Steve Curran

So You Want To Be Your Own Boss?

Been thinking about going out on your own?  

Ah, the lure of running your own show.  Owning that quaint bar, restaurant or coffee shop because you have just the right idea. A recent study shows that there has been an increase in restaurant startups but the failure rate has been 90%!  Not too encouraging.

How about a franchise?  You pay a percentage for a business that has a system for success.  Not so fast, Timothy Bates, a Wayne State University Economist, paints a very different picture. After 4 years, only 62% of franchises have survived. 

However, your chances of being happy are pretty good!   NFIB reports that most Small Business Owners feel their businesses are successful.   A bit more than half (51%) are doing what they like best.  Most report (8 on a scale of 10) are personally satisfied.

Looks like those who make it are pretty happy.  Dream a bit more and then go for it!

Guerrilla Marketing Tip: In House and Community Events

Service your existing customers with social events that allow them to make a positive association e.g. a book club in a book store after hours, storytelling evenings in a cafe, coffee mornings with toys for Moms to socialize in a nursery goods store.

For more ideas, please check out:  www.tweakyourbiz.com

Guerrilla Marketing for Small and Micro Biz

What is Guerrilla Marketing is an advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional means (graffiti, sticker bombing, flash mobs) are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large network of individual cells, to convey or promote a product or an idea. The term guerrilla marketing is easily traced to guerrilla warfare which utilizes atypical tactics to achieve a goal in a competitive and unforgiving environment. (From Wikipedia).

Major brands have used it for years and it is an ideal tool for Small and Micro Businesses.  Here are some quick reads to help you understand what it is and how you can use it to promote your Small or Micro Business:

So… What is Guerrilla Marketing? An 8-Part Guide to the History ...

The 80 Best Guerilla Marketing Ideas I've Ever Seen

100+ Guerrilla Marketing examples

Give it a try!

 

 

Failure To Plan, Is a Plan For Failure.

It was Winston Churchill who said it.  It may sound corny or trite, but you cannot escape the fact that your Small Business will run more effectively and efficiently if you do plan.

Have you planned your day? If you haven't, chances are that others are going to determine what happens today.  You must take control of what happens today and make sure what you need to accomplish is completed.

If you cannot control your day, then you will not be able to control your business plan.

Check any article on Small Business success and the topic of planning will be there.  From planning your cash flow to marketing you must plan and the further you get from your plan, the greater chance for failure.

There are many resources to help you with your Small Business planning, but if you don't start today and stick with it your days are numbered.  You need to get serious and manage your time and Small Business.

Here is another little "diddy": Plan your work, Work your plan!

You Should Sell Your Small Business Next Year

Maybe it is time to cash out.  You have worked hard over the years building your business from an idea on a napkin in your kitchen. Wrong time? Down economy?  All the more reason to think about selling.

Don't spend your time listening to the naysayers.  There will always be reasons not to sell, so let's look at the reasons to sell:

• There is a rebound in customer confidence and a sense that our economy is strengthening.
• Look around your community and you will see new businesses and franchises opening.
• If it is a good business for you, then it will be a good business for someone else. 
• Might be fun to start a new business.
• The valuation of your business might be much greater than you think.

So, how much would you take to sell out?  If someone came in today and offered you that amount would you do it?  

Remember, you just need one buyer.

 

Why Your Small Business Needs To Raise Prices

We are coming up on 2013 and you have probably kept your expenses as low as you could this year or at least tried to.  Your options in 2013 are to cut even more, increase sales or increase pricing.  Don't be afraid to increase your pricing across the board, it is not as scary as you think.

You need to take a three prong approach:

• Visit with your vendors and suppliers to see if their pricing will remain constant during the year. You would prefer not to have to raise prices more than once.  
• You want to increase prices to a reasonable and profitable level.  Run the numbers and run them again.  Find a comfortable price point that will provide you with a strong return.
• Finally, communicate with your customers.  Give them the heads up and share with them your reasoning and show them that you have worked to keep prices down in the past to keep their business.  Most of your customers should be agreeable as long as the increase is reasonable and valid.

Factor in a loss of business and you will see that even with a few customers going elsewhere, raising prices improves your bottom line.  

Do it across the board and do it all at once. 

End of Year Small Business Customer Appreciation Tips

Now more than ever we need to let our Customers know how much we appreciate their business.  A bit of effort on your part will go a long way in developing a stronger relationship with your Customers.

A few suggestions:

• Send a handwritten note.  This is "old style" and folks will love it.
• Give them a call.  Make sure you know what you are going to say and keep it short and sweet.
• Hold a Customer Apreciation Day.  Put the word out and have food and give-aways.
• If they are a really good customer, give them a coupon or gift certificate redeemable in 2013.
• Do a trade or buy some gift cards from a restaurant and give them to your favorite Clients.
• Brainstorm with your staff for other ideas.

Chances are your competition is not doing anything!  

Plan it today and implement it tomorrow.

 

Small Business Time of the Month

Your time of the month is coming on Friday.  Yep, end of month financials and I bet you are not planning on going over your books on Saturday.   Those figures are your roadmap to financial success.

Small businesses are no different than their big brothers and sisters (large corporations) in understanding the importance of the monthly P&L and Balance Sheet.  Many owners are afraid, don't understand or are too lazy to review and analyze their numbers.  If you are one of the few that do spend a few hours going over you month performance then I applaud your efforts!

Here are a few numbers you should know:

• How do sales compare this November over last year?
• Are your expenses running the same or below what you projected?
• Is 2012 on track to be a good year for your business?

Those numbers are there and can be retrieved by a push of a button.  Reach out to your Accountant if you need some help.

Reserve some time on Saturday to review your financial health.  It will give you a clear picture of what you need to do for 2013.

 

Is Your Staff Adequately Trained?

Unfortunately, most Small Business Owners do not adequately train their employees.  Failure to do so affects customer service, morale, the reputation of your business and most of all, sales.

Usually, the Small Business Owner doesn't have the time or the experience to train their staff.  Often the training is left to another employee to show the new hire "around" or to shadow a senior employee.  Clearly that is not training.

A training program does not have to be complicated or time consuming, but it does have to provide the tools for your employees to do their job.   Small Business Owners can create a training program that is simple and effective.

Here is a good place to start:

• Make a list of things your staff should know about your business.
• Write out a short job description.
• List the basics: attire, breaks, illness, schedules, etc.
• Look online for some training resources and ideas.

You do not need four binders and a training video!  Just provide your employees with the information they need to effectively do their jobs.  Invest the time with your staff at the beginning of their employment and it will pay great dividends over time.

 

What is Your Competition Doing?

Small Business owners must know what there competition is doing.  Do a little detective work and find out how they are marketing, what is their pricing and what are they doing that you aren't?

Here are a few ways to get an idea of what they are doing:

• Go into their store and have a look.
• If they do not have storefront or an office, give them a call and get some pricing.  Have a friend or family member be a "mystery shopper" if you feel uncomfortable.
• Check out their website.  How does yours compare to theirs?

Check out websites of similair business in major markets in other states.  If something catches your eye, call them up and identify youself as a business owner in the same industry, but in another state and ask if they would be willing to talk about their marketing programs.  Worse that could happen is they say no.

Get your head out of the sand and get serious about your business.

Plan your work and work your plan.

Steve