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7 Timeless Pieces of Advice for Small Business Owners

March 28th, 2013 ::

7 pieces of advice that lead to successI have been reading a lot about what makes a businessperson successful lately, and the following pieces of advice really struck a chord with me. Of course, many different factors contribute to success, some of which you can control, and some of which you can’t.

One thing you can control is your attitude, and I think attitude plays a big role in success. Here are 7 timeless pieces of advice I always try to follow:

1 – Have a great product first

Before you have a company, you have to have a great product or service that people want. Doing market research is great, but what’s better is getting out there and talking to people. Run your idea by people you trust, potential customers, mentors, and people in the industry. Stay open to their suggestions, and make changes that will improve your product.

2 – Don’t have a back-up plan

I recently read this, though I can’t remember where, but it stuck with me. The premise is that if you have a back-up plan, you won’t go all out to achieve your goal. You’ll start making excuses for why Plan A isn’t working, and then it’s a downward spiral from there. Have one plan, and go for it.

3 – Never judge a book by its cover

CEOs, company founders, venture capitalists, millionaires, royalty, United States Senators – they look like you and I. Just because you don’t recognize the person sitting next to you doesn’t mean they’re not worth knowing. I talk to everyone, and I have met some really cool people simply by reserving judgment.

4 – Be resourceful

Learn to solve problems quickly so you can take advantage of any opportunity when it arises. I have taken on clients even though my roster was full; I simply pulled in contractors to help out.

5 – Be passionate

If you are enthusiastic and passionate about your product or company and project confidence, people will respond. I know a lot of startup founders who are bootstrapping it and making huge sacrifices to launch their company. You know what keeps them motivated? A strong belief in what they are doing.

6 – Focus on what you’re good at

There are two big mistakes any business owner can make: 1) – trying to do everything, even the things you are not good at (I have been guilty of this, which is why I now have a CPA), and 2 – deviating from your core competency rather than being really good at that one thing.

7 – Be honest when you mess up

We all make mistakes; sometimes they’re huge. When the founder of Zipcar realized her pricing was way too low just as they were about to launch, she emailed her customers and told them she had to raise rental fees by 25% or the company wouldn’t survive. She didn’t lose one customer – they all loved the concept and appreciated her honesty.

What other pieces of advice have served you well?

Image courtesy of binauralbrains.com

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Economy: Thumbs Down; Entrepreneurs: Thumbs Up

October 3rd, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

“I can’t get no satisfaction,” Mick Jagger wailed in one of The Rolling Stones’ biggest hits. Maybe Jagger should try owning a small business. The results of a recent Gallup poll found that despite economic challenges, U.S. small business owners are thoroughly satisfied with their businesses.

The percentage of small business owners saying they are extremely (17 percent) or very (38 percent) satisfied with being a small business owner—a 12 percent jump compared to the third quarter of 2010. Another 29 percent of owners are somewhat satisfied—meaning that overall, a whopping 84 percent are satisfied. In comparison, just 16 percent of small business owners say they are not too (10 percent) or not at all (6 percent) satisfied with their businesses.

Since you could expect satisfaction to relate to a small business’s success, Gallup also asked the entrepreneurs how successful they believed their businesses were. Thirty-nine percent report feeling extremely or very successful, and more than half (51 percent) say they feel “somewhat” successful. That means 90 percent of small business owners think they’re successful to some degree.

Interestingly, in separate Gallup polls, small business owners have been expressing growing pessimism about the economy in general. This quarter’s Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index showed small-business owners’ overall optimism had declined; Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index dropped too; and another Gallup poll found limited capital spending plans among small business owners.

Given these attitudes, why are entrepreneurs feeling so positive about their businesses? There are a couple reasons I can think of. First, small business owners are natural optimists—we wouldn’t start businesses otherwise. And even when we think the economy is in trouble and the government isn’t much help, we’re confident in our own abilities to get through the tough times.

Second, this attitude isn’t just braggadocio—it’s reality. We have gotten through tough times, and four years after the Great Recession hit, any small business owners who’s survived and thrived has a right to feel extremely proud of what he or she has accomplished.

However, there’s still a lot of ground to gain back. In 2007 (before the recession began), 47 percent of small business owners Gallup polled felt their businesses were extremely or very successful, compared to 39 percent today. But like the small businesses in Gallup’s survey, I’m confident that no matter what the coming months (and the presidential election) bring, America’s small business owners will stay positive about their futures.

Image by Flickr user openpad (Creative Commons)

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Google for Entrepreneurs (Programs and Partnerships for Small Business)

October 2nd, 2012 ::

Google for Entrepreneurs

Not a company to think small, Google has launched a new website, Google for Entrepreneurs, to bring all things entrepreneurial under one umbrella. Use the site’s search feature to find workshops, networking events and mentoring sessions around the world that support startups and entrepreneurs. Programs and online tools to grow your business are highlighted, plus Google-led programs will bring experts and tools directly to entrepreneurs. Some of the current projects include partnering with business accelerators and incubators and teaming up with Women 2.0 to bring their Founder Friday events to more cities.

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Day (Mentoring Event)

October 1st, 2012 ::

National Encore Entrepreneur Mentor Day

Are you an entrepreneur over 50 who could use some expert advice? In May 2012, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and AARP launched a strategic alliance to provide American entrepreneurs over the age of 50 with real-world, actionable information to start or grow a small business. Through this alliance, the two organizations have jointly committed to train 100,000 “encore entrepreneurs” over the next year. October 2 (that’s tomorrow), you have a chance to meet mentors from the SBA’s network of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), and SCORE chapters, who can help you take your business to the next level. Click on www.sba.gov/mentorday to find an event near you.

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Posted in Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Resources, Small Business, small business | 1 Comment »

The 7 Home Trends Consumers Crave Most

April 27th, 2012 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Is your business involved in homebuilding, home remodeling, interior décor or home accessories or furnishings? If so, you’ll want to know about a survey by Better Homes & Gardens, reported in MarketWatch, that reveals the top seven things consumers want most when buying a new home or remodeling an old one.

  1. Separate laundry room. A laundry room doesn’t have to be glamorous or even especially spacious—the key is that it be convenient to the rest of the home. With aging Boomers having more trouble getting up and down stairs, having the laundry room on the main floor or near the bedrooms—instead of in a garage or down in the basement—is a big plus.
  2. Storage space, built-in shelving and walk-in closets. The days of consumers shelling out for more square footage are gone. Instead, people want to maximize the space they do have by organizing it properly. Floor-to-ceiling shelving, hidden cabinets and bigger closets are all on the wish list.
  3. Outdoor living space. The showy outdoor kitchens, built-in grills with pizza ovens and outside fireplaces are less popular in the recessionary fallout. But consumers still want outdoor spaces that connect to the home, giving them more room for entertaining. Front-yard living areas are gaining in popularity too since they often add curb appeal.
  4. An extra bedroom with attached private bath. This can be used as a master suite, mother-in-law suite or even a place to stash a teenager, but whatever it’s used for, it’s one of the most-wanted add-ons today.
  5. Home office/workspace/computing space. With more people working at home at least part of the time, an add-on home office is in high demand. But many consumers simply want ways to make their existing spaces more work-friendly by adding docking stations, more outlets or places to use computers in the existing kitchen or family room.
  6. Multiple eating spaces in or near the kitchen. An eat-in kitchen or bar area isn’t enough today. At the recent International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida, MarketWatch reports, many displays featured  three or four eating areas in the extended kitchen/family room area. Why? More and more, we’re multitasking, which means the whole family might gather in the same general area but not be doing the same thing. Everyone wants to be able to eat, work or do whatever they want, wherever they’re sitting.
  7. Bathroom upgrades. Kitchens and baths are always been the most popular ares to remodel, but until recently, kitchens were the hotter project. However, the survey found bathrooms are taking the lead. Maybe it’s the economy making us seek de-stress havens at home—or maybe it’s boomerang children moving back home and hogging the shower—but 31 percent of consumers this year are focusing remodeling efforts on baths and just 25 percent are concentrating on kitchens.

Whether you build homes, remodel homes or just sell home furnishings and accessories, these trends can point you in the direction of bigger sales.

Image by Flickr user James Thompson (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Small Business, small business, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Is Cause-Based Marketing Helping—or Hurting—Your Small Business?

August 3rd, 2011 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Cause-based or socially responsible marketing has been a hot trend for some time now. The practice of affiliating your business or your products with a “cause,” such as fighting breast cancer or helping hungry children in Africa, can garner attention, customers and sales…or it can backfire.

How? According to the 2011 MSLGROUP Social  Purpose Index, a growing “disconnect” between the causes that businesses support and what they sell is leading consumers to become more skeptical about cause marketing in general—and less likely to buy.

Seventy-four percent of respondents in the survey said there is often too much of a disconnect between the causes companies support and the brands and products they sell. And almost as many (67 percent) were skeptical of companies’ motives, saying that companies only support causes to sell products.

Perhaps that’s the reason why, although the majority of Americans (96 percent) say they can identify two to three causes that are important to them personally, the survey found that just 37 percent of Americans have actually purchased a product associated with a cause in the past year.

What can you do to ensure that your cause marketing efforts make sense for your business?

  1. Consider what causes you and your employees care about. Ask your staff if there are organizations they personally would like to see your business support.
  2. Find out what causes matter to your customers. You can conduct a survey online or using social media tools like Facebook or Twitter to see if customers respond to issues like hunger, homelessness, health or other areas of concern.
  3. Decide what ties into your business mission. Your cause should flow naturally from your business’s goals. You might care passionately about raising funds for Alzheimer’s, for instance, but if your company sells gourmet pet treats, focusing your cause efforts on Alzheimer’s research isn’t the best fit. Supporting the ASPCA, spay and neuter efforts, or guide dog training is a better match with your business and lends itself to publicity and marketing efforts.
  4. Decide if you want to go local, national or global. You could support a local charity, a national organization or even a global group. Again, you’ll want to match this to your business and to where the bulk of your customers come from. A small local sporting goods shop would probably want to support a local charity; a national chain could support a nationwide charity; and for an ecommerce company with substantial overseas customers, it makes more sense to focus on a global organization that all of your customers have an interest in supporting.
  5. Narrow down your options. Once you’ve selected some top contenders, be sure to investigate each organization. Contact the Better Business Bureau, do an Internet search and visit CharityNavigator to make sure the funds are used for their intended purpose.

Done right, cause marketing can benefit both your cause, and your business. Take the right steps to get your cause marketing effort off on the right foot.

Image by Flickr user GrowWear (Creative Commons)

 

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The Essence of Small Business Excellence

July 21st, 2011 ::

By John Spence

Several years ago a client asked me to put together a brief speech on “The Essence of Excellence” for 1,500 of their employees at their annual global meeting.  I researched the topic for weeks, called many of the CEOs I’d done work for, and tried to get to the core of what is required to truly achieve excellence in business.  After much work and contemplation, I arrived at the conclusion that there are three key elements that constitute the essence of excellence:  FOCUS – DISCIPLINE – ACTION.

Focus: First you must have a clear idea of what excellence looks like to you, how you define it in your business and how you will measure it.  I call this your “Philosophy of Excellence,” and although I believe it is fundamental to creating any level of success in business, I’m still amazed at how few leaders have done an adequate job of creating and communicating a compelling philosophy of excellence for their organization.

One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is to create a philosophy of excellence for your people to focus on.  Every great business I have worked with has been able to boil down to a handful of key ideas exactly what every employee needs to focus on in order to achieve excellence for the organization.  At Walmart, it’s pretty straightforward – Everyday Low Prices… buy it cheap, stack it high, sell it fast!  At Southwest Airlines, they understand that success rides on friendly service, low fares,  fast turns and team spirit.  At Dell the major focus is good technology, built to order, just-in-time inventory and logistics.  I could give you two dozen more examples, but the pattern is clear: The goal of the leader must be to deeply understand the key drivers of success for the business and then translate them into a focused philosophy of excellence.

Discipline: The next step is to infuse your entire organization with a culture of disciplined execution around the core strategies for success.  The major responsibility of the leader at this stage is saying NO to anything that would cause the organization to stray away from these core strategies and lose focus.  It was an epiphany for me a few years ago when I realized that one of the greatest skills of a highly effective strategic leader is the ability to figure out what NOT to do!

Action: The last step in the process is to create a sense of urgency by applying as much action, resources and focus as possible to the core elements of success.  Here it is the leader’s job to knock down hurdles, open up doors and do everything in his or her power to keep people moving forward at a fast, but disciplined, pace.

The three watchwords of excellence for business success: FOCUS – DISCIPLINE – ACTION.

John Spence is the author of Awesomely Simple – Essential Business Strategies for Turning Ideas into Action. He is an award-wining professional speaker and corporate trainer, and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Business Thought Leaders in America.

Image by Flickr user JazzyBlue TR (Creative Commons)

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Global Economic Outlook: Small Business Owners Are Optimistic

July 5th, 2011 ::

By Maria Valdez Haubrich

With the 4th of July just behind us, what are American entrepreneurs—and those around the world—thinking about their prospects for the coming months? The latest Global Entrepreneur Indicator survey has some good news.

The Global Entrepreneur Indicator is a quarterly survey of the members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a nonprofit for business owners who have more than $1 million (US) in annual revenue. The June 2011 survey of more than 7,500 entrepreneurs in 38 countries found the global economic outlook is getting more positive.

In the most recent survey (June 2011), 62 percent experienced an increase in their net profits — a 25 percent increase over the previous year, when just 37 percent saw an increase.

As for job creation, as of June 2011 more than half (57 percent) had added jobs since they were last surveyed (in November 2010). That was also an increase from the 42 percent who had added jobs as of June 2010.

The news got even better when entrepreneurs surveyed were asked their predictions for the next six months. More than three-quarters (78 percent) expected their net profits to improve in that time frame; 68 percent expect to add jobs; and 61 percent expect both the global and local economy to improve.

Keep in mind, however, that this is a global survey—and the picture isn’t quite as rosy for U.S. entrepreneurs as for those in some other nations. In the U.S., 59 percent of entrepreneurs expected the local and global economy to improve in the next six months—the same percentage as in Europe and the Middle East. In Latin America/the Caribbean, however, 74 percent expected improvement, and in Canada, an astounding 91 percent did.

The least optimistic nation? Asia, where 56 percent expected to see the economy improve within six months.

Image by Flickr user Matt P. (Creative Commons)

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Patent Reform Is Getting Closer

July 4th, 2011 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

The U.S. patent system has been mired in problems for years, ranging from a huge backlog of unexamined applications (more than 700,000, according to CNNMoney.com) and a three-year wait to get approved (or denied) for a patent. With more people inventing things or processes (including intellectual property and technological inventions), the examination process has become more complex and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is struggling to keep up.

But now real change to the system is finally in the wings. In March, CNNMoney.com reports, the Senate passed a bill to revamp U.S. patent law; in late June, the House of Representatives passed a similar bill. The America Invents Act and the Senate bill have several key aspects in common:

  • They would change U.S. patent law from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” system, meaning the first person to apply for a patent—rather than the first person to come up with the idea—would receive the patent. While this may sound odd to us, it’s actually the system used by most other nations, and it helps prevent conflicting claims by individuals who contest patents after they are granted.
  • They include provisions that would help keep patent battles from going to court.
  • They enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to set fees and possibly keep them. (Right now, Congress sets fees, keeps the money and then gives a budget to the USPTO.) The change would enable the USPTO to charge higher fees for more complex patent reviews and lower fees for simpler ones, helping alleviate the underfunding that has contributed to the current backlog.

Next step: The two bodies just need to reconcile the differences between the bills—which should be fairly simple, since the only major difference in the two bills is how the Patent Office collects fees. Although no timetable has been set for reconciliation, President Obama has said he would sign a patent reform bill; once signed, this would be the first major change to the U.S. patent system since the 1950s.

How will the proposed changes help—or hurt—small business? There’s good news and bad news for inventors, depending on how you look at it. First, the good. According to David Kappos, director of the USPTO, being able to set and keep its own fees would allow the office to hire staff and update its IT infrastructure. Kappos has estimated the changes would allow the office to cut its backlog in half, ensuring that most patents are processed within one year of application.

Now, the bad: Many small business advocates are concerned the bill will hurt independent inventors by forcing them to compete with huge corporations for who can file first. With big companies having financial resources, R&D teams and legal armies on their side, will small businesses win?

Image by Flickr user Cliff 1066 (Creative Commons)

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Posted in Business Law, Compliance, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Small Business, small business | 1 Comment »

What Traits Do Successful Entrepreneurs Have in Common?

June 9th, 2011 ::

By Maria Valdez Haubrich

Are entrepreneurs made, or born? In other words, are the characteristics needed to be a successful small business owner innate or can they be learned? According to a new study by Ernst & Young, the answer to this puzzle is…well, a bit of both.

The study, Nature or Nurture: Decoding the Entrepreneur, surveyed 685 entrepreneurs worldwide as well as winners of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award. The results challenge the notion that entrepreneurs tend to start businesses without a formal education and without experiencing corporate life.

Nearly half (45 percent) of respondents did not start their first business until they were age 30 or over. Almost 60 percent said they had previously worked in a corporate environment before striking out on their own.

Asked what was the most important source of learning that helped them with their business, one-third of respondents said it was their experience as an employee, 30 percent said it was higher education, and 26 percent said it was a mentor or mentors.

“Entrepreneurial leaders are defined as much by their early business experience, cultural background and external environment as they are by any innate personal characteristics,” said Maria Pinelli, Global Vice Chair Strategic Growth Markets for Ernst & Young, in announcing the study results. “Nurture, not nature, does appear to be more important in shaping the entrepreneurial mindset.”

But not so fast. At the same time, the study found that successful entrepreneurs share certain behaviors and attitudes that are differentiate them from the average corporate employee or CEO. When asked to name the top three most important qualities of an entrepreneurial leader, more than three-fourths of those surveyed said ‘having a vision’, 73 percent said ‘passion’ and 64 percent said ‘drive’.

“These findings highlight that most successful entrepreneurs share a unique combination of seeing opportunity where others see only risk,” said Pinelli. “And they tend to be optimists and believe they can succeed despite the fact that everyone else is telling them they cannot.”

For those who’ve got the entrepreneurial combination of nature and nurture, starting just one business is not enough. Sixty percent had started three or more companies, 20 percent had launched six or more and 10 percent said they had founded more than 10 companies so far.

Image by Flickr user Horia Varlan (Creative Commons)

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