|
|
 
|
August, 2009
|
| Striving to Make a Difference as a Business Owner
|
Consider
this synopsis: You’re an owner of a $30-million-a-year fee-based professional
service business that grew 20 percent last year; but you’re frustrated with the
results. The issue isn’t a monetary or revenue issue, but a performance one,
where your staff isn’t performing at the level it could be.
You want
to motivate your staff who you feel are under-performing. The question is, “How
do you do that, and have them do it throughout the course of the
Read More
|
|
|
| Generating Powerful Brands in Business to Sell Effectively
|
Many
businesses realize that creating a successful brand franchise involves
mobilizing the entire organization. Every aspect from the premises through the
employees’ conduct (such as with customer relations) to company letterheads and
formal marketing communications should reflect the values of the brand.
A leading
supplier of accounting and payroll software, Sage has a brand identity that
communicates a feeling of confident control that leads to piece of mind; unlike
most
Read More
|
|
|
| Importance of the Brand in Business
|
What is a brand?
It is the difference between a bottle of sugared, flavored,
carbonated water and a bottle of Coca-Cola.
A brand is the sum of the functional and
emotional characteristics (both tangible and intangible) that a consumer attributes
to a product or service a business creates and sells. These characteristics are embodied in a name,
trademark, symbol or design or any combination of these.
This is a powerful form for any business that allows them to separate themselves from
Read More
|
|
|
| Creating More Profitability for Your Business
|
Every
business is always finding ways to increase their profit. Generally, there are a
few ways that this can be done:
Conducting a Market Analysis;
Increase sales volume;
Reducing and/or ensuring that costs
are fully recovered;
Improving the product mix – varying
the relationships between the volumes of individual products or groups of
products sold;
Raise prices for select goods or
overall;
Reduce the capital neede
Read More
|
|
|
| Focusing on Organic Business Growth
|
Businesses
exist in a rapidly-changing environment that can and will lead to radical
responses and strategic planning. There are many challenges that one
organization can have with the daily grind of responsibilities that despite
attempts to push forward, the shareholder value drops. Therefore, the solution
lies not to focus on improving the current situation but rather in taking the
necessary steps to realize what it takes for a business to succeed in sales.
COMPREHENDING THE SITUA
Read More
|
|
|
| Choosing the Proper Business Entity to Buy a Company
|
If you’re a company owner that’s buying another business to operate, there are some options that you can consider when proceeding.
TYPES OF ACQUIRING ENTITIES
Normally, there are four basic types of entities that can be used to buy and operate the business of the acquired corporation:
C Corporations;
S Corporations;
Partnerships – General or Limited;
Limited Liability Company (LLC) – a hybrid entity authorized in 1988 by the IRS that off
Read More
|
|
|
| Asking for Referrals from Prospects to Elevate Your Business
|
So, you’ve
met new people, focused on their interests and how you could add value to their
lives – but not yet through buying your business products or services. The
relationship should be at the point now where they feel good about you – they
know, like and trust you; open to doing business with you directly or at least
referring you to others that could provide you with more sales.
If the
person is a direct prospect, make the appointment. Once you’ve help
Read More
|
|
|
| Dealing Effectively With Computer Viruses in Your Business
|
Computer viruses are always a threat on the Internet; therefore, they will be a threat to your business. Whether you’re building, about to buy or sell one; today, you can get one as easy as visiting a web site or opening an email.
Types of Viruses
What a computer virus does is attach itself to files on your hard drive, before replicating itself. These can infect all sorts of files on your computer from programs and system files to Word documents and HTML files. With the Internet no
Read More
|
|
|
| Following Up on Your New Referrals
|
Say you’ve attended a conference, event or trade show and you’ve just finished meeting some nice people that may be prime candidates for business referrals. And you did this while not hitting anybody over the head with your sales pitch regarding your products and services. Instead, you focused on them, asked questions that made them feel good about themselves and introduced them to other people that you’ve met.
Through this low-key and unassuming approach, you positioned yo
Read More
|
|
|
| Knowing When You’re Ready to Own a Business
|
The idea of becoming your
own boss is always appealing as millions of people have tried and liked it. How
you determine if you are ready to become one yourself? What are the challenges
of buying an existing business that’s for sale?
There are ten questions that
you need to be able to ask yourself:
Do I thrive on risk and challenge?
Do you want the
freedom and responsibility?
Not having
anyo
Read More
|
|
|
| Building Upon Your Referral Relationships for Your Business
|
So you’re at a conference,
trade show or event and have met a contact that would be a great contributor to
your business in some shape or form. You’ve established initial rapport; let
them talk about themselves and their business instead of you pitching your
intentions. By the time that you received their business card at the end, they
were impressed with you to where the follow-up meeting will make for an
excellent situation to take your new relationship to the next level.
Read More
|
|
|
|
|