Small Business Blog

Archive for June, 2010

There is a tremendous excitement in the air about niche marketing. Why? It’s the best way to get the most bang for your buck. And more than ever, marketing your product or service to a specific group of people is what funnels prospects to your website.

However, when you are a small business owner just starting out, niche marketing may seem counter-intuitive. After all, marketing to a larger group of people will net more sales, right?

As a small business start up consultant, getting my clients to focus on a specific niche market is one of the most challenging parts of my job. Often, they resist, saying, “I don’t want to restrict my market because if I do I’ll get fewer sales.” “Do you have an unlimited supply of dollars?” I ask them, “Because you’ll need millions to market to a broad market group.”

Is it okay with you if I save you months of agony and millions of dollars?

Good! Here are the three things every first-time small business owner must know before they market to their niche group.

Pre-marketing Niche Checklist

1. Do you know who isn’t in your target market?

Ruling out who isn’t in your niche is a fun way to get around the resistance many first-time small business owners have to narrowing their niche. Go crazy here. Consider your niche. Now, list all the things you know for certain about who your niche isn’t. How old aren’t they? Where don’t they live? What kind of a lifestyle don’t they engage in? Where don’t they hang out, live, or eat. What don’t they buy? What luxuries don’t they want? What aren’t they saving for? What product or service don’t they need you to supply?

This approach easily and effortlessly narrows the market. Besides that, it’s creative and fun. After answering this question, you will be much closer to determining who your niche market is and more open to focusing your business to serve a specialized, smaller niche group.

2. What problems do your competitors already solve for your niche?

In all my years of helping women start up businesses, every time I’ve ask the question, “What product or service does your niche need,” they’ve predictably responded with what product or service they are excited about rolling out. They haven’t a clue as to what their competitors already offer. Far worse . . . they don’t know what their niche actually needs.

To keep the focus off my client’s need and on her niche’s need, I’ve found focusing on her niche market’s competition to be a great work-around solution.

Engaging in market research at this stage of the start-up process gives you the inside scoop on your competition. You’ll come to know were the gaps are, and begin to formulate solutions. As you examine each of your competitors write down the answers to these questions:

+What products and services do they offer?

+What problems do you think they’re solving?

+How would you solve this very same problem?

Armed with the answers to these questions, you are ready to position your solutions for success.

3. What solution is your niche market willing to buy?

This question is designed to shift your thinking from what you are selling to what your niche market is buying. What are they willing to pay for? How much are they willing to spend? Why do they want it? You are placing yourself in a very powerful marketing position by knowing the answer to these three questions.

From this position, you can now focus your energy and resources on developing specific solutions that you know will be relevant and meaningful to your niche group. Ones you know they are willing to buy and want.

No need to guess any longer what your niche market wants and who they are. Complete the pre-marketing niche checklist to know for sure. You’ll save money, avoid months of agony, and attract a steady stream of potential buyers to your website, if you do these things before you market to your niche. Figure out who your niche market isn’t and what your market’s problem is so you can deliver your product with confidence.

Every big or small business is based upon the foundation of fruitful, potential business ideas. And every take over and conglomeration is also based on some overpowering business ideas – from small ventures to something as big as the giant Microsoft buying another giant, Yahoo for a whopping $44.6 billion dollars. Yes, even the biggest of business decisions come from the business ideas taking birth from the human mind.

In this article we will discuss how to convert small business ideas into successful ventures. We will discuss the four pillars of a business that will uphold the projects and deliver satisfying results to your clients and in turn to you. The four pillars of a business are finance, human resource, non human resource (tools, equipments and devices) and marketing.

Hands down, finance is the most important requisite for any business to take birth and grow. It is money that brings human resource and it is money that buys tools and devices. Money is the most important when it comes to marketing and money is important to strengthen each pillar that supports your business.

Now, let us talk about human resource. Sure money can buy the best of manpower. But the will to work and the determination to succeed, is the human factor. A highly motivating team can be created once the path ahead is clear and the goals are spelled out to each of the team members. But they should be provided with adequate resources too so that they can attain the goal – this is where the business needs non human resources that includes hardware and software.

Last, but never the least – marketing – none of your business ideas can be successful unless you sell your products or services. And no product or service can not be sold, unless the consumers come to know about it. Here comes the need for marketing and promotion.

Business is the most popular college major, according to The Princeton Review. The popularity can be attributed to a variety of factors, including the wide variety of degree options that business majors have available to them including business management – all in the most convenient setting – online!

In today’s business environment, securing a solid business management degree can be critical for your long-term career success. There are many wonderful Business Management schools online to choose from, however this is my selection for the top 5 online business management schools.

1. University of Phoenix Online

University of Phoenix lets you earn your business degree at every level – from associate’s degree to doctorate degrees. Perhaps one of the most well known online universities , University of Phoenix Online lends its vast faculty to assist its students in higher learning online. For students seeking a bachelor’s in business or a MBA, University of Phoenix offers 21 business degree plans to fit each and every individual’s needs.

Top 5 Online Business Management Schools

2. DeVry University Online

Earn your associate’s, bachelors, or master’s Degrees online at DeVry University. Devry’s online bachelor’s in business and bachelor’s in management programs have fifteen concentrations – go check them out!

3. Kaplan University Online

Features numerous online business degrees at the associate’s, bachelors, and master’s levels. As one of the largest and most prolific online universities, Kaplan University provides numerous degrees in Business online. Full-time and part-time students will be more than satisfied with the business degree plans offered by Kaplan University online.

4. American InterContinental University Online

Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, American InterContinental University offers multiple business concentration degrees. American InterContinental University is ideal for any student looking for a degree focusing on Accounting, Marketing, Finance, International Business, or Management. Their flexible programs also allow you to engage in other responsibilities while earning your business management degree entirely online.

5. Ashford University Online

Offering associates, bachelors and master’s Degrees, Ashford University has a generous transfer policy, accepting up to 99 credits for its online business programs. Ashford University offers advanced, quality education for students seeking to further advance their career into leadership or management roles in several different entities. Their programs are based on current business practices and trends to prepare students for the competitive, demanding business industry.

The top 5 online business management schools listed are an excellent way to prepare for careers in the world of business. When you are looking for an online business school that will help you with networking, academic training, and preparing you to fulfill your potential as a leader in the business world, choose one of the top 5 online business management schools listed above. Also do share your favorite Online Business Management schools with us and your fellow blog readers

Economies of scale is more important in the business environment in this day and age, mainly because of the Internet. The Internet draws people closer together, and allows everyone to exchange information easily.

It is not uncommon to see consumers comparing prices and reading reviews on the Internet before coming to a buying decision. They can compare prices for physical products such as automobiles, hand phones, MP3 players, or they can compare prices for non-physical items such as car insurance, credit card interest rates, and more. But what does such consumer behavior mean for the modern business owner?

As prices become transparent on the Internet, it is critical for businesses to maintain competitive prices so as to stay profitable. Either that, or they will have to come up with exclusive products that cannot be easily found elsewhere. But chances are, a wide range of products can be easily found online. For instance, anyone can just visit a trade lead directory and locate partners from different countries that supply similar products. They may then compare prices and select the best possible deal. In fact, this is a common procurement process adopted by many savvy business owners.

As mentioned earlier, it is crucial for businesses these days to keep their prices low so as not to lose favor with their customers. To do so, they have to achieve economies of scale. That means buying in volume to bring the prices down. Volume here becomes of vital importance. To own a certain segment of the market, they must sell as much as they can. Hence, the need to consider the global market – for what can be bigger than the global market?

In order to acquire customers from other countries, businesses are again turning to the Internet. They can list their business contact information on trade lead business directories, and allow targeted leads to contact them through these websites. Usually, a lead directory will allow the business to list their email contact information and their corporate website URL. Addresses and phone numbers can be listed too, but these are optional.

Once listed on a trade directory, other businesses interested to make contact can choose to email the business owner or visit their website directly. They may make contact to ask for quotations, or simply submit a product enquiry. However, note that the listing will expire after a certain period of time.

Even though listing a company in a trade directory means paying a small listing fee, this fee is often much cheaper compared to traditional print advertising. Advertising in international trade magazines may cost up to thousands of dollars. Sometimes, the leads acquired from these advertising channels do not even lead to actual sales orders.

As you can see, the benefits offered by trade directories are tremendous. You can minimize risk by buying a listing for a small fee, and be able to immediately tap into the global market. When such business networking activities are pursued actively online, business owners have a much higher chance of enjoying greater economies of scale, and thus enjoy more handsome profits.

You’ll almost certainly need to raise money to start up your company,

unless you already have sufficient capital yourself. The typical costs

of starting up are in obtaining premises, manufacturing your product if

you have one, buying materials, stock or equipment, marketing and fees

for external consultancy such as legal help, accountancy etc. Then when

you’re off the ground, you’ll need working capital to keep you afloat

in the gaps between paying your own invoices and receiving payment from

customer invoices.

Again, your business plan is essential at this stage of setting up your business. In it you will

already have scoped out what your money needs are and how you plan to

raise the capital, and you’ll be using it to persuade potential

investors and lenders of the benefits of funding your company. Your

financial calculations in your business plan therefore need to be

thorough and accurate and presented with confidence.

Everyone expects that they’ll be able to stick to their plans and only

need to borrow the absolute minimum, but more often than not something

unexpected crops up to throw a spanner in the works. It therefore makes

good business sense to include a contingency element in the amount you

request. It’s better to do that now and have the extra cash as a

safeguard than it is to have to return to your lender or investor not

far down the line to ask for more money. If it wasn’t in the original

plan they are likely to be concerned about your financial ability and

your request may be rejected.

How much money should you request? This question worries all start-up

business owners. You want to make sure you have enough to keep you

going without struggling, but how much will your investors or lenders

be prepared to give? Most experts would advise that you should pitch

somewhere in the middle – don’t leave yourself short by requesting the

minimum, but at the same time don’t be greedy (and lazy) in asking for

too much. You want to keep costs to a minimum and invest your money

wisely in your company, while still having the security of a little

extra for backup if required. What you borrow should give you a

realistic challenge for your business but should not be too risky. And

back up your calculation with evidence in your business plan – it has

to be credible.

People raise money for their company in many different ways, not always

from professional business investors or high street banks. How you

raise your capital will depend on your business needs and your own

circumstances. Here’s some information on various different sources of

funding.

Your own money – if you have enough cash to spare, putting up your own

money for the business means you don’t have to be in debt to anyone. It

will also give you full freedom over the running of your company as you

won’t be responsible to any other interested parties. On the other

hand, you’re risking a lot personally by investing your own cash and

you could lose it all – and not just your business, but perhaps also

your home if you obtained the money by taking out a secured loan or

increased your mortgage, for example. You should also be aware that

personal borrowing rates

often have much higher interest repayment rates than business deals.

People you know – if they have anything to spare, family and friends

are often more willing to give you cash than external lenders or

investors. Again, though, there is a high level of personal risk, both

for your family or friends who could lose money, and for you – it can

cause relationship tensions. If you do take money from family or

friends, treat it as a formal business arrangement as you would with

external funding and agree clear terms and conditions. You want to

protect both your interests and ensure that there are no

misunderstandings.

The bank – high street lenders usually have a variety of different

packages and there’s usually something to meet everyone’s requirements.

You’ll have to do a sales pitch to get your money though, and depending

on financial circumstances you might also be required to find a

guarantor or provide some sort of security. Don’t just go to your own

bank – look around for a good deal and do your pitch to various

lenders. If nothing else, it will give you good practice! If you think

you might have more of a chance of obtaining money from your own bank

where you already have a strong relationship and good financial

history, then don’t put it first on your list of visits – present your

case to a few different lenders first to hone your presentation and

persuasion skills to a tee! Even if you can’t find a lender to give you

money, there is a government programme that may be able to help. The

Department of Trade and Industry offers a Small Firms Loan Guarantee,

in which it offers three quarters of the borrowing amount to the lender

as a security guarantee. In return, you must pay an annual fee (which

will be a small percentage of the remaining loan amount) to the

Department of Trade and Industry. Up to quarter of a million pounds can

be borrowed over a maximum 10-year period.

Outside investors – often referred to as ‘business angels’, private

investors are rich professionals, often successful entrepreneurs

themselves, who are able to offer a great deal of capital in return for

an expected large profit and dividends when the company starts to make

money. The advantage of obtaining finance from an investor rather than

a lender is that they will not expect any financial returns until your

business is turning a profit. Also, as successful business owners

themselves, they can be a valuable source of advice to guide you in the

right direction with your company. A combination of investment and

lending might be a good option. Your business will seem a much more

attractive and secure prospect to lenders if you already have a sum of

capital to back it up. Investors will no doubt have a level of

influence and decision-making power in your company, though. Most will

want to be kept informed of what is going on – they will want to

protect and develop their investment, of course, so you will have a

responsibility to them. Also, when you start to turn a profit, it will

be divided among everyone who has invested so you won’t get the full

whack. Finally, you’ll need to put forward a very good business case to

attract an investor – these are very wise, shrewd and experienced

entrepreneurs.

Government schemes – there’s a whole raft of options available to small

business owners from the government and local authorities in the form

of low-cost loans and grants – in fact far too many to mention here.

Your local business enterprise centre, chamber of commerce or local

council will be able to advise on what options are available for your

type of business. The loans are usually offered at very reasonable

rates and grants are of course non-repayable (although competition can

be tough). Such incentives are often given to certain types of

businesses in certain industries located in certain areas, particularly

in areas that are being regenerated and in fields such as science,

research or engineering.

In conclusion, the key message is that however you get the money you

need for your business, you’ll need a very strong business plan – and

you’ll need to practise your skills of presenting to ensure you make a

good impression and a convincing case.

The presentation of the document itself is also important. Keep it

clean, crisp and sharp. Use a business-like typeface, use colours

sparingly and use spreadsheets to create neat graphics. Have someone

else look over it for you when it’s done to check for mistakes. Print

it on good paper and hold it together in a presentation folder or comb

binding.

Don’t just plan to read out your business plan – people can do that for

themselves. Turn it into a slick presentation with a strong argument

for your case. Write down what you want to say and rehearse it several

times – in front of a mirror at first and then to family or friends.

Confidence is key and this will come with practice. Ensure that you

know the details of your plan inside out, including the figures. You

don’t want the facts to trip you up. It’s also a good idea to consider

what questions investors or lenders might ask and how you can answer

them confidently and convincingly.

Customer Service Agents are the frontline staff of the company they are who customers speak with first. Essentially, they are the voice of the company.

If a Customer Service agent is professional, friendly, and can solve a customers needs, that customer will have a positive impression of the company. This pleasant experience can lead to repeat business and even referrals increasing profitability.

On the other hand, if a Customer Service Agent is unprofessional, uniformed, and unable to solve a customers needs, the customer will hang up the phone in frustration resulting in a negative impression. Consequently, the customer will indeed talk about your company, but with a very pessimistic tone which can discourage customers away from you and to your competitor decreasing productivity!

As a leader, it is your responsibility to train the staff with proper telephone skills and company and product knowledge as well as the requisite customer service skills necessary to excel customer expectations. With this education, you are arming the Customer Service Agent with the power to better assist customers and increase productivity creating many positive first impressions along the way!

The Customer Service Representative

As the leader of customer service agents, you will engage with a wide variety of personnel, different backgrounds, different ages, and different skill sets including:

* The young employee who is starting his first job.
* The single mother who needs a second job for additional income.
* The recent college graduate who has not yet found his dream job, but needs a job to pay the bills.
* The middle-age mother who has gone back to work now that her children are grown just to give herself something to do.
* The business professional that has just been laid off from his real job due to downsizing.

These are just a few examples. Every Customer service agent has a different story and a different reason for working.

Your staff may or may not be excited to work at the company. For example, a recent high school graduate may be quite excited about his first job. Whereas, a single mother would much rather be at home with her children. It is your job as the leader to motivate everyone even the most disgruntled Customer Service Agent!

Every Customer Service Agent within your staff will have different skill sets. For example, the business professional may be quite computer-savvy, whereas the middle-age mother who has gone back to work may have very little knowledge of computers. It is your job as the leader to train everyone even the Customer Service Agent who thinks he knows it all!

A major component of your responsibility as a leader is motivating and training the Customer Service Agents so they are comfortable with the technological and people skills that are needed for the job. You also need to know what motivates each employee to keep them excited about being at work.

Call Center Challenges

As a call center leader, you face many challenges a day. Here is just a sample:

* A competitive workforce for qualified Customer Service Agents
* Lack of time to properly train Customer Service Agents
* High turnover rate among Customer Service Agents
* Technological challenges for Customer Service Agents
* Unmotivated Customer Service Agents
* Different skill levels of Customer Service Agents