The Small Business Blog

MAY 18, 2010

by Stefan Töpfer on May 19, 2010 While we all hope to make our customers 100% happy all of the time, and this must of course be what we strive for, there will be occasions where a customer is less than happy with the service you have provided. If you want to build a business it’s important to learn how to let things go.

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The Small Business Blog

MAY 13, 2010

It is difficult to say but in small business we can learn a lot abut the importance of public relations through this story. WinWeb Pitch of the Week – Digistar Solutions » « Previous Entries This entry was posted on Friday, May 14th, 2010 at 7:30 am and is filed under Customer Service , Development , How to.

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JUNE 20, 2010

Try to learn a bit about the industry that your prospective business customer works in so you don’t look out of your depth. It may seem obvious, but periodically asking a customer about how you or your service/product can help make their work-flow easier builds relationships. Number 3 is also especially relevant.

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The Small Business Blog

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

That said, I’m a firm believer that a bit of ‘gut feeling’ on the right person goes a long way – I’ve hired many people over the years and sometimes the candidate who is ‘technically’ the best, doesn’t always fit in to the organisation – that’s just something you learn over time though.

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The Small Business Blog

JANUARY 31, 2010

Learn about how your company structure affects pay. do cost cutting do credit control do customer service export find funding grow your business handle problems keep data safe lower overheads manage your time market and sell motivate your staff not to do it! Research the going rate for CEOs in your industry.

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JUNE 29, 2010

Shop around : Make sure you are getting the best deals from all you suppliers- right down to your electricity, broadband and gas bills. If your business has an inventory make sure you source the best suppliers at the right price, and don’t be afraid to haggle ! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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DECEMBER 20, 2009

Top 5 Tips on Making Big Changes by Stefan Töpfer on Dec 21, 2009 The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners. If you are no longer personally growing and learning in your role it can cause your business to stagnate. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site.

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NOVEMBER 8, 2009

5 tips for Sourcing Employee Training for Small Businesses by Stefan Töpfer on Nov 09, 2009 The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners. » « Previous Entries This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Business Checklists.

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The Small Business Blog

JULY 13, 2010

It might take time, but you will learn a great deal about how to, and how not to, do things! Networking not only allows you to meet potential clients but you will also learn valuable lessons from people who are more experienced in the business world. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 14, 2010

Learn everything you can about your competition, their products and how they advertise. do cost cutting do credit control do customer service export find funding grow your business handle problems keep data safe lower overheads manage your time market and sell motivate your staff not to do it! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 16, 2010

If an area such as accounting is your weakness, rather than wasting time learning the skill it may be more cost-effective and time efficient to outsource the service. Work out if these weaknesses will truly impact your business, and if there are ways to improve in these areas. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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FEBRUARY 16, 2010

You might be surprised how much you can learn about your people and your business! when I was managing people I learned fast that setting an example got the most response and number 4 helped keep people fired up. If you want them to be engaged, ensure that you’re engaged. Be accessible – today’s workers value face time.

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FEBRUARY 2, 2009

by Stefan Töpfer on Feb 02, 2009 Much has been made in the last few days about the problems surrounding Sage Live , the online accounting software service for small business from Sage Group PLC (LSE:SGE). » « Previous Entries This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Comments.

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JANUARY 13, 2010

Although he never finished high school, Scudamore loves nothing more than learning. Within his business he has established what he calls a Mentor Board of Advisors, a group of people he turns to for advice and learning. Today they have 95 franchise partners across North America and are in 47 of North America’s top 50 cities.

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The Small Business Blog

MAY 20, 2010

When you begin employing staff you need to quickly learn how to not only manage them, but also how to help them achieve their best. Allow your staff time to come to you with ideas or questions; you’ll learn a lot about your business and might even discover an avenue you’d never thought of taking. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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JULY 20, 2010

As I have mentioned previously , I am looking to help small businesses to hold conversations, engage with each other and learn from what is happening in the big business world. Small business owners need to consider ‘online’ an extension of their market place and learn to communicate well within that environment.

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The Small Business Blog

JULY 27, 2010

For example, if you learn about products that are doing well in other countries then you may be able to adapt them for sale here if no-one else is doing it. Although these sectors will be crowded, at least there is a guaranteed market there for you to fight for a share. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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JANUARY 21, 2008

The fact that there are plenty of highly profitable companies, with for instance bad customer service, does not mean they are not loosing customers. With my focus on micro business, it is imperative to get customer service right since it is often the main differentiator to bigger and/or cheaper competition.

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APRIL 27, 2010

I look forward to reading your pitches, and learning more about your small businesses! do cost cutting do credit control do customer service export find funding grow your business handle problems keep data safe lower overheads manage your time market and sell motivate your staff not to do it! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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FEBRUARY 2, 2008

Now you can learn what went wrong and understand your business better, it will force you to rethink and face facts. You will be amazed what you can learn about the financial dynamic in your small business within one hour, that is often all it takes to get started. I guess you are right. We have to be realistic about it.

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FEBRUARY 23, 2010

I came across one company from Canada which took SEO optimisation into their own hands and learned through experience and extensive testing a few proven ways to boost Google’s rankings of your website. Encourage other sites to link to yours – this may be a well known strategy but it can’t be reinforced enough. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2007

So now I had my supplier with whom by this stage I had built up a good base for a trustworthy supplier by way of emails. They had even agreed to offer me a free case with a certain number purchased – a good incentive I had aimed to pass onto my prospective customers. Get your suppliers to advertise in it!

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 30, 2010

Another tip I have is to learn to say ‘no’ Too many people especially in this economic downturn are too afraid to say no to tasks or turn down work if they are a freelancer. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. You also need to ask for more resources if you are snowed under. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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MARCH 20, 2008

What have I learned yesterday? Quality, customer service and a niche market, what could possibly go wrong. do cost cutting do credit control do customer service export find funding grow your business handle problems keep data safe lower overheads manage your time market and sell motivate your staff not to do it!

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The Small Business Blog

APRIL 16, 2008

If you consider the skills potential of parents, if each parent would only contribute one hour on average per week to their learned professions. John Said on September 23rd, 2009 at 12:31 pm Yes I agree with you…both are equal and opportunity should also be equal divided. This would be a staggering number of man hours per week.

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 2, 2010

Jp14 Said on March 5th, 2010 at 10:36 pm Another common thing is to keep learning. do cost cutting do credit control do customer service export find funding grow your business handle problems keep data safe lower overheads manage your time market and sell motivate your staff not to do it! Not an excuse not to succeed.

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The Small Business Blog

AUGUST 15, 2007

Cash-flow – compare your cash-flow fore-cast with the actual numbers on a regular basis and learn from it, it’s not about being spot on, but about knowing what happened so you can control it. Mark-up – make sure you review your mark-up on a regular basis to protect your margins. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

JANUARY 13, 2008

But saying that, we are still learning and growing. I have learned a lot just from the info posted here! but not so people know this I come from german Ruri Said on December 1st, 2009 at 2:49 pm IMO, business planning is important to ensure the company can achieve the goal from current business situation.

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NOVEMBER 19, 2007

Its can be a bit hard for some people to understand this concept A Coffey Said on January 13th, 2009 at 10:37 pm Great post. We tend to get so caught up in the features, that translating that into how a product/service contributes personally to myself is overlooked. AC lynnscott Said on August 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 pm Hi Stfan.

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

Medisoft Software Said on June 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am It seems that Winweb is a great way to go. Mel @ Make Rain Said on July 31st, 2009 at 10:55 am Wow this is great to know going to have a look at it as I am busy learning how to use pastel, maybe this is something that will come in handy and maybe a little easier to use.

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The Small Business Blog

APRIL 1, 2008

Although this is a competitive market, if you are talented and customer focused enough then you can become successful. Skills needed: You will need to be very good at graphic design and it will help if you know how to print T-shirts already, although you could learn. T- shirts have made many individuals and companies millions.

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AUGUST 3, 2010

Life is about never giving up so if you must fail, fail fast, learn from it and move on… Lars Hilse Said on August 7th, 2010 at 2:52 am Yes and no… Yes, because there are some old school business people out there who believe that 9-5 is mandatory for success. Beware though as the pursuit of money itself can also put you in chains!

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NOVEMBER 16, 2007

At the same time business failure is far less an issue, as the risk associated with these ventures is very small, with the right mental attitude of the entrepreneur towards failure, the learning effect of a failure can be enormous. Emerging economies like China, India and some others are learning from the U.S.

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AUGUST 28, 2007

By discussing these issues everybody in the company knows what is going on, “em-powering&# them to understand my vision and decisions, while at the same time giving me the opportunity to learn where my vision for my business has not made it to my staff. So I can work on my communication skills to do a better job in future.

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OCTOBER 11, 2007

A lot can be learned here and if you have similar stories, why not tell us about them? I can learn few things from this post, thanks. teakgarden Said on December 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am nice story… Loan Modification Said on January 16th, 2009 at 4:03 am Thanks for sharing this topic and email Stefan. Love it and need it.

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FEBRUARY 12, 2008

I mean, I don’t need certification and i’ve only learned to do home staging business right at home with a little help from a book guide I purchased online. Removing stretch marks Said on January 13th, 2009 at 10:00 am I feel bad when someone says I am charging you for hour. But on place of money, many people mouth is shut.

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NOVEMBER 7, 2007

BST: Kathrine also did not get one of the supervisors to call me – so I guess Apple has decided to ignore me – lesson learned. Even they where quite upset about the service and treatment I got from after Apple after sales support. What makes customer service stink isn’t that suppliers make mistakes.

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