The Small Business Blog

AUGUST 8, 2010

They all have to do their part by providing excellent customer service. Without exception, all of your staff need an in-depth knowledge of the product or service that you provide. Explaining it to potential customers should become second nature to them. Everyone in a small business is part of the selling team.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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.

2010 100

2010 2007 2008 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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!

2010 100

2010 2007 2008 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

2008 100

2008 2007 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Entrepreneurs benefit from mentors : Starting a new business involves a steep learning curve, but thanks to a local mentoring program, owners of fledgling Sask atoon businesses can call on the experience of established entrepreneurs. The small business owner was at a clear disadvantage – until now! — ST. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2009 100

2009 UPS 2007 2008 100

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

Collaborate 100

Collaborate 2007 2010 2008 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

UPS 100

UPS 2007 2008 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

DECEMBER 20, 2009

If you are no longer personally growing and learning in your role it can cause your business to stagnate. 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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Not only that, you have someone that is learning the latest and greatest tech practices. 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! Thanks for the list!

Training 100

Training 2007 2008 2009 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

No large retailer can be all things to all people, and there are always going to be segments of the population whose needs for particular products and/or services are going unmet. Learn how your small business can capitalize on these unmet needs and find and master your own niche market. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2009 100

2009 UPS 2007 2008 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Lessons from recession will help SMEs’ future roadmap courage and… : Learning lessons from recession important for future upswing SMEs should graduate from growth by default. Plenty of Indianapolis-area companies are for sale. … Addressing the need gap of SMEs’ needing small funding, R. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2009 100

2009 UPS 2008 2007 100

The Small Business Blog

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2008 100

2008 2007 2009 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

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!

2008 100

2008 2007 2006 2009 100

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

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! 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!

2008 100

2008 2007 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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!

2007 100

2007 2008 2006 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

FEBRUARY 2, 2009

You learn to enjoy that and understand that they are doing that because they are hurting – after all we are destroying their business model, which made them all very much money. I think that when the reputation of our industry is at stake we need to work together. If Sage will do that remains to be seen? Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2009 100

2009 2007 2008 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

Categories Announcements Balderdash Business Books Business Checklists Business Ideas Business Quotations Comments Customer Service Guest Blog How to … avoid growing pain be eco-friendly be successful bootstrap choose your office deal with taxes do a reality check do a SWOT plan do bookkeeping. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

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. The truth in my opinion is more the fact that we often block this remote working possibility from our minds, but why? This would be a staggering number of man hours per week.

2008 100

2008 2007 2009 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

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!

Management 100

Management 2007 2008 2009 100

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.

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

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. Thanks for the super informative post. I found it very interesting and insightful. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2007 100

2007 2008 2009 2006 100

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. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

2008 100

2008 UPS 2007 2009 100

The Small Business Blog

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.

Management 100

Management 2007 2008 2009 100