Archive for August, 2010

African-American Legends profiles prominent African-Americans in the arts, in politics, the social sciences, sports, community service, and business. The program is hosted by Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., Director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a former President of Bronx Community College.

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Far too many businesses fail entirely or fail to even approach their true profit potential. This is an embarrassing fact, and one that can be changed. Personal issues are the origin of a large number of business problems. A pattern of errors and missed opportunities in the business world often corresponds to poor time management and inability to conduct finances in the business owner’s life. Exacerbating this is the fact that even many high educated ones are not aware of the foundational principles of business management. Everything coalesces to lead to the overall failure of business.

Ask yourself how, exactly, you define “success”. Are you completely sure about what constitutes the running of a business geared toward success? Consistency and quality are two aspects that are all-essential to a business; they can make or break its reputation and future, and positively or negatively impact its bottom line. Perhaps you are inconsistently doing all the right things or consistently doing all the wrong things. Consistency is definitely the key to success in business. If you focus on providing high quality services and products, the chances of business to endure and succeed increase dramatically. There are no medals for mediocrity in this game.

Plan carefully and thoroughly, and also creatively. Ensure that you consider and assess a broad range of details. Planning will set you firmly on the path to achieve success, regardless of what kind of business you are in.

Setting realistic but robust goals for both business and personal life is absolutely crucial. You will know exactly where you stand if at any point you fail because the whole journey is planned out in stages. The more carefully constructed your goals are, the greater your sense of real direction and route in your business venture. It’s easy to be sidetracked and pulled off the path to success if you don’t have goals to guide you.

Consistency is difficult to maintain. Think about this – are you currently able to provide customer service at the same standard on a regular basis? Is every product you sell of a consistent, high quality? Does your product or service reliably maintain its quality from one purchase or use to the next one?

Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to distinguish your business from the competition. A USP must convey the message that those who enter into business transactions with you are at an appreciable advantage. Your USP also needs to live up to its name: that is, it must be unique. Overused and meaningless phrases like “highest quality” or “best service” won’t cut it, so don’t be lazy and use them to describe your services. Customers will be unmoved. Concretize and quantify – there must be a specific thing your target customer wants.

Developing a great USP means never being forced to sell on price. The trick is to actually get your USP out there – you’ll be going already a step farther than many other rival businesses.
Next, push your USP marketing strategy into the market, let the world know that you’ve got what it takes and nobody else has what you’ve got. Do it over and over. There is no single opportune moment, no precisely perfect message. Your USP is the message, so let the marketing speak for your business.

You can’t afford to wait until your marketing satisfies your doubtless superior standards. Executing a decent marketing plan puts you in the field – you’ll have plenty of time and opportunities to fine-tune it. If your actual USP message is solid, you will float and maybe even fly.

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Dr. Brown is joined by director, Dave Davidson and Bordentown Graduate, Arthur Symes to discuss the documentary, “A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School.” African-American Legends profiles prominent African-Americans in the arts, in politics, the social sciences, sports, community service, and business. The program is hosted by Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., Director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a former President of Bronx Community College.

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Being self employed is the best thing that can happen in your career life because you finally get to be your own boss. You do not get to report to anyone since you are now the one calling the shots. A lot of responsibility comes with being the boss though. You have to make decisions concerning your business and your employees. It requires a lot of business management skills and wisdom to run a company or a business for that matter.

One must also have the drive and passion. You must be self motivated to achieve business growth. You should be doing what you have always wanted to do, not just doing it for somebody else. Passion is the force that will make you stay a float even when the waters get troublesome.

Self confidence and self trust is also important to have. You have to believe and know that you can make it and that you are capable of running that business successfully. Be a team player, even if you are the authority figure, there is need to ensure team work in all aspects of your business operations.

Product knowledge is very crucial if you are to ensure business growth and promotion. You are the proprietor, so you should understand the market trends, the business strategies that your competitors are using and their marketing strategies.

Attend seminars and workshops so that you can keep in touch with everything that is happening in the market place. Engage only in productive competition. No matter what happens, your aim is to ensure business promotion and making money. This is a business advice worth pondering over.

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African-American Legends profiles prominent African-Americans in the arts, in politics, the social sciences, sports, community service, and business. The program is hosted by Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr., Director of the Center for Urban Education Policy at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a former President of Bronx Community College.

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An important item to be factored in business planning is positioning. This is a very crucial element since a business that is strategically placed will contribute to the business plan working effectively. Business positioning will give your company a sure advantage when it comes to edging out competition. In case of a where business that is offering services, suppliers and customers will find it easy to access your premise thus easing business operation.

Another aspect of business planning is commitment. This involves tactical business resolutions that are not only costly to reverse but also complicated to alter. For the business resolutions to be effective, it should be very expensive for your business rivals to imitate. If this be the case, then all efforts will be put in place to make sure that the decision is implemented thus create commitment.

Business plans that work best are the ones that take into account the future events and can hence predict which business strategies will contain the business in case of any eventuality. Business managers need to give an allowance for flexibility due to the uncertainty of market trends.

Even with business decisions that require commitment to execute, it is imperative to allow your business to evolve when the need arises. This is because one cannot tell what will happen in future. Technology is changing by the minute hence a business owner requires to cushion his business by adapting to these changes.

Business planning is essential in ensuring smooth business operations; having a competitive edge and most importantly meeting the needs of your target market hence profit growth and business promotion.

What will you do?

When planning to start your own business the first thing you ask yourself is “What will I do?” Will your business be a service or will you be selling products on the internet? Finding the right business for you is crucial. Here are some steps to take when deciding what kind of business to start:

Make a list of the things you’re good at and describe how others would benefit
How are your services valuable?
Is there competition; others offering your services in the area?
Learn from the success and failures of others
Believe in what you have to offer
Consider the risk involved and plan for success

What do you need to begin?

When you decide what you want to do, the next step is to plan how to go about it. Do you possess the necessary skills to run your business? Is this something you can do by yourself or will you need to hire help?

Make a list of the items your business needs and what is required for you to be successful, including knowledge, skills, certifications, equipment and supplies.

What are the legal requirements?

You will need to be sure to meet the government requirements needed to operate your business. Go to your County Courthouse or City Hall and ask about requirements for starting your business.

The Secretary of State’s website will have information about starting a business in your state, including licenses and permits.

Business Plan

Serious entrepreneurs start with a solid business plan. Many industries require special licenses and permits. You may need liability insurance. Even if you do not require much in start up costs, you may want to see if you an secure a line of credit, just in case.

You business plan should cover anticipated income and expenses. Make sure you are competitive with the market on what you are charging for your products and services and be sure you are considering all expenses.

Start up costs

How much money do you need to start your business? Do some research on the internet; look for sample business plans. Talk to others who are in business for themselves; ask them how they got started. Maybe you can borrow start up money from friends, family or investors.

You may need to start small to build revenue and a customer base, and then think about expanding. Get to know area vendors who offer supplies and services your business needs; they may be willing to extend credit to help you get started. Eventually, you will build equity in your business which can be used to obtain a business line of credit.

Advertising

One of the worst mistakes new business owners make is thinking they will have customers immediately. Many online entrepreneurs have launched a website just to experience the disappointment of no sales for months. It is critical that you know your target market and how to reach them.

Internet marketing is the least expensive and the most effective in getting the word out. Think about who needs your product or service and develop a marketing plan with a catchy slogan to draw attention to what you are offering.

Technology

A good computer system might be valuable to improving your productivity. There is software available for many applications that can make operating your business easier. The time saved on automating certain tasks allows you to focus on marketing and improving your products and services.

The Future

Are you starting your business with the intention of selling it when you retire? Are you hoping your children will take over one day? Many business owners do not think this far. If you plan to sell the business in the future, you must build something that will be attractive to investors.

Starting and managing your business takes dedication, motivation and talent. It requires a lot of planning and research to help minimize risk and prepare you for what is ahead. Lack of planning is one of the leading cause of business failure.

Bill Bartmann has owned several businesses; he understands the rewards of entrepreneurship and the pitfalls. Bill Bartmann offers online business courses so people can develop the necessary basic business management skills to be successful. Bill Bartmann’s Billionaire Business Systems has helped thousands of entrepreneurs reach their goals by showing them how to strengthen their business even during times of economic uncertainty. Bring out the Billionaire in you; visit http://www.billionaireu.com/

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There are many attributes that are associated with business growth that may not be necessarily true. It does not mean if you have a good business plan you will succeed. There are some many uncertainties when it comes to investment which may hinder business growth. Some companies have formed merges to gain competiveness but have ended up being absorbed hence becoming mere spectators.

In the business world there are always winners and losers. Many would like to make you believe that there are secrets that determine whether your company will succeed or fail. I think we should go back to the basics where one works hard and smart to achieve success in whatever area of life.

It does not mean that businesses that were affected by the economic crunch and collapsed planned to fail, but it is sometimes difficult to predict the future. A good approach would be to put in place mechanisms that ensure such eventualities like economic crisis find you with a fall back plan. Business owners should learn from such occurrences and thus improve their business management skills.

One good business idea is diversification. Provide customers different kinds of products and services under one roof. This will guarantee you success, in that when one product fails another will boost you. A good example is how hotels offer delivery services at an extra cost to their customers. I also have begun to witness supermarkets selling motor vehicles and such like items in their premises.

Today, competition has become very stiff that innovative business owners are the ones who are making it. That is why I mentioned earlier; for you to stand a chance, you will need to work hard and smart.

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“This series is about how those in power have used Freud’s theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy.” – Adam Curtis Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The documentary describes the impact of Freud’s theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their “engineering of consent”. Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the “father of the public relations industry”. Freud’s daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, one of the main opponents of Freud’s theories. Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality. The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people’s rational …

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Look at more cost effective ways to market your business.

E-marketing is a very powerful and cost effective way to market your business.  It enables you to send out newsletters, mailshots, special offers and loyalty schemes directly to your customers via their email address at no extra cost, you save on postage and/or printing costs too. It also encourages them back to your website to see what other services you offer. The only investment is the time needed to design your promotional e-mail material it is so simple!

Invest in an on-line business management tool to help you save time and money .

Using a business management system that offers an ‘on-line diary feature’ to enable your customer’s access to book their appointments direct is a great way to reduce down the volume of calls and work generated for reception cover.   Business tools to analyse the productivity of your staff against work load and business demand is invaluable to ensure that your business is running efficiently and recruitment of staff is being spent wisely.

Ensure that your business software is not costing you in the long run in hidden costs.

Check that you are not tied into lengthy maintenance & costly technical support contracts for your business software.  There are a few companies now that offer business software on-line, saving you in set up fees, annual subscriptions, free maintenance and technical backup as well as data protection. You automatically get free upgrades to keep your software up to date and switching over could not be simpler.  You just register and pay on line and you will be up a running within hours not days.  You also have technical support via email or phone so help is at hand as and when you might need it..

Reduce your staff overheads with a virtual pa/receptionist.

Staff overheads are one of the first things that get cut in a recession.  An excellent way to compensate staff cuts but not lose on quality of service is to look at the virtual pa/receptionist option.   To ensure that you get adequate phone cover for your clinic without having to overstretch your existing resources, you can opt for a pay as you go virtual receptionist that will represent your company.  She will answer calls, take messages, book appointments and send out marketing material for mail shots, create and send out invoices, update account spreadsheets etc.  She is totally reliable and does not require holiday, sick or lunchtime cover, you simply use her as and when you need to – costing as little as £75 a month!  A fraction of the cost of a full-time pa/receptionist

Save on the cost of telephone calls

Look at reducing your phone bills every quarter by installing VoIP technology.  VoIP allows you make your phone calls over the internet at the fraction of the cost of a normal phone call saving you hundreds of pounds on your annual business phone.  It is really easy to set up and run don’t be put off by telecom technology.

Increase customer retention through improved customer care

Ask yourself not what your customer can do for you but rather what you can do for your customer.  Customers are driven by both emotional and practical needs – make sure you are satisfying both of these.  Look after them by offering customer loyalty cards – stop your clients using your competitors, and reward customers with referral schemes.  Most important listen to what they have to say about your products and services as well as your staff, ask them to complete questionnaires – there opinion is vital to your success long term.  They may even give you new ideas that you may not have considered.

Reduce your operating costs.

Look to see where you can save money on basic essentials i.e. stationery, raw materials etc source suppliers on-line  and save money or go direct to the manufacturer and cut out the middle man.  A little time spent on researching on the internet will reduce down your material and equipment costs.  You can search via brand and model number and then go to price comparison sites to get the best deal.

Understand your customers needs better.

Keep up to date with your customers, a good customer database is an invaluable investment to your business.  It allows you to share information amongst your team improving knowledge and communication as well as customer confidence in the way you implement it.   A database can identify customers needs – their likes and dislikes and will provide vital clues in helping you to cross sell other products and services you offer to increase customer spend.

Reassess your products and services.

Look at all the products and services that you offer in relation to how much you sell and how profitable they are.  At times it is necessary to eliminate treatments that are simply costing too much to operate i.e look at materials and labour costs in relation to net profit.  The products and services that are the high profit earners are the ones that you and your staff should be pushing make sure you all understand this.  Or look at your existing products and services and ways to save money on materials and time but not compromising quality of service.

In order to build a healthy online business you will need a well thought-out plan which is an essential must-do for start-up ventures. A plan forces you to set goals, determine the resources you will need to carry out your plan, and foresee problems that might otherwise broadside you.

Business plans or profiles have become a staple in the internet industry just as they are in every high-growth industry. Utilizing a plan is one of the first hurdles for any new and aspiring enterprising person.

A business profile can get you where you want to be and uses a visual model format to literally show you how to build your own firm from scratch with no prior experience. Making a profile is good practice because it will cause you to look at every aspect of business ownership and consider contingencies at every turn.

Business profiles are for both the sole proprietorship as well as for partnerships and corporations. When creating a profile include information about your product and service offerings, your ownership details and your objectives. Business profiles frequently highlight problems that have not been addressed by the entrepreneur — problems that may prevent achieving success.

Implement a business strategy as your strategy is the core of your plan. Goals should be three to five years out while objectives are things you want to accomplish in the next year. And, be sure to include a budget.

Any new enterprise will have start-up costs so make sure that you have capital set aside for your new business venture. Even internet businesses require some expense if you are to be successful.

A good logo goes a long way in establishing your identity. Use it when ordering business cards and stationery. Creating an identity is an essential task as you open your doors or “hang out your shingle.”

Create a mission statement reflecting the core purpose of your enterprise by stating the basic values and goals in a short focused sentence of no more than 20 words.

Create a marketing slogan consisting of a short, clever, even humorous translation of your mission statement that conveys a single, simple thought about your business to your customer. Include what and how you will advertise.

Research the various methods for advertising online. Include who your customers are, what niche, if any, you’ll be targeting, and who your competition is. Also include how you will compete.

Completely evaluate your competition and how your business will meet the need in a different or better manner. Identify and prioritize prospective customers, establish quotas for sales calls, identify how many sales calls you need in order to make one sale, and determine the dollar amount per sale or per customer.

There are many online tools available today that will help you discover how to implement these processes as well as help you build a viable online business. Building a healthy online business should be a straightforward process that you can move through step by step to completion.