When starting a business an early consideration should be what business account to go for. The market is currently saturated with so many different options, making the decision quite arduous and sometimes baffling. Ensuring you choose the right account that will suit your business is essential as the wrong account may harm your finances. Anything that may restrict your business opportunities in the early stages of operation should be avoided at all costs.
It may be tempting as well as far simpler just to open a business account with the bank that already conducts your personal finances. If you do this however you may be missing out on better deals available on the market that offer much more than your existing bank. Also it is rarely a good idea to let one bank to control all of your finances, diversity on who performs your financial transactions can be extremely worthwhile.
Basically you need an account with an efficient payment system. As the control of your cash flow transparency and ease of use should be a major concern. Most basic accounts will provide a chequebook and paying-in book. With these simple methods keeping track of financial transactions is made simple, although there are other options that may make transactions for your business more efficient and less time consuming.
Electronic forms of transaction should be a factor in your choice of business account. The use of direct debit systems as well as standing orders helps with constant payments, such as rent for your premises and heating and lighting bills. As these are often paid regularly, having an account that allows for these to be paid automatically means you will never fall behind with payments and also means you can devote more time to your business needs.
Naturally charges and interest should be a facet in your choice of business account. Generally the more transactions you make the higher the charges will be. When meeting with the bank, do not be afraid of negotiating, it is often possible to receive a better tariff than the one printed in the accompanying literature.
If you believe most of your financial transactions will be conducted electronically, try and find an account package that either performs these tasks free or at low cost; the same can be said if you think most of your transactions will performed manually.
Most modern accounts possess an element of online and phone banking. This ease of access can be vital to the success of your business. For the efficiency of your financial transactions at least one of these elements should be present in your account package.
The majority of banks provide some form of business advice to their customers. Ideally a personal advisor with a direct line will be present but unfortunately is not always the case. A small advice team or a telephone helpline is usually present that can offer limited advice on all manner of business issues.
When considering which bank to open an account with, the advice facilities they offer should be considered. Whether this is the hours they are open, the knowledge they possess about your field of commerce or even if the staff are friendly and informative should all be a factor in your decision.
Shopping around is a vital constituent of picking the right account for your business. It takes careful consideration to find a bank that will support you in the right ways and help your business to succeed. After all the success is your main concern, if the bank you choose cannot help you in that respect, it will not be worth employing their services.
Financial expert Thomas Pretty looks into the considerations that must be made when selecting a business account. To find out more please visit http://www.lloydstsbbusiness.com/
Apr 10
13
Whether you are picking out office furniture for your personal use or designing an office for a group of employees, it is an important task. The furniture you decide on will set the tone of the office for your employees, customers and other guests. It is important to choose a style that is neutral; not overly feminine or masculine. Neutral colors are also a good idea, as bold colors tend to have different effects on people. Comfort is important, but you also want to portray an atmosphere of professionalism, so not too comfortable.
The desk is the focal point of any office, no matter how large or small, and it will set the style for the rest of the office furniture. It is what makes an office an office and an appropriate workspace. The type of work being done will help determine the type of desk that is needed. If you or your employee will be making phone calls and typing on a computer the whole time, a large desk is not necessary. However, if the job is interior design or something else that would require space, a drafting table or a large flat desk is more appropriate.
As mentioned before, you do want your office furniture to be comfortable just not so comfortable that you or your employees don’t get anything done. Somewhere between a metal folding chair and an overstuffed recliner there is a happy medium for an appropriate desk chair. There are many physical problems associated with sitting in one position most of the day, at a desk for example. A good desk chair should be able to adjust in height and lumbar support to help avoid back problems and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Depending again on the type of work that is going to be done, there may be use for shelves in your office. If that is the case, you have a myriad of options to choose from. Most office furniture retailers sell book shelves that match their desks and they are often sold as a set. If you have volumes of books you intend to keep on hand, you will need several sturdy book shelves. However, if your shelves will only serve to hold up a few family photos and to complement your other office furniture, you can go with shelves that mount directly to the wall to save some floor space. Somewhere in the same category as book shelves are filing cabinets. You may or may not have use for them, but they can also serve as a perfect spot for a printer, lamp or just a plant.
Once you have established the main pieces of office furniture you are going to use, you can go on to pick out the smaller details of the office. Lighting is important, and depending on where your office is located it may already have adequate lighting, or it may not. Home offices especially are difficult to get properly lit. It is hard to stay focused on your work when the soft pink glow of the 50 watt light bulb next to you is lulling you to sleep. Several lamps and lights throughout the office can allow you to adjust the amount of light you feel you need. Other accessories like picture frames and desk plants will come with time. You’ve mastered one of the important parts of a creating a conducive office environment, the furniture.
Stewart Baker writes for ModernOfficeFurniture.com Modern Office Furniture offers a wide selection of business furniture perfect for the office space. They also have a huge selection of entertainment center furniture and home office furniture. Call 800-443-5117 or visit their site to order.
Every small business owner and manager needs to know this number. You need to place an annual or lifetime value on each customer who buys your product or service. Here is an example of what I am talking about:
Some years ago a burger restaurant placed a $100 coupon ad in a newspaper for whom I worked. One ad: two offers. Cents off on a hamburger or cents off on a milk shake. Or both.
A few days after the coupon ad ran, the sales rep stopped by the restaurant to check results. The burger meister was not happy! Only 17 hamburgers and 18 milk shakes were sold off the coupon, a total of 35 returns.
The burger meister often worked his own counter so we knew that he had a good handle on the daily flow of his business. We asked how many NEW customers came in from the 35 returns. His guesstimate was 20.
In our ensuing discussion, the burger meister shared that his average customer spent $6 per visit and returned to his burger haven approximately once a month.
Using his numbers, this means that if the food and service meet the expectations of each customer, the meister could expect 240 visits from the 20 new customers in the coming 12 months.
240 visits x $6 average ticket equal $1,140 of incremental revenue in play. $1,140 is a very decent return on a $100 investment!
And that is assuming that each of these new customers come in alone and that they do not tell anyone else how great the burgers and milkshakes are at the meisters!
Over-simplified? Perhaps, but this true-life example deals with two of the keys to making a small business grow and thrive:
1. Knowing what your customer is really worth.
2. Making sure you DELIVER on your value promise
each and every time the customer crosses your
threshold.
Lifetime customer values are frankly best suited for larger tickets– vehicles as an example. Let us surmise that the average vehicle owner from age 35 to 59 buys a different vehicle every 4 years. In 24 years that equates to six vehicles –a conservative number for sure! Use your own numbers and assumptions.
Let us further assume that this average customer buys both new and used vehicles equating to an average ticket of $20,000. Another conservative number!
The lifetime value of the customer in this example is $120,000. That is what the real sales pros see when a prospect walks through the front door of the dealership: $120,000 in 2-foot high red letters blinking off and on above the head of the prospect!
Too often small business owners measure only the immediate sale from a given ad or promotion. That is short sighted. It is the lifetime value of each customer that is important.
The real value underscores the crucial importance of over-the-top- service and consistency in your customer dealings. These are the two key elements that will allow you to leave your competition in the dust, even the Zillion Dollar Goliaths!
Bob Schumacher books and articles give entrepreneurs a clear coffee-shop English perspective on how to steer their business or profession into the top 20% who achieve 80% of the business and profits. Visit http://www.20do80.com for a complete directory of his articles and books.
Confusing a customer is an absolute no-no in all businesses but especially in a SMALL establishment. If a small business flunks consistency and service, they will rely on advertising to constantly attract NEW customers.
Most people do not automatically return (at least not soon) to any business that treats them indifferently or delivers inconsistent quality or service.
The big boxes can buy a customer back with their constant barrage of price-oriented pre-printed circulars. Small businesses, on the other hand, cannot afford to squander their precious ad dollars on price-oriented ads.
Your small business may never get a second chance to make a first impression. Trite but painfully true.
Consistency and service lead the list of what consumers today crave . . . and are willing to pay to get.
A friend says, Go eat at Club 25. We got a terrific steak there Tuesday night and enjoyed the experience. You go to Club 25 on Friday night. The steak is like shoe leather and the waiter is rude. Do you go back? Nope. No consistency.
Tuscany, Ltd. is an upscale Italian restaurant with a reputation for to-die-for food along with impeccable service. The owner always seems to be hovering about and making small talk with patrons. The last thing you ever remember about eating at Tuscany is the price you paid.
It does not matter if you have a party of six or just you and your spouse – if you eat there twice a week or once every other month – the food, the service, the ambience are consistently great.
Delivering consistency in any business never just happens. You have to work at it. When you spot something that is not consistent with the unique selling position of your company, change it or get rid of it.
Every small business owner must practice M.B.W.A. -management by walking around. Offer praise when it is deserved, advice when it is needed . . . make adjustments, tweak, diddle . . . do whatever you need to do to insure that you deliver consistency and service every time to every customer who crosses your threshold.
Never, ever think that you can run your business on automatic pilot. Treating a customer as a mere number equates to severe customer turnover which in turn equates to advertising that rarely produces results unless you cut your prices beyond resistible.
That formula has headed-for-disaster written all over it.
Your Unique Selling Position has to be
-Clearly identified
-Understood by employees and customers
-Implemented by everyone in your organization
-Stated often and delivered upon every time
In his best selling book, The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber says: While the business must look orderly, it is not sufficient; the business must also act orderly. It must do things in a predictable, uniform way.
I would add to this statement: consistent with their stated unique selling position. As important as consistency is, you must be certain that the consistency in your business is coordinated with what you say you want it to be and what your customers perceive it to be.
Bob Schumacher books and articles give entrepreneurs a clear coffee-shop English perspective on how to steer their business or profession into the top 20% who achieve 80% of the business and profits. Visit http://www.20do80.com for a complete directory of his articles and books.
Countless numbers of people are currently looking for a way to start a home-based business. Many programs claim that they can make you thousands of dollars a month simply by clicking your mouse or by putting forth very little effort. So what is someone supposed to do when it comes to making that all-important decision of starting a home business? How can you get a firm grasp on what is a real opportunity and what is nothing more than a home business scam?
The answer can be very simple if you take into consideration this simple five-step formula when you’re looking for a home business to start. If you can honestly answer “yes” to each of these questions you’ve more than likely found a great start to a home based business opportunity.
1. Are there currently other people making money doing the thing you are considering? While you might think that this is a little counterintuitive at first, consider for a moment a home business where no one else is promoting it. If no one is promoting the business, chances are there isn’t a lot of money to be made in that home business. You’re better off finding an opportunity that has some competition.
2. If there are other people promoting this home business, are there others actually making a lot of money at it? A program might be well-promoted but this doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s money to be made in that industry. Search around in your favorite search engine, visit forums and ask questions about the opportunity and get some real answers from real people who are making the real money.
3. Is this home business a long-term opportunity or is it something that is playing on the hype of something current? You’ll want to be sure that the opportunity is something that can make you an income for a long time to come. You don’t want to get involved in something that disappears overnight.
4. Does the home business you’re considering offer a chance to produce income that occurs automatically? There’s no doubt that you will need to work hard to get your home business off of the ground, but you don’t want to have to work 60 hours a week for years on end before you see a residual income. Be sure that the opportunity your considering can get you moving quickly and allows your income to grow while you end up working less as time goes on.
5. Is the business easy to start up? If the business requires that you have a certain set of skills such as website design or online marketing skills that you don’t currently have, or if it will take a long time to get the business set up, it’s best to pass on that business and look elsewhere.
A home business is a dream that many people currently have. But it’s not a decision to be made lightly. Be sure you cover all of your bases, check out each potential opportunity first before investing, and then once you find that perfect home business, be sure you’re able to invest the time needed to get it up and running.
Kristine Wirth runs http://ConnectingWAHMs.com, a website dedicated to helping work at home Moms and Dads run successful businesses in Network Marketing, Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing with free tips, advice and more.
Not all home based business are profitable. Many of those who tried setting up a home based business found themselves at a loss and ended up closing down.
Engaging in a profitable home business requires skills and a lot of patience, not to mention funds that can be used as capital. However, if you do you homework and invest enough time, effort and capital into your business, chances are you will reap some profits a few months after.
What can be considered profitable home business? Depending on you skills and present circumstances, you can always find a profitable home business that is suited for you. They key to finding this business is to take an inventory of what you have in terms of skills and resources. After conducting your inventory of what you have, study you target market. You might ask, what is a target market? Despite the somewhat intimidating term, target market simply mean the people whom you think will buy the goods or services you want to offer. So your task is identify these people who will serve as your potential customers and find out their buying habits.
Why do you need to know their buying habits? You are selling goods and services right? If you are selling or offering something, you should have a working knowledge as to how much and how often your target will buy such goods or services you will offer. For instance, if you are offering gardening services, you should be able to identify people who have gardens, what plants they want to have in their gardens and at what time of the year can you expect to sell your services to them.
After identifying your target market, identify your competitors. Your competitors could be your gauge as to how profitable the industry is. If there are many competitors who are doing really well in their business, you can safely say that this is a profitable home business. Usually, where most of your competitors are doing really well, this is an indication that there is still some room for you to start a business of the same nature.
What about the pricing of good of services, how does one go about it? The price of your goods and services play a big role in the success of your business. In order to have profitable home business, you should know the price which your target market is willing to pay for your goods and services. Again, you gauge for your prices could be your competitors. Find out how much your competitors are changing their customers and compare their prices. If you are new and relatively unknown, it would be a good idea to peg your prices lower than those of the established businesses. People love good services but they also like to pay less for it so if you want to get into the boat of a profitable home business, start will lower prices.
Enrique Villalobos is the owner of MakingExtraMoneyAtHome.com, which provides free articles and resources about working from home. Visit it now and download the ebooks “Dotcomology: The Science of Making Money Online” and “Easy Automated Income” for FREE.
This article is a guide to how to make a website when you are starting a business. It isn’t a ‘how to program guide’. It’s aimed at Entrepreneurs who want to run a business that has a website.
The world and its dog have a website and so should you. A well designed web site will sell your products and services for you and give you access to global markets. The internet has made the world a very small place. It is a very powerful tool that when used correctly will drive customers to your door. Before you leap in and choose a color scheme and a nice font you need to plan.
What do they say – ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail’? If you plan things out you will get a better result and you will be able to ensure that you get what you want so let’s get started.
1. What are you going to sell? What are the services and products that you want customers to see? Imagine your shop window – what does it have in it? Remember – your not the web designer – how this is presented on the web is the web designers problem. Spend time thinking this out, and write it down. Come back to it and refine it.
2. How do you want to be contacted? Your website is going to generate interest among your prospective customers and they will want to know how to contact you to buy your products and services. Remember – websites are available 24-7. They don’t open at 9am and close at 5pm with an hour for lunch. Also websites are global; they are available to a worldwide audience. The telephone may not be appropriate unless you have a 24hr answering service. Think it out – you need to match your customer’s expectations.
3. Search the web – Your products and services are probably not unique. Aspects may be unique but you probably have competition, so search on the web for the services and products you are going to offer. Take a look at the sites that come out in the top positions. Are they what you expected? If not, try another search. If they are, visit a couple of sites and view their source by right clicking with your mouse, and select ‘view source’. Search in the source for the word ‘keywords’, this is called a META TAG. Look at the words in the list, as these are the words that your competition is using to be found. Make a note of them, as they may well be the words you will need too.
4. Search Keywords – Remember a Search Engine like Google is a computer program, although it’s sophisticated it isn’t human. It looks for words that match your customers search keywords. If you don’t use the words your customers use – you will not be found. Getting this right at the outset is a big boost.
5. Create Sections – When you searched for your competitors you may not have landed on their homepage. A website can and will have many pages full of content. The more relevant content a website has, the more opportunities it has to be found. Think about your products and services and how you should organize them. Split them into sections and subsections. Each section can have its own web page. This is important because each web page has its own title, description, keywords and content. Search engines like Google index pages based on there content. A good keyword rich title is a must.
6. Keyword Tool – Type ‘keyword tool’ into Google and pick a keyword suggestion tool. This will help you to find the most popular search keywords and search terms that you should be using. For each section that you created, work out a title of no more than 60 characters, and description of no more that 150 characters and a list of keywords. Note them all down.
7. Write a Requirements Document – Take all the information you have gathered above, and put it in a requirements document. You now have a document that a web designer can use to create you a great site.
Picking a domain name and color schemes, fonts and logo are very important – but they are not the place to start. Knowing how to make a website is all you need to know as an Entrepreneur, you don’t need to be technical you just need to know what you want – and you do.
Stuart Anthony Atkinson www.duprez.co.uk
Have you ever experienced people giving you more advice that you really wanted? At these times people mean well; however their bombardment of thought and ideas can be more detrimental then helpful. I experienced this recently when I left my job and career of twenty five years to do something different. I had worked as a social worker for that time span and was feeling that I needed to take a break from the emotional turmoil of dealing with other peoples issues, crisis’s and problems on a day to day basis. I hate the term burned out, but I guess that is what I was.
I wanted to do something completely different. I knew I had skills in many areas; however when you do not have the experience or education to back that up it is hard to convince a perspective employer to give you an interview. I was trying to come up with small business ideas so I could be self employed. When I mentioned this to people they either discouraged me by stating all the headaches that go with self employment, or they told me a number of small business ideas that they had considered. Although some of the advice was sound, I wanted this venture to be mine.
Through the years I have done many different crafts. Working with yarns, beads and the sewing machine was my way of working through the stress of dealing with people all day long. There have been many times when people have seen my handiwork and have told me that I could sell my creations. I had given away a great share of the things that I had made as gifts; however I had many pieces of jewelery, several quilts, multiple quilted pillows and several afghans. I had also started making knit purses as well as canvas bags. Of all the small business ideas that I had considered the idea of a craft boutique was the one that I thought was the most feasible. I thought I could have my own things displayed, have an area for consignment craft items and a line of quality gift items. I also love to bake so I thought I could sell baked items in addition to the other things.
We live in a resort area so there are many visitors that come to the area. A small town four miles from our house has several gift shops and has specialized in drawing people to the community with special shopping event through the year. I spoke with several of the business owners about my small business ideas. They thought a shop like this would be a great compliment to the existing shops. There was a space to rent that had a kitchen area that has passed state inspection where I could make the baked goods. I have decided that I am going to rent the space for six months and see what happens. If things do not go well I will not be out a great deal of money and if they take off I will extend the lease. It will be a nice change of pace.
Graham Winmill has written a series of articles about Business. Find further information on this subject at Business Advisers and Review Business Audio Books
Mar 10
25
When it comes to small business banking, this can be a confusing issue for those just starting out. Some banks will use this situation to get the most out of those customers and independent advice on small business banking is always a good idea.
One of these issues regarding the finances of small businesses is the problem of staff. Offering staff enough incentive to stay with the smaller firm and not succumb to the added bonuses and attractions of a larger corporate firm is a hurdle to be overcome.
Small business banking dictates that large salaries and perks are not possible. However, there are some things that can be done. There are schemes that are currently running where small business managers can offer their staff the chance of private healthcare plans. These are discounted to the company and also have the added advantage of reducing time employees take off work sick. This is a bonus to small business banking as no money is lost through sick employees or having to find temporary staff and pay their wages too.
While some may think this wouldn’t be enough to keep staff it has been found that eighty per cent of employees actually liked the idea of voluntary healthcare benefits. ‘Voluntary’ is always a good word to use for staff benefits as it is also widely known that employees feel happier about their jobs when they are in charge of decisions that affect themselves. In fact, a quarter of those employees polled stated the choice of healthcare benefits as a deciding factor when choosing an employer.
Staff are the most important asset to any small business and healthcare plans are just one aspect that small business banking would advise is on offer. Other choices encompass pension schemes, bonuses and gyms, depending on disposable income and numbers of staff as to whether or not it would be viable.
A choice of some benefits as well as good treatment of staff can be the deciding factor over whether or not a small business will retain staff or not and is just one of the issues they face.
Another necessary problem that small business banking advice would suggest is that of keeping an eye on your charges. If you think you have suffered unfair small business banking charges, then you must find the time to act to reclaim them and not just put up with it. Hundreds of thousands of people have done this successfully.
Despite claims for unfair personal banking charges being currently on hold, this is not the case for business banking. The difference is that business accounts are covered by Common Law rather that Consumer Law and to this end, need to be worded differently. Always make sure you keep accurate records in case you ever need to claim back unfair charges.
It also pays to direct all mail concerning overcharging to your local branch rather than head office as this will ensure that if your case makes it to court it will be a court local to you. Always make sure you read the small print before trying to claim back small business banking charges. There can be nothing worse than shouting about a discrepancy and finding you were in the wrong.
Be on the lookout for excessive charges. It is only lawful for the bank to charge a fee in relation to what the inconvenience has actually cost them. Charges over and above this are seen as penalties and are not enforceable. Go back over old statements and records and work out exactly what you are owed. Your first step should be to write to the bank and request your unfair charges back. This often has favourable consequences and can remove the need for lengthy and costly court proceedings.
Take a close look at the court action choices open to you. Listen to what the bank has to say and if you decide to proceed, inform the bank of your choice. You will often find that this is when they back down and repay your charges to avoid the bad publicity.
Above everything else, ensure you keep a close eye on your small business banking. Avoiding the charges in the first place saves a lot of time and hassle that most small businesses can ill afford.
Banking expert Catherine Harvey looks at some of the advise offered surrounding small business banking and how it can help save money.
Are you a person who has to rush to your office everyday? Are you feeling that you are now too bored with your job. If you think you deserve more than what you get now from your job, you should consider starting your own business. However, what should you do if you do not have enough capital to start the business?
Most people who want to start their own businesses are facing the same situation. They believe their talent should make them capable of running a good business. They strongly believe that they can make money out of this business. Yet they do not have the money to start it. If this is also the situation you are facing now, you may need to consider a business loan in order to start your own new life.
In fact, the above is only one of the cases you will need to consider a business loan. There are also other cases that you may need to think of the loan. For example, you may be running an existing business. You know that you can make quite a large amount of profit if you can get some inventory and sell them. Yet you do not have the cash to purchase the inventory. You will try to seek for a loan in order to get enough to purchase.
In some other cases, you may need to purchase some new equipments or machines so that you can prepare for new clients and challenges. You will probably expect that you can make more profit after you have purchased the new equipments. You will try to see if a loan can help you.
When you are seeking for a business loan, the lender, which is usually the bank, will consider various factors. One of the factors they will certainly consider is your business plan. The prime goal of the bank or lender is to make money. For this you will certainly understand that they will not invest on something that is not profitable. If they think that your project plans cannot really make profit, they will be reluctant to lend the money to you.
If you have an excellent business plan, the bank may offer you better terms. For example, you may get a lower interest rate. If your business is just a small one, the bank may also take your credit score as one of the issues to be considered. Of course a bad credit does not mean that it is impossible for you to get the loan. However, it may imply that you will need to pay more interest. And the repayment period may also be shorter in such case.
The author has great interest in finance. You can check his blog on Personal Finance. Be sure to check How to Avoid Personal Loan Mistakes and Mini Forex Trading.