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. Nobody really learns anything real about business, only about life… VB, Stefan Issa Crea Said on May 15th, 2010 at 3:33 am Is this the same thing as personal branding? Nice sharing. I love the analogy.

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Small Businesses Faces Sharp Rise in Cost of Health Care : As Congress nears votes on legislation that would overhaul the health care system, many small businesses say they are facing the steepest rise in insurance premiums they have seen in recent years. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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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

JUNE 6, 2010

Learn how to use publishing software and create eye-catching promotional material. Top 5 Tips for Using Technology in Marketing by Stefan Töpfer on Jun 07, 2010 The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Small Business Crunches Numbers : Small business has fought the health-care bill as too costly. Learn how your small business can capitalize on these unmet needs and find and master your own niche market. Organizations are working to help them size up. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

JANUARY 31, 2010

Learn about how your company structure affects pay. Top 5 Tips for Paying Yourself by Stefan Töpfer on Feb 01, 2010 The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners. If possible, get some advice from your accountant regarding the level of pay you plan on taking from the business.

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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. Make sure you have a consistent message across every advertising medium that you use. Talk to the newspapers / radio or TV stations that you plan to advertise with, they can often advise you. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! 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. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 2, 2010

Many small businesses struggle to find finance, especially with the financial climate being as decidedly frosty as it is at present. Jp14 Said on March 5th, 2010 at 10:36 pm Another common thing is to keep learning. Hiring people comes with fixed costs. If you can outsource work to freelancers, then do. Not an excuse not to succeed.

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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.

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The Small Business Blog

MAY 18, 2010

If you want to build a business it’s important to learn how to let things go. Carl Said on July 6th, 2010 at 4:33 pm In business it is difficult to disconnect emotions from judgment the two don’t mix. Stefan Töpfer Said on July 6th, 2010 at 4:43 pm Hi Carl, great comment. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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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.

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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. Have you developed a resistance to adopting new ideas or taking risks? It is possible that you may have been at the helm for too long. Try to surround yourself with people who will challenge your thinking about business matters.

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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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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.

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The Small Business Blog

MARCH 23, 2010

« Top 5 Tips for Learning More About Your Customers Budget 2010 – The Saviour for Small Businesses? As a customer I always appreciate a smile, a thank you and personal service. So why shouldn’t I strive to give my customers the same? The answer is that I do. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2009

Not only that, you have someone that is learning the latest and greatest tech practices. On the tech side, you can hire graduate level students that are looking for teaching experience. Sometimes you can get them for free, other times it is vastly cheaper than what you would get with a professional organization. Thanks for the list!

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The Small Business Blog

JANUARY 13, 2008

by Stefan Töpfer on Jan 13, 2008 Two professors, Julian Lang and William Bygrave , from Babson College in the US have found that the business performance of businesses started, with or without business plan , was unaffected. own a franchise Said on January 24th, 2008 at 5:48 am I remembered one of my friends when I read your last line.

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The Small Business Blog

JANUARY 21, 2008

by Stefan Töpfer on Jan 21, 2008 I believe that many factors contribute to small business failure. » « Previous Entries This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Question & Answer. Cheers, Jim Stefan Töpfer Said on January 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 am Hi Jim, Thank you for your comment.

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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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The Small Business Blog

APRIL 16, 2008

by Stefan Töpfer on Apr 16, 2008 When my wife went to university in London in the eighties one of her professors was of the opinion that the education was wasted on women, since they would leave university, get married and have children. Christie Lyle Said on May 21st, 2008 at 3:41 am Thanks for the great post. — ST.

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The Small Business Blog

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

5 Comments » | Trackback | Share This 5 Responses to “ Are You A Competent Communicator? &# Alex Conforti Said on February 10th, 2010 at 3:19 pm Knowing your communication style, as you mention, is a great help for learning how you communicate. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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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!

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The Small Business Blog

APRIL 27, 2010

I look forward to reading your pitches, and learning more about your small businesses! All I ask is that you respect this offer, and don’t post any links to ‘dodgy’ websites, any such links will be promptly removed and the user reported to Facebook. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

APRIL 1, 2008

Small Business Start-Up Idea – T-Shirt Design by Stefan Töpfer on Apr 02, 2008 There is always a great demand for custom-made T-shirts, ranging from sports teams in need of new kit to event organisers wanting promotional shirts to give away. Working at Home on the Internet Said on April 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm [.]

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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

MARCH 20, 2008

by Stefan Töpfer on Mar 20, 2008 I always enjoy the opportunity to meet entrepreneurs out in the field, during speaking engagements, trade-shows and other events. What have I learned yesterday? Entrepreneurship live and kicking! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. — ST. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

AUGUST 28, 2007

The small business health-check questions for this episode are: Do I know what is going on in my business in all areas or have I abdicated some responsibility to staff? ST Paul Simister Said on May 11th, 2008 at 9:40 am Hi Stefan I had forgotten how good your blog was. « If You Work All Day, You Have No Time To Make Any Money!

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The Small Business Blog

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

by Stefan Töpfer on Feb 12, 2008 It always amazes me to see how many businesses still charge by the hour – it is a business killer. » « Previous Entries This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Marketing/PR , grow your business , market and sell. Which is stupid. [.]

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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!

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The Small Business Blog

JUNE 29, 2010

The only issue that comes up is that just like with traditional hardware and software… there is always a learning curve and employee’s often run into tech problems that they either try to solve themselves… or ask their neighbor to help out with. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo! Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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The Small Business Blog

OCTOBER 1, 2007

South By South West Midlands Said on February 28th, 2008 at 4:51 pm [.] low cost business ideas Said on April 10th, 2008 at 11:10 pm the internet has allow the bootstrapper to go to a whole new level. – Stefan Carlos Weil Said on May 27th, 2008 at 11:38 pm STEFAN: I fully agree with bootstrapping. But you will need some [.]

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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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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!

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

13 Comments » | Trackback | Share This 13 Responses to “ WinWeb’s Free Online Accounting Software Now With Cost Centre Functionality. &# Cola Tax & Solutions Said on April 22nd, 2008 at 4:50 am WinWeb sounds like great bookkeeping software. Sell Said on May 26th, 2008 at 7:30 am Nice review. Good support Vital !!

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The Small Business Blog

NOVEMBER 19, 2007

Stefan leaflet distribution Said on January 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm Im in the leaflet distribution market and clients can’t seem to understand the concept of selling benefits. I find it interesting that when we are “selling&# we are fact driven, while when we are “buying&# we are benefit driven. Digg Furl Netscape Yahoo!

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