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Member You - Burn Prevention for Entrepreneurs
While many business professionals understand the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle as it pertains to process improvement, the model doesn’t work particularly well for dealing with changes in individual or organizational behaviors. However, an alternative model based on Gestalt psychology can be very useful, and consists of four major phases.1. Awareness – Significant change is unlikely to occur if the entity is not aware of the need for change, which is why feedback mechanisms are necessary. Individual performance appraisals, customer satisfaction surveys, and reviews of organizational & process performance metrics are intended to provide opportunities to raise awareness. Unfortunately it’s often only when the individual or organization “hits the wall” that they really become aware of the need for change.2. Willingness – While awareness provides the opportunity, without willingness to
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Inste
DVD vending machines are just one of the many types of unusual vending machines making their way over from Japan. In Japan, many products are available from vending machines. You can even go to a fully-automated grocery stores in Japan (a basket travels up and down the selection walls, gathering the selected items, even putting heavier objects on the bottom so as not to crush your bread!) As America warms to the idea of unusual items in vending machines, DVD vending machines are the next big thing. You can also get CD vending machines, or machines that vend both.These machines stock a number of DVDs in columns with a clear glass or Plexiglas front, so customers can see what is available. They are “browse-able” just like a rotating book display shelf system. The customer presses a button, the racks rotate, and they can see all the DVDs available. They choose the DVD, put in their money, and t
Contracts
You neglected to get one of your clients to sign a contract. Oh, you sent it to them alright. They just didn't sign it. You just didn't say anything. How can you correct this mistake? Well, the good news is, since you are not in a contractual relationship, you can present the contract to the client again. This time don't just let the subject slide. Ask the client to review the contract and request it back by a certain date. If the deadline comes and goes; talk to the client and try to get to the heart of the issue. Are they concerned about committing to a long-term contract? Perhaps you can offer a shorter trial period. Is there particular wording in the contract that concerns the client? This, too, may be negotiable.
Pricing
Ever quoted someone a price that you wanted to take back the second you heard yourself say it? Classic rookie error. This may be a slight problem with short-term projects or small quantity purchases. For ongoing projects, the financial repurcussions can be quite unsettling. How can you prevent yourself from making such a commitment in the future? Is there anyway to rectify the situation now?
It is important to periodically reassess the pricing of your products or services. Check out the rates of the competition, carefully assess the time and materials that you use for each product, or the value of your services. You must now decide whether to raise your pricing, and if so, when? And for who? While it always seems like plain old common sense to raise our prices for new clients, it is much more difficult to raise rates for current clients. This is definitely one of the reasons that the business plan and marketing plan come in so handy before we've stepped into the muck. Nevertheless, the new year, or the client's anniversary, are appropriate times to approach the subject.
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Instea
Another way to network is by using an 800 number and establishing a network of experts to refer your clients/customers to. An 800 number provides a way for your customers to reach you. You can answer information needs, resolve problems and obtain information from your customers. You will of course need to publicize your 800 number in your promotional materials, and advertisements. The best way to get the most out of your 800 number is to have a definitive plan on how you will employ it. Will you have prospects call to find out more about your products/services? Will you provide information when they call and then follow-up with printed materials, or will you direct them to a source? After you have decided what you want the 800 number to do, put yourself in your customer's place, and be sure you are meeting all their needs. Ask yourself, if you knew nothing about what you were selling, would
Contracts
You neglected to get one of your clients to sign a contract. Oh, you sent it to them alright. They just didn't sign it. You just didn't say anything. How can you correct this mistake? Well, the good news is, since you are not in a contractual relationship, you can present the contract to the client again. This time don't just let the subject slide. Ask the client to review the contract and request it back by a certain date. If the deadline comes and goes; talk to the client and try to get to the heart of the issue. Are they concerned about committing to a long-term contract? Perhaps you can offer a shorter trial period. Is there particular wording in the contract that concerns the client? This, too, may be negotiable.
Pricing
Ever quoted someone a price that you wanted to take back the second you heard yourself say it? Classic rookie error. This may be a slight problem with short-term projects or small quantity purchases. For ongoing projects, the financial repurcussions can be quite unsettling. How can you prevent yourself from making such a commitment in the future? Is there anyway to rectify the situation now?
It is important to periodically reassess the pricing of your products or services. Check out the rates of the competition, carefully assess the time and materials that you use for each product, or the value of your services. You must now decide whether to raise your pricing, and if so, when? And for who? While it always seems like plain old common sense to raise our prices for new clients, it is much more difficult to raise rates for current clients. This is definitely one of the reasons that the business plan and marketing plan come in so handy before we've stepped into the muck. Nevertheless, the new year, or the client's anniversary, are appropriate times to approach the subject.
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Inste
Beginning an internet business can seem like climbing Mt Everest in tennis shoes to some of us. You have to make a lot of decisions as to what you are going to market, who you are going to market to, how you are going to market your product and/or services, how much you are going to charge, etc. As the old saying goes, “A journey begins with the first step”, so does starting your business begin with your first stepUsually, there are basically two types of people that want to start a business, planners and the action personalities. The planners will create all types of plans forever, but will be hesitant to take the first action step. Why? Usually it is due to a fear of failure of their plans.The action personality wants to start the business today and to heck with the planning, “Let’s just get this business going”. This person may succeed over time, but they most likely will spend
Pricing
Ever quoted someone a price that you wanted to take back the second you heard yourself say it? Classic rookie error. This may be a slight problem with short-term projects or small quantity purchases. For ongoing projects, the financial repurcussions can be quite unsettling. How can you prevent yourself from making such a commitment in the future? Is there anyway to rectify the situation now?
It is important to periodically reassess the pricing of your products or services. Check out the rates of the competition, carefully assess the time and materials that you use for each product, or the value of your services. You must now decide whether to raise your pricing, and if so, when? And for who? While it always seems like plain old common sense to raise our prices for new clients, it is much more difficult to raise rates for current clients. This is definitely one of the reasons that the business plan and marketing plan come in so handy before we've stepped into the muck. Nevertheless, the new year, or the client's anniversary, are appropriate times to approach the subject.
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Inste
Most corporations of any size and scale have large investments in the land and facilities necessary for the successful operation of their business. While making corporate investments into real estate assets may seem to be a reasonable strategy at first glance, they are rarely investment or capital driven decisions, but rather operating decisions that in retrospect usually fail to maximize the leverage and value of their land and facilities beyond what is typically provided for within traditional ownership and financing structures.When an operating business finds itself in need of low cost capital their corporate real estate assets should be evaluated as a source of readily accessible quality capital. While a number of financially engineered solutions are available to maximize corporate real estate assets the most commonly used structures center around Sale Leaseback transactions. Sale Leaseba
It is important to periodically reassess the pricing of your products or services. Check out the rates of the competition, carefully assess the time and materials that you use for each product, or the value of your services. You must now decide whether to raise your pricing, and if so, when? And for who? While it always seems like plain old common sense to raise our prices for new clients, it is much more difficult to raise rates for current clients. This is definitely one of the reasons that the business plan and marketing plan come in so handy before we've stepped into the muck. Nevertheless, the new year, or the client's anniversary, are appropriate times to approach the subject.
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Inste
Where I grew up, there was a little window next to the sidewalk in a New England style brick building, where you could peer inside and watch tailors hand-stitching mink coats.If you just stood there, sooner or later, an amazing thing happened.One of the tailors would smile at you, slide the window open, and hand you a scrap of mink, about six inches long and two inches wide.“Here, here,” he’d say with a big grin. “Take it!” and then he’d chuckle his way back to the workbench.I’m sure some kids didn’t know what to do with them but with a dozen of these scraps your mother could stitch a very cool Davy Crockett hat for you, or with just one, you could scare your friends by wiggling it like a captured skunk.What I didn’t appreciate at the time is how clever this was as a customer service investment. Every kid had a mom who was destined to ask where he got the mink, and
Word of advice - don't just send a higher invoice with a sticky note, "Prices went up. Must eat. Thanks!" Instead, inform your clients ahead of time through a letter or phone call that your prices must be adjusted, due to cost of living, etc.
We've already established the importance of learning from rookie mistakes, as a business owners. But, how can you prevent getting burned in the first place? An important element of developing your business plan is checking out your competition. This helps you determine how to make your organization stand out among its competitors. As you learn about these organizations, or even talk with them, you will discover policies and procedures that they have developed. This knowledge should spark questions about the policies and procedures that you plan to implement. Networking with other business owners, both in and out of your industry, is also a wonderful source of information. Many business owners are happy to share their learning experiences and advice. Consider some of the areas you'll want to give special attention.
Payment Policy
Spell out your payment terms clearly. Many businesses post this information on their website, or in a prominent place in their stores, so that it is easily accessible to both current and potential clients. When negotiating a contract with a new client your fees, services or products, and terms of payment should be carefully detailed. Be sure to include the consequences of non-payment. While we'd like to think that everyone will pay, and pay on time, this is not always the case. It is important to cover this issue, regardless of how reliable the client has been in the past.
Some of the issues covered in your payment policy should include forms of payment accepted; due dates; late fees; returned check fees; at what point a client is considered deliquent and at what point the client's services will be terminated for non-payment.
Establish Boundaries
Decide what hours and days you plan to operate - ahead of time. As small business owners, particularly in the service sector, there will always be times when
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