We know having a safe workplace is important. We know it’s a good business practice. We know it can save us money and maybe even save us from financial disaster. We know but do we always practice? And is it high priority? Moreover, have we instilled it into those working at our company, whether employees,…
When asked about marketing, many small-business owners think of a one-word definition: selling. Selling is one part of marketing, and it is a crucial part because it brings in revenues to keep the doors open. But it is only one part. Paraphrasing from Jay Levinson’s classic book, “The Guerilla Marketer,” marketing is defined as “everything you do.” Simply put,…
Market research focuses on understanding your customers. There are a variety of tools to help you do that. Yet one of the most overlooked tools that offers a great deal and costs very little, except for time, is conversation. Conversation is great in terms of getting to know your customers as individuals. What are their…
Some of you may remember the Ford slogan of the 1980’s, Quality is Job #1. That slogan was true then for businesses. And it remains true today. Yet, quality sometimes remains hard to find. For example in the last year, two households in my family had to purchase dishwashers. Two different brands were purchased but,…
A lot has been written about how market research will help you achieve business success, and many of these claims are true. That connection, however, is not a simple, direct link. Collecting information about your potential market is useful only if you take the next step of analyzing the data. Data analysis yields clues about who…
Do you have a dream of starting your own business? So what’s holding you back? For some, its not having an idea. For others, it is fearing the lose of hard-earned savings. Others think about what their friends might think of them. All of these and many of the other reasons given really come down…
Running your own business from home can achieve two dreams at the same time: You are in charge, and you get to do it without leaving your living quarters. Many small-business owners have found a niche for their product or service. That niche allows them to work from home, thus minimizing overhead, ending long commutes,…
A common concern among small-business owners is how to increase revenue. Often, they try to do this by finding new customers. That is an expensive way of doing it. On average, it will cost from $20 to $50 to get a new customer. Yet it only costs from $1 to $5 to expand sales to…
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