5 Fundamental Rules of Negotiation for Small Business Owners

May 16, 2012


Small business owners who do not have good negotiation skills risk losing big (or at least not earn what they deserve). Many business owners find negotiation very stressful and try to avoid it as much as possible. They think of negotiation as a long, drawn-out process where one party wins at the expense of other, and when it’s over the “loser” hates the winner for not giving enough. It doesn’t have to be this way. Professional negotiators tell us negotiation is a skill where it is possible for both parties to come out winners and still be “friends” at the end.
To clear the misconceptions about negotiation we have come up with 5 fundamental rules that you should keep in mind. Once you accept these rules and arm yourself with the tactics to use them effectively you can not only “win” the negotiation, but also feel good about it at the end, and make the other party feel the same. Here they are:
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management, Strategy Tagged With: ,

Your 90-day Action Plan after Buying a Business

May 12, 2012


The actions you take in the first 90 days after you have purchased a business are crucial for its long-term success. We showed what things you need to take care of in the first 30 days after you buy the business. I asked you not to take any major decision in that time, but to learn and document everything about the business by asking questions and observing. By the end of 30 days you should have a plan of action to improve the business in the coming days and months. The plan of action needs to fall in two categories – short-term tactical improvements and long-term strategic direction.
Your focus in the first 90 days should mostly focus on short-term improvements. The idea is to get quick benefits by taking advantage of “low hanging fruits”, while at the same time keeping long-term direction in mind. These steps you take in the first 90 days will position your business well for coming months and years.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Customers, Employees, Purchasing Tagged With: , ,

Things You must do within 30 Days of buying a business

May 9, 2012


The first 30 days after you buy a business is the most critical time in owning a new business. Done right it will take your business to new heights, but done wrong you will be paying the price for a long time.
Buying a business can be exciting as well as nerve-racking for both, veteran as well as first-time, business owners. On one hand, you are eager to implement all the new ideas you have thought about during homework done at the time of due diligence. On the other hand, you could be losing sleep from the thought of all the things that could go wrong right after you step in.
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Filed Under: Buyers, Management Tagged With: ,

Are you Wasting Money with These 7 Marketing Mistakes?

May 5, 2012


Many small business owners think of marketing as a black magic that involves spending lots of money in advertising in the hope that it will magically bring additional customers and sales. They get frustrated when not as many customers as they had hoped show up and the scant few that do never return again. The worst part is business owners feel they have no choice but to continue doing this because they will lose even more customers and sales otherwise. As a result, they end up wasting their hard earned money on marketing when they could have received better return on their money.
While consulting with number of small business owners we have uncovered several recurring mistakes that many of us make in terms of marketing. By simply understanding those mistakes and taking steps to avoid them from happening with your business you can not only save money on marketing, but also get much better return. The list below shows 7 common mistakes many small business owners make. We also show references to other articles that provide additional details and explain how to prevent them from hurting your business.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Sales Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Increase Sales with Better Business Signs

May 2, 2012


Effective interior and outdoor signage is essential to the branding efforts of almost any business. From wall decals to billboards, signage can help bring in new customers and retain the attention of regulars. To improve your signage, consider placement, graphics, short messages and frequent changes.
Better sign design and placement not only improves the image of your business, but it can help increase your sales from existing customers as well as by attracting new ones. The tips provided below will help you improve your business sign design.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Sales Tagged With: , ,

What can Small Business Owners Learn from Apple

April 28, 2012


If there is one company that is loved by its customers, employees and shareholders equally it is Apple!! It is hard to find any other company that generates the excitement that Apple does. The company is valued at almost $600 Billion that is estimated to reach $1 Trillion in too distant future. That amount will be higher than the GDP of many countries on the planet. The amazing thing is even at this size Apple manages to grow its revenue and profit at astronomical rate of 70-80%! There has never been a company in the history that has achieved what Apple has in the last 10 years.

While it may not be possible for small business owners to achieve success at the same level as Apple there are important lessons you can learn that will help you grow your business. Below we analyze Apple’s critical success factors and explain how you can apply them in your business.
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Strategy Tagged With: , ,

Grow your Business by Treating Customers as Human Beings

April 25, 2012


What small business owners in his right mind would not treat his customers well if that leads to business growth. Yet there is no shortage of companies, large and small, that fail to take care of this basic fact resulting in disastrous results. Try calling customer center of your telephone company and see how long you have to wait before being able to talk to someone. Or go to a mall and study look at the expressions of customer service reps when talking to customers. How come very few of them bother to smile?
So, why is it important to treat customers properly?
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Filed Under: Customers, Sales, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Create Great Looking Online Retail Store in a Flash with Goodsie

April 22, 2012


Do you want to start an online retail store, but are always afraid of effort and money required to do so? I have come across a cheap and elegant solution that has the potential to help you with it.  The solution comes from a start-up called Goodsie. I checked out their web site and was very impressed with its functionality and ease of use. You do not need to have computer programming knowledge to use this software, which is a great relief to many of us who do not have that skill or don’t want to deal with that hassle.

While online retail stores have been around for some time, small business owners have been at a disadvantage against their larger rivals due to their lack of skills and money required to build and run online retailing. You can use Amazon or eBay, but you are likely to be drowned out amongst thousands of businesses who are jockeying for the top position. That is why I strongly believe in having your own online store with a unique identity that you can control. Goodsie lets you do that easily.
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Filed Under: Sales, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Use Scarcity Tactics to Increase Sales

April 14, 2012


What is the best way to get rid of products that are not selling well? You can reduce the price to generate more demand. But there is a way better way to manage it. It is known as scarcity principle and it works by making customers believe that the item will not be available if they wait longer. The technique works because of human psychology that makes people want something more when they are told they cannot have it. Fear of losing out on something can be a powerful motivator.
You don’t have to use this principle to sell only slow moving items. You can incorporate it in the normal marketing practice to increase the sales of regular products. If you look around you will notice that many businesses are already using this principle in various forms. QVC always shows how many items are left when promoting their products on television. The last few items are always sold very quickly. When a sales person tells us that the item is out of stock, but he can probably find it at another store your reaction will always be to order it so as not to miss out from that store too.
There are several approaches you can take to implement this scarcity principle in practice as shown below:
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Filed Under: Customers, Marketing, Sales Tagged With: ,

Factors that Influence Pricing

April 10, 2012


Pricing is both an art as well as science as we discussed in earlier post on Ten Commandments of pricing. There is no one right way to determine the price of products or services you are selling. To a large extent, the price is based on the value customers perceive to get from the product and what they are willing to pay for it.
The law of pricing says that you should charge each customer the exact amount he/she is willing to pay for it for maximum profit. This is how auction system works. You let each customers announce how much he wants to pay and pick the highest bid. While it would be ideal to determine the price in this fashion, in practice it becomes a challenge to sell your products this way. That’s why it is necessary for business owners to come up with an advertised price and augment it with other ways such as coupons to attract more customers.
So what factors do you need to consider when pricing your products and services?
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Filed Under: Customers, Strategy Tagged With: , , , ,