Demonstrate Confidence in Negotiations to Get an Edge

November 7, 2010


Post from Guest Contributor Chris Blanton, editor of Ingenious Business Guide.
Many business owners leave money on the table by reacting to pricing pressure by haggling or discounting.
Seasoned deal makers assert in a negotiation that the first person to name a figure loses. Information has value, and the one who possesses more of it is better positioned to come out ahead in a transaction. When one party is ignorant of their opponent’s expectations, the best strategy is to get the other party to name a starting price.
When, as in retail sales, the seller publishes the price, buyers are forearmed with the seller’s expectation but the seller is not similarly equipped with the buyers’. Thus a seller who exhibits price flexibility puts herself at a disadvantage because she better arms her buyer.
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How to Ensure the Business Launch Date Stays on Target

November 2, 2010


If we have to bet on one thing when it comes to opening a business on schedule; we’d say it WILL NOT. No matter how well you plan, it seems things always go wrong somewhere resulting in delays.
Not being able to open the business on-time can hurt you on multiple fronts –you not only lose sales for every day that the business is not open, while your expense clock is already ticking; but also you end up throwing more money on tasks that are running late.
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Effective Ways to Minimize Employee Turnover

October 18, 2010


Post from Guest Contributor Chris Blanton, editor of Ingenious Business Guide.
One unfortunate aspect of management is employee turnover. Many of your hires simply won’t work out. A new worker may develop personality clashes with coworkers, turn out to be incompatible in temperament or values, or may not fit in with the rest of the staff. Or they may not develop the required skill set rapidly enough.
You want to counsel out any employee who is a poor fit culturally to achieve a smooth running organization. Even the geniuses must go if they aren’t team players. Like Netflix asserts: No brilliant jerks! But what do you do if an otherwise acculturated employee doesn’t ramp up quickly enough? Do you show them the door or continue to try and train them?
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How to Lower Fixed Cost to Achieve Financial Flexibility

October 13, 2010


We mentioned in the previous post that in this times of economic uncertainty your business needs to have flexibility to respond to changing market conditions. One of the ways you can do this is by converting as much of your fixed costs to variable as possible.
The reason for converting fixed cost to variable is simple – fixed costs don’t change with sales or production; while you can control variable costs in response to change in sales. Monthly rent you pay for the building is an example of fixed cost; whereas the amount you pay to buy raw material to make final product (commonly known as Cost of Goods Sold) is an example of a variable cost.
High fixed cost can hurt you in difficult economic times, such as now, and can even drive you out of business. This is what happened to many of the businesses that simply could not cover fixed cost with the sales plummeting. There are several ways in which you can convert fixed costs to variable. Below we have highlighted them.
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How to Survive Economic downturn by Being Flexible

October 11, 2010


The difficult economic environment in the last couple of years has forced many businesses to close their doors and ruined the dreams of many people. While it has affected almost all businesses, it has particularly hit hard to those who were not flexible.
While it may be too late for some businesses to do anything about it now, if you are one of those who have survived or are just starting now is the time to think about how you should prepare and respond to the downturn that refuses to go out.
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How to Succeed in Starting a Business while Holding Full-time Job

October 7, 2010


Contrary to beliefs held by some people it is possible to start a business while still working on your job. Many people want to hold onto their current job for as long as possible for reasons cited in this post ; while they are starting business.
While it is not easy to start a business while still working on full-time job; there are ways by which you can succeed as long as you know what you are getting into and take care of important issues that will inevitably surface. In our view, the key to success is making sure you have laid proper groundwork to operate the business in your absence; while still keep a watchful eye on it.
Below we have highlighted several suggestions you can follow to be successful.
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Challenges of Starting a Business while Holding onto Current Job

October 5, 2010


While it is tempting to hold onto current job while you are starting a small business; it may prove to be quite challenging.
As we mentioned in the previous blog post many of our friends, colleagues and aspiring businessmen want to jump into small business out of frustration resulting from jobs (or lack thereof) in this difficult economic environment. However, they still want to hold onto their current job to ensure they have a fall back place in case things don’t work out with new business and several other reasons.
While it is certainly understandable that people would want to play it safe and keep the current job while business is getting established you should not underestimate the challenges of operating in this fashion. Below we have highlighted many of the challenges you will face when working at your job and starting a business at the same time. We hope that by understanding these challenges you will make informed decision and understand what to expect if you do decide to go forward.
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5 Reasons to Hold onto Your Job while Starting a Business

September 29, 2010


Starting a small business, while still working in the current job may be a viable approach for many would-be entrepreneurs. When we talk to our friends, colleagues and aspiring businessmen, who are still working in their jobs, they express frustration over their employers. They want to start their own business and be their own boss. They want to have control over what they can do and how. The current economic uncertainty and resulting job insecurity has made their desire to start a business even stronger.
However, when we ask why they have not followed up on that desire and dived into small business they come up with variety of reasons. One of the primary reasons cited is the loss of steady, guaranteed income and uncertainty inherent in the small business. Many of them express desire to test the waters and start a business on a part-time basis. If it is successful they can leave their day job and jump full-time in their business.
While it is not an ideal solution, in our mind, starting a business while still working on the current job presents an opportunity they otherwise would not have. Below we have highlighted some of reasons given to us by would-be entrepreneurs why they would want to keep their current job; while working to build their own business.
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How to “fire” Customer the Right Way

September 27, 2010


Post from Guest Contributor Chris Blanton, editor of Ingenious Business Guide.
Sometimes you just need to let a customer go. If a client is abusive to staff, or demanding but you’re unable to satisfy or reason with them, you may have to show them the door.
It can be valuable to periodically evaluate your customer base and jettison the ones that are no longer a fit. Many companies routinely rid themselves of their “D” class unprofitable customers. It is a valuable strategic practice that will not harm customer relationships provided you do it correctly.
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15 Signs the Franchise You are Buying is Good

September 23, 2010


In the U.S. alone there are hundreds of franchises eager to find small business owners as franchisee. The new ones come up every month. However, you should keep in mind that for every McDonald’s franchise out there a number of other ones have been started and disappeared over the years.
In an earlier post we mentioned that you should make sure the franchise you are looking to get into is good and will make you successful as well. After all, selecting the wrong franchise can hurt you and may even wipe out your hard earned savings.
Below we have listed signs you can look for to determine if the franchise is successful.
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