A Customer-Centric Culture is Everyone’s Job

September 5, 2014 by

business (7)Jim was making a large purchase of electronic equipment, add-ons and accessories.  He did his research on-line and was planning to buy it all on-line.  However, he wanted to see some of the components, so he went to a big box store.  The salesman was attentive, informative and offered discounts on various items.  Jim made a several thousand dollar purchase in the store due to the salesman’s help, knowledge and flexible pricing.

Jim was so impressed with the customer service that he asked to talk to a manager, to compliment the salesman.  After some time the manager showed up complaining that he was on a break and was unhappy with being interrupted.  As Jim tried to praise the salesman the manager was impatient and uninterested.

He even tried to take credit for the sale, arrogantly saying “I taught him everything he knows.  I should be the one you’re thanking”.  Jim walked away still happy with the salesman, but dissatisfied with the company “who should know better than to promote such an oblivious jerk to a management position”.

In a customer-centric culture it’s everybody’s responsibility to understand and uphold the company’s clearly communicated principles.  These succinct and focused set of values and norms guide how employees think and act, day in and day out.  It’s a culture where the customer’s perspective and experience is embedded into the company’s DNA.

Establishing and maintaining this culture is an on-going project which requires discipline and commitment at all levels.  All of the employees are responsible for monitoring, supporting and mentoring each other.  The best customer-centric cultures flow from top to bottom and bottom to top.

When the principles are at the center of every action, decision, conversation and strategy it becomes harder for a company to lose its way.   The company’s purpose becomes the companies “why and how”.  Why are we doing this?  How will it help the customer?  It helps a company stay focused on the reason why they’re doing what they’re doing – their purpose for being in business in the first place.

Then everything they do to design the customer’s experience will be aligned with this purpose.  Remember, customers buy from and return to the brands that they feel committed to, ones with which they feel aligned.  Many companies lose their purpose and then lose their focus, which weakens their customer’s commitment, leading to the business faltering and eventually failing.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

It Doesn’t Stop at Adolescence – Negative Peer Pressure in the Workplace

August 4, 2014 by

business (1)Peer pressure.  Everyone knows what peer pressure is, they’ve seen the afterschool specials, heard the lectures in 9th grade health class and had multiple adults in their life say, “If _____ jumped off a cliff would you do it too?”  When people talk about it they’re often talking about it in terms of children and teens. But, peer pressure is an issue which never goes away.  This is especially true in the workplace.

Millions of people have been known to say, “This job is just like being in high school again”.  Peer pressure is one of the reasons they say this, yet it’s not addressed with adults in the workplace nearly as well as it is with children and teens in school.  There’s an erroneous assumption that people grow out of their susceptibility to it as they age or mature.

Unfortunately, many people struggle with it throughout their lives, particularly in their employment.  Countless have identified it as their reason for quitting or getting fired from a job.  Almost 80% of people report having been negatively influenced by – or doing the influencing themselves – their co-workers into doing something they didn’t want to do.

There are 2 main categories which employees identify as having been negatively affected by peer pressure.  First, is drinking on the job and/or drinking too much at a company function, which resulted in personal and professional consequences.  The second category is being influenced to steal company resources: time, money, property or services.

Peer pressure, both negative and positive, is important for a company to be aware of and address.  It’s the way corporate culture is formed and maintained.  Employees develop shared ideas, assumptions and ways of behaving, which determine how they perceive and perform their jobs.  It’s how people think and act on a daily basis that most affects the bottom line.   As Nathaniel Banks said, “We have more to fear from the opinions of our friends than the bayonets of our enemies.”

 

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

BWC and Other News

July 8, 2014 by

business (1)News about Ohio and what is happening in the state are important to all of us.  News about the Ohio Bureau of Workers compensation refusal to pay small business across Ohio what it owes them is not only negligent but devastating to the morale of Ohio Businesses and the local economies.  Small business owners deal with a myriad of issues in a daily basis, making government issues not only hard for them to do but impossible to fulfill is an obstacle and encumbrance to the well being of our economy.

Pressure Mounts On Gov. Kasich To Force BWC To Pay Back Small Businesses

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Pressure on Gov. John Kasich to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars to more than 250,000 small businesses is mounting.
An NBC4 investigation into overcharges that sunk thousands of small business across Ohio is now going statewide.

An advertising campaign based on the NBC4 investigation is set to air on TV Friday, asking Kasich to get involved in the payback.

Ron Foreman is front and center in an ad campaign aimed directly at Kasich.

“I gathered my family together and told them, ‘Things are going to have to change because Daddy is going to have to file bankruptcy,'” Foreman said in the commercial.

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.

Ohio entrepreneurs should learn about new health coverage options: Grant Lahmann

Pundits and politicians from Ohio to Oregon have spent years bemoaning the new health care law and its impact on the economy, and on small businesses, in particular. But the law has been in full effect for six months now, and the real-life implications of it are anything but dismal.

A recent report shows the Affordable Care Act actually increased the gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2014, and here in the Buckeye State, almost 155,000 individuals, self-employed and small business owners and their workers have already found affordable insurance through the new insurance marketplace created by the health care law.

In case you’re not already familiar with it, Ohio’s marketplace has two branches — one for individuals, the other for small businesses. The individual marketplace is available to any self-employed individual or small business employee whose employer doesn’t offer insurance. Open-enrollment for the individual marketplace is closed, but enrollment for 2015 begins on November 15 this year.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Ohio Unemployment

June 10, 2014 by

business (3)The United States unemployment rate for April was 6.3% down from 6.7% back in March.  The April rate is a 1.2% decrease from last year, and it seems it has been steadily decreasing over the last 12 months. In Ohio we are doing a little bit better than the national average. Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.7 % in April 2014, down from 6.1 % in March.  Small businesses across our nation provide a great percent of the jobs created, and in Ohio small business provide more than half the jobs. Helping them succeed should be a top priority for the Ohio government, and providing them with resources and guidance can make a huge difference.

Read more about business in Ohio by following the links below.

Ohio Growth Summit seeks to unleash job-growing power of small businesses

Fully 99 percent of Ohio businesses have fewer than 100 employees – and though they’re small, they still provide 60 percent of the jobs.

The key to exponential job growth is for public-private partnerships to help micro-companies progress to the 10-99 employee stage, said Jerry Ross, executive director of the National Entrepreneur Center in Orlando, Florida.

“We are a small-business country,” said Ross, opening speaker of the Ohio Growth Summit entrepreneurial conference being held Wednesday and Thursday at Columbus State Community College.

“What we need to do as communities is say, ‘How do we get together to grow our small businesses?’ ” he said. “The leaders need to start talking to each other.”

Ross’s center combines the forces and expertise of 12 different economic development agencies under one roof, including the U.S. Commerce Department, the University of Central Florida’s Small Business Development Center and incubation program, the Orlando chapter of the Score business mentorship group and several minority business associations

SEA Change, a new Cleveland business accelerator, is looking for startups with heart: the Mix

CLEVELAND, Ohio–If you have an idea for a smartphone app or an Internet-based service that could conceivably scale to something big, and make people rich, there are several business groups in Northeast Ohio that might help you get started.

But what if your venture is intended mostly to solve a social problem or better the world? Good luck. There really has not been any place to take such a notion locally–until now.

This week, a group of entrepreneurship enthusiasts will introduce SEA Change, the region’s newest business accelerator and one that aims to add a new dimension to local innovation.

As a social enterprise accelerator, SEA Change will offer training, connections and capital to startups that have humanity at heart, organizers say. Noble ventures could partake of thousands in seed money.

More details will be revealed Friday, when SEA Change is launched at Shaker LaunchHouse, one of the collaborators behind it. And much will not be revealed because no one is quite sure how SEA Change will evolve.

Ohio Business Owner Sentenced For Lapsed Comp Coverage

Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) – A Ravenna (Portage County) business owner was ordered to pay $3,500 in connection with lapsed workers’ compensation coverage. Ronald G. Larlham pleaded guilty May 12 in Portage County Municipal Court to workers’ compensation fraud, a first-degree misdemeanor.

“Businesses in Ohio cannot operate with lapsed workers’ compensation coverage,” said Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer. “The bureau makes good faith attempts to work with businesses to bring them into compliance, but if unsuccessful, we must take the issue to court to comply with state law and to protect the State Insurance Fund.”

The BWC’s compliance department referred the matter to the Special Investigations Department’s Employer Fraud Team (EFT) after Larlham continued to operate his business, RGS Automotive in Ravenna, with lapsed workers’ compensation coverage. He had failed to work with the compliance department to bring the company’s policy back into compliance. EFT agents then made numerous attempts to bring the company’s policy back into compliance. The case was referred to the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office.

 

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

What Does Your Small Business Need?

April 30, 2014 by

business (8)It takes a different kind of person than the average Joe to start a business.  The demands and challenges a small business or a startup have are numerous, and the rewards sometimes are not as glorious as one imagined.  Small businesses in the state of Ohio in 2008 totaled 902,369 according to the SBA, and although there has been a shift in employment by the small business sector, the improvement in the economy will surely have a good impact in job creation in the state of Ohio.

Read more business news by following the links below.

Legal-Ease: Small business needs team of advisers

An owner’s intelligence or work ethic is not always dispositive of a small business’s (including a farm’s) success.

In fact, the “advisory team” for a small business can disproportionately affect that business’s success or failure. That advisory team consists of more than the attorney. There are five crucial “partners” for each entrepreneur: attorney, accountant, insurance agent, lender and financial adviser.

A good attorney will help a small business owner minimize liability and make the business practically workable. Very few attorneys can lawfully claim they are specialists because there are limited subject matters for which there is lawful certification as a legal “specialist.” However, some attorneys limit their practices to specified aspects of the law or have deeper passions for certain subject matters over others.

Ignore that Accounting Problem — At Your Own Risk

Show me an entrepreneur who says they’ve never encountered an accounting problem and I’ll show you a liar. That may sound a bit extreme, but the point is simple: from a lost invoice to overlooked write-offs to something perhaps more nerve-wracking (audit, anyone?), perfection in accounting is pretty much a myth. And that’s OK.

But just because perfection is a myth, it doesn’t mean that as you discover an accounting issue, you can shrug it off and chalk it up to the imperfect nature of the universe. Why not, you ask? Because accounting issues are like wounds: untreated, they fester. And they can get nasty — quickly.

Let’s say you do some car detailing and repair out of your garage. It’s a side gig — sort of. You quote jobs verbally and “invoice” the same. After all, you’ve only done work for friends and neighbors, although you have started gaining a few referrals to folks you didn’t previously know. When you collect payment, you prefer cash, but will take a check and deposit it into your personal checking account. You’re now pulling in a nice chunk of change each month from your “side gig.”

The 6 People Every Startup Needs

There’s no magic bullet for startup success, but your team can often make-or-break it, says entrepreneur Bernd Schoner.

Schoner, who has a Ph.D. from MIT and was co-founder of RFID technologies startup ThingMagic, sold his company to Trimble Navigation in 2010 for an undisclosed sum.

ThingMagic had an original team of five co-founders. But by the time the company was acquired, Schoner says only two were remaining – leading him to think more closely about team dynamics.

“There are certain roles that people assume in a typical tech company or startup that make sense and I think if you are careful about that, then your odds of success go up,” says Schoner. He is author of the upcoming book: ‘The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide.”

While some companies start out with just one or two employees, Schoner says there are six key personality types he believes make for a great team. Here is the recipe for his dream lineup:

No. 1: The prima donna genius
“I think it’s commonly accepted in a tech startup that you better have someone with technical knowledge,” says Schoner. “You want to have someone be able to lead the technical agenda of the team.”

No. 2: The leader
Typically the CEO, Schoner says it’s important to have one person calling the shots.

“For larger founder teams … It can get very tricky if there are five opinions and all have equal weight. Democracy is great, but not in a startup,” says Choner. “The leader or CEO doesn’t always need to be right, but if [he or she] is a leader figure that others can look up to, then that’s a good thing.”

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

New Funds For Small Business In Ohio

April 22, 2014 by

business (3)The U.S Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that it will transfer $18.1 million to Ohio to help small business lending to companies and small business entrepreneurs.  These funds will provide Ohio small business owners the available resources to help create jobs thus improving the Ohio economy.

Read more about this by following the links below.

Ohio offers more money for small business loans, using once-controversial funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ohio just got more than $18 million to loan to small businesses, which officials say should seed $180 million in private loans from banks.

The $18.17 million is being transferred from the U.S. Treasury Department to Ohio’s Development Services Agency, which will work with businesses and bankers to expand or start small companies that are deemed credit-worthy and promising but need help meeting collateral or other underwriting standards.

In some cases, this is because the value of their inventories or real estate declined during the economic downturn, creating a shortfall between their collateral and their financing needs. Bank rules require them to have more money on hand or more value before a loan can be issued.

The federal money, through the state’s Collateral Enhancement Program, can help make that up. It also will help businesses through related programs: the Ohio Capital Access Program and the Targeted Investment Program. The state previously received $12.4 million for these programs and stands to get $24.5 million more once the new amount is put to use, according to Treasury Department figures.

Fed transfers $18M to Ohio small business lending program

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday announced the transfer of more than $18.1 million to Ohio to support the state’s small business lending program.

Through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, the funds will support Ohio’s Collateral Enhancement Program, Ohio Capital Access Program and Targeted Investment Program.

Officials said Ohio will use the funds to leverage greater levels of private lending and investing in small businesses located in the state, often by partnering with local community banks.

“Ohio continues to leverage federal State Small Business Credit Initiative funds to attract new loans and investments to the state’s small businesses,” said Cliff Kellogg, director of the State Small Business Credit Initiative, in a statement.

“These funds are intended to continue the state’s partnership with local entrepreneurs and small business owners to provide new sources of capital, help create jobs, and improve the economy,” he said.

Playhouse Square seeks to fill empty retail spaces through small-business grant contest

New signs, including archways like the one pictured here, have popped up in downtown Cleveland’s Playhouse Square district during the past few weeks. As the theater district finishes a $16 million transformation of its public spaces, the Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance are running a grant contest to revive empty storefronts on East 14th Street and Euclid Avenue. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

Small businesses seeking space in downtown Cleveland’s theater district will have a shot at $1,500 to $20,000 in grant funding through a program that has helped fill other empty storefronts in the city.

The Charter One Foundation and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance announced Monday that they’ve teamed up with Playhouse Square to launch a grant competition that ends May 16. The money, $20,000 in all, could help a handful of businesses or a single entrepreneur cover start-up costs such as rent, equipment and fixtures.

Playhouse Square is targeting the Hanna Building, the Hanna Building Annex and the Keith Building — two office buildings and a residential redevelopment where the upper floors are largely full but some street-level retail spaces sit vacant. The empty storefronts, on Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street, range from 420 square feet to 3,257 square feet.

 

 

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Is Your Small Business Due A Refund?

March 25, 2014 by

business (6)Some of the most interesting news coming for small business owners this week is as follow. If you have filed taxes with the Ohio department of taxation and think that you may had paid too much in taxes, now it’s the time to find out if you are due a check.  If you have specific questions about it you can also give them a call.  The phone numbers for you to call are listed below, give them a call, it may be worth your while.

Ohio looks to return money to small businesses 

The Ohio Department of Taxation is writing checks to small businesses, and some area employers may be eligible to receive money.

That was the gist of Tuesday’s meeting between State cabinet directors, the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce and local small businesses at the Covelli Center, as various government officials shared information about how to take advantage of money available to grow their businesses.

Business owners can call 1-888-405-4039 for general tax questions, or 1-888-722-8829 for questions specifically about the commercial activity tax.

Ohio businesses must comply with Ohio EPA air pollution standards

I plan to buy a small manufacturing business in Ohio. Do I need an air permit?

If you will be using manufacturing equipment, your business must comply with certain environmental regulations. In particular, air pollution regulations are closely monitored and enforced, so you should understand these regulations and obtain any appropriate permits. Ohio EPA may be willing to guide you in this process, but if you aren’t sure about your permitting status, consult an attorney.

When does Ohio require air permits?

Ohio usually requires a “permit to install and operate” (PTIO) before air pollution sources are installed. An air pollution “source” may be anything from an industrial furnace stack to a paint booth, or even a gravel roadway that creates dust.

Are there any exceptions to air permitting requirements?

Yes. There is an exception for very small (“de minimis”) sources of air pollution that have the potential to emit no more than 10 pounds of any individual pollutant in a 24-hour period of continuous operation. This exception also applies to sources that would emit more than 10 pounds if operated continuously for 24 hours, but never do so in normal operations, but the operator must keep records showing that the 10-pound threshold is never exceeded.

FirstEnergy Solutions billing customers for reserve power during arctic weather

AKRON, Ohio — January’s arctic weather drove up heating bills. Now it’s about to increase electric bills for some consumers and businesses.

FirstEnergy Solutions is preparing to bill about 2 million of its 2.7 million retail customers a surcharge for expenses the company will soon have to pay for reserve power it needed when temperatures plummeted below zero.

Residential and small business customers whose electricity bills show FirstEnergy Solutions as the supplier will see a one-time charge of $5 to $15 between May and July.

The 500,000 residents and small businesses that buy from FirstEnergy Solutions through the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, will not face the extra charge, said Diane Francis, FES spokeswoman, because the NOPEC contract prohibits it.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is It Time For Spring Cleaning Your Business?

March 20, 2014 by

business (4)Spring cleaning for business requires something more than mopping the floors or airing the office. It is a time when the paperwork from the previous year can be organized, receipts for expenses tallied and summarize for your taxes, the health plan for you and your employees should be reviewed and renewed if you haven’t done so by this time of year. Organizing your business for the incoming one is a good habit that can pay off in the long run. To read more about how to organize your business or spring clean your business this year, follow the links below for more information.

Spring cleaning for small business owners

With January and February behind us, most small business owners are likely off to a good start in terms of their first quarter operations, budgeting, and outlook for the rest of the year. However, with spring upon us, there is no better time for business owners to dust off their finances, organize quarterly plans, and prepare for the future. Using the idea of spring cleaning and applying it to a business can fix “messes” in a timely fashion and have a meaningful impact throughout the rest of the year.

Reviewing business plans over the coming weeks is beneficial since it is early enough in the year that budgets can be reworked, yet implementation is still well under way. From a human psychology standpoint, businesses often experience a slow down during summer months, and winter months/end of year are typically reserved for wrapping up, squeezing in last minute profits, and planning for the next year.

Below, we outline several areas that owners may want to consider “cleaning” this season:

3 Spring Cleaning Tips for Small Business

Spring cleaning is not only for households. For small business owners, springtime is a reminder to get things in order. From an aesthetic standpoint, cleaning up a messy office not only injects a sense of order that might desperately be needed, it also provides a sense of accomplishment. From an operational standpoint, small business owners can clean up their books from 2013, store receipts, tax returns and other important documents electronically, and close out old inventory to greet the arrival of warm weather.
Clean Up 2013 Receipts
Unfortunately, April 15th, Tax Day, is a rite of spring. As many entrepreneurs are meeting with their accountants during the upcoming weeks, it is important to close out the books on 2013. Make sure you have all the receipts you need for write-offs.  Some of them may be stuck in your pocket or buried under catalogs in your inbox. Now is the time to look for them. You don’t want to be frantically searching for receipts from major purchases on April 14th. It is easier to find things when the pressure is off. You may have forgotten the receipt from the computer you bought last February. Neglecting to do so could cost you thousands of dollars in business expenses that you could have deducted and saved yourself substantial dollars on your tax bill.

10 Spring-Cleaning Tips for Small Business

Organize your office and your processes with these tips.

Spring cleaning your small business requires more than just scrubbing and dusting.

Tackling your to-do list is easier when you have a clean office, uncluttered desk and clear mind. Beyond vacuuming and dusting, here are 10 tasks to add to your spring-cleaning checklist.

1. Evaluate your systems, processes and vendors, and eliminate or streamline things that aren’t working.

2. Create a filing system according to how you think, and get rid of old, unnecessary files.

3. Go digital—scan, save and purge hard copies of files.

4. Clear your desktop of anything you don’t use regularly.

Filed Under: Ohio Business News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Build Survival into Your Business…

January 25, 2010 by

Successful business owners share many admirable qualities. They are smart, hard-working, and focused. Unfortunately, despite the hard work factor, Dun & Bradstreet reports that only nine percent of small businesses, with fewer than twenty employees, survive for ten years.  

Running a small business takes an inordinate amount of time and energy, which often leaves owners too distracted to focus on other areas of their lives, which causes many family business problems. When a business is a key component of family wealth, however, it is critical to incorporate family business succession planning to secure its long-term stability. After all, for most business owners, the business represents their single most valuable asset. Generally, it constitutes 90 percent of their wealth. Taking steps to safeguard a business, such as developing a  business exit strategy, helps ensure its long-term survival and success and protect an asset that often represents a life’s work. 

Invest your time in building your business by talking with Ralph Berge, Cleveland business coach about family business planning.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With: , , ,

Prove the Profitability

November 23, 2009 by

Be able to prove the profitability of your business. Most owners of small businesses use them to provide for a range of non-operational expenses. Make sure you keep supporting records of all these expenses as prospective buyers will be as unimpressed as taxation authorities by claims without adequate documentation.

Your bookkeeping should be easy to understand, consistent from year to year, and maintained in such a way that any prospective buyer will be convinced of its authenticity. This will also make it easier to get an accurate valuation when determining an asking price. Your exit strategy must be planned and documented. Family business succession planning experts tell you: If it is documented the value of your business grows. Showing growth is very attractive to buyers of your business.

Filed Under: coaching Tagged With:
« Previous Page
Next Page »