Small Business Information |
|
Loose Lips Sink Ships - The Fastest Way to Put Yourself Out of Business
I agree that knowledge should be free, but the next person I see revealing their hard attained business practices in a public forum, I am going to feel the need to approach them, make them choose their own switch from an outside tree, then whip them with it. This is the mistake I see most small businesses make: running their mouths too much. I understand you want to be helpful. I understand you want to pass knowledge around. Telling someone where to find a font is okay. Telling someone where to find cool clip art is okay. Telling someone your methods of placing Google Adsense to maximize revenue is kind of foolish. The internet gives us a false sense of many things: security, popularity, and most importantly anonymity. People are too quick to blab; not realizing what they post is being indexed, linked, viewed, and monitored. Just think if your competitor came across your post, the one that revealed your business practices. That could really affect your business in negative ways. For example, I have my own personal method of placing Google Adsense on my pages. If you visit any of my sites, you could probably figure out easily what the placement method is, it's not that hard, kudos to you if you figure it out. However, if someone asked me about Google Adsense placement, I'd send them to this page: https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py? Just use your head before you lend knowledge to others. If there is a certain way you do business that is out of the norm, something that is tailored to your business, or something you had to figure out a solution to on your own, it's probably best you don't go around making posts about it on the internet. With saying that, I feel so much better now. This probably saved someone from getting a spanking. "Ignore what other people think you like and listen to your heart, it's your passions in life no one can rightfully criticize." Tia is CEO of Client Centers, LLC, an internet and graphic service business based in Florida since 2000. She is also the editor and founder of http://www.NerdByte.com This article is free for reprint without the permission of the author as long as proper credits are left intact. Tia Scott
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Small Business Marketing - Clarify Success When you hear the word "success" does it bring on visions of fame and fortune for your business? Have you clarified and articulated what that success will look like for your business and how you'll know when you've achieved it? Buying a Business Start thinking about buying an established business if you want to avoid the immense risks involved in starting one. Not everyone wants to start a business from scratch, and buying a business with the infrastructure in place lets you focus on building it up, as opposed to getting a new business off the ground. This is not to say that it's easy to buy an existing business; it's a fairly complicated process throughout which you need to know exactly what you're doing. We Know Who THEY Are Am I the only one that does not have an "A" button on my computer? I have looked on the keyboard, monitor and hard drive I can not find that darn thing anywhere. Nobody will tell me where it is. Creating a Dynamite Account Plan Why do you need an account plan? Collect that Debt - Your Business Depends on it The efficiency of debt collection is the difference between a business that will succeed and a business that closes up. Expanding Franchisee Advice Franchisor expansion policies are not as simple as one might think. On the mind of every businessperson is the idea of expansion. We think we will make more money when you expand to a second, third, fourth, etc. unit, store or work truck. So you would think if you are franchisee of a large franchise system that the franchisor would want to help you into that additional outlet as soon as possible or, like some franchisors, much sooner. After all they will make more royalties and have an additional unit or push pin on their map of the country or state. The franchisor's goals are actually more complicated than that. Our goal is your success-profit-happiness. Running an additional unit can create tremendous amount of headaches, which a franchisee may or may not be ready for. Your Practice is Only as Valuable as Your Referral Base Many physical therapists in private practice have the appearance of a very successful business that is built on the backs of about four to five doctors. Now if anything would happen to any of these guys, the value of these practices would drop markedly. How can you run a practice for many years and then take a good look at it and realize that you have five doctors that represent more than 50% of the referral base? Exactly how can that happen? Pressure Washing Business Case Study, Tractor Cleaning So often small service businesses fail to exploit niches, which have little if any competition. I know as I built my companies we always tried to identify all the market niches and go after them. We were not always able to succeed at everything, occasionally we would fail; it happened more than I would care to admit, but those are lessons learned. The best way to get to success is to learn from the challenges of the past and so in my office I have a huge trashcan, bigger than any executive you will ever meet. And it is always full. That's okay. Let me tell you about one of the more successful niches we discovered in the pressure washing business; tractor cleaning. Do Home Businesses Complicate Small Business Debt Collection Laws? The home-based business market, sometimes called the SOHO (small-office/home-office) market, is booming. As more and more B2B businesses expand into these markets, they may find themselves walking a fine line between B2B and B2C. Looking into the Future for Profits How to identify future solutions and opportunities? Excuses Franchisees Make; When They Violate Exclusive Territory Agreements One of the biggest excuses franchisees of home based and serviced based franchises make when violating their exclusive franchise agreement with their franchisor and fellow franchisees is: My Family Works There. As a franchisor, I cannot believe how many times neighboring franchisees steal each others clientele or work outside their exclusive franchise area. This jeopardizes trust within the franchise system between franchisees and franchisors. How to Raise Your Fees and Thrill Your Customers Think the best way to get more customers is to have the lowest prices in town? Think again. Think the best way to create a successful business is to try to appeal to everyone? Wrong again. Boat Hull Cleaning Procedures for Owners and Detailers For really tough boat hull cleaning you will need to break out the acid. Muratic acid is the best for this. You'll want to have a 50/50 mix of muratic acid of 6-8% concentrated (12% is the highest concentration you can legally buy over the counter), water and a good strong sprayer. You can purchase muratic acid at Wal*Mart, K-Mart, Pool Supply Stores, Home Depot, Lowe's, Van Waters and Rogers Chemicals. Sears Craftsman makes a nice strong sprayer or try a local store for another brand of commercial pump-up sprayer. Hispanic Small Business Advantage One thing I have noticed in my travels to different markets is that Hispanic Small Business Owners have a very distinct advantage. They are friendly and very involved in their communities. Hispanic Business Men and Women are very socially active and if you look at their incredible unity, there is nothing slowing down this Hispanic Middle class from becoming upper classmen. They are incredible relationship builders and smart and savvy business people. Just look at the number of organizations propelling their simultaneous hard work ethics: Small Business Checks ? Money Saving Options When you go into business for yourself, there are many things to consider. What you don't want to worry about is spending too much money on unnecessary items. Business checks are one of those things. They don't have to be expensive. Your bottom line keeps your business going, and it is important to keep it that way. Pressure Washer Concrete Cleaning Equipment Cleaning concrete is tough and there is an easy way and a hard way. There is one thing you need to understand when you are pressure washer cleaning concrete; the concrete cannot always be made to look brand new again after it has been stained. You can always get stains lighter or bleached but completely removing it is very difficult, sometimes you get lucky, but if you are looking for perfection, chances are you will be underwhelmed. So when talking to customers let them know up front and explain this to them otherwise they will be asking for a job that just can't be done unless the entire concrete slab is ripped up and re-poured. Fleet Washing Expansion Considerations Many times small businesses want to expand their businesses and are not sure when the best time to do that might be. The key of course is cash flow. Will your current and brand new accounts afford you the cash flow to expand? Let us run thru a scenario with you and just so you know this is good advice, I own the Truck Wash Guys and have been doing this a while. Each time a franchisee wished to expand and ask for advice, I would look at their situation and determine if it was a wise idea. Sometimes it was, but often it was not. So let us look a hypothetical scenario for a moment: Making a Donation to Bring MORE Business How a donation is different from a sponsorship and what is the advantage to you? 6 Steps to a Successful Medical Spa Expansion According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, since 1997, nonsurgical procedures have increased by 471 percent. Jeff Russell, CEO of MedSpa Financing, comments "Medical Spas are a natural progression of medical practice expansion, having a medical doctor run them gives them the credibility and public confidence needed for their success." Are You Making the Most of Your Intern? KEEPING INTEREST HIGH: Supervision is key to the success of the program. Interns like direction, but don't like to feel they are being constantly checked on. Even this small amount of direction, however, can take a great deal of time. It is important to be willing to set aside this time to give the intern direction. One method that seems to work calls for a briefing at the beginning of each day and a "where-do-we-stand?" briefing at its end. Throughout the day, the manager is on hand to answer any questions that might come up -- remember this is a learning experience! There should also be additional time set aside throughout the duration of the internship during which the manager receives feedback from the intern on his or her satisfaction with the assignment and suggestions for future directions. Equally important, interns should receive feedback on their progress. They need to know if they are performing to the manager's expectations. Additionally, many interns have chosen to keep diaries and time logs documenting their involvement. These can be reviewed at the conclusion of that person's internship. |
home | site map |
© 2005 |