September - October, 2019 Volume 16 -- Issue 91 I'm a big proponent of technology and automation of basic tasks as a first step in growing your small business. Basic daily tasks can eat up big chunks of your work day, interrupt your train of thought and work on important tasks. Thankfully, quite a few mundane tasks can be easily and inexpensively automated to free up lost time for more important - and profitable - assignments. You [...]
What are business support pillars? Never heard of them? Sounds like it’s time for some education into the most important and basic of business elements. I’m referring to Pillars – Critical Business Support Pillars. Pillars provide not only support for the company, but allow a strong, stable small business to be built using these support elements. Just like when a home or public building is planned, a strong support structure needs to come first. Pillars provide support and strength to hold the building up. Pull one out and your structure is in danger of collapsing. The same can happen if [...]
If owning and operating a small business successfully was easy, everyone would be doing it. So many entrepreneurs dive into the small business pool with little or no research or preparation under their belt. That approach causes some entrepreneurs to sink to the bottom right away, or just tread water. Either way will leave them in one place with no movement in a positive direction. Somehow, they think they can do it – often alone - then find themselves struggling to survive. Small business pain points can take you down if not addressed. Without pre-planning and setting up business processes, [...]
Fellow small business owners – I feel your pain. We all found, in the early days of our small businesses there simply was never enough time. So much to do in so little time to accomplish everything is the reality of owning and growing a business. With everything else going on with our startup, time management was the furthest thing from our minds. We thought having our own businesses would give us more freedom. Our time would be our own, not under the schedule of a boss at the company we used to work for. We would be free to [...]
Have you finally reached the overwhelm stage of being a small business owner? Could be the time to start delegating work to others has come. What seemed like a better way to earn a living than working for someone else may not have turned out the way you expected. By now, you have found out just how many jobs (read: hats to wear) you become responsible for as a business owner. Let's see, you get to be the owner/CEO of the company, and, with employees, the boss/manager and administrator. Add in chief financial officer, bookkeeper and human resources manager. Those [...]
Attract Success for Your Small Business - You Deserve It! Hopes and dreams come in all shapes and sizes. Being able to reach goals and achieve dreams takes work – sometimes hard work. To get where you want to be and have what you desire, you need to attract success. Success doesn’t automatically find you, stop by and rap on your door. You need to focus on what success is for you and put things in place that will attract success. Open your door wide and let success come into your business and personal life. Everyone wants to be successful [...]
Powerful Principles of Small Business Success There is no one simple rule or process for building a successful small business. Nor is there anything simple about achieving small business success. Small business success requires a lot of focus and clear direction to get you where you want to go. It is not something that magically happens after you finish a degree in business, or work in someone else's business. Creating a plan and using some basic principles of small business success will start moving your firm in the right direction. Building a successful business of your own is the basis [...]
Business Systems and Processes: What are they? Business systems are series of processes and procedures, broken into steps that dictate how a part of your company operates. Routine operations based on a number of systems allow your business to run without you being there all the time. The business can run - and exist - when you have to be elsewhere. A documented series of business systems and processes is sometimes referred to as an Operations Manual. The manual represents an effort to collect in one place the ‘know how’ of how your small business operates successfully. Small business systems [...]
You may not be aware that as a small business owner, you are responsible for the safety and security of customer data. In case you missed it, Google is making a big push to improve protection of privacy and security of consumer data. This effort serves to encourage businesses of all sizes to provide a SSL security certificate, letting consumers know that your site provides protection for any information they give you. This applies especially to sales that use credit cards for payment. Safety and Security Using SSL Security Certificates Changing the beginning of your company website's URL address [...]
Do you ever think about how being a solo-preneur can be dangerous? Maybe you should. I know that it is hard to consider when you don't have a business in a dangerous industry like manufacturing or construction. If your small business mostly involves working in your office alone, it doesn't seem dangerous at all. But, there are pitfalls in all types of businesses. Why else would our states demand workman's compensation donations to cover injuries received on the job? I've been doing some cleaning in my office recently. No, not just dusting, vacuuming and emptying trash. That stuff I do [...]
