What are the benefits for a small business owner during this technological age?

July 18, 2018 by

The amount of technology used nowadays allows many small business owners to keep up with the business world more easily and allows them to gingerly explore ideas before committing themselves fully.

Online tools and services that allow them to ease the burden of doing business are ubiquitous, and the effort to find the technology that is right for their business may very well be the difficult part.

The financial commitment to find the right technology for them is an expense the small business owner cannot afford. Time and perhaps manpower are assets a small business owner uses to capacity, and there is no wasted time if they can avoid it.

According to many small business owners, Facebook now plays an important role in doing business for them.  Using Facebook, small and medium-size businesses have been able to market their products globally, and selling to customers they were not able to reach before. Their ability to reach customers across the globe has been a change in the way they conduct their business today.

Online payroll services have been a change small business owners were eager to welcome and the benefits for them have been financially beneficial. By helping them file tax forms either quarterly or yearly, online payroll services can do that by keeping track of all the information regarding employee tax information, benefits, insurance and  retirement deductions, disability, etc, and the accuracy and responsibility of filing forms and submitting them to the government agencies are the payroll company’s job.

Hiring platforms that allow the business owner to hire prospective employees and screening them before meeting them in person have saved time and money for them.  The number of employees fitting the required specifications can be a time saver for many small business owners, and financially cheaper if those employees are hired and kept for a long period of time.

Online tools that keep information ready to access at the click of a button and communications with clients that can easily be monitored are tools that many companies and small business are using to their advantage today.

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Small Business Loans For the Small Business Owner

June 13, 2018 by

In the United States,  small-minority-owned businesses play a significant role in the economy. There are approximately 1 million minority-owned businesses and $254 billion in payroll, an increase of 7% from 2014 to 2015. State government officials want these businesses to succeed because of the importance they play in their local economies.

Funding for some of these businesses is made possible through small business loans that government agencies make available to owners that are unable to secure them through the usual channels. These loans provide critical capital they need to cover payroll or to provide the fuel to start the business.

For these small business owners, an increase in operational costs can affect them significantly.  The constant increase of health care coverage for their employees is a constant source of capital worries.  These loans would allow them to weather the storm or the short deficit they experience due to these expenses.

Through a health insurance survey, small business owners were asked whether health insurance costs are of concern to them. 80% of those business owners said to be afraid of any increase, especially since the trend is an increase of 18% in health care coverage from one year to the next.  They believe an increase of even 10% in health coverage premiums can make it impossible for them to offer their employees any health insurance coverage at all. These loans from state governments would allow them to continue with their business operations without having the constant worry of whether or not they can make payroll that month.

For many small businesses, their competitive edge they need to level the plane field with big companies is their ability to woo and retain talented employees. These businesses offer an array of incentives and other perks that many big companies cannot offer.

One of the many advantages small business owners have over the big firms is the close relationships the small owner can form with their employees. Employees in a small business interact with each other on a more personal level, and that is something many employees look for when looking for a job.

The flexibility small businesses offer their employees is not something to take lightly.  If a small company allows its employees to work from home when there’s an emergency, or a child is sick and they need to care for them, the flexibility is worth something to the employee.

A small company allows more independence and gives their employees more control over their work.  They are not micro-managed every single day or are constantly required to ask permission from upper management if they want to do something outside the “box”.

Small business owners have to think differently if they want to woo and keep talented employees, but it is not impossible to do it if they have the capital to back them up.

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Online Marketing Without Breaking the Bank

May 9, 2018 by

For a small business owner, having a big marketing budget is out of the question. Having to meet payroll every month and, and having the cash necessary to cover accounts payable, is already a feat in itself.

For many small business owners, their ability to do their online marketing is closely tied to the amount of money they can spend. It also plays an important role in its execution.  Online marketing can be done well without breaking your finances.

Here are some of the best options you have to list and promote your business and start building that relationship you need to keep and attract customers.

  1. Website – Start by having a website that shows what your business does.  Simplicity is a good thing when you start with a website that will promote your business, upcoming events or news in the future.
  2. Google My Business – can allow you to post what’s new in your business, add photos and lets you start building a relationship with your new and existing customers. It’s a free Google listing that will show your business to people searching for your business or business related to yours.
  3. Social Media – There are many social media platforms that you can use to promote your business for free. Try to do it free but if you are able to afford it, pay to advertise locally first and see how the experiment goes.  You can always take the advertising nationally if that’s what you need later on.
  4. Content – Quality, tailored content that speaks about and for your business is a great way to promote it.  Keep the content relevant, and fresh.  Articles that have been posted two or three years ago and are still showing on your website is a sure way to lose prospective customers.
  5. Word of Mouth and Customer Service – Businesses that are local and rely on local customers to prosper, can take advantage of their location by providing excellent customer service to their customers. Word of mouth is a powerful advertising component that many businesses can use to advertise without spending a penny.
  6. Consistency – Consistency is not something you can buy, but if you don’t have the consistency to do your marketing on a regular basis, it doesn’t matter how much you are spending on advertising or other venues to promote your business.  The marketing has to start with you, be constant.

A good business with a good product still needs to advertise.  Perhaps the product will sell itself — eventually — but the business has to promote it to introduce it to their customers or prospective customers.

A marketing strategy that works for a business does not necessarily mean it will work for you. Marketing can be a very specific strategy for a specific industry. Trying a strategic marketing idea to gauge the ROI for your business can be a very first good step, but remember your business does not be married to it. Explore other ideas or other strategies and choose the one that you think is the best solution.

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When Hiring An Employee

April 23, 2018 by

The challenges small business owners face are a bit different from the challenges the big guys deal on a daily basis. 

The small business owner has the capability and the luxury to meet and know the employees that work for them.  Some of the challenges a small business owner faces when dealing with employees are whether he/she is challenging their employees and keeping them interested in remaining with the company. 

A bored employee that is not being challenged, or is not utilized well looks for a company that will challenge him.  Research has found that Millennials are one of the groups that expect to be challenged and is not afraid to voice their discontent with the status quo if their skills are not being used. If an employee is happy working for your company, don’t be afraid to ask them for any input as to improvements you can make to the internal culture of the business even though he is happy working there.  If an employee is leaving the company, make it your job to find out why and whether there was anything you could have done differently.

Many companies have great salaries and incentives to lure top talent to their business, and although a great salary is one of the incentives you can use to attract them to your company,  it’s not enough to keep them.

There is a lot of research out there that mention the idea of group collaboration and state the fact that many employees prefer and enjoy the challenge of being part of a team.  While this may be true for many startups, every company is different and the goals they want to achieve are not those of a startup.  As a small business owner, the possibility of change is easier for you.  You can implement change in the company and see it through without looking for approval from the top guys, or even input if the changes are working.

As a business student, you learn that company culture is one of the hardest changes to make, and one of the things hardest to monitor.

Having the right company culture begins by hiring the right people.  It is no longer enough to have the computer skills needed for a job, good interpersonal skills have become a prerequisite for many companies for any position within the organization.

As a small business owner, there are many challenges when hiring employees.  Fortunately for you, the power and control are yours.

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What is Important to small businesses across the United States now?

March 15, 2018 by

Marketing is probably one of the most important aspects of having a successful business nowadays, especially if you are a business selling directly to the customer.

Depending on what type of business you have, the need to market it can vary considerably.  Not long ago, the prospect of having a website to market your business was a daunting experience, especially if you wanted it professionally done and serviceable.  Now, with the advances in technology, the prospect of NOT having a website means you are losing business or are not getting any business through a medium that can be very profitable for you.

What are then some of the best ways to market your business, get more customers, and establish a web presence for you and your business?

  1. Social Media – Whether you want to advertise using Facebook, Google Ads or any other type of social media, go ahead and do it, but why not try using social media without spending too much in the beginning. Test the waters first, then dive in if you think it may be more beneficial to pay for advertising. Make sure you measure the benefits.  If you are spending too much and getting too little, perhaps that is not the best use of your marketing budget.
  2. Website – If you don’t have one, then you are not taking advantage of one of the most beneficial ways to market your business.  You do not need to know how to code to have a professional looking website, and you do not need to be a giant business to market your business online. There are many websites dedicated to helping you have a website that will market your business.  Even your Local Chamber of Commerce office can have a suggestion or two about managing your website .  Give them a call.
  3. Local Advertising – If your customers are local, it makes sense to advertise in your community first and expand to other places later on. This will also give you an idea about the best way to maximize your marketing budget.

One of the most important factors that as small business owners we tend to forget, is the consistency required to market your business. Having a website, in the beginning, might be monumental for you, but leaving it sitting there with no constant effort on your part is worthless, and relying solely on having a website to market the business is not going to be very beneficial for you.  Marketing your business well requires more than having a website and a Facebook page.  We recommend you invest some time reading about marketing trends that do not require a huge budget.

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Small Business Owners Challenges

February 5, 2018 by

According to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), a small business is defined as an independent business with less than 500 employees, and according to them 99.7% of the United States economy is comprised by small business.

Every year, there are thousands of new business in this country in every industry, but there are many others that go under as well. Whole industries are being created thanks to the innovations and smart decisions many entrepreneurs make every single day, and the capacity of many of these entrepreneurs to think smartly and make decisions that impact their business favorably is outstanding.

But, as with everything else, small business owners make mistakes that can impact their business and profits and can leave them with many unanswerable questions. Sometimes, they can catch those mistakes and move forward with their business, but other times those mistakes can be too costly and cannot be solved quickly enough.

One of the biggest mistakes 90% of owners make is not knowing or understanding the importance of their numbers.  They don’t know if or which of their customers generate a profit, nor do they know how much a profit it is.  They don’t understand a fundamental concept — if you don’t have a profit margin, you can’t sustain a business.

The margin is simply how much out of every dollar a business earns it actually gets to keep.  For example: $1.00 (earned) minus $.90 (expenses) equals $.10 (profit).  The profit margin is 10%.  Many owners keep investing money, not understanding this straightforward tenet, hoping to “get the company on its feet”.  However, there’s no reasonable, mathematical way for that to happen if there’s no profit (margins can be either positive or negative). 

Owners should always know their margins if they’re positive or negative at the very least because the volume of a business doesn’t give an accurate picture of its financial health.  A company with $5 million in revenue can actually be losing money if it has a negative margin.

Another of those mistakes that small business owners do not take into consideration, is their competition.  Every business in the country and around the world has a competitor. Not thinking about the competition can leave a small business owner wondering where it went wrong while leaving their competitor reaping the benefits of their mistakes.

As a small business owner, you do many of the tasks your company or small business needs doing, and the responsibility to have them done come to rest at your desk.  Knowing when you need to hire extra help, and hiring the right people for the job can become an invaluable asset for your business.

It is never too late to start the business of your dream.  Knowing ahead of time that it will be extremely difficult and stressful, but giving you the rewards you always wanted.

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The Small Business Owner and The House’s Tax Reform Bill

November 27, 2017 by


Well, there you have it, folks.  The House’s tax bill, if it passes will indeed benefit the small business owner. If you are indeed a small business owner, this is good news for you.  According to many analysts and bipartisan groups, for the average American taxpayer, the bill changes very little or none at all. But, according to them, the small business owner does have something to look forward to if the bill passes.

To read more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Two big reasons the House’s tax reform bill benefits small businesses

The House tax reform bill passed last week is really not much, if any, of a middle-class tax cut. Even the Joint Committee on Taxation — a bipartisan congressional group — concluded “the vast majority” of Americans (92 percent) will either pay less or see little change over the next five years and after that, only 40 percent of Americans will pay less taxes.

But then again, this bill was never really meant to benefit individuals. It was meant to benefit businesses. And to that end, it succeeds. Big corporations should be very happy with its passage, and so should small firms like mine. Why? Two big reasons.

According to the Tax Foundation, 90 percent of small businesses are pass-through entities . . . like mine (meaning the income produced by the business is accounted for in the owner’s personal tax filings). Research from 2010 has shown that the typical small business owner makes anywhere from $35,000 to $75,000 per year — reasonable numbers even today considering that the vast, vast number of small businesses are merchants, restaurateurs and operators of very small mom-and-pop firms, freelancers and independent contractors. The House bill will (after some last minute changes) allow most of these business owners to take advantage of a tax rate of 9 percent on their first $75,000 of income with a cap of 25 percent on the rest.

7 Marketing Automation Tools That Could Change Your Small Business

As every small business owner knows, wearing a lot of hats is how you keep your company in the black. The problem, of course, is that any business owner only has 24 hours in a day. Cramming business development, customer service, marketing, production, financials, and everything else on one to-do list is a recipe for disaster (and a complete lack of sleep).

The best way to overcome the limitation of time is by automating some of your processes — and marketing is one area ripe for automation. The key for small businesses is finding a tool that can automate many components of marketing at once, and these seven platforms take different approaches to automating marketing processes to make entrepreneurs’ lives easier.

Small Business Saturday

Greensburg Square Merchants urge shoppers to ‘Give us a chance’

​GREENSBURG – Saturday, Nov. 25 is “Small Business Saturday.” As the kick-off weekend to the 2017 holiday shopping season begins, retail merchants all over the world prepare to greet the throngs of customers whose shopping habits will either make or break their yearly sales goals. In a tough economy, big “box” stores prepare to happily accept almost any form of payment in exchange for those lofty sales figures so important in determining their futures.

Jeff Emsweller, executive director of the Greensburg Chamber of Commerce was asked about Small Business Saturday. “It’s a great program that was started about three or four years ago by American Express.

 

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Small Business Tools For Business

November 2, 2017 by

In today’s global market, the small business owner wants and is able to compete with the big companies around the world. By effectively using the marketing tools and management software available to them, they can reach customers across the globe to provide the goods and services that make their business a success.

Marketing and business tools that enable the small business owner to compete in a global market are available to them as well as the big guys.  The difference is the scale and availability of the talent around them.

If you have talented tech people around you, the business dealings you need to do will not be postponed because you need to deal with computers, marketing or software that you may not know anything about.  The talented people you hire to do the technical jobs  are there to make that part of your job a bit easier and hopefully a bit more enjoyable.

Some of the business tools small business owners can use to make their job a bit more enjoyable are internet marketing software that allows you to produce;

  • Email software that allow you to monitor the recipients opening rates, and personalized the emails to reach your intended target.
  • Blogging tools that allow you to produce content in an easy to use manner while keeping the quality to a high standard.
  • Lead generation tools that enable you to reach more customers while keeping in contact with the existing customers you have.
  • A CRM that allows you to keep your customers and the relationships you have formed active while keeping their data centralized.

Nowadays, the relationships the small business forms can be the difference between a successful business or one that is barely making it. Yes, there are many businesses out there offering the same  goods and services your business is offering, sometimes cheaper and some times better, but unless the difference is pronounced, the relationship you have formed with that client will keep their business with you because they have come to trust you and perhaps like you.

The small business tools you need are out there  to help you and make your business a bit easier to manage, choosing the most expensive ones is not always the solution, you just need to know what you need and research it a bit to see if that is what you need.

 

 

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Small Business News

October 18, 2017 by

Facebook advertising has proven to be the way to go for some small businesses.  There are others that swear the ads don’t work. The only thing that most online users agree is the fact that if you have a small or big business, or if you are in the spotlight, politics is the last thing you want to be promoting.

As a small business owner providing goods or services to many clients, the last thing you want to do is promote one political view over another.  Stick to business.  Remember that we want clients to spend money with us, regardless of their party affiliation.

For more about this and other news, follow the links below.

Small Business Saturday: Big, and getting bigger

It’s not yet Halloween, but for many small businesses, planning for the holiday season has started in full force. If you own a small business, it’s time to start getting ready for one of the most important days of the year.

In all my years working with entrepreneurs and writing about entrepreneurship, Small Business Saturday — falling this year on Nov. 25 — is the most transformative campaign for small businesses I have ever seen.

Since its inception in 2010, this special day — the Saturday after Thanksgiving— has become the biggest sales day of the year for many small companies. For the big day last year, an estimated 112 million Americans shopped at small businesses and independent restaurants, spending about $15.4 billion, according to American Express. That’s about one-third of the American public buying at small businesses and a whole lot of cash infused into local economies.

What Not to Do on Your Facebook Small-Business Page

More entrepreneurs are tapping into the world’s largest social media network: There are more than 70 million businesses now on Facebook, up from about 18 million in 2013, according to chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg during a recent investor call.

Facebook gives businesses a platform to showcase new products and services, promote specials and provide customer service. But with these benefits comes the potential for mistakes that can damage your brand.

Here are five common small-business mistakes to avoid on your Facebook business page.

1. Don’t post too often

Most industries should aim to post no more than once or twice a day to avoid overcrowding followers’ news feeds, says Cheryl Friedenberg, president of High Key Impact, LLC, a small-business marketing consulting firm.

There are exceptions, though. For example, it’s appropriate for restaurants to post frequently about food specials, happy hours or live music events, or for medical businesses to post about recent health studies, Friedenberg says.

“I don’t think people mind seeing more of those types of posts throughout the day,” she says.

Survey: Small businesses’ appetite for financing weakens

Small businesses’ appetite for financing has weakened in the second half of the year, along with their revenue outlook.

That’s the finding of a survey of small companies released Wednesday by researchers at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and Dun & Bradstreet Corp. An index compiled from the survey that measures companies’ demand for capital has fallen more than 10 percent in the third quarter, registering at 36.2 versus 40.4 in the second quarter.

The survey, which questioned 1,176 businesses, is in line with other recent indicators of slowing activity at small businesses. The payroll provider ADP reported this month that its small business customers cut jobs during September. While that was due in part to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, companies have generally slowed their hiring.

 

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Small Business Optimism and Security

October 12, 2017 by

Many small businesses and big corporations are at risk of cyber attacks daily.  Companies like Target that spend millions of dollars on cyber insurance and other security measures, do not spend enough to make the cybersecurity risks less probable.

For small businesses that do not have the finances to spend protecting themselves against cyber attacks, the risks are always present.  And although cyber attacks may not be directed against them quite as often, protecting the personal and financial information of their clients should be one of the primary priorities of any business.

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

A Decline In Small Business Optimism

On Tuesday, NFIB reported the September Small Business Optimism Index results, and they showed the Index fell 2.3 points to 103, which was below the lowest consensus forecast. In spite of the decline, the index remains at a high level, as can be seen in the below chart.

A larger percentage of the index components declined in September as the report noted:

“Six of the 10 Index components dropped in September. Three improved, and one remained unchanged. The bright spot last month was inventory plans, which gained five points as more business owners anticipate a strong 4th quarter.”

Below is a table showing the component changes from August.

Half of All Small Businesses Use WiFi Technology Almost a Decade Old

Small businesses are using older WiFi that doesn’t fit their needs on several fronts. A new Linksys sponsored survey says half of the small businesses polled are using WiFi technology that’s over eight years old. Beyond not being able to keep up with mobile expansion, business owners are concerned over the lags in security and speed.

Problems with Small Businesses Using Old WiFi Tech

These findings are important to small businesses still using older WiFi technology. Smaller enterprises that work online need to be both flexible and fast to respond to changing client needs. Your download and upload speeds are the flux to beat the competition to sales. Beyond that, they make for quicker networking with everyone from visitors to mobile employees.

House approves bill to bolster small business cybersecurity

The House on Wednesday approved legislation that would require the federal government to produce and disseminate guidance to help small businesses with cybersecurity.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, passed by a voice vote.

The legislation would require the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a nonregulatory standards laboratory housed in the Commerce Department, to produce cybersecurity resources for small businesses.

NIST produces and updates cybersecurity guidance for the public and private sectors that businesses can choose to use. President Trump signed an executive order on cybersecurity earlier this year ordering federal agencies to abide by the NIST framework.

 

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