Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Career, Motivation, Reviews No comments yet

Enchanted with Enchantment

By on March 8th, 2011

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

I was fortunate to receive a copy of Enchantment courtesy of Guy Kawasaki. I had not read his previous books, but make use of his site Alltop (where I am featured under the listing Small Business), and was interested in reading more from the man known as the Chief Evangelist for Apple.

Having read this book, I am eager to get my hands on the rest of Guy’s publications.

Enchantment describes the process by which people have become enchanted with various things, whether people, causes, products, companies, or events. For any business, such information is critical – though, as Guy points out several times in this book, couples would do well to heed some of the advice and suggestions.

Enchanting people takes into account many factors, and to try to reduce the book to a single page of review would be impossible. Throughout the book, Guy kept me enchanted with its content, wanting to read more, to continue deriving benefit from each and every section.

The best comment I can make, having read through the book twice and in the middle of a third reading, is that if you were to select one book to read to improve your business, this should be it. It is absolutely critical that a business owner understand the art of enchantment, and this book contains all the tricks and tips you need to succeed.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Career, Motivation 1 comment

Question: Are Your Customers Always Right?

By on March 7th, 2011

There’s a famous saying that “the customer is always right”, but many people who work in businesses and interact with customers on a daily basis will disagree. There are certainly times when this saying might not be true, but in some businesses, this is taken to an extreme level.

In your business, what do you tell your employees? Do you tell them the customer is always right, or do you take another approach?

Fake it Until You Break It

Last week, I asked about how to reconcile the two sayings: fake it until you make it and don’t bite off more than you can chew without damaging your reputation. Unfortunately, too many small businesses fail for the simple reason that they don’t understand how these two sayings relate to their business, and how they should influence their actions.

The first saying, fake it until you make it, is about giving the impression of being larger than you are, more established, more credible. It’s about impressions – that until you have the data backing you up, act as though you do.

The second saying is about accepting challenges: don’t bite off more than you can chew, or, in other words, don’t accept a challenge you can’t complete.

Just because you act larger than you are does not mean you have to accept every challenge. Even for large companies, not every project is a good fit. Saying no to a project is not a sign of being small, but rather, of knowing and accepting your own limitations. While you may feel pressure to act big and say yes, sometimes the better course of action is to be even bigger, and say no.

A business which manages to learn what types of projects it can do well at, and what types of projects exceed its capacities, and makes decisions accordingly, will not be taken for a small player, but for a seasoned business.

After all, it takes some experience to understand that certain projects, once accepted, can destroy a business as it fails to achieve its objectives.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, dragons den, Motivation 1 comment

Who’s Wearing the Pants in the Den?

By on March 4th, 2011

When Carley Stenson came onto the Den with her business, she clearly indicated who was in charge. Her fiesty presentation for a business with a low barrier to entry turned away four of the Dragons, but garnered her a deal from the fifth.

Siams Pants, a comfortable, one-size-fits-all Thailand Fisherman’s Pant, retail for $32, and are the base of her growing business. Starting with $5,000 and an initial inventory, Carley managed to expand her business, locking down a supplier. Her biggest problem, though, was distribution. While alone she managed to grow her business, every sale was a significant amount of effort, which would mean she would need to find a representative in any city or country she wanted to reach.

The four Dragons who bowed out did so for some simple reasons – the business was not terribly large, even if it were to succeed, and the barriers to entry for a competitor were non-existant. After all, anyone could manufacture identical pants, or have them imported. Carley’s response that the reality is that she is alone in her market failed to sway any opinions.

Any, that is, except for Jim Treliving. He made an offer, for the simple reason that for him, distribution was not an issue. If the reason for lack of growth was an inability to reach out across the country, Jim could certainly provide assistance there.

Additionally, the lively presentation demonstrated many qualities of a good entrepreneur – to keep pushing, to keep chasing after the sale even when it seems increasingly unlikely that it will succeed. If anyone could make the business succeed, it would be someone with a passion, who had demonstrated her ability to succeed if given the chance.

If you are looking for a quality presentation of a business or product, look no further than Carley Stenson – she has the passion, and she has the credibility. Sometimes, to get a deal, that’s what it takes.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Career, Motivation No comments yet

Sharp Reversals

By on March 3rd, 2011

In business, when progress seems to have embarked on a downward spiral, a sudden reversal can be key to survival. The ability to look at the business objectively, and see where the new opportunities lie, can spell the difference between the life and death of a company.

However, when the spiral has existed from the day of the business launching, and despite positive feedback on the product, making a few dollars has always been difficult, the sharp reversal can be another recipe for disaster. After all, if your customers like what it is you’re providing, then perhaps a tweak or adjustment is needed, but a reversal can merely drive people away.

If, however, due consideration indicates that a reversal may be in order, the business owner would be prudent to do two things:

  1. Look at what the true problem with the current business model, and determine whether or not the reversal will result in the same scenario from a different perspective. As an example, if a site has little to no direct revenue, changing the structure of the site will not help bring in money unless the business model is adjusted as well.
  2. Warn your customers of the pending change, so that you can gauge their feedback prior to making the change. This allows you to measure the effect the change will have on your existing clientele.

Building trust with your client base is critical if your business is to succeed. If you suddenly change attitudes with them, many customers will feel betrayed. If you take something away, whether a product or a service, customers will notice the absence of that item. Some may stay, but others will leave – because they truly were there for that particular product.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Career, Motivation No comments yet

Bolster Credibility by Writing

By on March 2nd, 2011

At a marketing course on how to be asked to be a guest speaker at universities, an observation was made:

If you want instant credibility, write a book.

Interesting logic, considering that many writers are people I wouldn’t necessarily want speaking at an event, or even consider credible because of their writing. For some, writing might have the opposite of the desired effect, by demonstrating their own lack of credibility.

However, for someone who does have credibility, just an inability to demonstrate that credibility, writing can provide a simple route to publicizing credibility.

First, the fact that you could come up with sufficient material for a book on a given topic shows that you have knowledge on the subject (though the quality of that knowledge would require actually reading the book).

Second, writing can help you organize your own thoughts on the subject, and help you define what it is your own expertise entails. The fact that you went through this process provides a measure of your credibility.

Having written copious amounts on this site over the past 2 years (over 400 posts and approaching 200,000 words), I considered this exercise of writing a book to be interesting, to say the least. Whether or not I choose to publish a book, the act of writing one could prove to be useful, and if ever I should need to demonstrate my credibility to someone who does not know me, I can always send them a copy of my book.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Motivation No comments yet

Small Business is NOT Like Big Business

By on March 1st, 2011

There was something I discovered when I started working for myself about small business, and how it compares to larger businesses. Coming from a company with several hundred employees and many contract staff, I moved to a company that had exactly one employee – me.

The difference was so fundamental, I wondered if any of the rules of larger businesses even applied anymore. I wasn’t merely responsible for gathering requirements, writing code, testing, and supporting production applications – I had to work in advertising and promotions, sales, accounts receivable, accounts payable, janitorial – you name it, I was doing it.

In a larger business, a given employee can stick to their comfort zone, because that’s their area of responsibility. In a small business, the business is your responsibility. Not even the owner of a larger business has as much responsibility as the owner of a one-man shop. It’s not a question of the number of hours worked, but of the work that must be done within those hours.

If you want a true understanding of what owning a small business is like, the best way to learn is to find a small business owner and follow them around for a week. Even then, you will only encounter a small fraction of the roles they play – and if that sounds daunting, then maybe it’s not the position for you.

If it sounds like a welcome challenge, then hop on board, and get ready to be the Jack-of-all-trades.

Advice for Small Business Owners, business, Motivation 1 comment

Question: Fake it Until You Break It?

By on February 28th, 2011

There’s a saying commonly bandied about in relation to small businesses that you should “fake it until you make it” which is implying that you should act bigger or better than you might otherwise appear to be, until that becomes a reality.

However, this can rapidly backfire as you promise the world, and are left unable to deliver on those promises. In other words, you fall prey to the other saying, “don’t bite off more than you can chew”. How would you avoid falling into this trap?

Timely Payments

Last week’s question was one pertinent to anyone who relies on clients for their paycheck – how do you ensure timely payments from your clients? This post got many responses, most of which were variations on two themes. The first response was the stick, the second, the carrot.

Enforcement

The first response involved a baseball bat, some nasty people, and angry letters from lawyers. That is, bully the clients who pay late (after all, they deserve it for treating me badly) until they pay, using whatever means that won’t land you in jail.

This method is like a stick – train a dog to be afraid of getting hit, and it will behave. The problem is that some clients will only respond to the stick, some will pull into their shells and avoid you, and others will leave you for more friendly vendors, and may still not pay you.

Bribery

The second response involved bribing your customers to pay on time by offering a discount for timely payments. One common method is referred to as 2-10-Net 30, which roughly translates to a 2% discount if paid within 10 days, with the full amount due in 30 days. Precise numbers can vary, but this method is aimed to encourage penny-pinching clients to pay earlier rather than later.

There are two issues here. First, 2% is not likely to provide a sufficient incentive to many clients to even care. As a result, this system rewards clients who would anyhow pay early (not that that’s a bad thing) but not really encourage anyone to join their ranks. Second, experience has shown that this system is marginally effective in any case, indicating that this may only work for certain types of clients.

Summary

As with all things in life, it’s about moderation. You need to be nice to your customers, but if they hold out on you too long when it comes to paying, maybe you don’t want them as customers anyhow. Try to avoid the enforcement method, as it is more likely to generate bad-will than be truly effective, and can compromise your ability to get referrals from clients you had harrassed.

One method that is worth trying, at least, is to simply ask your customers to pay early. Explain to them why you need the money earlier rather than later, explain that you understand it’s their right to hold out for 30 days, or whatever your official terms are, and in many cases, you’ll find a check in the next day’s mail.

Advice for Small Business Owners, dragons den, Motivation No comments yet

Preparing a Pitch

By on February 25th, 2011

As Dragons’ Den crosses Canada in search of new entrepreneurs looking for investment dollars, and past participants with fresh ideas, this is a good time to review some of the rules for making a deal on the den. It is surprising how many people come onto the show, having presented their ideas to a panel of judges prior to meeting the investors themselves, and still manage to completely blow their presentation.

  1. This is about an investment, not trust. As such, be prepared to offer a fair deal based on what your business is worth today, not what you hope it will be worth in a year. If your valuation is off by too much, the rules of the Den will ensure that no deal can happen.
  2. Know your numbers – you will be asked about sales, profit, expenses, margins, and projections. Make sure you have that information ready.
  3. Explain your business in a single sentence. What need are you filling? What problem are you solving? It’s okay to tell a story, but you may be asked to summarize your business, in which case, one or two sentences should be all you need.
  4. Know the industry and the competition – what are other people doing in the industry, and what sets you apart? What barriers to market exist? What has happened to other small companies that tried to enter this market?
  5. Why do you need the money – sure, it’s nice to have extra cash, but the investors will want to know that their money is being spent for things the business needs, not things you, the owner, want.

Additionally, understand what expertise each of the investors has, and pitch accordingly. If your business needs help with marketing, Arlene Dickinson may be the investor you need to woo. If you’re looking into franchising your business, target Jim Treliving. Philanthropic based businesses may resonate with Brett Wilson, while the cold cash deals tend to connect with Kevin O’Leary. For technology businesses, be prepared to answer tough questions from Robert Herjavec.

If you come into the Den unprepared (and that includes rehearsing your presentation, having someone drill you on the numbers and play devil’s advocate in regard to your business), then it should come as no surprise that you don’t get a deal. Prepared and ready with the facts? If you don’t get a deal, you will, at least, walk away with some good advice.