Why Aren’t You Focusing on Sales?

August 14, 2015 by

54640451I know — you’re in business to sell something — sounds like such a basic principle.  It’s so simple that it deserves a “duh” and forehead slap.  And yet, it’s amazing how many small business owners don’t take the time to understand it, don’t practice it, don’t think it applies to them or lose sight of it.  Owners who don’t follow this primary tenet are the rule, not the exception.

There’s a logical reason for that.  The average owner starts or buys his company because he has experience with, expert knowledge of and/or an interest in the product or service.  He feels comfortable and competent producing the product or offering the service.  He sees self-employment as enjoyable, interesting, financially beneficial and liberating. 

But, for the typical owner, selling the product is out of his comfort zone and uninteresting.  In addition, he believes he doesn’t have the knowledge, skill or experience to put together an expert sales team.  He ends up not dealing with it, because, after all, he went into business for himself so he “wouldn’t have to do the stuff I don’t want to do”. 

He does what most people do; he ignores it while citing the excuse that he’s too busy to address it.  Understand the irony here — he’s too busy to focus on selling the product he’s producing to sell.  He doesn’t make the connection that he’s not in business to produce products — he’s in business to create revenue, which comes from producing the products. 

Being unable to make this shift in perspective, and many owners aren’t willing to make it, is a primary reason why many small businesses fail.  Being unwilling is a basic flaw in human nature; we focus on what we’re comfortable with, enjoy and are interested in.  This narrows our mental field of view and creates tunnel vision.  We become single-minded and too focused on limited goals or restricted points of view. 

This tunnel vision, “All I have to do is put out a good product and the customer will find me” has bankrupted an incalculable number of businesses.  Active, vigorous selling is the best way for the product or service to get to customers.  Small business owners who understand and prioritize this simple principle always have a better chance of staying open than those who don’t.

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Starting a Business in Northeast Ohio? Check the Best Cities for Business

May 19, 2015 by

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More than half the population of the United States work for a small business, and  a small business per the SBA is a business with less than 500 employees.  The news about the economy seems to pull small business owners in two directions. Those optimistic and ready to hire new employees, or the cautious one that are still waiting to see how the economy is really working out.  Which small business owner are you?  Follow the links below for more news about the economy.

The Best Places to Start a Business in Ohio

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ohio occupied the center of America’s industrial heart. The burgeoning United States economy couldn’t get enough of the region’s cars and steel, and in turn, Ohio and other states provided a virtually endless stream of jobs in its workshops and factories.

In the second half of the 20th century, however, the region fell into decline, as manufacturing output required less labor input, and companies left the Great Lakes states for the warmer climes of the Sun Belt. The entire region was categorized economically dead as factories closed and traditionally middle-class manufacturing jobs disappeared.

But what really happened wasn’t quite that simple. Although it’s true the number of manufacturing jobs has declined, Ohio remains one of the country’s most productive states. Photos of rusted, abandoned factories paint a dire picture, but companies and communities adjusted, and the Ohio economy proved to be more resilient and dynamic than portrayed.

Ohio small businesses feeling better about economy

Ohio small-business owners are feeling better about the economy, both locally and nationally, according to a U.S. Bank survey released Monday.

The growing confidence, however, isn’t translating into significant hiring or big investments by owners.

The U.S. Bank survey, the sixth that the Minneapolis-based bank has done, found that 72 percent of the 200 Ohio small- business owners surveyed describe their business as good, very good or excellent, the best in five years.

Still, 23 percent of those surveyed believe the national economy remains in a recession. That’s down from 35 percent in 2014 and 45 percent in 2013.

Small-business owners aren’t the only ones who have been cautious since the recession, said George Mokrzan, Huntington Bancshares economist. Consumers also have been holding back on retail sales and buying homes.

Small business owners bullish on economy, ready to hire workers

Small-business owners in Central Ohio and throughout the state are growing more optimistic about their own financials along with the health of the national economy, according to separate surveys from U.S. Bank and the Entrepreneurs’ Organizations.

Three-quarters of Columbus-area companies surveyed by the EO trade group expect profits to increase over the next six months, up from 67 percent in its semiannual survey released last October.

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Ohio Small Business News and other Stories

February 20, 2015 by

54640451There may be small businesses that believe social media or marketing will be the answer to some of their financial woes, when in fact, having a quality product that consumers want and need may be the answer to all of our problems. Marketing and social media can help a business promote their products and services, but they cannot sell them. Knowing how to use social media, and knowing what to expect from their use is crucial to any small business owner. Follow the links below for more information about Ohio small business news.

Success Story: Ohio

By Dan O’Brien

Police Officer Invents ‘Bolo Stick’ to Protect Schools.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The device is remarkably simple: a steel bracket and anchor pin that affixes to the base of a door, preventing an intruder from opening or forcing that door open.

What’s even more remarkable is that no one else has thought of it until now.

“I’ve been a police officer for 28 years, I’m an instructor at the police academy,” says William Barna, inventor and owner of the Bolo Stick, a security tool that he is marketing to local schools and hopes to sell across the country. The name of the product is derived from a common police term, “Bolo,” short for “be on the lookout.”

Over the last several years, Barna, a resident of Howland, became interested in how school systems responded to security threats, such as a potential gunman in the building. All followed the “Alice” plan, an acronym for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate. “They would shut the doors, lock them, shut the lights and pile desks and chairs in front of the door to make it harder for an intruder to come in.”

Should Ohio’s minimum wage be increased to $10.10?

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The low-wage workers’ movement, which successfully lobbied last year for minimum wage hikes throughout the country, could rally to increase Ohio’s minimum wage to $10.10.

Last week, state Sen. Kenny Yuko, Democrat of Richmond Heights, introduced Senate Bill 25 that would give minimum wage workers in Ohio a $2-an-hour raise in January 2016. The state’s minimum wage is currently $8.10.

Artheta Peters of Cleveland, who earns the current minimum wage after 13 years as a home health care worker, said she is underpaid for providing one-on-one care to the sick and elderly. She is among the home health care workers who demonstrated locally last year as part of the national fast-food workers’ strikes. Peters and her fellow home health care workers rallied, not only in solidarity with fast-food workers, but also to demand a $15 minimum wage in their field.

Beware Of Small Business Wire Transfer Scam

Late last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a wire transfer scam alert for all small businesses in the United States. According to the FBI alert, between October 2013 and December 2014 a total of 1,198 complaints from U.S.- based companies were received dealing with wire transfer scams. Losses from these incidents totaled more than $179 million. The FBI also reports that the scams can follow a Ransomware incident, and may involve a fraudster contacting a vendor and requesting a change of payment to an alternate fraudster-controlled bank account.

How To Mitigate This Type of Scam

If you’re a small business owner, you may be at risk for this kind of scam. The FBI recommends the following mitigation steps for these types of scams:

  • Keep all of your anti-virus software up-to-date.
  • Educate your workforce about security best practices.
    • Be sure that any changes to payments via electronic transfer are verified with an employee of the bank and at a phone number that you utilize for assistance.
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Is Ohio Good For Your Business?

December 30, 2014 by

business (3)The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council has released the 19th. Annual “Small Business Policy Index 201 4.”  The SBE Council rates the states on policy measures and costs Impacting the small Business community and entrepreneurship.  Ohio according to the SBE Council is the number 11th. State to be the most entrepreneur- friendly.  South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Florida the most entrepreneur-friendly states do not impose an income tax.  For more about this and other news follow the links below.  Have a Happy and Safe 2015!

Gov. Kasich shares his vision of what Ohio can become

COLUMBUS — Attend one of Gov. John Kasich’s speeches and you’ll likely get a history lesson on Ohio’s economy in the past, present and future.

Kasich has a vision of what Ohio can become — a place where the tax and regulatory environment help support and encourage new energy, biotechnology, information technology and other emerging industries alongside the state’s mainstay manufacturing and agricultural base.

It’s the innovation, Kasich told an audience of business people recently, that’s going to help to drive young people to stay or relocate to Ohio.

“These are the things that will keep young people here,” he said. “… What really gets young people pumped up is the ability to see the future through the jobs that they do. That’s what we have to drive in Ohio. And that means we must have an environment in Ohio that attracts that. We have to have an environment in Ohio that really encourages entrepreneurship and small businesses, because small businesses drive change.”

Feds’ push for better foods, more neighborhood stores is slow-going

WASHINGTON, D.C. – First Lady Michelle Obama took center stage as a cluster of cabinet secretaries and nutrition experts gathered in the Old Executive Office Building, next to the White House, to applaud her “action plan.”

Her plan was to use government influence to purge the United States of “food deserts,” or neighborhoods where poverty-stricken residents have lousy or no access to healthy groceries, fruits and vegetables. Everybody – even the poor – deserves proper nutrition, officials said that day.

Yet four and a half years after the White House made that announcement, committing $400 million in federal loans, grants and tax credits to spur grocers to action, the goal is far from being reached, if Ohio is any measure. Mrs. Obama set 2017 as the year in which the last food deserts would disappear. But that almost certainly won’t happen.

Advocates for the poor insist that the market exists for many more stores to sell broccoli and carrots rather than pushing chips, candy and processed foods that are high in sugar and fat. Poor diet is linked to obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems, and health researchers say the grocery industry can play

Ohio ranks warmly for its small business policies

Ohio is a good place for small businesses to operate. That’s the word from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, which has released it Small Business Policy Index 2014, which ranks the 50 states based on policy measures and costs for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

As for Ohio, it ranks No. 11 on the list. The ranking may help spread the word on how Ohio has become proactive in working with small businesses.

The index examines 42 different policy measures, including an array of tax, regulatory and government spending measurements.

The top-ranked state was North Dakota, while the bottom spot belonged to California.

a role in reducing the number of people at risk for these diseases. A study by the Columbus-based Finance Fund and a Philadelphia-based partner, the Food Trust, found that more than 2 million Ohio residents, including 500,000 children, live in neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets. They may have access to food at corner stores, but it is unlikely to be fresh or healthy.

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Ohio Business News and other Stories

September 20, 2014 by

business (5)News about  Ohio’s small business and personal income tax deductions have been updated and are found at the Ohio’s department of taxation website.  If you are not sure what deductions to take or your business is allowed to take you must contact your tax advisor for information about it to make sure that you have indeed all correct information.  For more news about Ohio follow the links below.

Kasich Plans Small-Business Swing To 3 Ohio Cities 

HAMILTON, Ohio – Ohio’s governor will focus on small businesses in a swing through three western Ohio cities.

Gov. John Kasich has Tuesday stops in Hamilton, the Dayton area and Tipp City. The Republican is seeking re-election this November. He will begin the day at Hamilton Caster, a business that makes casters, industrial wheels and other products and dates back more than a century in the Butler County seat.

A campaign announcement with the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio is planned there. The small business association recently announced its endorsement of Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine’s re-election.Kasich also plans to meet with owners and patrons at a Dayton-area bowling alley, followed by a small-business panel discussion in Tipp City.

Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald is challenging Kasich this fall.

Ohio ~ Personal Income Tax: Small Business Deduction Discussed

The Ohio Department of Taxation (DOT) has updated its web page dedicated to the small business personal income tax deduction. The DOT notes that virtually all small businesses in Ohio are now eligible for a 50% tax deduction on the first $250,000 of business income.

The DOT reminds taxpayers that the small business deduction enables a business owner to deduct 50% of Ohio net business income from the adjusted gross income they report on their Ohio personal income tax return. If the business has multiple owners, each is eligible to claim the deduction. The 50% deduction is available on up to $250,000 in business income, meaning the deduction is capped at $125,000 for each investor or owner.

For taxable year 2014 only, the small business investor income deduction will increase to 75% of a taxpayer’s small business income of up to $250,000. The deduction will be limited to $187,500 for individuals with a filing status of married filing jointly or single. For individuals with a filing status of married filing separately, $125,000 is the maximum income subject to deduction which allows for a deduction of up to $93,750. The DOT notes that at this time, the temporary increase in this income tax deduction is authorized for tax year 2014 only.

Ohio’s candidates for governor cite favorite statistics on economy 

Go to any speech by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and you are guaranteed to hear how the state has gained 250,000 private-sector jobs since he became governor, compared with the 350,000 lost under his Democratic predecessor.

Democrats will point out that job growth began during the final part of Gov. Ted Strickland’s term: Ohio’s national ranking was better in the Democrat’s last year than in Kasich’s past year.

Both contentions are true. That’s the challenge of comparing economic plans: Since both sides know that employment is easily the top issue among Ohio voters, the political handlers furiously churn out a whirlwind of statistics to make the case for their guy.

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Women In Business

August 28, 2014 by

business (10)There are more than 9 million companies that are owned by women.  They employee close to 8 million people, and together they accomplished sales close to 1.5 trillion dollars as of this year. With those statistics one wonders why it is still hard for a business woman to get a loan from a bank or get the same benefits than their male counterparts get. To read more about this topic and to read more about Ohio’s economy outlook, follow the links below.

Ranking state economies: See where Ohio falls

Ohio’s economy is something of a mixed bag, at least according to Business Insider, which has ranked all 50 states.

The Buckeye State ranks No. 25.

Here’s what Business Insider has to say about Ohio:

“Ohio has a disproportionate number of manufacturing and health services jobs. However, Ohio’s scores on our measures were very much a mixed bag:

On the bright side, Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped sharply over the past year, from 7.4% in June 2013 to 5.5% in June 2014.

The housing market in Ohio, on the other hand, is not recovering as quickly as it is in many other states. Ohio saw a small 0.1% drop in housing prices between Q1 2013 and Q2 2014.

Similarly, Ohio faces demographic challenges, with the working age population shrinking by a marginal 0.1% between 2012 and 2013, one of only 13 states to show a decline in this population.

Women small business owners struggle to get loans

NEW YORK (AP) — Women are a growing force in the business world, but if they own a company, they may still struggle to get a loan from a bank.

Carrie Charlick and Marcia Cubitt have $4 million in sales but have been rejected for $500,000 credit lines since 2012. Their 11-year-old company, Essential Body Wear, sells women’s underwear at parties at customers’ homes. That’s a problem for bankers, Charlick says. Because the Detroit-based business doesn’t have a traditional structure and sells directly to the public rather than retailers, banks keep saying no.

“We don’t have receivables and we don’t own a building,” she says. “We don’t have collateral.”

Male loan officers have also made inappropriate comments about the fact the company sells lingerie. Charlick is convinced that they have a problem with women-owned businesses.

Women owners have long been at a disadvantage getting loans. Some states required husbands or other male relatives to co-sign business loans until the practice was outlawed by the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988. But women’s business loan approval rates are between 15 percent and 20 percent below men’s, according to the online lending marketplace Biz2Credit.com.

Several factors contribute to the problem. Banks historically have been gun-shy about small businesses, and that caution increased due to stricter government regulations after the 2008 credit crisis. Often, women-owned businesses are young, making them look risky to lenders.

Greg Abbott celebrates growth in women-owned businesses in Texas, overlooks meaningful details

In an email blast, Greg Abbott’s campaign said Texas businesses owned by women flourished with Barack Obama in the White House.

Abbott, the attorney general and Republican gubernatorial nominee, wasn’t saluting the Democratic president. In the July 10, 2014, email message, Kim Snyder, Abbott’s deputy campaign manager, called Texas the “land of opportunity – especially for women.” Texas does better than other states, Snyder wrote, adding: “Let’s compare: the growth rate of women-owned businesses in Texas has nearly doubled that of the nation since President Obama has taken office.”

A reader, bringing the email to our attention, wondered about the described growth rates.

To our inquiry, Abbott spokesman Avdiel Huerta said by email Abbott’s near-doubling reference was based on reports by American Express OPEN, which American Express describes as the leading payment-card issuer for small U.S. businesses.

According to the 2013 State of Women-Owned Businesses report, Huerta said, there were 8,617,200 woman-owned U.S. firms, including 737,300 in Texas, in 2013. In 2007, AMEX said there were 7,793,139 woman-owned firms nationally and 610,007 in Texas, Huerta said.

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Small Business Hiring And Other News

July 3, 2014 by

business (1)It is always good for the small business owner’s morale knowing hiring is up and the economy is recovering.  According to recent numbers, hiring in June has been the strongest since two years ago, and that can only be good for the US economy and the small firms across the United States.  For more info about this and other stories follow the links below.

Small business hiring surges to fastest pace since early 2012

Now that’s more like it.

Small businesses nationally added 117,000 jobs in June, a 60 percent increase over their average for the first five months of the year and the fastest pace of hiring since early 2012, according to the latest numbers published Thursday by payroll processing firm ADP.

More than the companies in any other size category, those small firms pushed the overall job numbers last month to 281,000, the highest mark since fall 2012. Construction, transportation and professional services sectors posted the steepest gains.

“The job market is steadily improving,” Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, said in the report, noting that the gains were “broad based across all industries and company sizes.”

Still, it’s a particularly important rebound for the county’s smallest employers, who are often lauded as the most steady job creators but hadn’t cracked six-digits in monthly job gains since November. In addition, June was the second straight month that small companies have contributed more than 40 percent of all jobs created — a mark they fell shy of during the first four months of the year.

The Not-So-Small Business Administration

Last month the Small Business Administration updated the criteria it uses to determine what qualifies as a “small business” for the first time since 2008. The formula varies by industry, sometimes calculated by number of employees, other times by annual revenues or total assets. Thanks to the change, approximately 8,500 more companies (some with more than 1,000 employees) will now be eligible for the designation—and the federal assistance that goes with it.

Modern Tools for Mom-and-Pops

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. — Operators at KES Dispatch keep track of the company’s taxis on a yellow legal pad. They communicate with cars using a two-way radio. Drivers navigate their journeys largely by memory.

In the age of Uber and Lyft, the company is desperate to modernize.

“I gotta change something,” said Miguel Duarte, who has run his Mount Kisco, N.Y., company for 13 years. “I gotta stay ahead of the competition.”

Help is on the way. Dashride, a new start-up, wants to give KES Dispatch a fighting chance. It is helping Mr. Duarte modernize his company’s clunky dispatch system, starting with a mobile app that will soon let customers book, track, pay for and rate rides.

Dashride is just one of several web-based start-ups with a mission of empowering small, local businesses — often in struggling, traditional industries — by equipping them with tools and strategies that could help them keep up with changing times.

For example, Cups, a coffee subscription app that came to New York in April, helps independent coffee shops compete with giant chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. It is working with 50 small shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. ShopKeep, a New York company, helps small businesses ring up sales, accept credit cards, email receipts or print remotely with an iPad-based checkout system.

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Vacations Are Important For Your Bottom Line

July 1, 2014 by

business (2)Job related stress is universal.  Almost everyone has had job stress negatively affect them personally and professionally, sometimes on a daily basis.  Even people who thrive on it will admit there are times when it’s too much for them.  One of the greatest relievers of work stress is taking time off, whether it’s 1 day or 2 weeks.

And yet there were 429 million unused vacation days in the U.S. last year.  Many Americans don’t take enough time off – to their own and their company’s detriment.  Fore-going time off isn’t healthy, profitable or productive for people, companies or the economy.  It’s estimated those 429 days would have generated $160 billion and created 1.2 million jobs (mental_floss, July 2014).

It’s well documented that chronic stress takes its toll on the body: it decreases the ability to resist infection and maintain vital functions, increases accidents and injuries, creates sleep disturbances and can even negatively alter genetic material at the cellular level.  It’s equally well researched that chronic stress creates mental health issues: irritability, depression, anxiety, memory difficulties, poor decision making, social isolation, poor impulse control and loneliness.

Vacations help break the stress cycle by getting people out of their usual work schedules and habits.  Time away can be a 3 day weekend staycation or 2 weeks in Finland for the Air Guitar World Championships.  The essential part is to do something that’s a healthy break from the stress and routines of work.

A healthy break means different things to different people.  It can be: restful and recuperative, challenging and exciting, a religious pilgrimage, a decadent spa visit, seeing new cultures, or spending time with family and old friends.  It’s important to identify the desired benefits and how to achieve them before the vacation is taken, to be pro-active.

Unfortunately, vacations are often poorly planned and executed, too expensive and as stressful as the job people are taking a break from.  They don’t take time to think about what would be beneficial and what they actually need.  A little self awareness and planning can keep them from making the common mistake of needing a vacation from the stress of their vacation.

Every workplace has some form of stress, therefore, employers and employees alike can greatly benefit from time off.  Some companies have recognized this fact and made it mandatory for everyone to take all of their vacation time.   A mentally and physically healthy work force, capable of coping with workplace stress, goes a long way towards efficient productivity and successful profitability.

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Ohio Business News

April 24, 2013 by

Although winter in Ohio may be far from “fun” in the dead of winter, there is some good news for you to think about this year.  The following article will give small business owners a little incentive to keep working and promoting business in Ohio.

Texas Tops List of Best Small Business Tax Systems, California At Bottom

If you were to choose a state to do business in based solely on state tax systems, Texas and North Dakota would be at the top of the list. And at the bottom?  Try California, Hawaii and New Jersey.

Produce industry to hear federal food safety update April 30 in Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — If you’ve been following the produce industry over the past half-dozen years, chances are good you’ve heard the words “food safety.”

It’s been a hot topic in the industry amid costly food borne illnesses and concern over the general safety of raw produce.

White Castle Going ‘Green’ with Compost Made from Food Scraps

COLUMBUS, Ohio – White Castle is proud to announce its stepping up efforts to become ‘greener’ this Earth Day by using a new compost made from restaurant food scraps. To celebrate Earth Day, White Castle planted flowers using the new compost.

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