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Business Tools to Help You Run a Successful Business

Setting up a small business, whether web based or not, can be a very time consuming and difficult task. The increasing popularity of the Internet and the resources available has seen a massive increase in business tools to help you on your way.

When setting up a business, even the best prepared among us will struggle to do everything and remember everything. It is very unlikely that we will understand all of the financial and legal ramifications of a new business, especially when we need to concentrate on getting that elusive first sale or completing the first contract. It isn’t always feasible to employ an accountant and a solicitor as well as a secretary, a salesperson and any other workers needed in the daily running of the business. So, we need to be able to diversify when setting up a new business and the best piece of advice anyone can give you to help is to make the most of the widely available business tools on the market.

Financial Documents and Tools

An accountant is a very expensive commodity that many new businesses can afford full-time. It is down to us to undertake as much of the financial side of things as possible; a daunting task indeed. There is help at hand in the form of business tools.

Spreadsheets have become immensely powerful and can do much of the financial work that any business needs, even invoicing. The Internet is awash with free standard documents for almost any occasions; if you aren’t proficient at doing this yourself, you can find balance sheets, daily cash sheets and almost anything you could need.

The Legal Minefield

Mention legal documents to a new business owner and most will curse you. Again, paying for a lawyer to create all your contracts and other legal documents is a cost that new businesses may not be able to afford. Look at other contracts, get ideas off the internet and take a look at the standard contract and terms and conditions guidelines and when you’re ready, book a session with an affordable attorney and let them look over everything. This way you will only pay once and get all the information you need for an affordable price.

It is important that you get any legal documents checked at least once. A poorly written contract can cost you a lot more than the lawyer’s fees.

Human Resources

Human Resources, or personnel as it was once known, will become very important when you start to employ staff. There are a lot of rules and regulations to abide by as well as a lot of extra information to store that is both important and
confidential.

You can get time and attendance software, standard contracts, standard terms and conditions and software to look after your payroll details.

These are just a few tools available to new business owners. To do a job right requires the right tools. It is better to spend time researching your options first to find the right tools, than to get yourself into a real bind attempting to do the job with the wrong (or no) tools. You will find that the time it takes to get the right tools will pay off time and time again.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Computer Consulting: 3 Questions To Ask Your Clients

From a customer service perspective, you can ask your computer consulting clients three questions that will explode the growth of your company.

Question Number One:

ìHow Can We Improve the Level of Service That We Provide Your Company?î

Ask your computer consulting clients this question on a regular basis; at least a couple times a year. You will be amazed at the type of suggestions they give you.

They will tell you some things youíll be able to implement without charging them another nickel or penny more because theyíre simple no-brainer kind of things. For example, ìCould you send us an email reminder the day before youíre coming in?î Obviously you donít have to charge for something like that.

Some of the others may say, ìIt would be great if you could guarantee this kind of response timeî or ìIt would be great if you could also take over finding someone who can help us with our PBXs.î

Youíre going to get some ideas, some of which are going to make sense for you, some won’t. Some of them may require a little more legwork and some of them may be great opportunities for additional revenue.

Question Number Two:

ìIs There Anything Else IT-related That Your Company Needs Help With?î

Question Number Three:

ìDo You Know Anyone Else Such as Business Associates, Friends, Family Members in the Greater Area That Could Use Some Help With Their Computer-related Problems?î

Help Your Computer Consulting Clients Help You

Spend a minute or two to tell your computer consulting clients what they should look out for. If they happen to be on the phone with a vendor or supplier or family member and theyíre complaining and moaning that everythingís running slowly or that the LANís down again or emailís not working or the server crashed.

Get your computer consulting clients trained to listen for those clues and let you know that thereís an opportunity out there. If theyíre a long-term client of yours and theyíre happy with you, they should be more than happy to recommend you. All you need to do is ask and train them to be looking for these clues.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Best Small Business Idea – Overwhelm – Get It Out of Your Head

If you are like most businesses owners, you’ve experienced overwhelm in your business at one time or another. Maybe you experience it regularly and for good reason. Hundreds of things are pulling at you at one time. You’ve got marketing going, production to oversee, calls to return, employees that need your advice. It’s never ending right? How do you possibly handle it all?

Most of the small business owners that I talk to keep almost all of these things in their head. I ask them where their business plan is. It’s in their head. I ask where their employee training manual is. It’s in their head. About the only thing that’s written down is their calendar of appointments. Even a lot of their to-dos are in their head. Here’s one simple and powerful way to get out of overwhelmówrite it all down.

Your overwhelm is in your head because most of how you run your business is in your head. Start writing it down and you will start having less overwhelm. Start taking a little time each day to document your business processes. Make a list today of the processes that you haven’t recorded. Cover marketing, production, training, accounting, etc.

Then take one of these areas and document it in detail this week. Each week, for the next few weeks document another area. Within a fairly short period of time, you should have at least the basics of marketing procedures, production procedures, client follow up procedures, and employee training procedures in place. In other words, you’ve now got business processes. Processes that you can rely on. Processes you don’t have to think about. Processes that you will use to grow your business without all that overwhelm now that it’s not all in your head.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Competing With Color Levels The Playing Field

According to the United States Small Business Administration, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers. There are an estimated 22 million small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. today. Such companies are constantly challenged with the need to create a huge impact in a noisy marketplace with a limited budget.

Today, affordable imaging and printing technology makes it possible to build an in-house marketing program. In fact, Revival Lighting, a vintage lighting fixtures company in Spokane, Wash., cut the cost of producing marketing materials 90 percent when they brought marketing in-house. In addition, because marketing materials can age quickly and frequently need updating, companies with the flexibility to respond on the fly will impress customers while reducing costs.

Color has become an effective, even necessary tool in marketing materials. According to a study by Loyola College in Maryland, using color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.

Bold and multicolored designs can impact people’s moods. Environmental green is considered hip and has taken on new, positive associations, while the combination of blue and floral reds has been found to evoke vintage designs and heritage, according to a 2005 study by The Color Association of the U.S.

In addition to printing materials in-house, SMBs should take advantage of inexpensive and often free marketing services that are available on the Web. For example, HP hosts an in-house-marketing portal for entrepreneurs and SMBs. It contains case studies, how-to seminars and other free tools and information, including over 200 free marketing templates ranging from brochures to an image library.

Blogs-online journals or newsletters intended for general public consumption-are another great tool for learning more about how to use color and create marketing materials in-house. To save time and money, SMB marketing guru John Jantsch, who maintains the popular blog Duct Tape Marketing, recommends that businesses create a marketing kit describing you, your company, services provided and what sets your business apart from the rest.

To improve marketing effectiveness on a shoestring budget, bring it in-house, remember to use color, take advantage of free services and seek out expert advice.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Business Basics for Catalog Retailers

Catalog retail is a world all it’s own. Many considerations that other retailers don’t have to deal with are of utmost importance to a catalog retailer. To name a few, the ordering process, warehousing and shipping must be streamlined for maximum efficiency. Maintaining a top notch inventory control and receiving department is also very crucial to business success. Above all, however, a catalog retailer must have a quality business phone system.

Considering the fact that the majority of customers will reach you over the phone, it is paramount to be able to not only handle call volume during peak times, but also to provide your customers service representatives with the features they need to do their job well. Business phone systems should be capable of not only putting your customers in touch with you, but also offer routing flexibility, voicemail and forwarding options for the administrative side of your company. Often, the difference maker for catalog retailers is not the products they sell, but the service behind those products. People who want to buy will have questions regarding an item that a simple picture and brief description will not answer. Most companies have service reps who take orders and product specialists who are familiar with the inventory.

It is essential for the product specialists to have access to a phone system that will accurately and easily allow them to receive and transfer calls between departments. After the initial contact by the sales representatives, the most common transfer of waiting customers will be to product specialists and hopefully back to the sales reps. A customer who is dropped accidentally during this transfer is likely to not call back. Additionally, customers who are made to hold for extended periods of time without an automated message thanking them for their patience are a primary example of lost revenue that could be curtailed by the proper business phone system. All in all, a well thought out business phone system is an integral necessity for any company, but it is especially important for catalog retailers.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Boomers Have Big Hopes For Small Businesses

As they approach retirement age, many baby boomers are considering alternatives to retirement.

A growing number of them plan to forgo golf, travel and other pursuits to continue working through what have long been considered the retirement years. According to a report by AARP, 80 percent of those born from 1946 to 1964 plan to work after retirement.

Some are taking this time of their lives to start a small business. In fact, AARP also reported that 40 percent of U.S. entrepreneurs are over 50.

For those thinking to take advantage of this trend, Paul and Sarah Edwards, self-employment lifestyle experts and authors of “The Best Home Businesses for People 50+,” offer some advice. “Starting a small business out of the home at any age can be very challenging but rewarding,” says Edwards. “However, Sarah and I have developed a few tips for our fellow boomers to keep in mind when embarking on this exciting new phase of their life.”

– Do it Your Way. A home- based career allows you to decide everything from how much time you want to dedicate to your business to where you want to be located.

– No More Office. Many experts believe that taking a business online is the easiest way to accomplish your goal of working while maintaining freedom. If your small business is located online, you have low overhead costs and can be found by customers around the globe without regard to where you are located.

– Have an Online Presence. Virtually every business can be helped with a presence on the Web. This is easier than it seems if you work with a reputable Web solutions partner.

For example, Network Solutions focuses on small businesses by offering products and services such as Do-It-For-Me Web sites (DIFM), easy-to-use templates and 24/7 customer consultants. Such services provide you with a Web partner that will enhance your business.

– Do What You Enjoy. “Becoming your own boss is an opportunity to do something you want to do,” says Sarah Edwards. “For example, you can spend as much time as you want on a hobby because you’re making money in the process, or helping other people or working with the kind of customers you choose to work with.”

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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