|
|
| Small Business Information |
|
|
|
|
Business Owner--Educate Thyself!
Remember the training programs, seminars, and workshops you had to attend when you were on the corporate side of the table? You were expected to complete course after course for professional development and skill enhancement. Well, where do you get your training now that you are on your own? Do you learn from your clients? Are they the best teachers? What about your competitors? Here are six ways to educate yourself and keep your professional edge:
Educating yourself is very important. Set aside money each year for professional development. Don't rest on past laurels or stop growing. If you do, you will lose competitive ground and be left behind. Roy DeBrule, entrepreneur and seasoned executive in the financial services industry, has helped small business owners for over 25 years to successfully tackle overwhelming business challenges through his clear strategic perspective and a proven ability to evaluate the feasibility of goals. His guiding principle is that everyone, especially executive management needs to embrace one vision. Roy is the President and co-founder of RADSGroup Organizational Consultants, a Stamford, CT based human resources and organizational consulting firm to small and medium-sized businesses. He is a member of the National Speakers Association and is available to speak at management conferences and leadership retreats. To discover how Roy and the RADSGroup can transform your business, visit: http://www.radsgroup.com/
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Sex Up Your Business Growth A top executive called up me late in the night. He was still awake at 3 o'clock. He told me that he has not been sleeping for last 3 nights. Problem at his working place is working it effect on his marital life with wife. Although problem in professional life was manageable to some extent. But the bottom line was heading towards south. He was always busy in solving problems to the extent of guilty of ignoring the happening in market. He wanted help in solving problem. The Game Plan ? The Difference Between Small Business Success And Failure It is an American dream to own a business. But sadly, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, only 1 in 5 businesses is still in business 5 years after it opens. A Small Business Must Have a Solid Foundation We all know that a building has to have a strong foundation if it is to survive, so, too, a business. What Happened to the Money and Freedom? Ask anyone trapped in a cubical about their entrepreneurial dream and they will tell you, "I want to own my own business. I'll make more and have more time." Small Businesses with BIG NAMES: Protect Your Trademarks and Reap the Rewards You're a small business owner with a hot new product or service and you're deciding what to name it. Perhaps you've even hired a graphic designer to create a flashy logo to go with it. You may have ruled out trademark registration as too expensive or even unnecessary because you only plan to sell in your local area. This article will show why nearly every business can benefit from trademark protection, and how a new option makes professional trademark assistance affordable for most small businesses and entrepreneurs. Small Business Vendors; Getting the Best Service If you are a small business you know that you must rely on your vendors to make sure you have everything your customers need. Lack of vendor support can lead to upset customers or even loss of your business. Be pleasant and courteous to all vendors and potential vendors. Try and treat vendors like your favorite customers treat you. Do you remember recently when you went out of your way for a customer, the whole time knowing you weren't going to make any extra money by doing so; yet you did, simply because you liked that particular customer. That customer; whether you know it or not, probably told five friends of your gallant effort; something you may not even have thought about. This type of extra concern and effort is hard to come by these days from local business people. You will, from time to time, need this type of gallant service from your vendors, so start now by being extremely pleasant to those you do business with. Remember, also to refer your customers to your vendors whenever the opportunity arises. Expand Your Professional Organizer Business Grow your Professional Organizer business by branching out into related areas. If you have been doing the same old thing for a while, and are comfortable with it, it may be time to stretch your capabilities and offer something new. How to Protect Yourself & Your Business As a business owner, you already know how important it is for your customers to feel safe about doing business with you. After all, if a customer even suspects he may not receive everything he was promised, then chances are he's taking his business elsewhere. So to prevent that you offer guarantees, secure payment methods, prompt customer service, and more. You do whatever it takes to show each customer that you are sincere and trustworthy. Dispute Resolution of Territory for Mobile Franchised Companies Franchisors of home based and mobile businesses need to carefully watch their franchisees who innately try to hunt in their fellow franchisees territories. The most important advice a franchisor should give the franchised outlets in this case is to work it out themselves. A simple policy is best for example here is a possible excerpt from a franchise manual which lays out some basic understandings: Entrepreneurs Go Virtual! With the massive explosion of start-ups and home businesses developing, you'll be hard pressed to not know of someone going down the entrepreneurial route. Nowadays you can set-up shop and start trading in a matter of days, and the preferred choice for the neo entrepreneur is a service called Virtual Offices. From Birth to Death Your product is dying. With the same inevitability that we humans move ever closer to death, so does every software application move towards its eventual demise. You Are Invited Business card size works well for invitations to special events. Starting is the Hardest Part You can't imagine how many people ask me how I did it. To turn my back onto convention, to turn a deaf ear on the people who wants what is best for me, to snub my nose at people who thinks I am making one of the biggest mistakes in my life?etc. Hey, this is what I do best, so, I am really good at this. Granted, not everyone is as good at defying convention (and logic) as me, so, I'll keep that in mind. :-) To Buy A Fat Pig What does buying a fat pig have to do with your business? Stick with me and all will be revealed. Want to Grow Your Business? Make an Irresistible Offer My clients and many of my readers are small and home-based business owners, and one of the biggest struggles they face is getting new customers. Secrets of Cleaning Truck Trailers in Your Fleet from a Veteran Truck Washer Cleaning the trailers towed by big trucks is not easy, those big forty-foot to fifty-three foot boxes are quite intimidating up close when you are holding nothing more than a brush and pressure washer gun, looking at a soap bucket. The hardest thing to do is to clean the back doors of trailers because they get really greasy from all the debris and stuff the truck has driven through. When they run through bad weather areas, they get even dirtier. Pay special attention to rear doors on trailers. Sometimes you'll have to brush them twice. You may even have to do them three times until you get them right. Use a harsh soap or degreaser and watch for left over dirt around the tubular bars that act as the door locks and sealing mechanism. Now on the top of the sides of the trailer you'll have lots of soot if you have a tractor that's been leaking or maybe has a small oil leak or an exhaust problem. This leaves this big exhaust stain down the side of the trailer from the exhaust stack on the tractor. This is a problem because it is hard to clean and you need to clean it. So sometimes you will have to stand on top of the tractor and brush downward. This is done because you cannot get enough leverage from the ground. You may need to pour cleaner directly on your brush or you may need to put cleaner directly on the sides of the trailer. You may need to do both. Make sure the brush is really wet and then set the nozzle on the spray bottle for a steady stream. Spray with the wind and shoot the spray up to the top of the trailer and kind of saturate it a little bit. Then brush it. Now it should be able to come clean. Make sure you rinse really well; otherwise you'll have soap streaks running down the sides. These will be black soap streaks because they will have some of the exhaust mixed in with the soap. Firing Underperforming Employees in Your Small Business Here are a few tips on how to hand out pink slips when it comes time to terminate an employee. Getting City Contracts; Local Government Contracting All cities have a purchasing office and/or a procurement officer. They handle all city contracts that are sent out to bid. Usually, to become a small business vendor of the city you must satisfy either some or all of the requirements listed below: Your Small Business Suggestion Box A suggestion box is a really good idea for your business. It can help you get valuable feedback from your customers -- feedback that they don't normally think to share with you. Whether your business is a brick and mortar location or purely virtual, it's important to hear from your customers. Here are some tips for success. Window Cleaning Business Case Study How do window cleaning franchise businesses start? It is a fascinating case study indeed, as most all window cleaning businesses start from such humble beginnings; a bucket of water, a sharp entrepreneur and a quality squeegee. I never thought in a million years I would ever enter the Window Washing Industry. I hate washing windows, probably because I suck at it. Anyway our company The Car Wash Guys Franchise Systems; www.carwashguys.com was featured in a PBS Special on TV on a one-hour program.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2005 |