Small Business News

July 2, 2015 by

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Flexibility  is one of the many advantages an entrepreneur has when having his own business.  And the hours they choose to work do not matter as long as they’re many.  An 8-5 schedule for an entrepreneur does not work.  They work morning, afternoons and nights to be able to fit the many issues they have to accomplish before they can call it a day.  The amount of work they accomplish reflects on the many successes they achieve, thus making them financially stable to expand their business or any other endeavors they may have.

Follow the links below for more about this and other news.

The 7 Different Loans You Can Get as a Business Owner

In their book Start Your Own Business, the staff of Entrepreneur Media Inc. guides you through the critical steps to starting your business, then supports you in surviving the first three years as a business owner. In this edited excerpt, the authors outline the seven different kinds of loans you could get from a bank.

When you’re looking for debt financing for your business, there are many sources you can turn to, including banks, commercial lenders, and even your personal credit cards. And you don’t need to pinpoint the exact type of loan you need before you approach a lender; they will help you decide what type of financing is best for your needs. However, you should have some general idea of the different types of loans available so you’ll understand what your lender is offering.

Here’s a look at how lenders generally structure loans, with common variations.

1. Line-of-credit loans.

5 Reasons Why ‘Asking’ Is an Essential Skill for Every Entrepreneur

How do you feel about asking for what you want or need? If words likeshy, nervous, anxious or even apathetic describe you in this context, you could be missing out on a good many opportunities.

Whether it’s favors, negotiations, or routine interpersonal communications you’re seeking, taking the initiative to ask and knowing how to do it well can make all the difference for both new entrepreneurs and established businesses.

From my experience, there are five key reasons that make asking important and necessary for success in business.

1. If you don’t ask for it, you probably won’t get it.

It seems kind of obvious, but it’s worth keeping in mind that things rarely fall into your lap and people usually won’t give you things just “because.” Even when someone does want to help you or make a deal, you can’t count on that person being a mind-reader.

Owning Your Own Business Means You Can Work Whenever You Want – As Long As It’s Every Day.

For years, Tim Campbell and his wife Sandi have shared a dream of one day owning their own business. After nearly 30 years of working in corporate America, filled with frequent traveling and moves, the Campbells were ready for jobs that allowed for the flexibility to spend time with friends and family. So, after returning to their home state of Georgia, the couple decided to open a Big Frog Customer T-Shirts & More franchise. Here’s what they have learned.

Name: Tim and Sandi Campbell

Franchise owned: Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of Cumming, Ga.

How long have you owned a franchise?

My wife, Sandi, and I bought our store from an existing franchisee in 2013, but the store was first opened in 2009. Now we are in the process of opening a second location in the area.

Why franchising?

After 27 years in the corporate world, I was ready for a change of pace. My wife and I have both always wanted to own our own business, and we really liked that franchising offers a footprint in the industry, with the infrastructure and brand recognition already in place without us having to grow it from the ground up. Not only is Big Frog a fast-growing and award-winning franchise, it offers full support for its franchisees through a variety of mediums like peer groups, mentoring, forums, coaching and e-learning.

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Thinking About Starting Your Own Business? Read Ahead

June 25, 2015 by

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Individuals as well as businesses of any size deal with financial woes, but if you want to start your own business or want to get into the franchise world, being financially aware of what to expect can help you avoid the many pitfalls that a lot of small business owners and individual deal with in a daily basis.  Meeting payroll and paying for expenses for the business can be financially draining if you do not budget your money well.

For more about this and other topics follow the links below.

Pop Quiz: Do You Know the 5 Basics of Financial Literacy?

Financial literacy, financial capability, financial understanding.

Whatever the name, the core idea is the same: being equipped with the knowledge, skills and tools to manage your money and secure your future.

That’s no easy task, but here are five key money topics you’ll need to understand and put into action to make financial literacy a reality:

    • Budgeting. Financial security starts with prudently managing your money on a day-to-day basis. That means spending less than you earn and saving consistently. Try to save at least 15% of your gross pay for short-term goals, long-term goals and unexpected expenses. Do it first and not with what’s left of your paycheck. Track all your expenses and set reasonable spending guidelines. Finally, don’t get caught up in how others are spending and undermine your own budget.

Plan Ahead to Be Your Own Boss

When Lisa Hennessy’s pet collie was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, she prepared a special, home-made diet for him, and discovered all her dogs loved it. So when she lost her job as a manager for an automotive parts distributor a few years later, she saw an opportunity to launch Your Pet Chef, a company that makes personalised dog food.

“We now make food for over 125 dogs and help them eat healthier every day,” said Hennessy, 52, who lives in Chicago in the US.

While Hennessy enjoys her new venture, which launched in 2012, she also faces a common problem among new business-owners: dwindling funds. Three years in, the business is self-sustaining but still doesn’t pay her a salary. “Now I’m trying to find investors so I can keep doing it and not drive for Uber [to supplement income],” she said.

It takes determination, experience, research, timing and hard work to start a business. And, many fail. But that doesn’t stop people from trying. In the US, 476,000 new businesses launched each month in 2013, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. That same year, more than half a million new businesses were started in the UK, according to StartUp Britain. In Australia, about 300,000 new small businesses launch each year, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

10 Questions to Ask When Franchising Your Business

Your business is booming, easy to duplicate and ripe for growth. You’ve always dreamed of expanding to multiple locations. You decide the time is right — you’re making the leap to franchising.

Like tying the knot, becoming a franchisor isn’t an endeavor you rush into. With so many opportunities for failure, it’s critical that you do your due diligence when researching how to properly franchise your brand.

From budgeting for up-front costs, filing the right legal paperwork, vetting trustworthy franchisees, to scheduling royalty payments, there’s no shortage of challenging tasks ahead. But, if you play your cards right, your brand could one day be the next Supercuts or Subway.

Here are 10 essential questions to ask when franchising your business:

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Small Business Job Creation, Lending, and Taxes

June 18, 2015 by

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The statistics for the small business community  are looking good for 2015. Small business owners believe and are confident that this year will be more profitable than last year, they intent to hire more employees, and feel confident they will invest more in technology.  Taxes, new regulations, and other costs associated with the running of the business are not pleasant nor foreseeable, but those are some of the limitations that they can, and are used to dealing with in a daily basis.

Read more about this by following the links below.

Small Business, Job Creation, And Why We Should Lend To Young Companies

Any honest conversation about creating jobs in the United States must include the role played by small business. Collectively, these businesses create the lion’s share of new jobs. The current SBA Administrator Maria Contreras Sweet regularly argues that two out of every three new jobs are created there. So when Experian approached me with a new study that explored the impact of small businesses (particularly startups), on our economy and what we could do to encourage more job creation, they had my attention.

As one of the three biggest business and personal credit reporting bureaus, I consider Experian’s advice and perspective very relevant to this conversation. I recently spoke with Peter Bolin, Experian Director of Consulting and Analytics, to talk about the research. When they dived into the data they found that small businesses and startups really do have a direct impact on job creation in the United States. They focused on the 2010 class of startups and looked at the resilience of the overall US economic recovery and how these businesses have performed in the four years since they opened their doors.

New chip credit cards putting squeeze on small businesses

NEW YORK — New credit and debit cards with computer chips are putting the squeeze on small businesses.

The cards being rolled out by banks and credit card companies are aimed at reducing fraud from counterfeit cards. As chip cards are phased in, magnetic stripe cards, which are easier for thieves to copy, will be phased out. Businesses of all sizes face an Oct. 1 deadline to get new card readers and software that can handle chips. Most estimates of transition costs for small companies vary from the low hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars due to the wide range of equipment used.

If businesses don’t meet the deadline set by companies including MasterCard, Visa and American Express, they can be held liable for transactions made with phony chip cards.

Small Business Owners Want a Fair Share of Their Taxes Back

New Jersey’s Small Business Development Centers are pushing again for an increase in their state funding — which would in turn make the centers eligible to have federal funding increased to the program in a state with one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates.

The network, formally called America’s SBDC New Jersey, says it had its state support slashed in former Gov. Jon Corzine’s term from $1 million down to $250,000 — and then survived an attempted cut to zero in Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. The state Legislature restored that $250,000, but the funding has been frozen at the same level since Christie’s first year in office, 2010.

Officials with the group argue that’s too little — especially because restoring the $1 million state matching funds would bring back almost that much in federal support for the small-business centers.

By its own figures, SBDCNJ helped 534 clients start new businesses last year, and “helped its clients create and save 15,089 jobs.”

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What’s Your Disgruntled Customer Plan?

June 16, 2015 by

64510516Whether you’re an established, successful small business or a start-up you probably have a sales and marketing plan to attract customers.  After all, providing a product or service to them, for a profit, is one of an entrepreneur’s key goals.  A great deal of up-front time, money and sweat equity is spent on finding and selling to consumers.  But, what about after the sale?

At the beginning of the sales process the focus is on the person, the potential client.  How can the product make their life and business better?  All good sales people know that learning what the client wants, their perception of what the service can give them, is paramount to making the sale.  The billion dollar advertising industry was built on linking emotion to a product. 

After the sale, the focus naturally shifts to getting the service to the client.  Unfortunately, this is where the sales plan usually stops, or is incomplete and falls apart.  The attention of the seller can become more focused on the product or service they are providing, while ignoring or marginalizing the person they’re providing it to.  The following is an example of this disconnect.

Kevin wanted lawn care services for his business.  He met with George, the owner of a landscaping company, and was impressed with George’s understanding of what he was mainly looking for — “decent, no hassle maintenance”.  However, the lawn often became overgrown and unsightly, resulting in Kevin contacting George repeatedly. 

At first, he was apologetic and would send a crew within 2-3 days.  Then George started to complain that he didn’t have enough crew to keep up with the overall demand.  He even became angry at Kevin’s “not understanding his situation”.  Kevin wasn’t interested in excuses, didn’t renew his contract and posted a negative review on a consumer website. 

Upon completion of the sale George prioritized himself and his difficulties with his business over his customer.  He knew that hassle free maintenance was primary for Kevin, yet he didn’t take steps to make sure he was satisfied. Having a sales strategy that stopped at the sale, with no provision for good quality customer service, cost George current and future clients.

A good sales plan is all encompassing and ongoing.  It should include the “how tos” for finding customers, as well as the “how tos” for keeping them.  Unfortunately, many business owners work hard to get customers only to lose them through poor execution of the service and poor treatment of the client.

A comprehensive sales strategy includes policy and procedures which address the inevitable disgruntled customer, because addressing their complaints is still a component of selling to them.  If not for the hassle and George’s attitude Kevin would have renewed his contract, because the mowing was sufficient.  Good customer service can elevate the value of a mediocre product and bad customer service can undermine the value of a good one. 

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Some People Get All the Luck – Be One of Them

June 5, 2015 by

64002400There are thousands of legends about businesses becoming successful because the owner was in the right place at the right time, he was lucky.  But, if you look closely at them you’ll find, that while “uncontrollable” good fortune may have played a part in the success, that isn’t the whole story.  The real story is how the owner made his own “controllable” luck.

Many mangers think good fortune is uncontrollable (such as winning a bid or having good weather for the company picnic) and they either have it or they don’t.  But, you can increase your chances of being lucky.  Often, what’s perceived as, uncontrollable events can be managed to increase the odds of working out in your favor. 

For example, anyone who has bid out a job has multiple stories about companies (who they wanted to award the contract to) who’ve knocked themselves out of the running.  They weren’t unlucky — their bids were incomplete, sloppy, late or unrealistic, all things they had control over.  Also, in northeastern Ohio there’s a better chance of having good weather for your picnic in June, not April. 

If you look closely at most “his successful business is due to luck” stories you’ll find they usually have 4 things in common.  One of them is that there is a dose of luck involved.  But, the other 3 are more important.  Each story shows a person augmenting his good fortune through controllable behaviors, which you can also do.

Pay attention – Put down the cell phone, step away from the computer and get out of your office, building and comfort zone.  The beginning of any successful venture is to recognize that the opportunity is there.  There are few things more important in life (work, family and friends) than paying genuine attention to what’s going on around you.

Do the work – After you get the idea take logical and practical risks to do something about it.  Ideas are usually worthless until they’re put into action through a lot of hard work.  In every success story there’s always someone, sometimes many people, who did the work.  As Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have of it”.

Seek out information – The average small business owner gets insulated, which leads to tunnel vision.  Success isn’t a solo act; every business success story has multiple characters in it.  Steve Jobs was brilliant, hard working and lucky.  One of the things he learned to do was to seek out and listen to what people had to say, and then use the information to better his product.  He was relentless in his quest to learn more and do better.

There are some things you can’t do anything about – you’re betting on 3 of a kind and your opponent wins with her straight.  But, you can increase the chances of winning by knowing your rival’s tells (pay attention), learn the odds, rules and psychology of the game (do the work) and continue to develop your skills (seek out information).  Luck is a combination of controllable and uncontrollable actions and events. 

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Small Business News

May 14, 2015 by

62227730To start a business, regardless of where you live, you have to considered the many advantages a particular state or city has on the success of your business. Paperwork and taxes are too cumbersome for many small business owners to consider, so the less they have to deal with those issues the better. The attraction of many cities for the small business owner is the possibility to finding funding, less taxes and paperwork.

To read more about this topic follow the links below.

Small-Business Owners Gained Confidence in April

WASHINGTON — Small-business owners in the United States gained confidence in April and were surprisingly bullish about capital expenditure plans, further supporting views that economic growth is rebounding after a dismal first quarter.

The Labor Department also reported on Tuesday that job openings fell in March. The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.7 points to 96.9 last month. It was the largest gain since December.

Small businesses historically have accounted for half of private gross domestic product. The economy is clawing back after being hit by a mix of bad weather, disruptions at ports, a strong dollar and deep spending cuts by energy companies.Data on employment and consumer sentiment have suggested a pickup in growth momentum at the start of the second quarter, but the dollar and lower oil prices continue to weigh on manufacturing.

San Francisco Chamber CEO Applauds Small-Business Rebels

Small businesses take center stage in San Francisco next week, with an emphasis on disruptive technology and businesses that have butted heads with the status quo.

Uber and Airbnb sprang up in this city, beginning as startups testing new, even quirky business models. They quickly transformed into global companies.

Chamber of Commerce President Bob Linscheid says there are lessons to be learned from businesses — startups or established companies — that challenge the norm.

“That lesson is that you must constantly innovate,” he says. “Our city is a haven for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The Best And Worst Cities For Small Business Employees

Last month, Forbes reported on the best cities for starting a business this year, and much attention is frequently given to the locations working the hardest to attract founders who’ll create coveted jobs. But which cities are the most hospitable to those who hold those positions?

To determine the best and worst cities for small business employees, personal finance site WalletHub looked at 100 of the country’s largest metro areas, evaluating each against 11 metrics that examine the small business climate as well as the larger economic environment.

As a means of measuring the health of the small business scene in each city, WalletHub considered the number of business with less than 250 employees per every 1,000 residents, small business job growth, diversity of industries, percentage of small businesses offering health insurance to employees and employee earnings adjusted for cost of living.

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Are You Ready for Growth?

April 15, 2015 by

64002400Responsible parents teach children how to manage and mitigate risk.  One of the classic childhood lessons is how to cross the street safely.  We are taught to Stop, Look (both ways) and Listen before crossing.  It’s an important skill for both children and adults to acquire.

A responsible business owner needs to stop, look and listen when he is thinking of expanding his company.  Growth is a high risk area, which involves a multitude of new challenges.  It is up to him to make sure he understands and is ready to meet them, because many successful businesses fail when they attempt to go to the next level. 

There are a variety of reasons for why they fail.  The biggest one is the lack of preparedness by the owner, who attempts to grow without giving thoughtful consideration to the changes he needs to make to be successful.  He falsely believes that what he did in the past will support future success.  Unfortunately, it rarely does. 

One of the reasons that past success is not a good indicator of future success is that many do not understand the dynamic of growth.  He thinks that because he was able to grow from a start up to a $2 million company that the same skill set will continue to be usable for a $4 million one.

However, as a business grows it demands different requirements from the owner. A few of these requirements include: learning to read more complicated financials, keeping up on increased tax liabilities and government regulations, understanding additional human resource requirements, finding and retaining good employees, developing an operational knowledge of profit and loss, and knowing how and when to delegate. 

The duties and functions of management change with growth.  If an owner does not keep up with these demands he will start to lose control.  When the business is growing, he must grow too.  Many a business has become a victim of its own success because he was unable learn new behaviors and skills.  He did not stop, look and listen.

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Constructive Praise is Important Too

April 7, 2015 by

54642287The art of giving constructive criticism is a well known management concept.  The skill of giving and receiving critical feedback is an important one for all managers to learn.  If handled appropriately, by the person giving it and the person receiving it, a critique can result in professional and personal growth for both of the people involved in the discussion.

There’s an equally important skill that’s rarely talked about and commonly misunderstood.  The ability to give productive praise is as important as the ability to give productive critical feedback.  But, unfortunately and erroneously, the knack of giving constructive praise is viewed as easier and more natural to do.  Therefore, many people believe it doesn’t need to be learned. 

They think – What’s there to learn, don’t you just tell someone they’re doing a good job and move on?  The answer is an emphatic “No”.  People rarely respond to and rarely learn anything from a generic “good job”.  To be useful meaningful praise should follow the same guidelines as meaningful criticism.

Be timely.  Highlight the here and now.  Focus your praise on specific behaviors which have happened very recently, ideally in the last day or two.   

Neal was confused when Sam, the owner of the company, said, “Thanks for your hard work”.  He thought Sam was being sarcastic because it was a very light work week.  When he realized it was 2 weeks ago (when the whole shop worked hard to fill a large order) that he was being thanked for Neal perceived the praise as being “a day late and a dollar short”.  The praise only strengthened Neal’s opinion that Sam was out of touch with the daily operations.

Focus on behaviors.  Specifically refer to what the person did or does.  Describe what you have seen and think about his behavior. Use “I” statements and focus on behaviors you want him to continue doing, which reinforces positive actions

Paul was diligently putting in long hours for a new a client.  His manager Jill stopped by his office and praised him for his work.  She specifically cited the weekend hours he was putting in and how satisfied she was with the quality of the work he was producing.  Paul was gratified to see that someone was paying attention and felt she “was interested” in his success.

Be specific.  Be ready and able to discuss the behaviors specifically.  Praise that’s too general is often seen as insincere or of little value.

Dawn’s boss Ed thanked her for her contribution to a presentation which helped secure a large contract.  She had used new techniques for the graphics and was eager to hear about the reaction to them.  She asked for specific feedback to gauge what might work for future presentations.  It quickly became clear Ed didn’t know what her contribution was and that he had paid little attention to the presentation.  Dawn saw his praise as “dishonest and worthless”.

When done correctly, constructive praise is often more effective in motivating people than constructive criticism.  Successful managers learn how to use both to improve relationships and productivity.  A few well-chosen, specific and timely words of praise have been known to make the difference between a good day and a bad day for many people. 

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Ohio Small Business Tax Cuts

March 11, 2015 by

64002400Many small businesses across the country relish the idea of tax savings for personal and business matters.  When Gov. Kasich talks about a $696 million tax cut for small businesses, we believe that it will amount to something substantial for our business, when in reality the tax cuts are meager to say the least.  The Ohio Department of Taxation believes that each eligible business would save an approximate $935 a year.  That is hardly conductive to more hiring and giving a boost to the economy as proposed by the current Ohio administration.

Follow the links below for more information about this and other news.

Report: Ohio consumers are at a high risk of ID theft

The National Consumers League has issued a report that analyzes new Federal Trade Commission data that indicates Ohio remains a hotspot in the national fraud epidemic and that Ohio consumers are at a high risk of ID theft.

Ohio was ranked the 20th highest-ranked state in per-capita identity theft complaints to the FTC in 2014. Government benefits, credit card and utilities fraud accounted for most of the 9,161 identity theft complains received in Ohio. Fifty-four percent of Ohio residents who filed complaints reported a loss. The average amount reported paid was $1,428. he Cleveland-Elyria metropolitan area ranked in the top fifty nationally in per-capita identity theft complaint rates.

AT&T continues Ohio job growth, hits milestone

AT&T is continuing its Ohio job growth with the latest round of hiring for call center workers as it surpasses a hiring milestone.

The latest 120 new jobs in the state, including some in Dayton, are pushing the telecommunication giant’s total job growth in Ohio to more than 1,700 in the past two years.

Positions filled in the past two years included IT/engineering, retail, technician, call center, business solutions, and corporate support categories.

AT&T says the hiring reflects its continuing investment in its Ohio network and team. The company made more than 830 upgrades to its wireless network in Ohio in 2014, including the launch of service for former Alltel subscribers in more than 20 northern Ohio counties. The integration of former Alltel towers into the upgraded network increased AT&T’s cell towers in these areas of Ohio by nearly 40 percent.

Most small businesses would see limited savings from John Kasich’s tax cut plan
COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 90 percent of the roughly 1 million businesses eligible for Gov. John Kasich’s proposed small-business tax cut would save less than $364 per year, according to state statistics.
Kasich and administration officials say his proposal to stop collecting state income tax from small businesses will create jobs and give the state’s economy a boost. But critics say that most of the businesses that would benefit from the change are too small, and the savings too meager, for them to make new hires.

The $696 million tax cut, laid out last week in the governor’s state budget plan, would apply to Ohio business owners who report yearly gross receipts of $2 million or less on their individual tax returns. That includes limited liability companies, S corporations, sole proprietorships, and partnerships.

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Achievers Understand the Lessons of Failure

March 4, 2015 by

64002400The fear of failure, some experts have called it a fundamental or primal fear found in all humans. Whether or not it’s a primary fear, it’s so common that it’s the basis of or inherent in all motivational or inspirational seminars, as well as being the topic of thousands of books. Much has been said and written about the fear of failure, for good reason.

It holds many people back from achieving their goals and dreams. The average person avoids success because they’re afraid they’re going to fail at the things required to achieve it. There are several reasons why the fear of failure is debilitating. One of the reasons, of why people pass up success, is that they don’t understand the lessons of failure.

The process of failing is often misunderstood. Achievers understand failure, they don’t like it, but they’ve learned to value it. One of the key characteristics of successful people is that they have the desire and ability to learn. They view a setback as an opportunity to gain knowledge and grow.

They ask themselves productive questions. What did I do correctly and how can I make it better in the future? What did I do incorrectly and how can I make it better in the future?  Successful people look for logical answers that produce useful insights, both positive and negative, which then lead to an action plan. Here’s an example.

Joe made a client presentation and was surprised when it didn’t result in a sale. He reviewed the presentation and determined that his information was solid and easy to understand. However, he’d been overconfident and failed to connect the benefits of the product to the client’s needs – a fundamental error. Joe created an action plan to meet with the client again and created a pre-sales checklist to avoid making the same mistake in the future.

Unsuccessful people ask non-productive questions. The answers to these questions are emotionally based, instead of logically based. Often, no useful information can be obtained from these answers. This blocks the person’s ability to learn a lesson from the experience, making forward momentum difficult, usually impossible. Here’s another example.

Steve made a client presentation and was surprised when it didn’t result in a sale. He asked himself unproductive questions (Why can’t I do anything right? Why do these things always happen to me?). He got answers he wasn’t able to use (I’ll never get this. The client is out to get me.).   The plan formulated from these answers is – There’s no use in trying. The opportunity to learn from the lesson of failure is lost.

Success, in spite of the fear of failure, is a hallmark of achievers. They don’t seek it out, but they don’t avoid it either. C. S. Lewis said it well, “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.”

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