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 …

Many men fail because they undertake a business without considering whether there is room for it; others because they do not thoroughly establish themselves in the place, making no effort to get a constituency; and yet others because they do not keep the goods that are in demand, or do …

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 …

It s important to meet with more than one firm to determine which one is best for your particular company. Will you be a low-cost, average, or high-end option? Expect the business plan to be a living document that improves with every tough question asked by a potential investor, business …

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 …

Brands that continue to target the middle of the market with a mid-priced product without giving a specific and compelling reason to buy it usually end up losing a lot of customers to niche competitors. When you find men working, work with them. They would limit absolutely the amount of …

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 …

A mission statement describes the current central purpose and goal of an organization, to guide daily decision making and performance. This will help you to have a better idea of where to position your brand. If you can t find an answer, you may wind up like private aircraft manufacturers …

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 …

Keep it fun, challenging, and interactive. What do you stand for and support? You won't find right or wrong reasons to start or buy a business; you'll only find right or wrong criteria that go into forming those reasons. Because with everyone adopting a pared-down mentality there is no need …

Therefore, to be able to determine what they would find valuable enough to give you their money for, you first need to know them well, because you ll need to think from their perspective. Let not the smallest thing be done in a slipshod way. Then start planning how to …

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 …

After all, who thought they needed an iPod or an iPad until they saw them and fell in love with them and realised they really did? This is unusual, but it does happen it s when the reader stops you and says, You don t have to tell me anymore …

Fixed and variable costs both vary over longer periods of time. Even if you have assembled a brilliant managerial team, or have strong financial underpinnings, unless you have something to sell or at least plans to develop something new, you don t really have a business at all. But without …

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 …

You can also use bulletin boards or company newsletters to publish smaller sections of your plan, such as your mission statement or some details of financial objectives and how you re progressing. You should also ask other business owners, perhaps in your local chamber of commerce, which ones they used …

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 …

Companies that have salespeople focused on helping customers increase their odds of getting more profitable sales. To get a signed contract or order for your company's services or to sell products, you first find a sales lead or customer who needs what you offer. To a typical consumer who s …

This business model is built around the value of being part of a community. Bankers tend to be more formal than venture capitalists and more concerned with financial strength than with exciting concepts and impressive resumes. If you find a department that does not pay, change methods or your goods …

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 …