Owning and maintaining a very successful small business can have its challenges but if you know what you are doing, everything can really work out great for you. There are many helpful tips that you should learn, if you are the owner of a small business and then by learning about these tips you should have the ability to have a very secure and profitable future. Knowing how to operate a small business properly will give you and your employees much relief in knowing that their positions are stable and secured. Your employees will be much happier, as will you, if you do all of the right things and play your cards right. In this article I am hoping to teach you a little bit more about managing a small business so that you will be a success. Having a small business definitely has its own advantages and some of those will be included throughout this article.

It is very important for you to learn more about what it takes to run a small business successfully so that if you or someone you know becomes interested in opening your own small business, you will be much more knowledgeable about all aspects of it. Another great thing about owning your own small business is that usually this means you will for sure have many more awesome customers that will tell others about it and continue coming back themselves. You will have a reputation for owning and managing a very reputable, friendly and affordable, yet small business. A small business would typically go over very well because there will be enough customers to continue keeping you with plenty of customers and when people are on vacation in your area, they too have probably already heard about your small business and many of them will choose to come into your small business and will be quite pleased by the friendly employees and the great prices. Check out the other small businesses in your area to see what it is they are doing to draw in more new customers, do not copy them but definitely kind of take a few little suggestions and ideas from watching others with more experience.

Advertising is something that most businesses do, which you as a small business owner will as well at some point in time, however, even without the professional advertising, your small business will still be successful due to all of your loyal customers that absolutely adore coming into your wonderful store. All it takes to have a very successful small business is friendliness, determination, customers that count on you and a good knowledge about business management will always make for a better chance at success. A small business could typically go over very successfully, as long as you first do some homework over managing your own business, as well as talking with other small business owners because the more experienced people could really provide you with a great deal of helpful information and some tips that can almost guarantee your small businesses success and longevity.

Did you know that, in Australia, 60% of small businesses fail in the first twelve months? For those of us who would like to start a small business — maybe even work from home — thats a very discouraging statistic.

Does that mean that your business idea is doomed to failure? Far from it! There are steps you can take that greatly increase your chances of success. With a little time and some serious research you can hit the ground running. Lets start from the beginning

The bright idea

First, of course, you need to come up with an idea. Typically, business opportunities can be divided into four groups:

1. Offering an existing productservice in an existing market.
2. Introducing an existing productservice to a new market.
3. Offering a new productservice in an existing market
4. Introducing a new productservice to a new market.

At this stage of the game the only limit is your imagination. Inspiration can come from anywhere — maybe you have a hobby that youd like to turn into a full-time job; you may be on the receiving end of bad service one day and decide to try doing it better yourself; or you may have a talent that youd like to capitalise on.

Once youve come across something that youd like to do, its time to take a look at the market and see whats on offer.

Passing the test

So youve had a great idea and youre keen to roll with it; now its time to put it through its paces. For the purpose of the exercise, lets say that you have a passion for healthy living, and that you want to distribute a range of lifestyle accessories that promote healthy living with a do-it-yourself approach.

Ask around: Is there a market for products that promote healthy living? What sorts of products are available? Who would you be competing with and what do your competitors offer? Do you have the necessary skills to run such a business and — more to the point — what would those skills be? Where would your business be located?

Once youve answered those questions you should have a fairly clear picture of what your business will look like.

You source some products and decide to do some further research into the range of lifestyle products offered by a company called Vitality 4 Life. Your own life experience plus some work youve done as a dietician has given you the necessary skill sets, and you think that youll be able to work from home, giving you more time for family. There is an existing market, but theres room for expansion. Now its time to take a closer look.

To be or not to be?

Its time to get down to the nuts and bolts. You dont want to jump into something feet first and find out the hard way that the budget just doesnt work.

To get started, sit down and work out if you need to hire staff, which means paying wages.

If you lease a premises youll need to be able to pay the rent, and your location will have to be suitable for your business and target market (which also means that youll have to think carefully about just what that target market is). Youll also need to work out the likely demand for your productservice.

Ok youve worked out that there is enough demand for good quality juicers, sprouters, water filters and other high end accessories to take a shot at a distributorship as a home-based business opportunity. Now you need to make some marketing decisions.

Look at me! Look at me!

Advertising can be costly so youll want to be sure that your advertising budget is spent wisely. That means more market research, this time one-on-one. Profile your customer groups so you can aim your marketing at the right groups of people.

Draw up a questionnaire (a short questionnaire — people run out patience if you ramble for too long) and hang around outside a few of the local gyms (for our particular example). Come up with a mixture of open questions (What do you think of..?) and closed questions (Do you have a gym membership? YesNo.); sliding scales can be useful too.

For our health accessories business, a good question might be How did you hear about this gym? Radio, tv, newspaper, word of mouth etc Such a question would then give you an indication of the types of media that your target group responds best to.

Choose a business name, print up some business cards, buy some stock and get ready to trade!

Measure it, manage it!

A teacher of mine made the point that, in business, if you cant measure it you cant manage it.

You need to be able to plan ahead, and to do that you need to know — or to be able to accurately predict — your total sales. The equation is simple: number of customers x average sale x frequency of visits per customer per year = total sales. Remember it, revise it often, measure your business and youll be able to manage it!

Keep an eye on your bottom line and, most importantly, always be aware of your cash flow — the cold, hard cash that you have in the bank. Allow for invoice periods (14 days, 30 days etc) when youre planning your budget.

The market place has a life of its own, and no one can prepare for every contingency. Put some thought into your idea; make sure that theres a market for what youre offering; research, research, research; promote your business effectively; always know whats going on in your bank account and dont forget about cash flow!

Its not perfect but, if you follow these few simple steps, youll be miles ahead of many new small business ventures. If youve heard of a great home-based business opportunity, or have a product or service of your own to market, youre off to a great start!

You may have spent quite a bit of time designing your web site and writing the copy for it, or you may have spent quite a bit of money and had it all done by a professional designer and copywriter.

But there are about 4 billion websites on the internet. Thats a lot of competition for your site, so how do you get people to actually read your copy? There have been several interesting studies about website reading patterns and usability. Theyre referenced at the bottom of this article.

Website users generally leave a site that takes longer than 7 seconds to load, and the average visit length is just over 1 minute. So assuming your site loads in less than 7 seconds, you have on average, one minute to convince your visitor to stay. And how do you get them to stay? The answer is simple: content, content, content.

But it takes an average of 5 to 7 visits in order to get people to buy your product or service, so how do you get them to come back? By changing your content on a regular basis. Delete text, add text. Add whole pages from time to time, and consider splitting long pages into two.

According to research, content in and of itself is not enough. There are several factors to consider when building a superior web site. Several studies tell us how to improve any web site.

How Viewers Read Web Sites
Would it surprise you to know that most web site users wont really read your web site? Thats what Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes found in a 1997 study. What they found is that 79% will scan your web site, and only 16% read it word for word. Their recommendations are to use scannable text by using:

Highlighted words
Meaningful sub-headings
Bulleted lists
One idea per paragraph
Inverted pyramid style
Half the word count of conventional writing

Lets look at what the W3school says too. Their article Web Site Design confirms that users scan rather than read, leaving in a few seconds if they dont feel theyve found what theyre looking for. The W3school suggests using short sentences and paragraphs, and breaking up excess information into different pages.

Lets talk for a moment about the inverted pyramid style because thats probably the only term you may not have heard before. Remember the papers you used to have to write in high school or for university?

Typical they start with an introduction, then move to background information and discussion, then to findings and finally to a conclusion and recommendations. All that means you have to read a lot of information before you reach a conclusion and recommendations

What Nielsen and Morkes are suggesting is to invert the pyramid.

You could write your web site as a variation of the inverted pyramid by writing a summary first, and adding detail after the summary. Most people dont scroll, but writing your web site inverted pyramid style just might convince them to.

How Writing Style Affects Readability
Nielsen and Morkes measured the effect of different styles of writing on five versions of the same website. A site with promotional copywriting was the control version, and each of the other four sites used one of the following versions and had the following improvement in per cent according to their test readers:

Concise version with about half the word count as the control: 58%
Scannable layout with the same text as the control but easily scanned: 47%
Objective language using neutral rather than subjective, boastful or exaggerated language: 27%
Combined version using all three: 124%

Tracking Their Eye Movements
In 2003 and 2004 Eyetrack completed a study called Eyetrack III. Their study was for news-type sites, but what they found will also help us structure our small business web site. The study found their users followed our left-to-right Western Culture, first noticing the top left of the page, hover there for a bit, and then moving downward in a z-like pattern to examine the rest of the page, and finally moving back up the page to the upper right.

The study found that the eye pauses and reads the first few words of a dominant headline first, especially when that headline is in the upper left and sometimes the upper right. Readers will usually stop reading at five headlines regardless of the number used, but an unusual keyword will often get people to pause. Curiously, they also found that smaller type encourages reading while larger type encourages scanning.

Are You Credible?
Nielsen and Morkes found that web site users look for credibility in various ways, and suggest credibility is increased by high-quality graphics, good writing and using outbound links.

The internet was originally intended for information, and it remains that way to this day. Over the years, several people have tried experimenting with website copywriting. What they consistently found was that users did not want to see hard sell types of copywriting.

Nielsen and Morkes confirmed that theory in their article as well. They found that web site users want to get straight facts and that credibility suffers when users feel claims are exaggerated.
An interesting study on web site credibility is How Do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility? by B.J. Fogg Ph.D, Cathy Soohoo, David Danielson for Consumer Webwatch.. They studied 10 sites in each of 10 categories, with almost 2700 participants evaluating the websites.
They showed the results of 18 comments on credibility. These are the top 10:

Design look: 46.1%
Information designstructureorganization and ease of navigation: 28.5%
Information focusbreadth and depth: 25.1%
Company motiveadmirable motive vs strictly commercial: 15.5%
Information usefulness: 14.8%
Information accuracy: 14.3%
Name recognition and reputation: 14.1%
Advertisingdislike of pop ups, positive use of advertising: 13.8%
Information biascommented on positively and negatively: 11.6%
Writing tonestraightforward friendly tone boosts credibility: 9%

What Does All This Mean for You?
Content may be king, but design has a strong influence on credibility. Your design should be professional, organized, consistent, and easy to navigate. Pages should load within seven seconds or you might lose visitors, so use a small number of quality, optimized graphics, and keep your page content down to two, or at the most three MS Word pages.

Your readers eye first stops at the top left quadrant, so thats a good spot for your logo and company name.

And, a headline in the top left quadrant is very important to keeping your reader on your page for longer than a minute, so consider a headline just under your logo. Consider that the first three words of your opening headline are the most important, and straightforward headlines are better than cute, ambiguous ones.

As to the content itself, are you really a good writer? If youre not, you might want to hire a professional to write your web pages for you. If you are, use a concise, scannable, and objective writing style to maximize your web site readability. Aim for a straightforward and friendly tone and write useful, accurate information with both breadth and depth.

When youre finished, put it aside for a day or two, and then edit what you wrote. Dot all the is and cross all those ts. Check spelling and punctuation. And then take another good look at what youve written and remove any hard sell. It has its uses, but it just doesnt seem to work on the net.

Works cited in this article:

How Users Read on the Web by Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes, 1997, http:www.useit.comalertbox9719a.html

The Best of Eyetrack III: What We Saw When We Looked Through Their Eyes Steve Outing and Laura Ruel, 2003 and 2004 http:poynterextra.orgeyetrack2004main.htm

How Do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility? by B.J. Fogg Ph.D, Cathy Soohoo, David Danielson for Consumer Webwatch. http:www.consumerwebwatch.orgdynamicweb-credibility-reports-evaluate-abstract.cfm

Web Site Design W3Schools http:www.w3schools.comsitesite_design.asp

Why Women In Small Business Must Have A Web Site

In recent years we’ve seen a HUGE increase in the number of small businesses owned by women. This growth has been so dramatic that millions of people now think of a woman when they visualize who owns the businesses they buy from.

Women everywhere deserve a big pat on the back for this amazing accomplishment. But as is always the case for small business owners, there is still a lot of work to be done.

The one thing your small business MUST have is a web site. Sure, ten years ago having a site was an option many small businesses could do without. But that is no longer the case. Here’s why:

* These days consumers and business leaders are more likely to use search engines than the Yellow Pages. They’ll type the name of your town and your type of business into Google and start their research from there.

* A web site lets you put as MUCH information as you want in a public forum. You no longer have to pay thousands for a big newspaper ad just to let customers know about your prices, new services, or show photos of what you do. Now you can keep all that information available on your web site 247 at little or no cost.

* You know as well as I do that most customers are a little shy about asking questions. Often they don’t even want you to know they’re interested until AFTER they have learned more about your product, service, or idea. A web site allows that vast number of potential customers to privately and anonymously read all about your business. Then, when they’re ready to buy, they’ll come forward with their questions and orders. This is a MUCH more efficient way to do business, which leads to my next point.

* Web based business operations can be EXTREMELY EFFICIENT. Customers often prefer convenient email over phone or in-person visits. Email encourages customers to organize their ideas, contacting you when they know what they want and are ready to act. You’ll find your web site generates many more customers and the customers you get are better organized.

* Finally, women love to buy from women-owned businesses. Women, as a group, tend to be less compulsive shopper than men. While a large segment of men will buy an item on impulse, the vast majority of women prefer to learn about your product or service, getting all the details they can before placing an order. Web sites are perfect for presenting a lot of information at very little cost.

When you are running a small business, you should be prepared for various kinds of obstacles. Employees are a major part of the obstacles that you face in a small business. Some of the employee issues that you might face in a small business are described briefly below.

Work Over Load:

Some employees have problems when it comes to work load responsibility. These employees may be those that simply do not want to do more than they are supposed to do within the stipulated daily work time. However, as an employer you would need to ass whether this is a real condition or if the employee has genuine problems handling a particular work load. Employees that are overloaded feel that they are either not getting paid enough for their work or that they simply can not handle all the work that they are given even if they were to get an increase in salary.

In cases of overload, where an employee feels that she has been working more than the compensation offered overtime payment may arise. As an employer you may want to pay your employee extra to make sure that she continues to perform well. Sometimes it is just the matter of being paid more that helps an employee work more and take on a greater load. Remember, more money can do wonders. Naturally, employees that put in greater efforts and a greater number of work hours also need to be compensated. So, you justifiably need to pay an employee extra if she is willing to work on assignments that take more than the stipulated work-time.

Undoubtedly, the internet can make the difference between a successful small business and one ignored by customers. Due to the global nature of the Internet surpassing physical frontiers between nations, and even making it unnecessary to use printed business cards when they can easily be hosted online.

Web presence can make small businesses more competitive from any angle, allowing you to understand new trends, as well as discover opportunities and problems without wasting time. A small business with Internet presence improves your opportunity to connect with a number of suppliers and customers that otherwise might not be possible in your local area.

Furthermore, traditional printed business cards including an Internet address, not only opens a new range of possibilities to succeed, but also is a way to increase your communications, showing an appealing professional appearance, no matter how big or small your business or company is actually. Magnetic business cards often create a long-lasting marketing image.

In fact, you will be surprised to see prospective clients seeking what they want through search engines. Others might check for URLs in business cards instead of browsing the printed yellow pages, because a web presence translates is synonym to having a shop or booth in every corner of the world, where every individual or small business can have the same presence as the big enterprises.

Of course, budget, skills, knowledge and other Internet resources determine the performance of every small business online. However, it will always be beneficial to develop your business web presence if you want to get customers from every location around the world or, as a practical alternative, you can create online business cards for you, your partners and employees.

On the Internet, you will find a number of websites offering both services, development of your web presence and creating your online business cards, ranging from low-mid prices to those unaffordable for people who are just starting a new business venture. However, you do not need a big budget to start.

There are a number of free Web hosting services that will gladly give you web space to develop your presence. If you have no idea how to create a website, they usually have facilities called online tools or web site builders, allowing you to create a nice looking page with just a small amount of information regarding your small business, products and services.

If you do not feel comfortable with those tools, there are other options for you. If you want to create only a business card that looks like real printed business cards, you can always get free or cheap web templates, coming in a variety of designs and only requiring your information to be uploaded, which will create your web presence instantly.

Small businesses have many challenges to stay afloat. Many budding entrepreneurs think that all they need is an idea or product, a name for their small business, and a bit of work and the product will sell itself and money will come rolling in. If you have ever run a small business – even a home based business – you will know there’s much more to it than that!

The first thing you, as a potential small business owner must always do, is research your market. Then research your competition, then the available supply for your product or service, and find your unique selling position. This alone can take weeks often months.

Once you are satisfied that there is a market for your product or service then you need to sort out your business plan and cash flow projections.

Small businesses may appear low cost but many suck up substantial capital before they turn a profit so now, unless you are very fortunate, you must sort out how to finance your small business. Do you remortgage your house? look for investment partners? borrow from friends or family? or approach the bank? Whichever you choose you need to convince others that your small business will be profitable and they will get a return on their money.

Once finances are in place the hard work starts. You may have premises to arrange, suppliers to sort out, staff to recruit and mangage, accounts to keep, products to design or source, lawyers to consult, accountants to hire and we must not forget in all of this market and get the all important customers to look at and purchase your products.

To do that you have to advertise your small business, but where and at what cost? Don’t forget you have to provide customer support and accept returns. Then there’s waste disposal … and on and on.

Who’s paying for all of this – in simple terms you, and your friends, investors andor your bank are paying, until you are selling sufficient product or service to cover the costs – usually many months or even years away.

New small businesses rarely return a profit in the first year and frequently not for two or three years. Make sure you can finance it properly.

Is it worth doing it? That’s your decision but every year tens of thousands of people do start their own business and many are succesful and reap the rewards of all that hard work. But many also fail, and all too often it’s due to lack of preparation

If you’re about to set off on your new business venture prepare well and Good Luck. With good planning, persistence and a lot of hard work you too can build a profitable small business.

Nearly half of all small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. The number one reason for business failure is inadequate planning. The second reason is under-capitalization.

So before you mortgage your house, or go into debt financing your business, you need to know if your business is going to do more than survive — you want to know if it’s good enough to thrive! Here are three things successful businesses that have stayed in business for five years or longer have in common:

1. The idea. A successful business start-up always starts with an idea. Something that makes your business stand out from all the rest. So how do you know if you’ve got a good idea?

You’ve probably got a good idea if you can answer yes to any of the following questions: Does your idea provide the solution to a significant problem for your target market? Does it satisfy a need or want? Does it create an opportunity?

The most successful businesses either fix problems (either real or perceived), or they increase your customer’s pleasure. They create a repeat need for a product or service among the target market.

2. The market. Your chances of survival are better if you can answer the following questions with a yes: Is there already a market for your product or service? (It’s much easier to fill a need than trying to create an entirely new market.) Can your target market afford to buy your products or services? (If they can’t afford it, it doesn’t matter how great it is, you won’t sell any!) Will your target market perceive your product or service as valuable? (If they want it, but don’t think it’s worth what you’re selling it for, you won’t make any sales.)

3. Your ability. Do you have the people, the resources and the knowledge to be able to consistently provide your products or services to your target market? Can you maintain a competitive advantage? Do you have enough manpower? Can you purchase the supplies and materials you need over the long run?

Your first step always is to create a solid business plan. Your business plan is more than an essay on “Why I deserve to get funding for my idea” however. Don’t spend all the time creating a business plan and then toss it in the bottom drawer of your desk. Your business plan should be a living, breathing roadmap that helps you make sure you’re on course and reaching the goals that you set for your business.

The second step to business survival is getting enough financing. Although the term “bootstrap entrepreneur” describes most small business owners, having enough capital to be able to keep your business afloat is vital to your survival.

When you’re creating your financial analysis of your business, make sure you’re being realistic about costs and expenditures, so that you give yourself the cushion you need to succeed.

If finding financing is a problem, either because you don’t have enough credit or equity, or there are other problems, take the time to look into the resources that are available in your community. There are a wide variety of grants and loans (including microloans) for entrepreneurs, if you know where to look.

Some great resources will be:
-The Small Business Administration
-Local Small Business Development Centers
-Women’s Organizations
-Local University or Community College
-Chamber of Commerce
-SCORE (The Association for Retired Executives)
-Nonprofit organizations that work on economic development in your area

Use other successful business models as a guide. When you’re getting started, look around. What businesses are successful? Why? What is it they’re doing that is working? What attributes do you admire, and why? You stand a better chance of succeeding if you’re modeling someone who is already successful.

Find a mentor. Most entrepreneurs have great skills and abilities, but no one does everything well. You probably already know what your strengths and weaknesses are. (If not, there are many resources and tools that can help you figure it out!) Rather than ignoring your weaknesses, find a mentor who can help you either build your skills in your weaker areas, or offer advice for getting what you need.

If you take the time to plan to succeed, you could be creating a legacy that will be enjoyed by future generations, and that other entrepreneurs will look at as a model for building their own businesses.

The Travails Of The Pros And Cons Of A Small Business Credit Card

For small business credit card getting a sense out of a deal is, in some instances, the most difficult thing to do. This is because most people could not instantly figure out the benefits they can derive from obtaining it.

Take for example the case of small business credit card. Some people contend that business credit cards are crucial in the growth of a business, while other s contend that it is just one way of losing their investments.

But whatever the point there is, only one this is certain, it is still a credit card and just like any financial decisions, extensive consideration is a must.

So, for those who want to know whether getting a small business credit card will be good for their company, here are some of the pros and cons to be considered first.

PROS

1. It is efficient and provides management on the companys financial charges.

With the small business credit card, most entrepreneurs can manipulate their costs and payments through separate charges consolidation. This means that the company will only have one billing statement with details on the employees expenses instead of having various statements and invoices.

2. small business credit card provide their clients with the opportunity to curb overspending in their employees.

Because the business owners are given the right to preset the credit limit of their employees, they are able to impede any probable overspending of their employees instead. This, in turn, poses great discipline among the people.

The statements that go to the manager or to the financial administrator are in full details of all the financial transactions incurred at a specific time. Hence, the company can track down the kind of spending habits of their employees.

CONS

1. It is still a credit card.

This means that even if it is a companys property, employees will still have the tendency to over spend or splurge into more cashless shopping. This can be very risky especially to business management who is primarily the one responsible for the accounts.

2. Any errors or faults can damage credit ratings.

If credit history is very important to common individuals, it has a greater impact on businesses. So, if something goes wrong with their business credit card, the effect is mostly imposed on the business rather on the employee.

So, whats the bottom line here? As compared to other types of credit, it is always best to monitor the spending habits. Credit cards can really be feasible where it serve its purpose, but can also do more harm than good if misused and taken for granted.

Small businesses have special needs, especially in comparison to larger, more established companies. The term “small business” often really refers to “new business”, in that many small businesses that have been around for a while are as large as they are likely to ever become simply because of the type of business they are. Some small businesses, however, are destined to become large businesses. These companies in particular need to weigh the considerations of their unique situation when purchasing a business phone system. Knowing one’s options when it comes to business phones can save a substantial amount of money and time.

If a company is in a physical location that will be able to meet it’s needs for many years to come and their number of employees is well into the double digit range, they may wish to go with a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system. PBX systems offer increased expansion capabilities and can come with more available features for the end user. Installation expenses for PBX systems can be extremely high, however, and should be factored in any organization’s business phone system budget.

The alternative would be to use a Key System. Key Systems are cheaper and require less in the way of installation expense. Still, they are only expandable to provide service to thirty or forty terminals. For businesses that will eventually require more handsets than Key Systems are capable of supporting, replacement with a PBX system would be inevitable.

The worst case scenario would be for a business to buy a phone system that barely meets it’s current needs only to find that it will have to be replaced soon after. Properly planning for growth will help any business end up with a phone system that can expand with it’s expansion and allow the most value for the overall investment. Like any business investment, phone systems do not last forever, so it is often unnecessary to purchase the very best (and most expensive) system on the market. Still, it does pay to purchase a business phone system that is certain to meet your company’s needs, both now and well into the future.