year, is to have a proper understanding of financial reporting. Every business owner needs to know “how to play the game of business,” and knowing how to read and understand the language of accounting and other financial reporting is a crucial part of playing that game. Maybe you were never formally taught accounting practices; however, having a constant desire to learn should drive you to adapt to this particular aspect of the business world. This needs to be a priority.
If you don’t have good financial reporting or you don’t know how to interpret and read reports to make adjustments, you are flying a plane with no dials or levers. There are so many owners who have quality financial reports, but they do not know or understand the language of accounting. Thus, they are flying their plane blindfolded and are one step behind in the game of business.
4. Creativity: “Imagination,” Albert Einstein once said, “is more important than knowledge.” It’s true — especially in the business realm. Creativity encourages growth, something a business cannot survive without in a competitive marketplace. As a business owner, make it a priority to occasionally remove yourself from your daily routine to give yourself time to think and create.
5. Networking Skills: A good business owner must be able to talk to anyone and effectively communicate thoughts and ideas. Always be on the lookout for people who can help your business grow: new clients, investors, new talent, mentors, and people who will recommend your services. You never know where a business introduction or a simple conversation in the grocery store checkout line can lead.
6. Constant Fear-Fighting: We all have fears, but a good business owner must be able to recognize these fears and make adjustments to manage them or eliminate them altogether. For example, you may have a fear of selling. This could be a big problem: If you have a great product you cannot sell, then you do not have a business. To beat the fear in this scenario, you’d either train yourself to become a good salesman or hire someone to sell for you. Figure out your fears and address them either by developing your skills in that area or by hiring someone who can do it for you!
How do your skills as a business owner stack up to this list? If you are lacking in one or more of these areas, never fear: Even the most successful entrepreneurs usually struggle with one or more areas of business. The key to eventual success is recognizing your shortcomings and working to improve upon them.

Bt Tom Dedin

Website Hypnosis

When I took driver’s education as a teenager, we learned about something called “highway hypnosis.”

It happens when you stop paying attention to what’s going on around you and you just drive along watching the white lane markings mile after mile. You lose sight of the big picture and get hypnotized by the minutiae, which can cause you to miss important things like your exit or another car swerving into your lane.
In conversion optimization, you can experience a similar phenomenon. When the newness of your website has worn off, website hypnosis can set in. You can lose sight of your overall strategy, leading to crucial mistakes.
That’s why it’s important to periodically take a step back and do a website review. Here’s some questions to get you started?

What is your long term goal?

If your answer is “high conversion rates,” then you’ve got the wrong goal. Conversion rate is simply a measuring stick, not an end in itself. If you’re an eCommerce website, then your long term goal is sales. Even a high conversion rate can be misleading if those conversions are all low-dollar sales and you don’t have repeat customers.

What about your competitors?

Have you checked out your competitors websites recently? How do their services compare to yours? What about their pricing? Have they improved their site recently? Is it clear how your products or services are better? Most of your visitors will comparison shop before they buy. Try to see your website and your competitor’s websites through your visitor’s eyes.

Identify the Winners and Losers

Using your analytics, determine which pages are your ”winners” (high converting pages) and which are your “losers” (low converting pages). Next visit each of these pages. Why do the high converting pages do so well? Is there anything you can take from the winning pages and apply to the losers? Duplicate what works and fix what doesn’t.

What to test?

Your review will generate ideas for improving your website. Rather than guessing if your customers will like the changes, try testing them out. New headlines, copy, even images can be easily tested without completely redesigning your page using one of the paid testing programs. You don’t have to do a complete re-do of a page to test. Even if the original page outperforms the new one, you’ll learn more about your customers through the testing process.
Regular website reviews will give you the opportunity to shake off website hypnosis and see to any red flags that might be waving at you.
By Marty Diamond

Your P R is Not Working ?

1) You are not that important. Yes, maybe at your company what you say goes. But on a wider, national scale, you are a small fish in a very, very gigantic sea. You are competing with thousands of other individuals, brands, and companies for the same coveted piece of print space at top-tier publications.
Know that I'm not trying to get all Debbie Downer on you. But right off the bat, your PR campaign will go much more smoothly if you accept the fact that you will probably not get the exposure you think you deserve. PR is a marathon, not a sprint, and by planting seeds, there will eventually be a time and place for your story to shine.

2) You hired a "yes man" PR firm. You hired an agency that will whisper sweet nothings into your ear, and promise you the moon, just to get your retainer. They promised you The Today Show, and yet, you're nowhere nearer to your local TV station. Say wha?
Listen. Do pigs fly? No. Is there a magical weight loss pill? No. Are you going to be a millionaire tomorrow? No. These promises, just like the ones made by yes man PR firms, just aren't realistic. You want to find someone who can map out sound ways to get into your dream outlets. For example, starting you on your local media outlets, then leveraging that for regional exposure. Now, you have a reel, and your publicist can send that to national morning shows.

3) You are dated. No matter what industry you work in, you need to look like you belong in 2013. Top tier, national media is looking for the next big trend to cover; they don't care what has already happened. Make sure your website looks modern; this will be the first thing journalists see when making a decision about your brand. It is important to constantly update your website to keep your company feeling fresh and exciting.

4) Your brand is inauthentic. People fall in love with brands they relate to. Everything from your website to your tweets to your newsletter should have the same voice and consistency. This will help you get dedicated customers. Pay special attention to what you are putting into the world. For example, if your tweets have a light, funny tone and your website is very serious, customers will be confused about your brand's message.

5) You don't have the time. Even if you hire the best PR firm in the country, starting a PR campaign is a huge time commitment. Whether it is being present for interviews or writing contributed pieces, your time and expertise will be needed.
I can't stress this enough: a successful PR firm is a relationship between the publicist and the client. It is important to be involved because you are the expert in the industry, and your knowledge and feedback is invaluable to make the campaign authentic. A good publicist will always be listening for the "heartbeat" of your expertise, the juicy part of your story that readers and viewers will love. So invest you presence in this relationship. It's worth it.

6) You don't really know the purpose of PR. So your publicist managed to snag you a spot on The Today Show, but after the interview, your books didn't sell out on Amazon. You think: So what was I paying this PR company for?

A national media appearance can move your sales numbers online - the operative word being "can." But the purpose of PR isn't sales -- it's to gain awareness and help you get credentialed. Think of it this way: the next time your customer is at the grocery store, and he/she is deciding between brands of green tea, they might remember seeing your tea brand in their favorite magazine.
By Rebekah Epstein

Barry's Upcoming Speaking Schedule

 

I hope you can attend some of these, guests are welcome at no cost.

Thursday April 25th 7:30 AM for Arapahoe Sales Pros at the Country Buffet near Park Meadows Mall (just South of Denver). Exit I-25 at County Line rd and go West about a mile or less. I will be speaking about 30 min on The Customer Experience and how to grow your business.

 

Thursday May 2nd 8 AM for the Business Linx group at The Rocky Mountain Calvary Church just North of Austin Bluffs on Academy, Colo Spgs. I will be speaking on Cheap Marketing Ideas, part 1 for your business or organization.

 

Thursday May 9th 8 AM for the Business Linx group at the Rocky Mountain Calvary Church (see location above). I will be speaking on Cheap Marketing Ideas. part 2 for your business or organization.

Wednesday July 17 12:15 for the Aurora Rotary at the Doubletree Hotel located at I-225 nad Illif in Aurora, CO. I will be speaking on The Customer Experience and how it affects your business. Come and see what the Rotary is all about.

More coming ?

Barry Thomsen
Speaker, Author, Business Coach
719-268-9081
idealetter@aol.com
www.idealetter.com

Keep Your Business Location Green

Energy conservation is the key to doing your part and creating customer goodwill for you store or office. Show that you care about the environment at your business with these ideas.

 *Clean or replace air conditioner/furnace filters regularly.
 *Turn off all unnecessary lighting
 *Check for holes or cracks that need caulking
 *Dust or clean all lighting fixtures
 *Use flourescent light bulbs whenever possible
 *Keep all outside doors closed in any weather
 *Set heat and air conditioning at lower levels
 *Make sure all ducts are sealed tight and unobstructed
 *Use fans instead of air conditioning when possible
 *Ask employees to look for other ways to conserve energy

Barry is a speaker, international author and business coach www.idealetter.com

Better Presentations

Many businesses have very smart, intelligent and creative people on their staff who need to convey their ideas and knowledge to others. About half of these people have difficulty presenting that knowledge in business meetings, sales situations, customer service, training, public service and to groups of any size. A workshop is available to help them speak easily and stop worrying about being in front of others. They will learn to concentrate of what they have to say or present rather than the uneasy feeling that everyone is watching them. They will also learn to eliminate the "ums, ahs, and-sos" the can annoy listeners.  This workshop uses 3 learning methods:

                *Visual (watching)
                *Auditory (hearing & listening)
                *Kinesthetic (doing & practice)

Participants will learn:       

                *How to take charge of the group
                *Basic presentation skills
                *Adding stories, examples & humor
                *Who you speak to & purpose
                *Hostle & unfriendly groups
                *Location & setup
                *Participation & evaluation
                *Plus many others

This workshop is available as a one day or two day session(s) and everyone successfully completeing the two day workshop will receive a personalized certificate. It can also be done as a keynote or general session speech. More information, cost, group size  etc at www.idealetter.com and click on the Better Presentations link.
This workshop or speech can be presented anywhere safe in the world with short or long notice.
Barry Thomsen is a speaker, international author, trainer and business coach idealetter@aol.com

Lessons From the Iron Lady

 

Margaret Thatcher died on April 8th at the age of 87. She was known as the ‘Iron Lady’ and one of the most influential people of the 20th century. She grew up as the daughter of a grocer; the family lived over the store (there was no hot water or an indoor toilet). At home she learned the value of hard work. Thatcher went on to a brief career in chemistry and ultimately to be Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, a post she held for 11 years.

She was an inspiration to me and she left behind important lessons that I’d like to share.

“My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, live within your means, put by a nest egg for a rainy day, pay your bills on time, support the police.”

“Pennies don’t fall from heaven — they have to be earned here on Earth.”
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”
“The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s a day you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.”
“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.”
“There is no liberty unless there is economic liberty.”
“Plan your work for today and every day, and then work your plan.”
“What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, knowing that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.”

Delegate With Trust

Trust, while brought about by action, is primarily a feeling. The subordinate who doesn’t feel trusted may become resentful and ceases growing in the job. Yet the manager who trusts too much may find that the work is not satisfactorily performed or that serious errors are made.
Here are some principles to help you gain – and maintain – an effective level of trust.
• Focus on results, not on methods. The results are what count. Define objectives clearly. Give the initial guidance to your people regarding suggested methods and inform them of what methods are taboo, but leave them a wide range to determine their own directions towards a goal. While they may occasionally stumble, they’ll learn from the experience. Who knows? They may also discover some new and better methods.
• Establish reasonable checkpoints in advance. Set up a schedule for regular reviews and feedback, such as weekly reports or meetings. Stick to the schedule, both in terms of subordinate requirements and your availability. Make sure that employees understand that the purpose of the reviews is not to criticize, but to share information. It’s important not to appear obsessive in your need for information.
• Resist the temptation to “spot check”. Nobody likes a snoop. If the subordinate knows that you’ll be making surprise visits to ascertain that all is well, he or she will begin to feel persecuted. The inevitable consequence will be the withholding and the censoring of information. Nothing destroys trust so much as the feeling that someone is looking over your shoulder as you work.
• Be available. Trust isn’t built by managerial abdication. Let subordinates know that you can be reached at any time for consultation and coaching. Respond to such contacts in a timely fashion. Give advice and help, but don’t make your subordinates decision for them. Ask them to come to you not with choices, but rather with questions and comments on directions they have decided to pursue.
• Have contingency plans. The more critical the assignment and the less experienced the subordinate, the more necessary it is to have some contingency plans in case something goes wrong. Establish in advance the critical point in time or cost that may require you to take action in order to avoid a catastrophe. Make a subordinate aware of these points and work together so that they don’t become an issue. But if they do, take the appropriate action.
Above all, be trustworthy yourself. Support your people in both your words and your actions. Follow through on your commitments to your people. Provide them with full information related to their work and answer questions thoroughly. Use every available opportunity to show them that you care and you want them to succeed.
Caution: trust does not maintain itself. You’re bound to make mistakes. Simple errors in communications can easily be misinterpreted as a lack of trust. If that happens, deal with the situation immediately by acknowledging the mistake, apologizing for it, and rectifying the error. It’ll prove your human, and can be trusted to do the right thing.
The final word: in a trusting work situation, our paratrooper in the joke at the beginning of this article might have said. “I packed my own chute and it didn’t work. I’ll use the reserve chute my boss has supplied and I know there’ll be a truck down there waiting for me.” The story would no longer be funny, but it would describe a constructive manager-subordinate relationship.
By John A Page

Are You Customers Showrooming?

Showrooming has become an increasingly troubling trend. Customers come to your brick and mortar retail store to see a product, but then buy it online.
Retail Information Systems (RIS) just published some very troubling trends.

• Showrooming drives 50% of online sales.
• 20% of consumers who see a product in a store eventually buy it from an online only retailer
• 15% of consumers eventually purchase the product from a competitor as a result of their research.
• Top 5 Retailers at risk of Showrooming: Bed Bath and Beyond, Petsmart, Toys R Us, Best Buy and Sears.

What does a retailer do to combat this? RIS suggests that retailers design strategies to engage showroomers. For example, price match, provide more delivery options, sell exclusive products, publish their inventory online, and partner with price comparison apps.
Are your customer showrooming your business?
By Barry Moltz

Why Simple Websites Work Best

What is it about simple designs that makes them timeless, functional, and beautiful?
When you’re creating your own website, part of the reason a simple design style is so appealing is that — frankly — it means less work for you. After all, pages that are unfussy, uncluttered and clear are just easier to put together.

But there’s a lot more to it than that. There are three important reasons that you should consider paring down your website’s design elements and embracing simplicity.

1. Simple websites load faster

How fast does your website appear on screen after you land on one of your pages? If it loads slowly, you’ll pay for it. How?

• Visitors will click away impatiently before it loads.
• Your site will come up lower in search results because Google uses site speed as part of its ranking algorithm.
• Many of your pages will never see the light of day.

There’s nothing wrong with images on your site, for example. It’s a good idea to use images in your marketing. But don’t use so many they slow your site down. And be sure they’re optimized to load fast.

2. Simple websites are easier to understand

Imagine living in a dark cave for many months. When you finally emerge after spending so much time below, your first reaction is to notice the blinding light, the variety of colors, the feel of the fresh air on your skin. There are so many sensory experiences happening at once, it’s overwhelming.
People arriving on your website are similarly disoriented. They’re not sure where they are, what they’ve found, or how to get around this new place.
Presenting information in the simplest, most pared-down way possible gives them a chance to get their bearings, adapt to the new environment, and quickly and easily find what they want.
Here are some tips for making your site easy to use, even for brand-new visitors:

• Make your text easy to skim by using lots of subheads to break up the paragraphs of copy.
• Unclutter your sidebar. Feature only the most essential information you need to convey. Consider moving some of your information to your footer, your About page, or elsewhere on your site.
• Use submenus in your navigation to group similar pages together. This will allow you to streamline your navigation menu and make it easier to use.
• Label your navigation items with universally understood terms. This isn’t the place to be cutesy or tricky.

3. Simple websites are a departure from the ordinary

Here’s another reason simple websites are great: by presenting your information simply, your site will stand out from most of the other sites on the web.
Did you ever see a home page that looked like it was designed by committee?
There’s a little of this, a little of that, a splash of the other. It looks like every department in the company was clamoring to be represented.
The result? A page that may make the internal folks feel great, but it’s a mess for the site visitor. They have to wade through way too much to get to what they’re looking for.

That’s why simple can be so surprising. It’s like a breath of fresh air in the midst of a cluttered Internet experience.
By Pamela Wilson

Start a Business After 50 ?

1. Consider your risk tolerance. “Over-50 entrepreneurs need to understand their risk tolerance,” says Denise Beeson, who teaches small-business management at Santa Rosa Junior College in California. “At risk with a startup is losing all of the retirement funds that you may have. Consider a franchise opportunity or a business that is already up and running. Starting from scratch may not be very wise.”
2. Don’t use your retirement funds. Karen Klein of BusinessWeek notes that using retirement funds to start a business could prove disastrous. “If things don’t work out …, not only will you have no income, but you’ll also have no life savings. While desperate people sometimes — understandably — feel they must take desperate measures, make sure you’ve first exhausted all other options.”
Instead, look for funding from a bank, family, friends, or investment funds that are not connected to your retirement. The latter could include a severance package from an old job or vested company stock options.
3. Have a thick skin. Every entrepreneur has to know how to sell — to customers, investors, vendors, and future employees. Stan Kimer, president of Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, points out that “there will be lots of rejection and obstacles, but a small number of wins can drive a successful business. If 95 percent of my prospects do not call me back or accept my proposals, the 5 percent that do engage me can drive a successful business.”
4. Don’t build the business around yourself. “As we get older, the odds of illness or diminished ability increase. The challenge of the senior entrepreneur is his own mortality,” observes Tom Collins, author and founder of the software company Juris. “He must make himself dispensable or lose everything he has built. He can recruit and/or train his replacement or sell the business. Wait too long to do it and the business along with its value will evaporate.”
In other words, find a partner. This could be a son or daughter or somebody else a generation after you. Not only can they help with the longevity of the business, they may attract a different customer demographic.
5. Get help. Even if you’re starting a business in a field where you have years of experience, running a business involves a new skill set. “I have a mentor at the UTSA Small Business Development Center, and I attend their workshops,” says Vickie Hosek, owner of Senior Sidekick, a business that assists seniors with financial and other tasks. “I also participate in webinars and read senior-oriented publications. I am a member of several professional organizations, which provide the opportunity to network with professionals who also work with seniors.”
6. Enjoy what you do and give back. Craig Wolfe, president of CelebriDucks, a company that makes custom rubber ducks and has been featured on The Tonight Show, says, “I’m 60 and over time, as you age, you become a different person with a different set of values. Doing business becomes less about just making the best deal for you and more about making sure it’s a win-win for both parties. You are also more inspired to use your success to benefit others who can use your mentoring and often your donations.”
By Tim Parker

Entrepreneur, Freelancer or Something else?

If you are self employed or running your own business how do you describe your position to other people? You will be described with different labels by your accountant, your bank manager or others marketing products and services to you. These labels include things like 'Owner Manager', 'Freelancer', 'Entrepeneur', 'Independent Professional'. In the NRG Linkedin Group We've been having an interesting discussion on what people like you are comfortable with and what are the differences between each of these labels. You can follow the discussion at http://lnkd.in/_Nu9Wd. A number of points have emerged in the discussion. If you work on your own then you are probably a freelancer or independent professional. Even if you run a business on your own it may well be that you are effectively creating your own job and the business would not exist without you. If you employ people then you may or may not be an entrepreneur. There is some agreement that the title entrepreneur is misused, and should be used when you are building a business that will scale and make a difference. There is a big difference between working on your own and owning and building a business employing others. You may well not be concerned about it, but consider what Chris Kenber said in the discussion, " It (what you call yourself) matters a lot because the title determines your view of your world and what aspirations you have. If you're not clear about this yourself - you should be!" By Dave Clarke

Make Your Business Look Bigger

A well planned strategy to put your best face forward and appear bigger than you are can help you engage potential customers who may otherwise not give you the time of day. This, in turn, can instantly translate into higher sales conversion. Here are six suggestions on how to make your small business look bigger online.

1. Get a Global Sounding Domain Name

If you have a domain name like phoenixwebdesign.com, this gives the immediate impression that you only service the Phoenix Arizona area–only one region. Try registering a name that gives the impression that you offer your services worldwide. For example, change phoenixwebdesign.com to something like worldclasswebdesign.com.

2. Consider Getting an Aged Domain Name

Most savvy Internet users know how to quickly check how old a domain name is and they may be motivated to do so if they are considering buying something online from an unfamiliar company. If your domain name is two months old, this is a tell-tale sign that you’re a new, and probably a small start-up business. So, if you are just starting out, consider buying an aged domain name, one that’s been around for at least two years, and longer if you find one for sale that fits your business.

3. Make Your Social Media Accounts Look Highly Professional

It can be worth the extra expense to hire a designer to create a custom and professional look for your Facebook page, Twitter page, LinkedIn page, and other social media accounts. You can have a world-class website but if a potential customer clicks on one of your social media links and finds a spartan amateurish page, this will be an instant clue that you are not a large business. On the other hand, you can give the illusion of being a bigger business than you actually are by having a sophisticated, professional looking social media pages.

4. Make Sure Your Social Media Accounts Have Thousands of Follows

Another sure sign that your business is small potatoes is when your social media accounts have a small number of followers, especially if they aren’t very active. You may want to hire a social media specialist to work on increasing the number of followers on your social media accounts through a content marketing strategy. It should include a game plan to engage the dedicated users you have to participate in a more active discussion under your account. Ask for their opinion to get the dialog going.

5. Send Out Professional Press Releases

Big businesses tend to send out professional press releases all the time. You can too, regardless of how big your business is. You can use PRweb.com or other similar sites to send out press releases at very reasonable prices. You can link to some of these press releases as they get posted around the Internet.

6. Hire a Professional To Design Your Website

Many online small businesses start out designing their own websites. However, unless you are truly exceptional at web design, this usually shows. Some people use professional templates as a short-cut and to save money. However, these templates get used by a lot of sites and internet users can quickly recognize a template that is used a lot. It’s a sign that your business isn’t very big because bigger business almost always have a custom designed website. So, if you want to appear like a bigger business, consider hiring a professional to design your site and give you a truly custom look.
By Alisha Webb

In Love With Your Product?

You Might Be Too In Love With Yourself--and Your Product

5 simple rules to start viewing your business as a potential customer does.

It is far too easy to fall in love with something you are close to. That’s often the explanation for marketing initiatives that fall flat. Too many ideas, product launches and even ad campaigns have died a painful death because of the inability of the creators to step back and view them critically.
Authors Chip and Dan Heath, masters of insight into the workings of the business mind, call this phenomenon the “spotlight effect:” focusing so quickly and definitively on the idea you have coalesced around that you fail to see other directions that may be far better.
It’s not that hard to avoid the spotlight effect, but it does require a shift in perspective. You have to turn the lens from your perspective as a marketer to the times you are a consumer. Think about how many things you see every day that make you wonder, “What were they thinking?” That’s the last thing you want someone to say about you. So apply your own consumer behavior to your marketing decisions. Step back and look at yourself through the lens of “Consumer You.” Here’s how to start.
Make it fast. Let’s face it, the average consumer has the attention span of a gnat on Red Bull. They really don’t care about the detailed workings of your product; you either have them or don’t in 10 seconds. Can you articulate your product and its core benefit in that amount of time? Would it catch “Consumer You’s” attention if you saw it on TV playing in the background while you were also surfing the web and tweeting from your iPad? If not, you need to re-think things.
Make it simple. It never ceases to amaze me how frequently marketers design products because they’ve “always done it that way.” The results are never pretty. We recently got proposals for some IT services and most of what we got back was beyond comprehension--including one quote with a whole bunch of line items that made no sense coupled with a discount of around 70 percent on only certain elements. Instead of making things make sense, they chose to give me something that I could never possibly understand. Next…
Make it BS-free. We all have that internal BS meter that rings loudly when we hear unsubstantiated claims and promises that are too good to be true. The term “where’s the beef” entered the cultural lexicon because it was grounded in truth. Make sure you have credible, factual claims that would convince you--“Consumer You"--that the things you are promising are as good as you claim.
Know what you’re up against. Go to your website. Now open three more: your two biggest competitors and the hottest smaller company in your space. Presented with nothing but the facts on your screen, would you choose your own product? Is it competitively priced? Does it deliver superior benefits that “Consumer You” can relate to? Is this a company “Consumer-You” would REALLY rather do business with? Consumers look at more than one choice, so you should too. If the answer to these questions is no, re-think more than just your site.
Do your homework. I was in the Apple Store the other day looking at covers for my new iPad mini. While viewing options on the shelf, I started searching for reviews on each model. I’m not the only one. A recent study by Weber Shandwick found an astounding 65 percent of potential consumer electronics purchasers are inspired by a consumer review to select a brand that wasn't in their original consideration set. So, do your homework. Look at others’ comments as though you’re a potential customer. Would you buy once you’ve read them?
By Scott Elser and INC Magazine

New Customers Only ???

We all hear those commercials and ads that offer super special deals for different products and services but only for new customers. All of the regular loyal customers have to hear this and get NOTHING? Is this company saying we don't care about loyalty and just want new customers? If you have been a regular customer or client don't you think you should get the best deal over any new customer? Maybe it's time to change where we purchase since we get no respect.

Does being a loyal customer not mean anything anymore in business? Are you being penalized for not changing where you buy things? This is what many large businesses are doing to their customers and thay don't care if you know about it. A small business can take those customers and reward the loyalty they show. The cost of getting a new customer is always much more than the cost of providing excellent Customer Satisfaction so why is big business doing it? Show your loyal customers that you care about them and give them the best offers or AT LEAST the same as any new ones are getting.

Barr is a speaker, international author and business coach. www.idealetter.com