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If you own a small business there's a good chance you are already shopping at a Costco store near you. Based on sales volume Costco has become the largest wholesale membership chain in the world. So you might just have a store around the corner from you. Of course this wasn't always so. Now to say that Costco was ever really a small business wouldn't exactly be true. But how did the Costco we know today come about?
Well the history of Costco can actually be traced back to one man. He's known...
•7 Considerations Of A Pay Per Click Campaign
There are some very important things to consider for someone that has decided to try a pay per click campaign. Pay per click campaigns are expensive to run and if you are not careful you can lose your entire marketing investment without much of a return. Any pay per click campaign needs to be considered an investment because you spend your funds on such a campaign in the hope of generating new sales. And if you fail your investment can be wiped out. A successful campaign takes careful...
•The Pros And Cons Of Pay Per Click Marketing
Are you considering whether to run a pay per click marketing campaign for you company? Maybe though you are not quit sure what you might be getting into. Then it is in your best interests to know both the pros and cons that come with such a campaign.
With any type of business idea a person likes to look at the benefits first because they want to see the positive side. So that is the place to start. What exactly are the pros of running a pay per click campaign for your business and product....
•From Small Business To Big Business: Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Often a person is led onto the path of a becoming a successful businessman by a series of fortunate events that transpire. It could be said that Richard Warren Sears stumbled upon just such a path. But once he was on that path he did everything he could to not fall off. In the end he left not just a company but a legacy. So how exactly did it all begin? Amazingly enough it started with a failed scam.
You see apparently in 1886 there had developed a fairly common scam of wholesalers shipping...
•From Small Business To Big Business: Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc.
When people think of Eddie Bauer they think of clothes that are trendy and hip. What they don't realize is the fact that Eddie Bauer is actually a company that is now eighty-eight years old. It's hard to believe but it's true. Eddie Bauer was formed in 1920 as Eddie Bauer's Sports Shop in Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer the company's namesake early on focused on apparel for sports and winter clothes. He actually invented the first down parka in 1936. The company even manufactured more than...
•From Small Business To Big Business: Subway
The world is full of sandwich shops. Seemingly they are on every corner and within every strip mall. But there are a few that have managed to stand out from the crowd. They have in fact become so successful that they are known all around the world. Subway is just such a chain. In fact as far as franchises are concerned they are now the third largest in the world. Trailing only Yum! Brands and McDonald's in total number of stores being operated. For those people looking to buy a franchise this...
•From Small Business To Big Business: United Parcel Service, Inc. Or UPS
UPS is a package delivery company that has grown into one of the largest delivery companies in the world. With its iconic brown trucks roaming the streets of every major city across the globe the company delivers over 15 million packages each day to over 6.1 million customers. But it wasn't always that way. There was a time many years ago that the company everyone knows today was just the vision of two young men.
The two young men in question were 19 year old Jim Casey and 18 year old Claude...
•Are You Thinking Of Diversifying Your Product Line? Think Long And Hard Before You Do
Are You Thinking Of Diversifying Your Product Line? Think Long And Hard Before You Do Sometimes in business we get a little excited and sometimes we get a little bored. Running a small business can be exciting at times. Especially as you reach each of those all important milestones you've set for yourself. So we can be excused once in a while if we get excited. But you'd think it would be hard for us to be bored considering all the things we have to do each day. Well a lot of what we have...
•From Small Business To Big Business: 7-11 Inc.
Everywhere you go today it seems there is a convenience store on the corner of an intersection. And 7-11 is the king of the convenience store world. In fact they might even be thought of as the father of the convenience store world considering how old the company actually is. Today the company is a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan but it wasn't always so.
7-11 actually got started way back in 1927 in Dallas, Texas by a man named Joe C. Thompson. You see Mr. Thompson who was...
•From Small Business To Big Business: Chik-Fil-A
Before there was Chik-Fil-A S. Truett Cathy started what is known today as the Dwarf House Restaurant in the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Hapeville in 1946. It was there across from a Ford plant that Cathy's restaurant served to for three shifts a day that he invented the chicken sandwich. At the time the concept of fast food was just taking off but it was centered on beef hamburgers. Cathy discovered a way to pressure cook chicken in peanut oil that allowed the chicken to be cooked quick enough...
•From Small Business To Big Business: Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream
Once in awhile a small business comes along that helps to change the way we think and feel about a product. While many small businesses have the potential to do this very few do. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream started as a small business and while growing big managed to change forever how we think about ice cream. In doing so they built a small business to big business success story that anyone could be proud of and should be inspired by.
So how did it all start? If you can believe it...
•Manage Your Cash Flow Or Perish
Effectively managing the cash flow of your business is really about protecting your bottom line. Turning a profit is great but only if you see the cold hard cash that those paper profits are supposed to be bringing in. If to many customers fail to pay you or pay you late on a consistent basis then your business could land itself in serious trouble without you being aware of how bad the downward spiral really was.
Forward thinking entrepreneurs are acting to protect and even grow their...
•Using Your Team To Evaluate Team Performance
Teams need to be evaluated and they must be evaluated regularly. For the simple fact that if they are not you may not realize when your team is losing its edge. Truly being able to evaluate performance comes from communicating effectively, solving problems, team conflicts, evaluating team performance, and more. It essence it means really interacting with your team, not just observing. Your evaluation needs to come as a member of the team not just its leader. It is important when evaluating...
•The Art Of Sales Presentations
A sales presentation for many people means addressing a small group of colleagues in a business meeting, making a presentation to three or four customers, talking in a committee or team setting, or announcing a toast at a wedding or birthday party. But what many people fail to remember is that you are making a sales presentation! And as the person making the sales presentation you are just as much a part of the product as the actual product is. This is because the best presentation can often...
•The Importance Of Defining Your Business Growth Strategy
Business growth is often assumed simply to be increasing annual sales and the size of your business. But it is much more than that. It is not just the concept of getting bigger. Many businesses view growth differently and it is important that you define the type of growth you are looking for. The message is that when your mind turns to business growth, resist the natural urge to think in terms of business growth meaning 'simply getting bigger'. You need to look beyond that.
Business leaders...
•4 Maintenance Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000
4 Maintenance Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000 Service businesses have long been a mainstay of the small business field. They are often easy to set up and most only require a small amount of experience in the industry to start. Many services businesses in fact are pretty straight forward. They just require some common sense. So with that in mind here are 4 businesses that you can start assuming you have some common sense and the drive to make a go of it.
1. Carpet and Upholstery...
•Do You Know What A Limited Liability Company Is?
? An LLC is a legal form of business that has characteristics of both corporations and a partnership. This form of business offers limited liability protection to its owners. In other words the owners of the business cannot be held fully responsible for any debts that the business occurs or actions taken on its behalf. This type of business form is best suited for small businesses with that have a small number of owners and preferably just one.
So what are some of the basic characteristics of...
•5 Advertising Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000
5 Advertising Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000 The world how advertising is constantly revolving. With the advent of the internet many new forms of advertising have become available. These new forms and many old ways as well provide many opportunities for a creative person to get involved in the advertising business. Here are 5 ways that you can use to break into the business.
1. Advertising Agency: It used to be that the big ad agencies were the ones being paid all the...
•Do You Need Key Man Insurance?
? Most small businesses will come to rely upon certain employees to do very important jobs. These are jobs that are critical to the success of the business and these employees are very good at what they do. They are not easily replaced. They may be your General Manager, Project Manager, Bookkeeper, Sales Manager, or any number of other jobs that may be specific to what your business does. If something unforeseen were to happen to them it could throw your company into chaos. Sales could be lost,...
•4 Different Ways You Can build Your Business Credit
First off it needs to be said that there are certainly other ways to go about establishing credit for your business. These four methods are just a tried and true means of doing so rather quickly. Of course most of the credit limits will be low but over time as your business grows these limits can be raised. All you need to do is develop a good clean history with the credit provider. So let's talk about four of the easiest methods available to build up your company's credit.
Credit cards are...
•Collecting Your Accounts Receivables Is Vital
All companies that are in the position of billing their customers and waiting to be paid have a similar problem. Making sure their customers pay the bill. And sometimes getting them to pay the bill can be harder than getting the job done for them was. On top of everything else you need to balance the objective of getting paid with maintaining your customer relationships.
Accounts receivable are money owed to your company by other companies who have purchased goods or services from you on...
•Yes Your Employees Might Try And Steal From You
This situation actually happened with a former office assistant of mine. In my business I'd always had an office assistant that would help with some of the day to day accounting functions. Simple things like writing out invoices and paying bills. Nothing that hard or easily messed up so the situation usually worked out pretty well. Just basic day to day tasks that had to be handled in house. I'd used this arrangement for years and had never had any real problems. We used QuickBooks which was...
•What A Business Can Do To Your Health
It is often an unfortunate consequence of business that doing something you may love to do can take a real toll on your health. I for one can relate to the experience as I looked at myself in the mirror and finally came to realize the price I was paying. Like a lot of people I've always struggled with my weight and the need to stay fit.
Growing up I had always remained fairly active. For as long as I can remember I've been a sports fan and consequently have played different organized and...
•7 Ways To Save Money On Employees
There are many ways for a business to save money. But because employees are so expensive anything that a business owner can do to save money on them can often have the most impact on the business. And when you implement money saving ideas you want them to have as much of an impact as possible. So here are 7 tips that you might consider using to save your business money.
1. If your business is seasonal or has occasional spikes in sales then you should consider hiring temporary workers to...
•6 Tips For Effective Interviews
Finding the right employees for your company can be difficult. And if you choose the wrong person for your business then your turnover is going to be high and you'll have to constantly repeat the interview process. So hiring the right person the first time is crucial to building a dependable workforce. To do this you need to set up a good interview process. These 6 tips can help you do just that.
Tip 1: Not every candidate is going to be right for your company and many of them might not feel...
•The Nuts And Bolts Of Crafting A Mission Statement
A mission statement has both the ability to mean everything to your business and to mean nothing. It really just depends on how seriously you take it. Your mission statement can be used to say whatever you want it to but it's the meaning behind the words that will count the most. Your words need to portray your feelings and passion for what you are doing. If you want to be the best in the world at what you do then say so. But say it in such a way as to be able to inspire the people that read...
•8 Reasons Your Business Should Be Online
Having your business online has just about become a prerequisite to having a successful business. And it is not really as hard or as expensive as most people seem to think. It just takes proper planning and a little web savvy. So there really is no reason your business shouldn't have some sort of web presence. But let's go a step further and give you 8 good reasons for your business to be online.
1. Low cost. Yes you can hire an expensive website designer to build you that perfect web store...
•4 Ways To Stretch Your Buying Power
In some ways the ability to stretch your buying power in time of need is an art. Making sure your suppliers are willing to send you the things you need even when you are a little behind while still getting the best price is important. And even if you are not behind it is always best to hang onto your money for as long as possible. So here are 4 things you can do to keep your money in your pocket just a little longer.
1. Don't pay a bill until absolutely necessary. Unless a vendor is willing...
•6 Essential Steps To A Great Marketing Plan
Many people find that just writing a proper business plan can be a daunting task. So trying to write a marketing plan might seem down right overwhelming. But it doesn't have to be. A good marketing plan is a key ingredient to putting together sustainable sales for your business. It's about how you are going to attract your customers today and keep them tomorrow. It's an essential part of winning in business. Here are the pertinent steps that you need to take to write a great plan.
1. The...
•Barriers To Consider When Starting A Business
Ok so what exactly are we talking about when we say entry barriers? Well an entry barrier in business boils down to how hard or easy it is to set up a business. There are different factors that have to be looked at when considering such barriers. They vary for each particular business and industry. And of course all businesses are influenced by how much money is available to be invested in a business.
The barriers for each business will be different but the factors that need to be looked at...
•5 Ways To Reinforce Your Brand's Message
Putting together a solid brand means reinforcing your message constantly. And there are a number of ways to do this. If you want people to remember your message then you need to use every chance you get to put out your message. If you have to you can even create your own opportunities. Here are 5 ways you can keep pounding out your message.
1. Put your logo on all your regular correspondence. Things like Invoices, faxes, and any other printed material that you send to your customers is an...
•3 Pet Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000
3 Pet Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000 Business should be about doing what you love to do. And if you love being around animals then there are business opportunities that can allow you to do just that. And really what more can a person ask for except to make a good living while doing something you enjoy. Besides they say people that have pets live a longer life. So what else could you possibly ask for in a business? Here are three businesses that you can start for under $10,000....
•3 Food Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000
3 Food Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000 If you love food and wish you could be your own boss then combining the two could be the right way to go for you. There are many food related businesses you could start if you have the capital. But if you don't happen to have very deep pockets and still want to be an entrepreneur then one of these 3 businesses might be right for you. And the beauty of it is they each cost under $10,000 to get started.
1. Personal Chef: Ah now here is a...
•5 Children's Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000
5 Children's Businesses You Can Start For Under $10,000 Running your own small business can be a really enjoyable experience. That is of course if you like what you do. In this case if you like children then there are many opportunities to become an entrepreneur. Of course starting a business can be expensive but each of these five opportunities can be started for under $10,000. If you'd like to help people with their children and be your own boss as well then these businesses might be...
•Know Your Business Inside And Out
Really understanding your business and your industry is a key step towards becoming successful. It's not about just opening a book and thinking you can learn what to do to make your business thrive. There are a lot of different aspects in business. Things like management, marketing, human resources, and taxes that have to be understood. In addition you need to understand exactly how they apply to your business.
When we think about the management issues of your business what comes to mind?...
•What Are The Four Phases Of The Product Lifecycle?
? The four phases of the product lifecycle are conceive, design, realize, and service. These are the steps that you must take to manage a product from beginning to end. Now not all products have an end but most do. Whether we're talking about computer software, cars, furniture, appliances, or mops. Most products have a beginning and an end if for no other reason than they eventually get updated.
So the first phase we need to cover is conceive. In this phase just as it sounds we will think up...
•What Are The Four P's Of The Marketing Mix?
? Effective marketing of a small business service or product can be hard. Often you have to compete with much bigger companies that have much larger marketing budgets. So if you want to develop an effective marketing plan then you should know about the 4 P's. So what are the four P's of the marketing mix anyway? Product, price, place, and promotion are your keywords in the marketing mix. So what exactly do they mean?
Well first let's talk about Product. The product is of course what you are...
•Using Professional Recruiting Methods
Recruiting good employees is a small business owner's worst nightmare. It sometimes seems that you are stuck on a never ending merry go round. You just seem to go through one employee after another. So what kind of professional options do you have? Here are four ways that you can approach the problem besides placing another classified ad in the paper or resorting to a help wanted sign on your door.
The first method that you can try to use to tackle this problem is a recruitment agency...
•Sometime You Should Slow Down Your Growth
Often it takes the growth of a business to really feel like you are making progress in the world. To know that what you are doing is working well and to justify the steps you have taken so far to get where you are. But sometimes the growth of a business can take on a life of its own. It seems to become a never ending cycle of landing new clients, launching new products, finding more funding, and hiring new employees. Often though because of the rapidness of your growth you can find yourself...
•Some Important FAQs About Franchises
Frequently asked question number one is usually how much does it cost to buy a franchise? Well that is going to depend on the type of franchise you would like to own. Some franchises will cost as little as $10,000 to $15,000. Others can run a quarter million dollars or more. But when you are looking into the startup costs of a franchise you need to watch out for two things. One is the franchise fee that the franchising company will charge you for the right to use their company name, logos, and...
•How Well Do You Know Your Competition?
? It is always important to know your competition. But in business it can be a critical component to your success. If you do not keep track of the moves they are making it can be hard for you to keep up. One second you are neck and neck and the next you're falling behind. Just look at some of the great rivalries in business today. Coke and Pepsi, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, McDonald's and Burger King plus so many others. These companies are always keeping an eye on each other. Just...
•What Is The Point Of An Employee Evaluation?
? An employee evaluation is all about letting your employee know what it is that they are and are not doing well. If you are not conducting some sort of performance appraisal at least once a quarter then you are not only doing your employees a large disservice you are also neglecting your business as well. Because if an employee doesn't know what they are doing wrong or that they could still use some improvement in an area how will they get better? And if they are not working to improve their...
•Do Not Rely To Much On Just One Customer
Often for a small business to get over the hump it can be seen as necessary to land that one big client. The whale within the sea. If that does happen for you great. But have you ever considered what would happen to your business if you lost that client? Just as they were able to help your company make that great leap forward they could also destroy your business if they were to suddenly disappear on you. That's why it is so important to keep a diverse clientele.
The old saying "never put all...
•What To Consider When Choosing A Franchise
The franchise business contains a seemingly unlimited number of options for you to choose from. But not every franchise opportunity is going to be right for you. So when it comes to choosing one you should be very careful. The contracts for franchise ownership can be very long and binding. They usually contain only very expensive ways of getting out of them. Besides you aren't buying a franchise because you want to turn around the next day and try to get out of the deal. You want to buy one...
•Reasons Not To Buy A Franchise
Some of the largest companies in the world are actually franchises. They exist in many major industries. Everything from cleaning services, and fast food restaurants to vending machine companies and consulting services. And they are all looking to add you to their always growing list of franchise owners. Before joining that select group of people though you had better be aware of the potential problems you might just be facing.
The number one thing on our list is that some people are just too...
•The Value Of Competition
So what is competition? Many people consider it the chance to beat someone else's brains in. To show that they are better than the other guy. Some companies today do all that they can to crush the competition. They buy them up or force them out. And of course it's their right to do such things. But really where would we be if we didn't have some competition?
Look at IBM for example. For decades they were the big guy. Hell they were nicknamed big blue of all things. And they felt they were...
•Do Not Be Afraid To Drop A Bad Customer
You spend a lot of time, energy, and money developing new customer relationships. Many times you will find this to be a rewarding experience for you. You might develop relationships that will last years into the future. Some of your customers may become close friends of yours. All in all a very enjoyable experience for you. But sometimes the exact opposite happens and depending on how badly you need the business of that customer it can become a nightmare for you. That is when you might have to...
•The Value Of Diversity
Many businesses that are based around a trade have come to rely on very culturally diverse employees to provide their workforce. In fact it has become a necessity. If they were not willing to hire people from other cultures they might literally go out of business. If you feel like something has been holding your business back this could be it.
It's quite possible that the ability to expand your workforce has been a leading problem in your ability to grow your company. This can be especially...
•A Brief History Of Franchising
The three largest franchise companies in the world Yum! Brands, McDonald's, and Subway between them operate nearly 100,000 locations. Franchising today is big business and there are many companies that have gotten in on the act. But how did the modern franchise company come about? Well it all seems to have started with Isaac Singer the man better known for his Singer Sewing Machines. He had just finished improving on an existing sewing machine of the time and was trying to work out a way to...
•Finding Managers Within Your Organization
If you plan on growing an organization that requires employees of any significant number you are going to need managers to lead and guide them. But some businesses are often very specialized. It can be hard to hire just anyone. Many people go out and get a degree in business. They may specialize in management, human resources, marketing and any number of other business specialties. But just because they are trained to manage people within an organization it does not mean they can manage people...
•How Does Accounts Receivable Factoring Work?
? So what exactly is accounts receivable factoring? Well very simply it is the process of obtaining funds by selling your company's accounts receivable. To go into a little more detail a company takes the outstanding invoices it is owed and sells them to a third party company called a factor. By doing this the company selling the invoices receives an up front payment on the invoices instead of waiting thirty or more days to be paid. When the invoice does come due the payment is sent to the...
•What You Pay Is What You Get!
Depending on the type of business you're in your employees can be worth every penny you spend on them or they can be considered nothing more than a necessary evil. A lot of the time it's the business you're in and the economics of that business that will dictate what you can afford to pay them. You need to remember that what you are willing to pay your employees directly impacts the quality of people you'll have to choose from when you need to hire someone.
While every business is different...
•Your Suppliers Are Your Partners
Forging strong relationships with your suppliers can be critical to the success of your company. And like any relationship you need to embrace building and strengthening that relationship. You may only see yourself as a customer and them as a vendor but your relationship can be much more than that. You may say that there are other suppliers out there and that may well be true but will having to start all over give you more value or less. And if you do a lot of business with other small...
•What Tax Dangers Should You Be Aware Of?
? Whether you own a small business or not we all dread the IRS. They always seem to want more money and if you fail to pay them or pay them late they'll penalize you straight into the poor house. But as a small business owner your worries about the IRS are compounded by the fact that you may now or in the future have employees to deal with also.
With employees comes more taxes to pay and returns to file. It seems to be never ending. Death and taxes as they say are the only two inevitables in...
•Tips On Using Business Lines Of Credit
Banks nowadays are being pretty tight fisted with their money especially when it comes to small businesses. I recently talked to a friend of mine who is a Vice President at Bank of Nevada in Las Vegas. The topic of the current credit situation came up and I asked him how tight the lending was. He said to me the only thing that the banks really care about now is your Fico score. Even your company financials are secondary to your score. He then mentioned to me that the same principles are...
•Good Management Is Hard To Find
For a small business owner that has a growing business one of the greatest challenges that you will have to face is how to find experienced management. Every business large and small faces the difficult task of finding competent managers but large enterprises generally have a much larger pool of qualified candidates to choose from. They'll have newly minted MBA's beating down their doors every graduation. People with years of experience looking for a change of scenery. They're biggest problem...
•Cultural Diversity Is An Opportunity!
Cultural diverstiy within your business is an opportunity and needs to be embraced as one. Just take a look around you. Opportunity abounds because our world is a diverse place. Whether you have come to realize it or not as a small business owner, your awareness and respect of cultural diversity in the workplace truly matters to your employees and your client base. If you want your business to be successful and competitive in the future, you will have to utilize these human resources and...
•Are Banks Turning You Away? You Might Want To Consider Person To Person Lending
Are Banks Turning You Away? You Might Want To Consider Person To Person Lending About two years ago I was in the process of searching for money to help stabilize my companies financial situation. My bank had refused to extend my line of credit and I had spent weeks trying to line up a new bank. While I was in the process of looking for money I ran into a website called Prosper.com. What an eye opener this site was. Now at the time I wasn't able to apply for a loan because I was in the state...
•Cash Flow Is King!
There are alot of definitions as to what exactly cash flow means which can cause a little confusion. This is how I explain cash flow. It is the amount of money you have left during a given period of time once all your bills are paid. But lets not confuse this with profit and loss statements. Cash flow is a physical thing, how much actual cash is left in the bank, while profit and loss statements are recordings in your financial statements but don't reflect physically held money.
Now if you...
•Why Write A Business Plan?
? Getting a business off the ground is not an easy thing to do. It requires a lot of hard work, a good plan, and a little luck. Most people can handle the hard work part and you'll either be lucky or not, it's the planning part that most people have trouble with. Many people looking to go into business for themselves have no idea what a business plan is or even looks like let alone how to write one. Luckily the internet provides a lot of resources to give you a hand. But some circumstances may...
•Need A Little Breathing Room? Ask Your Suppliers For A Credit Line
Need A Little Breathing Room? Ask Your Suppliers For A Credit Line Most businesses in today's marketplace are in the unenviable position of having to provide credit to their customers. This is especially true if you own a small business that sells to large businesses. Your customers due to their size and buying ability can put the squeeze on you just about anytime they want. So you end up extending them credit. Maybe you give them thirty days to pay you. But I bet they take sixty days or longer...
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