And not only does it ensure you get paid promptly; if there is a recurring charge, for example a monthly or annual renewal fee to pay, it ensures you will get that on time, too, without even having to ask for it. In fact, the gap in cost between traditional …

Learn all about the position next above you. Is that what you want? A local auto mechanic could hold clinics for their customers every quarter on how to keep cars running in tip-top shape. Think of close friends.

A lazy person's guide to Marketing

Small businesses are often squeamish about ringing people to ask them for money, especially if it is someone with whom they have a good working relationship. Other fixed costs include depreciation, insurance, mortgage, and rent. Start by listing the things you want done perfectly and consistently by your entire management …

Create and install two written systems per month. Brand familiarity can lead to faster acceptance of a new product. As customers we automatically expect to have to pay upfront for the products or services we buy, even if we have to wait ages to actually take delivery ' and the internet …

For example, call forwarding and call waiting are features; never missing another call is their benefit. As a result, they have lots of time to enjoy the benefits of a business that works for them. A brand extension is the introduction of a known brand into a new product category …

A marketing program and sales system can generate a big return for a small investment. As a business owner, where do you invest the majority of your time? Like customers, most suppliers do not take the time to read lengthy business plans, so again, focus on the shorter version for …

In this case, even though the margins will be smaller than they would if you were buying larger quantities, you will still make a profit on each sale. Every employee on your project team needs to know what they're responsible for and when they're successful. Equity is the value of …

Although buying someone else's business can, in some cases, be riskier than starting your own, at least you know exactly what you're getting into right from the start. First and foremost, it should grab the reader s attention. Off-site seminars and workshops can be excellent training opportunities as well, but …

That was the secret of his success. If you are waiting on customers, treat the small customer just as courteously as the large one. Luckily, these are exactly the same questions a business plan is designed to address, so you re likely to please even a demanding prospective partner by …

Training is the best method to encourage and make your people feel comfortable about changing and improving their game. It's better to tell customers one thing likely to be important to them rather than everything that may be important about the product. A manager may use all three styles, switching …

Once you have determined whether you can launch and run a business for $20,000, $200,000, $2 million, or $200 million, you will be able to consider the various funding sources. While accounting systems would need to be agile in making information available on a continuous basis to support …

Bottom-up models often generate alternatives that top-down models cannot, but can also be chaotic and inefficient. Extrinsic motivation derives from anticipation of external reaction, including praise, recognition, money (positive motivators), or punishment (negative motivator). The part of the plan where you describe your financial needs can be considered your opening …

Do not trust the work to your friend, relative, or clerk. But you can also offer your expertise, distribution channels, location, contacts, customer base, sales force, engineering talent, management skills, excess line of credit, financial strength, or banking connections. If you are having trouble getting funding for your venture under …

Business is always changing and continually needs improvement as you grow, change your product mix, improve your service, find new projects, seek new customers, and hire more people to do the work. Your net worth is the sum of your total assets minus your total liabilities. Competition from substitutes can …

A small bank can host networking sessions for their customers to meet, greet, and talk about working together to maximize profits. Brand equity is the additional value that a brand name adds to an otherwise equivalent good or service, allowing the company to charge a higher price. As you read …

Most often, as long as you remain current on payments, you can do as you like. It determines how it will be received by the market, and therefore determines its success. The necessary skills and capabilities to achieve this are required at both the individual level and organisational levels. If …

Then, several weeks later, because you didn't have enough time to properly supervise or train him, you discover he's not doing the job the way you want it done. But free has long been central to marketing: free admission before 7 p.m.; buy two get one free; children eat …

Over the last twenty years, the economy has created a stress on pricing and profits. To build a strong company, you need excellent people. Defining your values, purpose, and what you stand for, as well as remaining true to them, will inspire trust and respect from your audience. Various theories …

Unsuccessful people are usually too busy to hold meetings. Better to keep it to a couple dozen pages and stick to the truly important material. It can also give up-and-comers the idea that you offer training and advancement. John Jacob Astor knew the minutest point about every part of his …

It is a fallacy that he has no claim on you when off duty. This will give both parties an opportunity to correct any misunderstandings before they impair performance. Use outside instructors when introducing new or technical subjects. These companies are market leaders and don't try to be all things …

The justification of interest lies in the fact that men prefer present goods to future goods--a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush--and interest is the difference in value between the two at the present moment; it is time value. These positions commanded salaries all the way …

It is the creed, doctrine, tenet or religion, whichever you may care to term it, of the great captains of industry everywhere. Over 80 percent of all small business owners don't know the net value of their company. If your marketing program has done an effective job, your customers will …

Others may show how seemingly minor tweaks can produce outsized improvements in sales or profitability. You may get along for a time on 'shady' lines, but such success is only gained at the expense of ultimate loss. Business interaction is based on the physical resources and activities of interacting companies …

Instead, the value of each resource varies according to its role within particular combinations and how it interacts with other resources in each combination. In order to improve production results, install simple productivity systems to help your managers, supervisors, and foremen look ahead and think about what's required to keep …

Sound management and operations begin with a clear set of company guidelines specifying how you want to do business. The approach selected may be affected by the downstream market strategy. Install accurate financial systems, accurate estimating and pricing systems, and cost controls. Why do bankers seek collateral?

Be Direct with …

They aim for the middle and compete with everyone else who is also trying to do everything for everybody. This allows customers to chart your course. An individual manager and the wider management of a particular company are likely to have only limited knowledge of how these external resources are …

Publish that you will give a free carpet of a certain size and grade when a fixed amount has been traded. Your mission statement should be inspirational. Any business plan that purported to describe the important elements of these businesses would have had to devote considerable space to telling how …

A problem I often see as a speaker is that the agenda of the company I'm visiting includes training sessions led by the business owner, but no real hands-on learning happens. To determine your USP, it helps to think of the problem in your niche that you are trying to …

The approach selected may be affected by the downstream market strategy. In order to make customers aware of your company's uniqueness and expertise, and to develop loyal customer relationships, you must be willing to dedicate a small amount of time, energy, and money to your marketing program and sales systems …

Constant monitoring becomes easy for the owner and upper management when systems are in place and being followed. When you can point out new methods to your employer, advance new ideas, or suggest new channels of trade or lines of work, you are surely on the way to promotion. Relationships …

Once upon a time suppliers were often happy to extend credit to new businesses; in other words supply them with the product they needed to buy and then invoice them for payment thirty days later. Most bank loans are short to intermediate term, meaning they are due in anywhere from …

Instead of trying to figure out what your basic business concept is, you only have to decide whether it s changing. Equity capital is obtained by selling a portion of the ownership of a business to investors. A risk premium is added to compensate the lender for assuming the risk …

Do you get stuck using the same suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors because you don't have enough time to find new or better ones? A good professional in one of these slots can go a long way toward helping you succeed. The glut of tens of thousands of new products introduced …

The shoe giant Zappos has built its reputation by providing excellent customer service. There are incentives in place for employees to recruit others to your company and encourage their friends to apply for jobs. It may be that there s no money to give out at the moment. This will …

Ah, that enchanting word, S-U-C-C-E-S-S. Generally, poor performing or problem employees are a result of hiring too fast when companies are desperate to fill slots. You have to address distinctive groups of people in a different manner. It is usually better to wait for or seek another opportunity than to …

The lot of the modern worker is too unstable and employment too unsteady to add a new element of uncertainty in wages. With secured bonds, the issuer pledges specific assets as collateral in exchange for cash. You let the customer know your new pricing structure. Barnum uttered at least an …

A mistake here could be construed as a misrepresentation by an unsympathetic outsider. Other companies require much smaller amounts of capital to finance their ongoing operations. It s closely related to the personality of your brand, to your core values, and to your chosen approach. The service industry is the …

Yes, this thought is even scarier when you ve put yourself and your uniqueness out there in a vulnerable way. Sometimes the government really does want to help. The more information you can gather, the better. Your net worth is the sum of your total assets minus your total liabilities …

The lower the likelihood of collecting the debt, the lower its price. Buy some patented puzzle which can be manufactured cheap and scattered broadcast over the land. Let s say you propose to open a small healthy food store at an address a block away from a Whole Foods. Show …

To build a strong company, you need excellent people. Of course, you don t have to use specific business plan software to write your plan. If you were thinking about becoming a partner in a firm, you d no doubt be very concerned with the responsibilities you would have, the …

Start a training ladder to track your employees' progress. Of course, the timepiece would be a very cheap one, but many a parent will trade with you for the sake of getting a watch for his child. Some companies even extend the events they include and measure the indirect costs …

In addition, most business owners don't really know what their equipment costs them annually or how much they should charge per hour when it is used. Owning a small industrial building and renting it out is an example of a wealth-building asset. You may say, for example, Marketing duties are …

How much do you want to have saved to pay for your children's educational costs? For example, the cost of a material purchased at retail has embedded in it the costs of all previous labor, profit, licenses, transportation, tariffs, etc., that helped bring it to the point of sale. Customers …

If you want to make an impact, make your pitch engaging. Perhaps you ve always wanted to be your own boss, but have never started your own business due to a lack of time, money, or even ideas. Men will trade most where they can do best. These investments are …

. Business is not easy! Why are online courses better than consulting? A credit check will look at their financial position and see whether they have failed to pay others in the past, among other things.

If the barriers are low, you have more opportunity to get into the game

Today, with the Internet, you have the capacity to research and find real data. Essentially, your brand is your identity. Retailing is the general category that most people are familiar with because the typical American deals with at least one retailer every day. In order to improve production results, install …

What adjectives would you like people to use to describe you, your company, and your product? They have no desire to own secondhand equipment or your house. However, should you want to the guidance of a software program, you ll want to find one that meets your computer capabilities, has …

Most small companies hire people with potential and then let them learn on their own by watching others. Use your profitable business as a stepping stone into other businesses, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and investments, such as real estate, exclusive distribution agreements, rental companies, or any additional services that complement …

The reality is, however, that no matter how you disseminate a business plan, if someone wants to show it to anyone else, they ll do so. You should try to foresee times you ll need to borrow money and arrange a line of credit or other loan before you need …