Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

I just finished an ebook on business planning entitled How to Write the Business Plan of Your Dreams.

Instead of focusing on what many other business planning books offer, like creating a detailed financial plan or market analysis, this book addresses what is in your heart. I am by no means discounting rigorous analysis before embarking on a new venture, but I recall when I started my own that most of what I read skipped over an essential ingredient in business success: passion.

This book is designed to be an easy to read, step-by-step guide with straight-forward exercises and examples to help you focus your vision so you get what you really want out of your business, not a document that sits on a shelf collecting dust. My goal is to inspire you and help you bring out your entrepreneurial side in a way that brings the most meaning to your life.

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Recently, I received an unsolicited package from someone I don’t know wishing me a great 2008. They enclosed a paper day organizer with their logo on it. Unfortunately for them, all of their material went straight to the trash can. Who runs a technology company and still uses a paper calendar?

Yesterday, I got an unsolicited package from Mars, the candy company. “Look inside for a sweet deal” read the teaser on the box. I figured it was a sample of some promotional item that we could purchase and perhaps brand with our message like they do with M&M’s. When I opened this medium size box, I saw two Milky Way candy bars and two Flavia coffee packets along with an order form. No personalized letter telling me more. Just an order form to buy coffee and candy for our office. What got me annoyed was that the packaging inside the box was wood shavings that dropped all over my desk, pants and floor as I opened the box. What a mess! It turned me off completely.

I’m fairly certain that the people behind these marketing efforts were pretty proud of the content they were mailing out. The candy was nice but neither of these marketing efforts made any sense to me. I could tell it cost the companies a good bit of money and time, but they totally missed the mark. Mr. Paper Day Organizer needed to take a leap into the new century and Mars should have included a letter or something more than just an order form – and definitely some different packaging material.

When you create a campaign to generate more business,

• Do you think about who you are targeting and how they might react to your message?
• Are you reaching the right audience in the first place?
• Do your email messages reach the right people and include an easy flow that guides them into taking action?

If you miss these critical points, you not only waste your time and money, but also your prospect’s time and money. That can be such a turn-off that you dilute the value of your brand in their eyes so the next time you reach out, you are met with skeptical eyes.

If you have started a home business where you have lots of inventory, you may opt to have a storage facility for holding your products before they are dispatched to your customers.

Instead of renting out a warehouse and hiring staff and security guards to look after it, you could simply store your stock in a self-storage facility for a fraction of the cost.

Locating a Storage Facility

You can find a self-storage facility in business magazines, advertisements in newspapers or even through the Internet. You should pick a unit that is located near your home, so that you can visit it as frequently as you like.

It should also be near your preferred shipping carrier, to enable you to arrange deliveries from there directly to your customers. It should be guarded 24/7 by staff, in addition to a CCTV (closed circuit television) surveillance system. The self-storage facility should also have a system of maintaining proper records for all items going into and out of its facility.

Quality Considerations

The storage facility should be dry and well-protected from the elements of nature. This is especially true in the case of rain or snow; water is highly destructive, and if your unit leaks, your entire inventory could be destroyed, resulting in high financial losses. Before deciding on hiring the services of any self-storage facility, make a personal visit to the site and check out the quality.

Crosscheck with their existing clients as to the rates and quality of the services they offer. Once you've made your decision, be sure to take out a proper insurance policy on your products to protect against theft, fire or other damage.

If you have your own home business, utilizing the services of a storage facility can be much more convenient than simply storing your products at home. Just be sure to do your homework in advance.

If you are running a small business, then you probably already have your hands full. But diversifying your business makes perfect economic sense in these competitive times.

What is Diversification?

It is just not smart business to only sell one type of product or service. Today's business environment demands that you be more diverse.

Diversifying doesn't mean selling entirely different products and services. That wouldn't be smart, especially since most small business owners specialize in one particular area.

It does mean branching out and selling many related products and services. For example, if you sell skateboards, you could also sell helmets and knee pads. You could also go one better and partner with a design firm, so you could also sell customized skateboards with unique designs.

Branching Out

Diversifying your small business helps in building up your brand name – and that helps in increasing sales. You could diversify in fields other than your current one if you want your business to spread out, instead of being concentrated in a few niche products and services.

In the skateboard example above, you could partner with an action sport clothing company, stocking some products that would appeal to skateboarders. In this case, you would not produce the clothing, only market and sell the clothing line of another company, giving you a new stream of income.

Diversifying your small business is easier than you think, and doesn't require lots of work. It does take vision, time and effort — and the results will be well worth it.

It does not matter if you have a small business or a large one. Business secrets and personal data are important – and in the wrong hands, could cause huge losses in terms of time and money.

Read on to identify how a paper shredder can save your small business from big problems.

Protect Your Personal, Business and Financial Data

Paper shredders can covert unwanted documents to small shreds of unreadable paper. Any documents with credit card details or personal information should be put through a shredder so that they do not fall into unwanted hands after disposal.

In many cases, privacy laws dictate that businesses are responsible for any personal or financial information that they obtain. And if you don't dispose of it safely, and it is later misused as a result, you could be sued.

Your office documents should also be shredded so that they do not end up in the hands of your competitors or vengeful ex-employees.

Finding a Good Shredder

There are various shredder models available in any office supply store, or even in supermarkets.

You can buy a strip-cut paper shredder, which cuts paper into long strips; or you could purchase a cross-cut paper shredder, which is even more effective since it cuts the paper into small, horizontal and vertical pieces.

If you have a large office and produce lots of paper, you might consider buying a heavy-duty paper shredder. They can be quite expensive depending on capacity; but the money spent will be well worth it.

Most shredders are easy to maintain – and once you make it a habit of using them regularly, you can be assured that all confidential information will stay within the walls of your business.

For your small business to succeed, it is vital that you keep an eye on your expenses and try to lower them wherever possible. If you do this, when times are lean, you have a small cushion to sit on and catch your breath.

To keep your expenses in check – and keep your profit margin healthy – you first need to develop a sound, realistic budget.

Evaluating Your Budget

Once you have developed a budget, you need to stick to it. You should give priority to any critical expenses that you need to make in order for your small business to run smoothly.

For example, you can investigate different packages offered by utility or insurance companies; and if you can find a better deal, then you can either ask your existing service providers to match that deal, or you can inform them of your decision to switch providers.

When it comes to non-critical expenses, such as entertainment and office supplies, make sure you shop around for the best deals. Just a little bit of diligence in these areas can yield a lot of savings.

Small Expenditures Do Matter

Even small things count — such as changing your regular light bulbs to energy-saving bulbs and switching off lights that are not being used will result in a substantial amount of money saved at the end of the year. You may also want to consider getting motion detectors, which automatically switch off lights and air conditioning if movement isn't detected after a particular time.

Train your staff to think of new ways to save money and cut expenses. A collective effort from everyone involved in the business will result in a noticeable amount of savings.

The Dot Com bubble burst is truly behind us – and new figures are showing that businesses in countries all over the world are now making more online sales than ever before.

If you have a small business, you should cash in on this trend; if you don't, you'll be missing out on the opportunity to make your business highly profitable.

Get online

Nowadays, many customers surf the Internet before deciding to make their purchases. They like to check out the features and prices of various products and service while sitting comfortably in their home or office.

Having a website will ensure that your products and services are available to potential customers 24/7.

Design Considerations

If your small business has a limited budget, you can get ready-made templates for your website. These templates are widely available on the Internet at reasonable prices.

When you are designing your site, make it informative and interesting. Make sure all your products and services are highlighted properly. You should also include a feedback section, where buyers can post their questions or comments regarding your products and services.

This way, you'll find out what customers really think of your offerings; and you'll be able to adjust them as necessary.

You should also keep your website regularly updated with new products and their latest prices so that there are no disputes after an order has been placed.

Get With the Program

A website also indicates that you are keeping up with the times and that you're not stuck in the Dark Ages.

Most consumers today are more sophisticated than ever; they're also very busy, and are using the Internet during the day from work or school to do their banking, shopping and other tasks.

A well-designed website is like having additional sales offices at a fraction of the cost. And for your small business, it will reach more potential customers and increase your profits without you having to make a huge investment.

Running a successful small business is not only about selling products, but also developing relationships with your customers.

Just as you feel good after every successful sale, your customers need to feel good when dealing with you – and you should let them know that you appreciate their loyalty and their business.

What You Need To Do

You will first need to make a database of all the customers that you plan to send greeting cards to. Then you need to decide when you're going to send cards to each particular customer. While sending cards on holidays like Christmas and Easter may seem like a no-brainer, it isn't quite that simple.

Some customers of certain faiths might get offended if you send them greeting cards on certain occasions (like Easter, Christmas, Passover and so on); so indicate in your database the customers that this may apply to.

Personalization is Key

If possible, write personally in your greeting cards so that customers realize that you have not just sent them a card for the sake of it, but that you really mean to stay in touch.

You can write a specific line for customers that you know personally. You can also send out greeting cards to new customers so that you start a tradition as they turn into your ‘old' customers. Make sure that you have customers' names written or printed correctly on envelopes, and also make sure that your greeting card reaches your customers in time.

Avoid sending greetings by email or by fax — this is highly impersonal and smacks of cheap marketing.

Using greeting cards as a marketing tool doesn't cost a lot, but when done right, it is very effective.

I’m a member of Vistage, one of the largest CEO organizations in the world. They take quarterly surveys to report on CEO confidence in the economy. This quarter, the news is not so good. There has been a downward trend for the last year and now it has dropped even more.

Only 14% of CEOs expect the economy to improve in the next 12 months. That’s not a good sign. But estimates of employment remain steady, which means that companies are trimming costs, not staff.

The report goes on to say that nearly 60% of CEOs plan to expand marketing initiatives to sustain growth. Read the full announcement.

A sales letter should be like a king's messenger announcing the arrival of a king. It should be clear, precise and should keep the reader's interest alive. Most of all, it needs to inspire prospects to take the action you want them to take.

Here are a few things to keep in mind to write sales letters that get RESULTS.

Content Matters

The introduction of your sales letter should be dynamic. It should also be personal, so that the reader feels that it has been specially addressed to him or her. To accomplish this, you might have to do some research to ensure that your sales letters reach their intended target – or else it could be a waste of time and money.

Keep the letter humble and clear. You should make sure that you succinctly highlight your products and services, explaining the advantages of your products over others in the market. Above all, make sure that it connects with your target audience and solves a problem they have. You can do this through examples, testimonials or short stories.

If you are targeting your letter to a specific person in an organization, then you should address your sales letter in their name. This will increase the chances of them reading it and responding positively.

If you are too busy or simply unable to write an effective sales letter, note down all the important points you would like to incorporate and hire a professional writer to do the work for you.

Keep your sales letter short, humble and simple. Start by grabbing your prospects' attention and keep it flowing by sticking to your marketing message to the end.