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