Friday, June 26, 2009

Building & Maintaining a Positive Business Image

It is uncommon for a micro-business to choose speed, selection or low price as its competitive advantage. One of the great advantages that a small business can offer its customers is the all-important personal contact, genuine customer care, and trusting relationship. What, exactly, does this concept entail? Customer focus, knowledge, effectiveness and follow-up are key.
· You have no business without your customers; always remember that they are your core purpose
· Never indicate that customer questions, change-orders or problems are an inconvenience. Your job is to solve their problems; that’s how you make money
· Be forthright with your customers; be proactive when there is a problem in order to garner their co-operation and patience. Nasty surprises just inflate a bad situation
· Know your industry, competitors, products and customers. Customers expect you to be the expert
· Invest in yourself with professional development; customers are willing to pay for expertise when they know it is legitimate
· Ensure staff has the same knowledge, customer service commitment and authority to satisfy customers as you do. Empowering staff makes them more productive and engaged
· Systemize your operations so that you can confidently and accurately quote prices, processes, delivery dates, warrantees/guarantees etc. Errors and hesitation undermine customer confidence
· Look polished; chaos may go on behind the scenes but your customers should never see it
· The last 1% is important; it’s the details that separate the rookies from the pros
· Show you care about your community, not just your business; donate to local charities or become involved in community events.
A great quality product will only get you part way to a positive image. The way you interact with your clients and your service delivery are the key to your positive image. Your personal integrity becomes the reputation of your company. Follow the tips above ensuring you business builds and maintains a positive image.

Strategic Allicances Create Early Growth

A “strategic alliance” is an agreement between two or more companies to conduct a certain aspect of business in a mutually beneficial way. Successful strategic alliances can help small businesses to increase the size of their product/service offering, extend their market reach, improve productivity or create that crucial competitive advantage. Ultimately, this means opportunity for faster-paced launch and earlier growth, without a burden of added capital or operating costs.

Like any business model, a strategic alliance needs research and careful planning. A successful alliance needs to fit your own business profile. Here are some key considerations:

· Create a list of desired partner attributes
· Source out potential partners with a compatible vision and similar goals
· Choose a partner who is focused and well-established
· Choose a partner with a compatible brand/reputation
· If competing in the same market, consider the affect on your market position
· Consider future directions and whether they merge or diverge
· Determine the timing – one time project or long-term relationship?
· Create a contract, including precise expectations you have established together and clear terms of payment
· Create a systematic communication method
· Create a clear exit strategy
· Put everything in writing

Finally, not only will you need to seek out a desirable partner, but you need to be a desirable partner to someone else. This has to be “win-win”, not “how can you help me?” Your own business will need to be in tip top shape with an up-to-date business plan, established procedures, a good track record with clients, professional branding and reputation, and a robust marketing strategy. If these foundations are in place, you may find other companies are seeking you out as a strategic partner. The Brampton Enterprise Centre has a plethora of resources to support you as you prepare to develop a strategic alliance.

25 Killer Websites & Web Services for Business

25 Killer Websites & Web Services for Business

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Monday, June 15, 2009

Time Management Tips & Resources

I was doing some research for a client on time management tips, and thought this would be great to share. I focussed on business tips of course, but there were tons of sites for home/kids/life in general time management, which might also help. (The lines between personal and business cross often when you are a small business owner!)

You DO have time to read them, since I pared them down for you. And there is no better time than the beginning of Canada's short summer to squeak out a few more hours in your week!


http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/timemanagement/a/timemgttips.htm
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_HTE.htm
http://www.getmoredone.com/tips.html
http://www.time-management-guide.com/
http://www.time-management-guide.com/time-management-tips.html
http://www.jimestill.com/2009/05/toilet-paper-entrepreneur-and-time.html
http://ineedmoretime.com/time_management.htm



Books:
Time management from the Inside Out, By Julie Morgenstern
The 25 Best Time Management Tools & Techniques, By Pamela Dodd, Doug Sundheim


Hope these resources help!