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Posts tagged business decisions
How’s Small Business Doing?
May 7th
Is small business growing?
The headlines are everywhere touting that small business owners are optimistic about growth. However, when you really read the small print, the outlook is anything but promising.
In April companies who answered one survey were almost equal in who added positions and who decreased positions, with 53% of businesses staying the same. That makes growth pretty much a wash for April.
The Wall Street Journals outlook was pretty much the same. In almost every area where they saw an increase, there was an offsetting decrease in a similar index.
One good sign was “The percent[age] of owners reporting positive sales More >
Watch Out For “Hidden” Charges
Apr 14th
Watch out for fees. They could wring your dry of profits.
Ignorance Isn’t BlissRecently I started selling some items on eBay. This was not a business venture, just trying to clear out some items that we no longer need that others might find useful. I had taken a class on eBay selling and the guy who taught it made is sound like it was easy money in the bank. He did mention the fees, but it didn’t really sink in until I started selling for myself.
I didn’t really realize how many fees there are involved in making a sale. There are More >
An Old Dream
Apr 12th
When I was younger, I always dreamed of owning my own store. One week it would be a grocery store, like my dad. The next it was a flower store, because I loved flowers. Another day it would be a shop filled with all kinds of decorative boxes, because I loved boxes. I came pretty close to opening a greenhouse once. Even now I find myself, from time to time, thinking about the kind of store I would open, if I did open a brick and mortar store.
I love wicker and wood, so if I had a store it would More >
Glad I Did A Pilot Program
Mar 13th
If you give too much information too fast, it just confuses your participants.
I’m really glad I didn’t just try to launch my business to the general public without testing it first. I’m finding it extremely helpful to get feedback. Everything has been pretty positive, but just doing the class has taught me a couple of things.
One, I know a lot of stuff that most people don’t about living a healthy lifestyle. I found that the people in the class were aware of some of the toxins in foods, personal care, and cleaning products, but not nearly as aware as I More >
Bankruptcy Misconceptions
Jan 19th
Do you feel the hammer hanging over the head of your business' financial security?
There are so many misconceptions about bankruptcy that I thought it might be helpful to highlight a few. There were massive changes to the bankruptcy law back in 2005. Some people even came out of it believing that if you hadn’t filed by 2005 you never could! That’s how mixed up everything got.
I’m just going to highlight a few of the more common misperception here.
First, your house, car, and boat are not exempt from paying off the loan if they are listed in your bankruptcy filing. You’ll More >
Preparing To Be CRM Savvy
Dec 26th
OK, we’re at the starting gate. My husband and I are just finishing up getting all our piles of papers entered into the computer, so that we can manage tasks and information. As we settle in to complete our business plan, we’ll be looking at Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications.
One thing we’ve always had a hard time with was keeping track of our clients/students. After you reach a certain number, which was around 100 for us, you just lose the ability to keep track of who you’ve done what with. So, instead of trying to figure out a way to More >
The True Dollar Signs of Business
Dec 23rd
Just remember we're all one big, happy family!
During the holidays many businesses go crazy promoting buying their stuff. I have been getting at least one email a day from several companies trying to get me to buy something from them this holiday season.
Here in the west it seems that the holidays have turned into a buying frenzy with everyone, especially children, coming up with more and more elaborate and expensive gifts they expect to receive.
The true dollar signs for businesses are in repeat customers. I received some great words of wisdom from my sister recently. She’s been extremely successful in More >
My Own Biz
Dec 19th
Guest post written by my buddy Aldo Mays
I love having my own business and I really love working with food. People are my second passion so having this coffee shop is just the best thing you can ever imagine, you know? I get to spend all day talking with people about what excites them and what kind of food they eat and I also get to be really creative when it comes to making things in the kitchen and coming up with new menu items. There’s a lot of back of the house stuff, too, like going to smallbusiness.xo to look More >
Inspiring Others Through Training
Dec 9th
For most companies the bottom line is all that they care about, but that is not always true with Avnish Goyal. He was working in several other venues when he visited some relatives. He was inspired by the elder care business they had flourishing and decided to return home and start his own. That’s when he started the Hallmark chain of elder care facilities in the UK.
He now owns 17 facilities throughout the UK. According to an article in the Independent online edition (April 23, 2006) Avnish Goyal decided not to put his business up on the stock exchange, because he More >
Putting The Public Back In Public Relations
Dec 2nd
A good ad agency will make your brand newsworthy.
One thing that I’ve found extremely frustrating is how so many companies, both big and small, seem to think that the consumer is no longer important. For a short time after the economic downturn I was greeted, at almost every store I visited, with a hearty hello, and thank you for your business. That was very short-lived. Now it’s back to being ignored at the checkout counter, being talked down to by management, and having your complaints filed in the circular file.
A company’s first impression is just as important as an individual’s. More >