Pricing is a task that puzzles and frustrates many small-business owners. Some think good pricing is magic, while others dig deep into their financial records to come up with a very specific price point for each product and service. Business owners are frustrated by wanting to be perceived as offering a competitive price to maximize…
Enjoy the holiday.
Small communities often are looking for ways to enhance and expand their local economies. A commonly used tool in this effort is encouraging the building and expansion of local businesses. Communities want jobs and dollars, and they usually want them relatively quickly. Often development plans look towards high-fliers and/or large firms. Yet, the local business…
I attended the EntreEd Consortium Forum in Oklahoma City with the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. The session on engaging businesses with school entrepreneurship programs generated a lot of interesting thoughts for me as a business owner sitting in on a discussion among educators. Businesses are desperately interested in skills in the workforce. It’s a natural…
Last week, I attended the EntreEd Consortium Forum in Oklahoma City with the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. I was there because I believe small towns don’t need kids who will graduate high school or return from college, then look around for a job. We need kids who will graduate, then look for an…
As a small-business owner, how often have you said, in conversation, “I can’t compete with the big stores?” How often has a customer been told you can’t do something because this is just a small business? Stop it! That sounds harsh, but your words just made you your worst competition. Instead, offer the customer information…
A downtown retail store owner told me she closes at 5 pm because she hates to stay later. She gets to work at 8 am most days, and so at 5 pm she’s ready to go home. She doesn’t like to delegate at all, she told me, and she wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything…
When you think of good customer service when you have a product issue what comes to mind? To me it starts with fixing the issue. Words like prompt, fair and immediate come to mind along with getting having it happen quickly with the first person I contact. As a business owner, we want to believe…
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