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Inside Front Cover Available
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TOC
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Intro to BAdviser
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Editor’s Note
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A Closer Look At Two Interview Questions
preparedness is the key
01
Yet, 78% of all candidates - regardless of the level for which they are interviewing - wing it! And frequently cause themselves to be weeded out in the process.
“Why do you want to work here?”
Here’s where you get to show off your research. Tell the interviewer what you’ve learned about the company, and why it’s appealing to you. SPECIFICS are the key here. Relate those specific examples from your experience to what you’ve learned about the company, their focus, and their market. Look to your personality and what motivates you and how that relates to any details you learned from the ad, your recruiter, your friend who referred you, or from where you learned of this opportunity. For instance, perhaps their ad stated that they were looking to establish a marketing department from ground up. If you thrive on growth, challenges, making things happen - there’s your answer - along with examples of how you have grown, established, or done market research in a parallel situation. Share what you can do and why you feel you can make a contribution and benefit the company. This question is about how YOU can benefit the company, not how the company can benefit YOU. 8 | Business Adviser Magazine
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Like so much of the interview, seemingly innocent questions can trip you up. You think you are answering them in a way that puts you in the best light, but you’d be surprised at how many people completely miss the boat. Merely to hope an interview has a positive result is not enough. That’s basically forfeiting your ability to drive up the percentage of a positive outcome.
“Tell me about yourself.”
Some interviews are lost right at this point. This is not an invitation to go on and talk about everything that has happened to you since you were five years old or since your first job out of college. Nor is it the time to shrug your shoulders and give an unplanned, one-sentence answer. Some people, especially those who haven’t prepared and have a tendency to talk when they get nervous, find themselves rambling. Put together a nice little 2 - 3 minute verbal bio about your career, your qualifications, and why you are interested. Know what you’re going to say in advance. Knowing who you are, what you want, what you have to offer and what you’ve accomplished - and having it all on the tip of your tongue - can make or break you for a job offer - not just for your perfect job, but sometimes for even finding ANY job. Being able to sell yourself, your skills, how you can benefit a potential company and then being able to close the deal necessitates taking the time to research and learn the company.
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“One of the most important negotiation skills you can develop is to get in the habit of finding the other side’s deadline. Time is of the essence. It even says as much on most business and real estate
Deadline negotiator
Negotiation Skills You Need To Know This guy wasn’t using good negotiation skills. He gave away too One of the most important negotiation skills you can develop is to get in the habit of finding the other side’s deadline. Time is of the essence. It even says as much on most business and real estate contracts. What does this mean in negotiating? It means that whoever controls or understands the elements of time involved in a negotiation has the better position. Many years ago I was looking at a truck for sale. I asked the owner why he was selling (always a good idea). He told me that the IRS was coming after him and he needed to sell the truck by the weekend (It was Tuesday). When do you think you would be able to negotiate the best price on the truck? Maybe right now, but certainly on Friday if the truck is still available. On Friday he would be desperate to get what he could from the truck before it was seized by the IRS. 10 | Business Adviser Magazine
much information. More specifically, he gave away his deadline. One of the most important things to understand in negotiating is deadlines. The two things to remember about them are: 1. Don’t give away your deadline(s), and 2. Find the other side’s deadline(s). Find out whatever you can about any relevant deadlines. Sometimes there isn’t a clear deadline, or there are several deadlines for different parts of the negotiation. Whatever the case, the more information you can gather about those deadlines, the better. How do you use that information once you have it? The crudest method is to simply delay and wait until the last moment to negotiate. This only works if the other side doesn’t walk away, and if your own deadline permits it. It also requires that there are not others who can take your place (as is clearly the case with a truck for sale - it might not be there Friday).
“...this points up the importance of getting information on the other’s deadline, but also the importance of not revealing your own.” //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// A bit of sophistication is required to use this information effectively. You may want to start by identifying what is most important to you in the negotiation. For example, if you are buying an apartment building, is the price or the terms the crucial element for you? Let’s assume that price is most important to you. When you wrote the offer, you put some price on it, but you have inspections and other contingencies that allow for everything to be renegotiated. The process of inspections and negotiations ties up the property, so your competition is excluded for the moment. Then you learn that owner really wants to sell by the start of the school year, because he will be moving with his children. Work on everything else in the negotiations except the price. Have inspections done, agree on what will be included with the property, etc. As the seller’s “deadline” approaches, he will be getting anxious to close the deal. Then you let him know you’re ready to close quickly. Of course, you’ll need the price adjusted due to the results of the inspections.
Imagine the abuse he would open himself to if, with ten days to go, the seller learned of his deadline and the cost of the buyer missing it. He could threaten to delay closing unless the buyer paid $10,000 extra for some old coin-operated washing machines, for example.
At this point the seller has the choice of throwing away the whole
Overpay by a few thousand, or lose $80,000. What do you think he
deal. This means starting over, and not moving when he wanted to.
would do?
Alternately, he can be happy that he got what he wants most - a quick close. This means giving you your price.
For an everyday example of using deadlines, try buying your next car towards the end of the month. Many times there are quotas that
This points up the importance of getting information on the other’s
dealerships want to meet for the month, and bonuses that salesmen
deadline, but also the importance of not revealing your own. When
get for monthly volume. Saying “I’ll think about it and return on
I was a real estate agent I heard the story of a man who sold his
Thursday,” (or whatever day is the first of the next month) can have
property for a large profit.
them dropping the price fast. It’s always good to practice your negotiation skills.
He had to pay $80,000 in capital gains taxes unless he rolled the money into another property, as a “title 31 exchange.” He had 60 days to close on the new property. Business Adviser Magazine | 11
Business start-up costs.
Starting a business is not an easy task. Here is a brief introduction at the costs associated.
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f you are considering starting your own business, then you have no doubt considered the investment required for various business start-up costs. The first thing you need to do is find a market that your business can be successful in. Next you must look at approximately how much it will cost you in just basic business startup costs; business licenses, lawyer consult fees and form preparation fees, accountant fees/accounting programs, inventory costs, business insurance, leases, and utilities are just a few of the standard traditional business start-up costs. You must also consider how you are going to support yourself and your family while you venture takes off; this could be at least two to three months, and you want to make sure you can pay your mortgage, all your bills, feed your kids, and have a little extra left over for incidentals, in addition to business start-up costs. If you choose to not have a physical location for your business, you may want to consider offering your goods
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When starting a business, it is imperative that you contemplate all start-up costs and ensure funding will be available at all stages. A shortage of cash can kill a business before it is even born.
and services via a website or mail order catalog. This is a great way to reach a large audience all at once, but business start-up costs associated with this mode of doing business can be expensive as well. By the time you pay someone to create your website, host it, register your domain name, and start a merchant account, you have made quite an expenditure, unless of course you are capable of building your own website, which many people are. Yahoo! offers web hosting, domain name registration, business email, and store front options for a very reasonable price worth checking out. This is a great way to save on some of those business start-up costs that could otherwise break the bank. The traditional way that business has been conducted in this country has changed dramatically since the advent of the World Wide Web, opening the door for a number of new ways to conduct business. You no longer have to have a physical storefront address to sell your goods or services, a rather
archaic point of view. More and more people are buying goods and services on the internet, which is a great place to feature your business while keeping your business start up costs at a minimum. You don’t need to lease that 900 square foot shop for $2800 a month to sell what you can sell just as easily with a website and a little marketing campaign. Business start-up costs do not have to be astronomical, in fact, they can be quite the opposite. You can visit a number of online sources that offer an abundance of information on business start-ups costs and links to essential sites that can help you get your business up and
Available
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Rilemar Custom Homes
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extended warranties are they worth it?
S
hould you buy an extended warranty with your laptop? You may not want to think about it now, but sooner or later, something is going to go wrong with your laptop. When it does happen, the main question will be who gets stuck with the bill, you or the maker. The standard (free) warranty on a new laptop usually runs around the 90 day mark. That probably doesn’t seem like a lot when you consider how long you expect to own your laptop. What happens when your laptop busts on the 91st day? First of all, even if your laptop only includes a 90-day warranty (and assuming you’ve purchased a well known brand- name system), the chances of your computer dying on the 91st day are very, very slim. Manufacturers don’t offer a 90-day warranty with the expectation that their item will malfunction shortly thereafter. A shorter warranty is likely, at least in part, to be a sales gimmick to push you towards an extended warranty. All major laptop manufacturers offer a long menu of extended warranty options, each menu item with its own price tag. The two biggest components that factor into the cost of an extended warranty are duration and locality. Through extended warranty, you have the option to extend the duration of the standard warranty from one to three years or even five in some cases. The first extra year is always the most expensive, with each subsequent year
costing significantly less. The longer the extended warranty, the better the deal. As for location, the least expensive extended warranties require you to post your laptop (at your expense) to a remote repair facility. With the most deluxe extended warranty packages, a service technician will meet you at your own front door to attempt the repairs. This type of coverage tends to be on the dear side. At this point, you might decide to go online and check out each manufacturers websites to determine their standard warranty policies. Don’t bother, because most laptop manufacturers don’t have standard warranty polices. Warranties vary from line to line and product to product. Even with a particular model in mind, it’s still going to take some digging. So how do you decide whether an extended warranty is right for you? Your best option is to consider your anticipated usage: If you’re buying a laptop as a second computer for occasional use when you need to travel, you can probably pass on the extended warranty and still feel relatively safe. At the other extreme, if you use your laptop day in and day out as your major system, with half your life spent in airport terminals, you should consider adding as much extended warranty as you possibly can. Fortunately, unlike car warranties, laptop warranties don’t put any restriction on mileage.
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Seven Simple Steps To Planning The Perfect Conference It’s that time of year again and your organization is getting ready for its next big conference, and it feels slightly overwhelming. You may even feel in your heart everything that could go wrong. Perhaps, its time to take the guessing out of planning and begin to take care of what you can control when planning your next conference.
3. Promote Early
6. Plan B
Third, get the word out early, and give people something to talk an about, if you start late than don’t expect large numbers. The more hype you build through word of mouth the better direction you have to bring in large numbers.
1. Streamline
4. Booking the Right Conference Center
Fifth, be prepared for the inevitable as you sometimes never know what will happen. A speaker may drop out last minute or perhaps there maybe a mix up with the catering. It’s not a problem if you have back up speakers in mind, and remember not everything is in your control.
First step always is to streamline your tasks; make sure to create a plan before you begin the event coordination. It is imperative to make sure you know the direction you are going before you start. Make a list prioritizing from beginning to end; from finding the right speakers to developing the right promotional plan that meets your organizations vision.
2. Know your Target Audience Second, evaluate your organization and the people you are trying to reach for your conference. Prepare the right topics with the right speakers, to ensure you are connecting with the right audience. A communication’s plan is essential for everyone involved so you can put the focus of the conference back to the direction of its people. 16 | Business Adviser Magazine
Fourth, the right conference center is imperative in ensuring your events success, and everything from the layout of the room to the location of the bathroom should be checked before entering into a contractual agreement. It is vital that you meet the needs of the organization and the people attending, if they are uncomfortable throughout the day than it creates a negative impact on your conference’s perspective and outcome.
5. Location Fourth, if you are bringing in out of Towner’s then location is key for everyone, make sure it’s in happening spot, at the right time of year. Ensuring this will meet the needs of everyone involved and draw more attraction the big day.
7. Relax and Enjoy Yourself Getting ready for the conference can be a huge stressful task but if you do it right; it can be a lot of fun. Remember, to enjoy yourself, while planning, and promoting the more excited the coordinator is the more apt people will come. Do it with a smile on your face to let everyone know this will be the best event, yet! Get a head start, get organized, and get ready to host the best conference in your area. If you can follow these six simple steps than you are ready for instant success. Event coordination can sometimes be overwhelming but if you plan early it will be an instant success
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New 2014 Mercedes-Benz S Class Osa dendior ionsecu llibere et voluptia non porum andesendi sum est facesse dipsam volupta si officipient odis expla volendunt eaquae nus pa dolestio dignimi nctotae planimus eaqui beaqui unt quiat modi volest est, videm vidus ea dolut latur aliquas aliae velluptat. Axim que volorro ratur? Um expelias excepeliae dunt intinvent modis et volores sequiae. Ut quaturibus. Iquis anda antoruptatus que num il int, offic te dellaborro volorem ut omnis etur assequi totas mosam alias ut laboria eium corat am, vendae es et fugitis reic tem qui dolupitae magniandant est atiorro vidunto que plit eturibu stotam il mos nissunt la aliquas et fugia pore minctectium imin non coribus assenda sum et occus mint aut am, tem non commodi psuntiunt od eostia asit fugiam fugia quiat et aceat. Ut volupti ne pa sum sit porem quatur? Da doluptatur aut repratus asperio nsequation consequo modigent. Fugiasinis volupicia doluptam es dunt. Occumentem untusam ne as corero et odit, evelesOmmod que et esciis velia pre quam, et odisit doluptas voloreiuntis et ipsunt ut doluptaquat veligentibus
is dundige ndigent, ium que alis renit plab id quidelici dolesciendio te quid quibus plibea qui vendi ulpa ditectiur, si vellorem rerios quiaestio bla as veles et alis eari volorpo rporpos doluptat plic to eos solenda dolorum apicia sus. Igentur? Cupta cum et volorro esequia tquisi ulparchitae modit facernatur re perorerrori re idis ape consequ ibust, veliquo blatius ute solupti doluptae. Nam ea cusam libusam voluptatur? Nam aliqui net offictios dolupta veriberibus aliquat umquameni derferi bustiore vellaut omnihilitio volessequis nonseque dolorerferum net quia sed quiat quis rem. Et quistis ciatiam, comnihic tem. Nam, sit venimol uptaque voluptist et qui qui denihit ionseditecta illitiat elit mi, cus, accum qui samus esto et occumqui ullam, que con cusandicto con conseque evelent fugiae nossi dolum, commosandus volorru mquunt la cores eiunt inciis con natur?Eprem voles et omnihit acest ut mint volorercient volorat. Doluptaturit qui aped et ab idel idiorundebit qui inveles reniet possend uciisque endi ut
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a real business car Breathtaking interior.
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Unparalleled safety features.
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MB of San Juan
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business lifestyle
How Do You Measure Success?
Have you ever stopped to think what real success is? It is having a yacht and a paid-off home or is it a peace of mind and tranquility?
How Successful are you? It all depends on the way you look at your life, and what you consider to be truly successful. It also depends on what you use to measure these different valued achievements. Certainly we all have our own priorities, lifestyles, and goals, but there are ways to measure success in your life that are healthier than others.
successful if he or she was living under the poverty line, and never knows where tonight’s dinner will come from, let alone how rent will be made at the end of the month? What if that person was married to the love of their lives, was working their dream job, had lots of friends, was as healthy as anyone could be, and didn’t mind a bit of financial risk?
For example, would you consider a person who is extremely wealthy, with a mortgage paid off, three luxury cars, a pool, a tennis court, and a high-status job to be successful? What if that same person had a terrible disease or suffered from chronic pain? What if the anxiety from the job that gave the person so much money felt like slow torture? What if that person spent so much time earning money and making luxury purchases that s/he never had enough time to enjoy those items, or even meet a potential spouse?
It’s funny how the results change when you look at the different details, or from a different light.
Conversely, would you consider a person
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The primary misconception that many people have is that money or monetary gain is synonymous with success. But when we look at things from another angle, it’s easier to see the successes in one’s life for what they truly are. Instead of thinking about dollar amounts, try looking at the following three powerful measures for your success:
Living your life’s purpose Planting seeds of hope, inspiration, and encouragement in others Making the most of every day to achieve your true potential When you consider a successful life on these terms, it’s much easier to find the motivation that you need in your life both at home, and in your business. Then again, changing your entire life view of success isn’t something that is entirely easy ñ unless you know exactly how to do it.
McAllen Motorsports
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weird inventions that made someone money
IN FACT
Alarm clock that uses voices. Here’s one of those easy inventions, and it isn’t even that weird. Use one of the “sampler” chips that are found in electronic keyboards. Push the button to record a short message-alarm. Wake up to your own voice, or record a wake-up message from a sexy friend for more motivation. Have it say what you want. “You’re late for work!” might work, or might just give you a heart attack.
Furniture that glows in the dark. Perhaps it would be more practical to have just the edges trimmed with a glow-in-the-dark material. No more bumping into the coffee table in the dark, and a nice party atmosphere too.
Wind chimes made from bones. There are a lot of people out there who like the morbid side of life, and I’ll bet they buy wind chimes too. Of course, they don’t have to be human bones!
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someone Made millions selling rocks Gary Dahl, a California advertising man came up with the idea of a pet rock in 1975 after a conversation with friends about cats, dogs, and birds being too much trouble and costing too much money. He said a pet rock was an ideal pet - easy and cheap. Dahl spent the next two weeks writing the Pet Rock Training Manual - a step-by-step guide about taking care of it and how to train it. He went to a builder’s supply store and found a Rosarita Beach Stone that sold for a penny. He packed the stone in a box shaped like a pet carrying case along with the book.
Pet Rock Millionaire The Pet Rock was introduced at a gift show, where the store, Neiman-Marcus ordered five hundred. After a news release showing Gary surrounded by boxes of his Pet Rocks, Newsweek did a story and within a few months was shipping ten thousand Pet Rocks every day. He even appeared on The Tonight Show twice. By Christmas that year two and a half tons of rocks had been sold, three-fourths off all the newspapers in America had run Pet Rock stories. A million rocks sold for $3.95 apiece in just a few months making Gary Dahl an instant millionaire. The story of the Pet Rock is a neverending source of inspiration to create new crazes that sweep the nation and make millions for the genius who thought of them.
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i love Running a business online is all about flexibility and freedom. One of the keys .to this is your virtual office Imagine you decide to open a business offline, for example a store selling tools. You will have to find a location, commit to tens of thousands of dollars in rent and, most importantly, actually go to work everyday. After all, who else is going to open the front door each morning? On top of this, your pool of customers is limited to those willing to drive to your location. All of these limitations and aggravations associated with a physical store go by .the wayside when you go online Having worked online for a very long time, I can tell you the freedom to work when you want to is by far the best aspect of the Internet. Here is the proof. As I am writing this article, it is 1:13 p.m. I am at home. I am wearing sweats. After being up all night on a project, I am thinking about going back to bed. This is all possible because I have an online business. In fact, our 26 | Business Adviser Magazine
my virtual office
business is so virtual oriented that I have never physically met some of my programmers. They live in other countries! Sounds like a good excuse .to travel, however Being online gives you massive freedom and flexibility because you are not limited geographically. Your business should revolve around your laptop. If possible, you should try to store every bit of information online. Taking this approach turns you into a virtual business with a virtual office and lets you access work whenever you want from wherever you want. What do ?I mean by this Assume you have an online business selling something on the web. Where is your physical office? To figure it out, take a look around you. If you are in an airport, that is your office. If you are at home, your office is there and so on. This flexibility is crucial because it gives you access to your business at all times. You will never get this with a .physical location
You are probably wondering about a business address and meetings with clients. Neither is a problem with a virtual office. You can use one of the various mail box services for your business address. Just make sure they list the box number as a suite. As to meetings, you just go to clients who will appreciate the fact you don’t make them come to you. If you must host a meeting, you can rent conference rooms in “executive office suites” in any town or city. Compare the cost of renting an office suite versus leasing a physical office for three or five years, and the virtual office advantage should .be very obvious I love my virtual office and you will too. It saves you money, gives you flexibility and is one of the primary benefits of .running a business on the net
Available
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Yoko’s
exiting gracefully Since you own a business or plan on having one in the near future, you have an exit strategy, right? Your answer is probably No”, which is typical for many people in their first venture of working for themselves. Every owner will eventually exit their businessÖ even if they run it until they die. But then what? Not having an exit strategy before, or very soon after, starting or buying a company is a dangerous proposition. An exit strategy is very important to your personal business plan as well as your tactical business plan. It gets you prepared for the future but also allows you to be ready if something unexpected happens such as an unsolicited offer to be bought out. Knowing how you want to exit your company and when will allow you to build it successfully and get out at a high value rather than when you are bailing out. Exiting includes selling to an outsider, an investor, a partner, an employee or a family
member. It could also mean not completely leaving but just selling, or giving up, enough interest to relinquish day-to-day control while still maintaining an income. Without planning for these things, you can’t possibly build the value you need to get the money you desire or have the correct structure set up to allow you to sell the business or even give it to a family member. Don’t forget, almost every small business is very dependent on its founders. That makes a company very difficult to sell if the founders want to eventually have nothing to do with the company after the sale. Hopefully you now realize that owning a business also means planning to no longer own the business. Setting yourself and your company up to let you reap the rewards of your hard work and allow you to retire or move on to other ventures is not something to be taken lightly. Good luck and remember that we are always here to help.
Here are a few things to consider for your exit plan. 1. How would you like to exit your company (full sale, partial sale, asset sale, etc)? 2. Who would you like to sell your company to (competitor, experienced owner, family member, etc)? 3. How long are you willing to stay on to help the buyer? 4. What is your target profit on the sale after paying off any debt? 5. Are you willing to hold a note for the buyer? 6. What are your plans for your employees?
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Jaguar Land Rover
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top 3 reasons why entrepreneurs fail ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////
3 major reasons individuals fail in ventures.
I
n my 25 + years working with professionals in Business Development, universally I’ve discovered that they have learned to think like entrepreneurs. This is what has allowed them to rise to the top of their profession. Each would tell you that along the way they have learned how to think differently. True entrepreneurs struggle with their business opportunities for a variety of reasons. Among the most obvious are a lack of capital, lack of understanding about marketing, and personnel issues. However, from my own entrepreneurial experience and knowledge of others, there are three major reasons individuals fail in entrepreneurial ventures.
1 They tie the success of their business with their own self worth. 2 They neglect to set realistic goals and plans for themselves. 3 They are not prepared to pay the price of success.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Motivational Factors Money 74.8 percent indicated desire to build wealth as an important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur.
Less than 1 percent came from extremely rich or extremely poor backgrounds
Progress Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business.
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True entrepreneurs with the right thinking prevail over a period of time. They have learned to understand the axiom Roles, Goals, and Tolls.
Roles Successful entrepreneurs, in contrast to those who struggle, have learned to separate their roles in life from their self worth or self-identity. They understand that role performance or failure with their own venture is not a judgment of them as an individual. People who tend to equate their self-worth to their composite role identity are inherently risk-adverse and look to maintain the status quo. Being able to differentiate these two identities allows them to be risk prone vs. risk adverse, a key ingredient to success as an entrepreneur. Individuals who have risked failure, experienced it, and learned from it, have not only learned how to differentiate their role identity from their self-identity, they have learned the lessons of risking and failing. They understand that early failure in ventures is a natural part of successful startups. They are able to embrace those experiences, learn from them quickly and move on. This is critical to success as an entrepreneur. They must be willing to face and deal with early failures in order to prevail over time.
Goals Even though much is said and written about goals and plans being necessary for success as an entrepreneur, few people learn the mechanics of successful goal setting and planning. Itís not the plan but the planning that is important, and the goal setting process allows them to develop the confidence to take risks and fail. Successful entrepreneurs are not only goal driven and goal oriented; they have learned to execute the process of strategic and tactical goal setting and planning. Visualizing goals, writing them down and putting together a detailed plan for achievement provides the confidence and motivation to prevail. More than just business or operational plans, they have goals and plans for all the important roles in their life. They have learned early that if they arenít working their own plan they are probably part of someone elseís goals or plans. They chart their own destiny, embrace risk-taking leadership positions, make adjustments as required and prevail over a course of time.
Guaranteed Success An entrepreneur has much to learn in order to be successful, including the day-to-day mechanics of running a business, producing products, delivering services, making money and dealing with people. The biggest challenge of all is developing an understanding of themselves. They come to grips with what they want and what motivates them; this sustains their willingness to prevail over the long term against adversity. Successful entrepreneurs have learned to transform their thinking, allowing them to prevail where others fail along the way.
Tolls Finally, entrepreneurs understand that there is a toll to pay. To be successful in any role in life you must be prepared to pay full price one time. There are really no overnight successes as an entrepreneur. In fact, Iëve heard it said that overnight success generally takes 15-20 years. One of the early tolls that entrepreneurs are quite often forced to face is the ìre-makingî of themselves that can include growing beyond their current circle of contacts. Since most people tend to stay within their own psychological comfort zone, they begin to lose identity with the risk taker. They are comfortable with the type of person who is more like them. Quite often the entrepreneur moves on to a different circle of associates who understand the journey. Stepping out, being your own person and venturing into the risk prone unknown is lonely by itself. Consequently, there can be a newfound stress in old relationships. Itís been said before that pioneers get shot in the front and the back, and only through a process of differentiating role performance from self-worth, being risk prone, prevailing through adversity, sticking to your goals, and adjusting your plans will you be prepared to pay the daily toll.
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Micros
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Marketing
10 1
You don’t make people feel safe when they order. Remind people that they are ordering through a secure server. Tell them you won’t sell their e-mail address and all their information will be kept confidential.
2
You don’t make your ad copy attractive. Your ad lists features instead of benefits. The headline does not attract at your target audience. You don’t list any testimonials or guarantees included in your ad.
3
You don’t remind people to come back and visit. People usually don’t purchase the first time they visit. The more times they visit your site, the greater the chance they will buy. The most effective way is to give them a free subscription to your e-zine.
4
You don’t let people know anything about your business. They will feel more comfortable if they know who they are buying from. Publish a section called “About Us” on your web site. Include your business history, profile of employees, contact information etc.
5
You don’t give people as many ordering options as possible. Accept credit cards, checks, money orders, and other forms of electronic payments. Take orders by phone, e-mail, web site, fax, mail, etc.
6
You don’t make your web site look professional. You want to have your own domain name. Your web site should be easy to navigate through. The graphics should be related to the theme of your web site.
7
You don’t let people read your ad before they get your freebie. When
reasons people don’t buy from you
you use free stuff to lure people to your web site include it below your ad copy or on another web page. If you list the freebie above your ad they may never look to see what you’re selling.
8
You don’t attract the target audience that would buy your product or service. A simple way to do this is to survey your existing customers to see what attracted them to buy. This information will help you improve your target marketing and advertising.
9
You don’t test and improve your ad copy. There are many people who write an ad copy and never change it. You have to continually test and improve your ad copy to get the highest possible response rate.
10
You don’t give people any urgency to buy now. Many people are interested in your product but they put off buying it till later and eventually forget about it. Entice them to buy now with a freebie or discount and include a deadline date when the offer ends.
take
the online marketing quiz Scan the code below.
The Surest Way to Boost Sales If you have a small business and you are looking to boost your sales and make the public aware of your business, how do you going about doing this? There is one sure way that I know to boost sales and create awareness. It may not be sexy, but it WORKS! The best way to “start” marketing any business is to develop a marketing plan. And before you decide you don’t have the time or expertise to create a plan, I urge you to understand why it is so important. Creating a plan will force you to determine who you want to make aware of your business - it really is not just “the public.” You need to identify who can most benefit from what you are selling. If it’s a retail store, how far can you expect people to travel to do business with you? This will in part depend on what other stores can fill their same need. You also need to identify who these competitors are. Creating a marketing plan will ensure you understand these basic facts BEFORE you do any marketing. Why is this important? Because it is the only way you can ensure your marketing will be effective. No one wants to waste valuable marketing dollars. But that is exactly what many businesses do when they don’t take the time to figure out exactly who they should be marketing to and what they should be saying. Without this you are just doing “random” marketing and hoping someone will respond. Why not do “laser” marketing designed to reach exactly the type of people who are most likely to respond, and with a message that speaks directly to their needs?
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Amartec Spread
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Amartec Spread
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Available
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from the words of a successful entrepreneur:
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IS AM HIL IS DDOLORERE PERNATIA seri in exerovi duntia vent. Ilitatque dolecto enet lam accae nobitincid eatur.
Farmer’s
Business Adviser Magazine | 37
The benefits of:
business credit One of the many difficulties of starting a small business is gaining access to capital during the startup phase. With the large growth in small specialty businesses across the country, credit card companies are beginning to design special programs to help this new breed of business achieve success. For even those small businesses that have access to capital, the perks and benefits associated with small business credit card programs, can still be useful to help you compete more effectively in the marketplace. Below are just six of the many ways in which a small business credit card can help your business to operate more smoothly and improve your bottom line.
Ease Your Cash Crunch
A small business credit card can ease your business’ cash woes. Through the development and implementation of a sound financial plan that utilizes a credit card you can guarantee that your business will always meet payroll, be able to purchase inventory on an as needed basis, and manage both seasonal and business fluctuations without depleting your cash reservoir. Another added advantage is the cash advance feature, which allows you to withdraw cash from an ATM to cover emergencies and other unanticipated expenses. Unlike a personal credit card, a business credit card also provides a business size credit line, which is substantially higher.
Keep Track of Business Expenses
Through the use of a credit card, you can, with little to no effort, separate your business expenses from your personal expenses. 38 | Business Adviser Magazine
This allows for easy identification of tax deductions and filing of accurate income tax returns.
Secure Multiple Cards
You can also secure more than one card through small business credit card programs. This allows you to give employees the authority to make purchases while freeing up your schedule for more pressing issues. You can also do this with ease since you are also given the ability to set spending limits for different employees, which will further help you to control your expenses.
Access Free Business Resources
Anything free is good! Some credit card companies also provide clients with a wealth of resources to help manage cash flow and develop good record keeping procedures free of charge. Extensive reporting is conducted on both a monthly and bimonthly basis to help you track your expenses down to the penny. Additionally, free business checks and electronic funds transfers are also available. In addition to that, you can also access reports, data and advice on developing business and marketing plans, conducting market analysis, and pricing products through a company’s web site. You can also increase your knowledge of other products and services like software programs that can help your day-to-day operations run more efficiently.
Build Credit to Qualify for Larger Loans
Obtaining a credit card and using it wisely
can also be a stepping-stone to help your business qualify and secure a loan with a major bank or venture capitalist firm. By establishing a good relationship and credit history with a company that also offers other products and services, it’ll just be a matter of time before other cost-saving services are thrown your way.
Perks and Rewards
Perks and Reward Programs designed especially for small businesses are by far one of the best features of a small business credit card program. Small businesses can earn airline points and cash back rewards just like the big boys. Discounts are also available through select merchants like FedEx and Staples, which can result in huge cost savings for supplies and other operational expenses. Some companies also go an extra mile by providing rental car and lodging benefits.
Apply
for a business credit card today
Available
Business Adviser Magazine | 39
Lopez Dental Care
health column by health columnist writen by. contributor
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Gold’s Gym
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Colaboration Business Freedom Il et init estiori taquiae. Itaquaspides et et volores tibeaquo core dolorro tem ex es maximperum alicae volessunt velenec totatur, cuptatur auditatem eum que comnia diciissit latibus apictat et voluptu s Ipitatem coris ate nonecupta idisitatibus sint aped magnis arum fugia quatustios aut ressiti umetures erovita testianim voloren tiossusam que sequibus dipsamus dolo occumqui quiae eost autat poria cora sequam iunt volorehenis evenem et re alit eumXime mant, Cupesce recultus. Raveret gratea cre converetin none mo ia? Opiorentem di int, publiac epernihi, conum dit. Graeder ibununum et comantesi pre non dienihiciam ut nostem locaes, quam firiterbit; entisse ssiliur, Ti. Ecum consuliampes obusperbi pere publiis, teri cieni patam, utus fir que conosta vivit, sules vivirmi lissiti ssendam sen dite et percestebut opterit porediemo Cupimi
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Business Leaders
Profile Name Born Birth Hobby Experience
: Jox Bronson : California : 26 November : Reading : Manager at xyz corporation, CEO
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10
Entrepreneurial Mistakes 1. Big Customer Syndrome If more than 50 percent of your revenues come from any one customer you may be headed for a meltdown. While it both is easier and more profitable to deal with a small number of big customers, you become quite vulnerable when one of them contributes the lion’s share of your cash flow. You tend to make silly concessions to keep their business. You make special investments to handle their special requirements. And you are so busy servicing that one big account that you fail to develop additional customers and revenue streams. Then suddenly, for one reason or another, that customer goes away and your business borders on collapse. Use that burgeoning account as both a cause for celebration and a danger signal. Always look for new business. And always seek to diversify your revenue sources.
2. Creating products in a vacuum. You and your team have a great idea. A brilliant idea. You spend months, even years, implementing that idea. When you finally bring it to market, no one is interested. Unfortunately you were so in love with your idea you never took the time to find out if anyone else cared enough to pay money for it. You have built the classic better mousetrap. Do not be a product searching for a market. Do the “market research” up front. Test the idea. Talk to potential customers, at least a dozen of them. Find out if anyone wants to buy it. Do this before anything else. If enough people say “yes” go ahead and build it. Better yet, sell the product at pre-release prices. Fund it in advance. If you don’t get a good response, go on to the next idea.
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vice companies, low price is almost never a
3. Equal partnerships
good idea. How do you decide how high? Raise prices. Then raise them again. When customers or clients stop buying, you’ve
Suppose you are the world’s greatest salesman, but you need an operations guy to run things back at the office. Or you are a technical genius, but you need someone to find the customers. Or maybe you and a friend start the company together. In each case, you and your new partner split the company 50/50. That seems fine and fair right now, but as your personal and professional interests diverge, it is a sure recipe for disaster. Either party’s veto power can stall the growth and development of your company, and neither holds enough votes to change the situation. Almost as bad is ownership split evenly among a larger number of partners, or worse, friends. Everyone has an equal vote and decisions are made by consensus. Or, worse still, unanimously. Yikes! No one has the final say, every little decision becomes a debate, and things bog down quickly.
gone too far.
4. Low prices
6. Out of Focus
Some entrepreneurs think they can be the low price player in their market and make huge profits on the volume. Would you work for low wages? Why do you want to sell at low prices? Remember, gross margins pay for things like marketing and product development (and great vacation trips.) Remember, low margins = no profits = no future. So the grosser the better.
If yours is like most companies, you have neither the time nor the people to pursue every interesting opportunity. But many entrepreneurs - hungry for cash and thinking more is always better - feel the need to seize every piece of business dangled in front of them, instead of focusing on their core product, service, market, distribution channel. Spreading yourself too thin results in sub-par performance.
Set your prices as high as your market will bear. Even if you can sell more units and generate greater dollar volume at the lower price (which is not always the case) you may not be better off. Make sure you do all the math before you decide on a low price strategy. Figure all your incremental costs. Figure in the extra stress as well. For ser-
Concentrating your attention in a limited area leads to better-than-average results, almost always surpassing the profits generated from diversification. Al Reis, of Positioning fame, wrote a book that covers just this subject. It’s called Focus.
5. Not enough capital Check your business assumptions. The norm is optimistic sales projections, tooshort product development timeframes, and unrealistically low expense forecasts. And don’t forget weak competitors. Regardless of the cause, many businesses are simply undercapitalized. Even mature companies often do not have the cash reserves to weather a downturn. Be conservative in all your projections. Make sure you have at least as much capital as you need to make it through the sales cycle, or until the next planned round of funding. Or lower your burn rate so that you do.
There are so many good ideas in the world, your job is to pick only the ones which provide superior returns in your focus area. Don’t spread yourself thin. Get known in your niche for the thing you do best, and do that exceedingly well.
and very costly at that. Plus, while you getting it right, the market is changing right out from under you. On top of that, your customers put off purchasing your existing products waiting for the next new thing to roll out your doors.
7. First class and infrastructure crazy
The antidote? Focus on creating a market-beating product within the allotted time. Set a deadline and build a product development plan to match. Know when you have to stop development to make a delivery date. When your time’s up, it’s up. Release your product.
Many a startup dies an untimely death from excessive overhead. Keep your digs humble and your furniture cheap. Your management team should earn the bulk of their compensation when the profits roll in, not before. The best entrepreneurs know how to stretch their cash and use it for key business-building processes like product development, sales and marketing. Skip that fancy phone system unless it really saves time and helps make more sales. Spend all the money really necessary to achieve your objectives. Ask the question, will there be a sufficient return on this expenditure? Everything else is overhead.
8. Perfection-itis This disease is often found in engineers who won’t release products until they are absolutely perfect. Remember the 80/20 rule? Following this rule to its logical conclusion, finishing the last 20 percent of the last 20 percent could cost you more than you spent on the rest of the project. When it comes to product development, Zeno’s paradox rules. Perfection is unattainable
9. No clear return on investment Can you articulate the return which comes from purchasing your product or service? How much additional business will it generate for your customer? How much money will they save? What? You say it’s too hard to quantify? There are too many intangibles? If it’s too difficult for you to figure, what do you expect your prospect to do? Do the analysis. Talk to your customers, create case studies. Come up with ways to quantify the benefits. If you can’t justify the purchase, don’t expect your customer will. If you can demonstrate the great return on investment your product provides, sales are a slam dunk.
Of all the mistakes, this might be the biggest. At some point you realize the awful truth: you have made a mistake. Admit it quick. Redress the situation. If not, that mistake will get bigger, and bigger, and... Sometimes this is hard, but, believe me, bankruptcy is harder. Assume your costs are sunk. Your money is lost. There is good news: your basis is zero. From this perspective, would you invest fresh money in this idea? If the answer is no, walk away. Change course. Whatever. But do not throw any more good money after bad.
OKay, everybody makes mistakes. Just try to catch them quickly before they kill your company. For more advice and tips visit our website at: www.BusinessAdviserMagazine.com
10. Not admitting your mistakes.
50/50
Partnerships
To paraphrase Harry Truman, the buck has to stop somewhere. Someone has to be in charge. Make that person CEO and give them the largest ownership stake, even if it’s only a little more. 51/49 works much better than 50/50. If you and your partner must have total equality, give a one percent share to an outside advisor who becomes your tie-breaker. Business Adviser Magazine | 45
SUCCESS STORIES
Ask Them How to Be Successful
entrepreneur 1
entrepreneur 2
entrepreneur 3
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Dis ea dolute ped eos experi dunti accume sinient oremodipiet verumque plaut vera susandae mo cor rerro eic to vernati untem. Hendell atatiatiae rehenihit est, corio volum cupisti onecesent quid qui dolore, volore dolorepel imod ea se dolupta velit dolorerferum sant. Anis accum nis asped modite nobitassunt ant et acerfero offic temodip icienis dest, et eostrunto occat
IT’S ALL ABOUT PASSION Passion is the main driving force behind every successful entrepreneur.
You can research successful entrepreneurs and will find that they had a real passion for their mission, business plan, and success in general. Passion invariably drives one to work harder and smarter. Successful entrepreneurs need long-term traits such as determination and focus. Determination to continuously improve your business is essential to keep the company competitive. Remaining focused throughout the life of
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your business creates a positive impact on your business, employees, partners, stakeholders, family and friends as well.
“To be successful, the first thing to do is fall in love with your work.�
-Sister Mary Lauretta
Available
Business Adviser Magazine | 47
March of Dimes
cut expenses
One ketchup packet at a time.
There are many specific ways to reduce your business expenses, but the little things are what usually add up to large sums of money. I learned about business expenses at one of my first jobs. It was in a fast food restaurant, working as an assistant manager I was responsible for placing the orders for food and supplies. I noticed how many thousands of dollars we spent on ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauce packets. Then I watched for a while, to see how many the employees were handing out at the drive-through window. Pretty quickly, I realized that many of the employees were putting a handful of packets in the bag for customers - before even asking if they wanted any. It was time for a new policy, I decided. I informed all the employees that they were to ask the customers if they wanted ketchup, mustard or any other sauce packets. Then they were to either ask how many they wanted, or let the customer see them putting just a few in the bag, so the customer could ask for more if they wanted more. The customers were happy, and fewer packets went out that window. How many fewer? I don’t 48 | Business Adviser Magazine
remember exactly. What I do remember, is that after tracking our subsequent use of sauce packets, I discovered that the new policy was saving the restaurant about $2,000 per year. I later found a way to rework the schedule to save $15,000 annually on labor costs, while providing better customer service. These business expenses add up. It’s important to note that money saved is often pure profit. The owners made $15,000 more profit when my new way of scheduling saved them $15,000 in labor costs. To increase profits $15,000 from new sales, they would have needed $60,000 more in sales (after costs, profits are only 25% of sales in this particular business). In other words, finding ways to save money can be a powerful way to increase your profits.
management
can you hear me?
We all think we know how to listen, yes? The fact is that very few people know how to truly listen. In our earnestness to serve, we get pulled out of a conversation by preparing for the answer while the other person is still talking. We wait for a pause and when the person takes a breath, we jump in to improve or remedy the situation. When you listen to a customer (or co-worker, spouse, significant other), your brain is constantly making hundreds of assumptions. Each word, inflection, and tone of voice is interpreted, but not always as the speaker intended. Research shows that 2/3rd of all employees feel management isn’t listening. We all think we know how to listen, yes? The fact is that very few people know how to truly listen. In our earnestness to serve, we get pulled out of a conversation by preparing for the answer while the other person is still talking. We wait for a pause and when the person takes a breath, we jump in to improve or remedy the situation. Or, we worry about the question that we may be asked that we might not be able to answer intelligently. Will we know the answer? Will we be able to respond appropriately? What if I am asked a question I don’t know the answer to? What if I don’t understand the question? What if they find out that I’m new on the job/on the equipment/ at this company? What if they get angry at me? What if I frustrate them? What if, what if, you fill in the blank. We are anywhere but listening to the other person.
on their side to begin with, it now exists big time. Fact: if you are not listening to the customer, there is no way you can answer the question. The truth is you probably haven’t even heard it. Listening is our least used and weakest communication skill. None the less, great customer service professionals are first and foremost great listeners. Active listening forces us to tune in to what the customer is saying, instead of trying to think of what our responses will be.
Our intentions are good. We want to give the best response we can, hopefully the right answer. However, if we are not present to the conversation, the other person feels not heard, unimportant, ripped off, and the like. If there was no upset
Cost Messa
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