3 of the 20 MUST Know Laws to Building a Successful Small Business
1. Find a Need & Fill It! (Blah, Blah, Blah!) You have heard this a million times before, but it is the core, the root, the foundation of any business. Business is about serving people’s needs. The more people you help, the greater you are rewarded. It is not about doing what you love. Although if you can accomplish both, then that’s great. But as catchy and simple as this phrase is, unfortunately there is a little more to it.
One of the biggest problems people have when starting a business is what I call “Dedication Justification“. Justifying what they want to do by concocting some need that really does not exist for their product or service. Dedicated… Continue reading
Small Businesses and Customer Relations
I have been told that I am an overly sensitive and emotional person. This is a trait in which I fully believe I inherited from my grandmother. In some cases it has been a hindrance, especially when it comes to running a simple small business. I am a people-pleaser and my feelings can be hurt very easily. However, in most cases it is that exact characteristic that helps me to genuinely care for others and have a deep desire to assist in their well-being. This has also been a key factor in the success of all of my businesses.
You are probably asking yourself right about now, “Okay, what does this have to do with running my simple small… Continue reading
Want to Know One of the Biggest Business Success Secrets? – Systems!
I own and have owned many businesses in my life. Some were failures, but many were successes. After thirty years of diligently practicing this game we call business, patterns begin to emerge. When looking back, it is easy to see what I did right and what things I did that were downright stupid. I can state without any hesitation that every successful business I wound up with were successful because eventually systems were created and implemented. Based on that, I would argue until the sun goes down that if you want your small business to really be successful you need to start creating, documenting and implementing systems.
Keep in mind I always distinguish between being self-employed and being a small… Continue reading
Are You a Business Owner on a Tread Mill?
Running to catch up, but never quite getting there.
As small business owners, we all know what it is like to lie in bed at night or get up early in the morning to add to our list of all the projects that we want or feel we need to accomplish that day. If you are an optimist you will often think, “Today is the day I get a lot of things done on my list, then I can take a day to relax”. But by the end of the day, you feel like you are further behind then when you started.
It is a common issue with small businesses owners and even CEOs of large corporations. The sad fact… Continue reading
Can Your Business Survive the Economic Slump & High Gas Prices?
For a Clue as to How to Weather the Storm, Look at Those Who Have
Almost every business feels it when the economy takes a down turn and we all hear the little voice that says, “what if ?” But taking a cue from those companies that have sailed through the Tsunamis, not just once but many times, just may hold the key to your survival.
Kimberly-Clark, Philip Morris, Walgreen’s, Kroger, Gillette, Abbot Laboratories, Wells Fargo, Pitney Bowes, Wal-Mart and Walt Disney are only a few companies that have sustained growth through good times and bad over the last fifty to more than 100 years.
- They all became and were known as the best at something.
- They all focused on… Continue reading
Review of “Four Seasons”, The Story of a Business Philosophy
Simple Small Business will, from time to time, review a business book that we think is worthy of your consideration. I think that it is only fair to warn you that I have spent most of my adult life studying business related books and I find that over time I am drawn to Biographies and Case Studies rather than non-fiction, strategic or instructional types of books. When you are first beginning the journey of entrepreneurship, instructional books are necessary because we lack a foundation of solid technical knowledge. After the framework has been developed, we will need guidance from someone with more experience. This guidance comes from actually listening to people who have done it. Understanding their struggles and… Continue reading
Focus and the Simple Small Business
I read a story about Ray Crock, the founder of McDonald’s (in the book “Focus”). Mr. Crock was with a bunch of young business college students one day when Ray asked them what business he was in. They said the hamburger business. He said “no, real estate. McDonald’s owns more valuable real estate than anyone else in America. Hamburgers were just a reason to own the real estate”.
Another question I read was how many people think that they could make a better hamburger than McDonald’s. Almost everyone raised their hand. Then, the speaker asked, then why aren’t you rich? It is because it is not about making the best burger. It is about perception, trust, speed, cost and other… Continue reading
Make Your Simple Small Business Portable with Portable Apps.
Summary: Go to the portable applications website and download their free portable apps suite plus any other programs that you may need to run your business. Stick them on a 4 or 8 gigabyte thumb-drive and run your entire business from any computer anywhere, any time. Save a ton of money and feel secure that no lost or stolen computer, computer crash or disaster will bring your simple small business to a halt.
I am a big fan of portable applications. If you are not aware of what that is, portable applications are small programs that reside entirely on your USB thumb-drive. These are the programs that you use every day on your computer like word documents, spreadsheets, graphic… Continue reading
The Simple Small Business Seed Planting Ratio
Regardless of what simple small business you are in, you MUST be a seed planter! Planting seeds is basically laying the groundwork for future business. EVERY business must do this. Most of the time the seeds that you are planting today will not bring any fruit until six months or a year from now. So you must be continuously planting seeds.
There are two common problems that simple small businesses have with seed planting. First, when you are planting seeds you are not bringing in any income to pay the bills. Cash flow is the blood that keeps a small business alive. Oftentimes, a simple business is a one or two person operation. The second problem is just the reverse… Continue reading
The Three Columns of Simple Small Business Success
My last posting I discussed the three basic pillars of simple small business success; Create the Work, Get the Work, and Do the Work. These three pillars each have three sub-columns in which you should be aware.
In the previous article I mentioned that it is imperative that you find help with two of the Basic Pillars while you focus on only the third (it does not matter which one). As your small business grows you can and should take the liberty to break each of the Pillars down into their sub-columns assigning someone different to each area. You can slowly do this as your business grows, delegating or farming out one sub-column at a time… Continue reading