Marty Shmanka asked:


As a small business owner, you realize the value of having live, able customers stepping through your door everyday. It’s a simple question of math and conversion that those potential buyers become good profitable customers. However, you may be one of the many small businesses feeling short changed in that regard. Have you ever noticed some of the other small businesses in your area always seem to have enough of these types of customers? Some may in fact be busting out a good business.

Your competition may be getting a hand up on you in many different ways. A new product, head office support, advertising agency, newspaper promotion, coupons, etc. Rarely though do I find small independent businesses making use of the most cost effective communication medium available – The Internet.

If you are a small business and do not have an ongoing marketing effort online, you are most certainly handing customers over to your competition. In fact, you might as well gift wrap them and send them over with a sticky note on their back saying “Can you take this buyer? I don’t really need a buyer today.”

Smart small business owners these days know how valuable a buyer can be, not just their first visit, but for repeated visits and then for bringing in other customers. But you need more and more of them as your business competition gets tougher and tougher. That’s why the internet is so perfectly suited for the future of your small business marketing.

It’s inexpensive to setup (if you do things right that is), and there are ways to reach any potential customer you want, and communicate your products and service directly to that person. You can even direct your message to potential customers in a specific geographic area whether that be near your location or clear across the continent.

What a lot of small business owners don’t realize is that it isn’t as difficult as it seems to set up a website, (an effective website that is), get it noticed in the search engines and then start building an online clientèle that will eventually come through your doors. Maybe its a few half-days of work. You can get your family involved or even a staff member or two during their down time. Everybody loves special assignments, especially if it’s out of the ordinary routine. The thing is once it is set up, it pretty much runs itself and can be your best selling employee working non-stop with no wages, no benefits, no holidays, and no drama.

Once you get an internet presence working for you and have it as part of your everyday sales system your competition will soon be wondering: Where do you get all those customers from?

Fred Jones asked:


If you are a small business owner, you either have an accountant or you are an accountant. Either way, choosing the right accounting software is an important business decision. Some of the most important brands include Quickbooks and Peachtree.

Here are some of the important features to look for:

Adaptability: Small businesses in particular tend to change over time, and you need to make sure that the software you are buying today will be just as useful tomorrow. Are upgrades offered? How much trouble and expense is required to upgrade? How often are upgrades offered? Today’s software is likely to be obsolete in 5 years.

Support: How much support is offered? How effective is it? Is local service available or will you be restricted to dealing with a call center in India?

Price: Software packages vary greatly in price, not only among brands but also among merchants. Choose an appropriate package and then shop around for the best deal.

User Friendliness: How easy is it to use? If you are a sole proprietor, try using it yourself. Otherwise, have your accountant try using it and get his/her opinion.

Features: Don’t pay for features you don’t need, but look ahead 5 or 10 years when deciding which features you’re likely to need. If you don’t need them now, you can always check and see if your package can be easily upgraded to add features you may need in the future.

QuickBooks is by far the most popular accounting software, but then again there are many versions of Quickbooks available on the market. QuickBooks comes in Basic, Online, Pro, and Premier editions. The Pro Edition features tools such as the Cash Flow Projector and the Vehicle Mileage Tracker. Peachtree offers a premium small business accounting software package with over 125 functions including as in-depth inventory, time and billing and job costing features. Other popular accounting software packages include MYOB Plus Accounting Software and Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting.

Good luck!

Kevin Winters asked:


As an entrepreneur and owner of 3 companies (Payroll Associates, Sparkle Pool Service and CompanyMileage.com) I have invested in both my own businesses and the stock market.

The reality is those of us in small businesses are able to cut cost quickly..as my father taught me early on in business “you can’t control your revenue but you can control your costs”. In my 13 years of owning Payroll Associates we dealt only with small businesses and learned how they were able to adapt to changes in more ways than just layoffs. With my new venture, CompanyMileage.com we are selling a cost cutting services called MileageTracker to larger organizations, and there is a huge learning curve.

A great example is a division of a Fortune 1000 company that by utilizing our MileageTracker solution is going to save them over 1.5 million dollars a year..Great news for us right? Not really, the sales cycle to earn their business even during these trying times is over 6 months.

It is not the fault of the decision makers, it is the system. It is time for large organizations to act like small businesses, and cut all costs before layoffs vs. the other way around.

• Layoffs damage a company’s foundation and slow their ability to grow when the economy turns around (which it will).

• Layoffs create a disloyal environment

• Layoffs create a fear in the workplace

How to fix? Well let’s get big businesses to quickly react the way those of us in the small business community. My ideas are simple.

• Each team submits fast tract cost cutting measures with cost / benefit analysis

• Each division prioritizes these cost cutting measures

• Financial team prioritizes and implements

• Any cost cutting measures that are that are below a certain threshold can be implemented directly by a team

• Bonuses paid to creators and owners of the measures

• Set a short time frames

Though our service may only cut 1.5 million (its a lot to most of us, but a rounding error for large organizations)..What if there were 20 measures like this that all took a year to implement.

This company could cut 30 million in a year (or prevent 600 layoffs).

By the way at our pool company we (easily) cut over 50K in expenses and continue to be fully staffed and ready for the upcoming summer..In my 13 years at the payroll company we never once had a layoff.

Helpful links

CNNMoney.com – Layoffs aren’t the answerhttp://money.cnn.com/2009/01/27/markets/thebuzz/

NYTimes – More Companies Are Cutting Labor Costs Without Layoffs

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/business/22layoffs.html

Esteri Maina asked:


If you asked fresh graduates about their immediate plans after school, many would answer seeking employment, which is obvious.

Once we secure good jobs, we never stop and think about the core founders of such a renowned company we have just become part of.

Thriving and smart enterprises were once small businesses with unlimited funding, workforce, physical resources and so on.

This would be especially so if the core founder’s idea then appeared inapplicable in light of challenges provided by the environment to small businesses just starting up.

Today, we are enjoying fruits of people, who in spite of all the ridicule and criticism of their business ideas did not give up their vision and over the years their enterprises have expanded splendidly.

Such big companies should be the inspiration to those who dream of starting up small businesses that should then grow to be a source of employment for generations.

I would like to share some few points that I think should be requisites to launching a small business enterprise.

Probing our minds for business ideas

All small business to be launched must start by setting up the purpose they wish to serve, which is entirely the duty of the starter.

We then would need to set free the creative genius in us so as to generate top and unique business ideas ahead of planning how to implement them.

If we do not do this, then we may only invest in one or two of the many existing businesses and depend on the probability of a customer choosing our products and services while leaving those of our rivals.

One could even do this, but locating a unique marketing niche ensuring that once you launch would make progress is the way forward.

To ensure that your business idea is well developed and mature, seek advice and carry out a through market research on the same.

Have an action plan

Having tested your business idea in the market, the next step involves planning about implementing it.

It will address the issue of initial costs for starting a small business of your choice in terms of funding, labor, physical and time resources as well as the sources.

Not unless the owner needs to operate from home, there has to be actions to find the most strategic location or an office and expenditure to incur at the start and monthly.

The office will need to be equipped with some furniture, machines and the like and these costs must be reflected on this action plan.

Additionally, planning ahead ensures that you make decisions concerning the workforce at the initial launch stage.

You are able to answer the question of whether your ‘green’ business would need an extra hand to facilitate management and the costs involved.

The owners also need to set the time limit in terms of when to start up the plan and the period it is expected to take till completion.

All this will just be in paper because the owner will be examining his financial strength to set the short-term goals, with the hope that the market mechanism changes to his or her favor.

Implement the plan

This now will be nothing short of action as per the objectives of the plan, which is very challenging.

READ THE REST OF THIS POST FOLLOWING THE LINK BELOW

Todd Lehman asked:


Working capital for small businesses is a vital element in keeping the everyday operations of the business running smoothly from set up of the new company to maintenance and onwards. This form of ready funding is needed to conduct human resource tasks like hiring of able and competent staff that would support you in your goal of making a success out of the business, inventory purchases, buy needed raw materials, and produce sellable products to be marketed and eventually end up as financial gain. In a more technical tone, working capital for businesses may be defined as the operating liquidity that you end up with after the present liabilities are taken from the current assets of the business.

Working capital for small businesses must be available to ensure the longevity of the enterprise, feeding life into its cyclical operations. Not being able to retain ample amount to be used as working capital will cause the business liabilities to weight more than the assets. From there, things may go downhill with other financial issues materializing and in serious cases bankruptcy may be faced.

With the rise in number of small business operators or owners in urgent need of this kind of service, came the mushrooming of lending companies offering various ways to make working capital for small businesses available. Typically these forms of readily available funds have not been outlined for the acquisition of fixed assets of investing but mainly for advertising, accounts payable and for staff salaries. And the increasing accessibility of working capital sources not only with regards of physical location where you are to find an office near you but also regardless of where you are via the Internet, applying for such would not be to mush of a hassle.

Not having access to enough supply of working capital for small businesses is a great hindrance in the journey of business to growth and success. Without it, any enterprise would not reach its full potential, missing out on the chance or opportunity of expansion within the market and reaching a wider range and variety of consumers. Availing of the funds however would bring great benefit to the business through the support that it affords in shaping up profitable strategic plans to gain more profits, continuing an ongoing venture, reviving ones that are at risk, or exiting from failed ventures.

The acquisition of working capital for small businesses has been designed to be easy and fast. In the application process, credit score and financial history check can be avoided. There is even no risk posed on any of your properties as no collateral is necessary. And as fast as, or even faster than you are able to fill in the details and meet a few conditions, is the response to your fund request.

Brody Dorland asked:


As the days go by, more and more people are getting hooked to the internet. So, if a business wishes to make a big name for itself, investing in a website, that too an SEO friendly one, is an expenditure worth its weight in gold. Small business SEO is available from several quarters in Kansas City. The advantage of this service is that it helps businesses that are perhaps only in their infant stages to join the competition with bigger competitors in gaining more visibility, more sales and more ROIs.

SEO, whether for small businesses or big ones, requires three chief elements to be successful: research, link building, and on-page optimization. Research needs to be done to identify the most competitive keywords, to know what the competitors are up to, and also to know what the target audience wants. To know what the target audience wants, you should know who your target audience is. In fact, an important step of successful small business SEO in Kansas City involves identifying the target market. This means considering factors including

• Age

• Interests

• Gender

• Occupation

The more the number of high-ranking inbound links, the greater would be the success of the website. On-page optimization is the use of apt keywords in the header tags, meta tags and page content. Indeed if a website is to get a good ranking on the major search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo, the content should include the right amount of keywords – not too much, not too less.

Beyond doubt, small business SEO services in Kansas City offer an affordable way to get a website that’s easily navigable and with relevant content. The SEO website design for a small business is an expression of its individuality and should appeal to the target market. In addition to the development of new SEO websites, SEO firms in Kansas City can also be approached for assessment of the health status of a current SEO website and evolvement of an action plan to improve the status.

John A Tulley asked:


SEO is crucial for small online businesses. With this in mind there are six quick steps to take in order to make a profit through small business seo.

The first step involved in targeted as SEO success is understanding the importance of search engine optimized copy and content at your website. This applys on many levels, keyword enriched content is the foundation upon which all of your other SEO efforts will be built.

The second step associated with small business SEO success is to make certain that you use appropriate metatags are at your website. Many people forget the importance of metatags when they go about designing a website. In fact there are crucial to your overall targeted SEO success.

The third quick step towards small business SEO success is making sure you select an appropriate domain name for your website. You need to bear in mind that the domain name you choose for your operation will have a bearing on your search engine rankings.

The fourth quick step towards small business seo success, to get you on your way to making a profit with SEO, is to make certain that your website is fully functional and fit for purpose. This means that you ought to make certain that your website is attractive and user friendly.

The fifth quick step towards targeted success is to consider engaging the services of a professional. If you’ve never engaged in SEO efforts, you want to give serious consideration to enlist the support and assistance of a professional or an expert. There is too much at stake to put your small business seo efforts to chance.

The sixth quick step towards small business SEO involves setting up a strategy and a system through which you will continually review what you’ve done in regard to your SEO activities. You need to make certain that your SEO efforts remain effective not only when you implement them but for the future life cycle of your website.

Andrew Demmy asked:


Are you searching for ways to fix your server errors? Why not to get online technical support resources offering server support. They have got a complete taskforce of certified engineers and highly qualified technicians to manage your server resources, consultation needs, or requirements for the latest software patches and releases.

They provide you 24×7 supports through their centralized console. Everything is managed remotely over the secure Internet connection. It’s no less than having a full-fledged IT staff. These certified technicians help you fix technical problems efficiently in form of proactive support. The person owning the computer uses it as himself. The only thing that differs is that it is being controlled over the Web. Small businesses are seeing buying server support as an ideal option than paying heavy amounts to personal system administrators.

Furthermore, small business technical support technicians don’t make you go through the complicated process of unplugging all the wires, packing the system up in the car, dropping it off for several days, going back to pick up the PC and then set it all back up again. Online resources make it easy by handling everything directly through the Internet which allows them to handle their computer troubleshooting and repair needs. This makes it convenient for small businesses as well as individual computer users to get their problems fixed quickly.

You can expect rapid resolutions from these online technicians as they hold vast proficiency in handling and troubleshooting technical problems. With online technical support resources, you can avail a complete array of services for different server products to fulfill your server support requirements. Another advantage that is grabbing the attention of most small businesses towards remote server support services is the benefit of lower costs. You get all server support services at one price and availability of all things under one roof.

Moreover, server support solutions and online technical support resources deliver a full range of hardware and software support for advanced server platforms and associated technologies. You can also avail other support services such as computer support, technical support, exchange support, software support, etc. Online technical support resources always try to make it simple for customers to get their technical issues fixed fast.

Prince Samuels asked:


Every street corner you turn shows the marks of many small business developments.  I believe if we don’t support these businesses, then America’s streets will be like ghost town, and this can economically scarry to people that depend on them.  This is why we need small businesses to exist.  Did you know in 2005 about 587,592 jobs were outsourced to foeirgn countries?  These jobs were outsourced by big companies not small companies.  small companies are loya to Americans employees.  I think companies that keep shipping jobs over seas, and causing too many jobs should not get tax break from the government.  I know some people will say but it’s too expensive and there too many overheads for these companies in the U.S. but they forget to know that it cost lot to reestablish to in a foreign country as well.  These companies must also understand that the consumers buying power in these countries is not as strong as the American consumers. 

 

  Countries like India and China are reaoing the rewards of outsourcing why this country is falling apart economically.  50% of workers are hored by small businesses.  This is very important for the government to understand now, and no more waiting.  The government should provide, not just loans but grants to people small businesses that need them the mosti f banks don’t.  Big are being bailout, it’s for small businesses get a bail as well.  By the way you must understand that most of big companies today started as small businesses.  You never know what small businesses can do in the future.  It’s time that taxpayers dollars work for small businesses as well. 

 

  Outsourcing kills Americans jobs.  Many lose their jobs.  we can’t keep encouraging people to get degree, and can’t find a job after that.  This make no sense at all.  I believe outsourcing is one of the reasons why we’re in this mess today.  We keep bailingout big companies and they keep failing.  It’s time some real leadership.  People that manage small businesses have better management skills because they keep thriving, why the big keep failing.  we have to work with one voice and and support small businesses before it’s too late.  we have to jeep fighting for what we want.  Never give in to the recession pressure.  For those seeking opportunities and financial freedom visit my resource box at www.mlmeducationblog.com email: prince@unlimited-wealth-online.com  phone: 612-306-4920

Lorraine Ball asked:


What is the right price for your product or service? Most small business owners struggle with this question, because they confuse the cost of producing the product with the value it brings to the customer.

When it comes to establishing a price for your goods or services, the value of your product has absolutely nothing to do with production cost. The value is based on how much you help clients save, increase, reduce or improve. If you can quantify these benefits, then you have a foundation for establishing an appropriate price for your goods or services provided by your small business.

It is All About Value

Think about your last software purchase. You opened an attractive box which contained a CD and a small manual. There was less than $10 worth of material in the box, and yet you may have paid $300, $500 or even $1,000 for the software.

You paid a premium, well above production cost, because of the need the software fulfilled and the benefits it would provide.

Calculate Your Value

The same is true for your product or service. How much value do you deliver?

Use these questions to build your value:

•

How much can my product save my customer? Savings may be in time, money or effort.

•

How much can my product earn for my customer? Can you help them increase their income; directly or indirectly? Does it create a foundation for future opportunities or establish valuable personal relationships?

•

What intangible benefits might customers realize, and is it possible to quantify these benefits?