Your customers are your business. Connecting with them means success or failure. How well does your business do in terms of connecting? You won’t find many answers in this column, but you will find lots of questions you need to think about. How do you connect with your customers? I suspect many of you have…
Starting a business is a risky adventure. One in five will not make it through the first year and less than 40 percent, and some studies show less than 20%, will still be in business five years later. So why do people try? Because being your own boss and running your own business for many…
What plans are you making for your business? For many of us, the idea of developing a plan is just overwhelming, scary and something we often just don’t do. It sounds tedious and time-consuming, and is seen as something that’s useful only as a doorstop. Yet ask a business owner who takes the planning process…
How often are you asked, as a small business owner, for a charitable donation? I have a friend who has labeled this process as being “$20 to death.” Her comment is often accurate as most small-business operators see a steady stream of people asking for money to support charities, sports teams, clubs, civic groups, etc….
Building and running a business means handling a variety of tasks and duties. Some of those duties you may enjoy and some you may not. Some of those duties you may be good at and some may frustrate you. One task that many small-business owners continually tell me they neither enjoy nor feel competent at or…
How do your customers feel about the opportunity to access your company online? This may be to find information, search for products or services, make a purchase, ask a question, discuss a problem, find more information, get store hours, or determine where you are located. Have you ever thought about this question? Or perhaps you…
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…
I just had a recent experience that reinforced the importance of customer service. A recent trip to our basement found water on the floor by the water heater (How many of you can relate?). The plumber was called. They came out. Upon a brief inspection, they informed my wife that it wasn’t the water heater,…
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