Help? I am swamped. So get an ad in the paper and get some employees, right? Sorry, this isn’t the time. When you are overwhelmed is not the time you want to hire someone for several reasons. First and foremost, you will rush the process. Steps will be skipped such as reference checking. Second, you…
A Business Truth –There is no need to market if your small business does not offer great customer service? And by customer service, I am not just talking about a good return policy. Customer service starts in the pre-purchase decision making effort through purchase and then right on to use, today, tomorrow and for the…
Think about why you marketing effort. Are you bringing more customers into the store now or are you looking to build your customer base for tomorrow? Both are worthy goals and both should be on your mind as you develop your marketing plan. What happens though is most often marketing focuses on today and we…
Read anything offering marketing tips and you will be encouraged to learn who your customers are. You want to understand the demographic make-up as well as their likes and dislikes and, of course, what they buy. Yet, so often that is the end of the effort. Getting the data can be done with registration information,…
The reality is that all big businesses were once small. If you bore down into the history of practically all businesses, they once had few, if any, employees. They operated from cramped quarters including basements, garages, sheds, a desk in the corner, the kitchen table, or a corner table in the local coffee shop. The…
As you probably know, if you are going into business, the odds your business will be around in five years are not good. But they aren’t as bad as you may think, either. Approximately one-third of businesses close within two years. At the five-year mark, about one-half of all businesses have closed. We don’t approach…
Late last year, I did a blog post looking at how clustering of competitors may have positive results (https://smallbizsurvival.com/2016/11/competition-and-clustering.html). Recently I was asked about this idea in terms of small rural town cafes. If any of you have lived in the Great Plains region of the country, you know the towns and the cafes I…
How often aren’t we told to “trust our gut?” You see this comment made often for people starting a small business or when small-business owners need to make an important decision. Yet a recent article from Entrepreneur challenged this and indicated that this idea may be a myth. So who do you believe? Which view…
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