Small Business Marketing Trends 2014

Small business owners are in a great position to harness the power of marketing to drive leads and interest in their companies. But deciding where, how and what to deploy their limited resources is a significant challenge. Here are three ideas about the three areas in which we'll see small businesses succeed in 2014. 

Better Social Media: Most small business owners have been pretty overwhelmed by social media platforms as marketing tools. This year they will find ways to better utilize social media platforms to promote their brands. For many of them, the focus will be on the big platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, which each have demonstrated value to consumers and their own unique take on communication. The key is to choose the platform that fits your target audience best and that you can commit to on a reasonable basis.

More Content: This year small businesses will join the trend of providing a significant quantity of content to draw customers in and keep them interested. Blogs, articles, white papers, slide shows, photos and videos are all great ways to attract attention and tell your story. They also help drive traffic to your website because they are search engine friendly.

Authentic Communication: Small businesses will increasingly seek ways to connect with customers using an authentic voice that stays true to the company’s personality. Small businesses are ideally situated to capitalize on this movement because they are still perceived as being run by people, whereas corporations are viewed as machine-like. This gives small businesses significant advantage in today’s authenticity-seeking marketplace.

Incense Stick Making Machine for Set Up a Small Business at Home

Agarbatti/Dhoop Stick Making Machine

Demand and Market of Incense Stick:

Incense Stick is a unavoidable and necessary thing in Puja-archana or any sacred matter. The demand of Incense Stick is found all throughout the year. But the demand of Incense Stick increases on festive days. Incense Stick is used everyday in almost all homes and shops. You may start a small business at home with the Incense Stick Making Machine.

How to make Incense Stick with the Incense Stick Making Machine:

At first you have to buy the materials from market. The materials for making Incense stick are available in cheap price in the market of Barobazar in Kolkata. You can know the whole process of making Incense Stick from the retailer from where you are buying the Incense Stick Making Machine. You can make 40 to 60 Incense Stick with the Incense Stick Making Machine.

Price of the Incense Stick Making Machine:

The price of the Pedal-operated Incense Stick Making Machine is approximately Rs. 25,000.

The price of the Semi-automatic Incense Stick Making Machine is approximately Rs.75, 000.

Where to buy the Incense Stick Machine:

Bharat Machine Tools Industries,

61, Ganesh Chandra Avenue,

Kolkata-700013

You can find many companies manufacturing a wide range of Incense Stick Making Machine. Their machine matches high technology electronic control. 

To read the reviews and buy the Incense Stick Making Machine visit websites

http://www.justdial.com/Ahmedabad/Incense-Stick-Making-Machine-Manufacturers/ct-1051746434?utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=codered

http://kolkata.yellowpages.co.in/Dhoop+Stick+Making+Machine

21 Feb, 14 KK

Evaluating Business Opportunities

You have a lot of opportunity to grow your business, but evaluating opportunity is challenging – how do you know if you have made the right choice?

Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to conduct a regular "Opportunity Analysis" to sort the good ideas from the bad ones.

You can waste tons of time evaluating and chasing down bad opportunities. Worse, if you choose the wrong opportunities, you can compromise your company’s future.

Opportunity evaluation should be a faceted process that takes into account multiple aspects of the decision-making process.

Opportunity Analysis Process

 Check out more here.

When Organizations Are Unstable, They Can't Grow

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation." It has become a foundational theory in psychology in terms of optimizing the human experience.

To recap the theory, human beings must work their way up the pyramid of needs.

If they are not getting their physiological and safety needs met, they are not exerting energy towards finding love and belonging. But once they are fed and safe, they begin seeking human connection. Next comes esteem, confidence and respect. Finally, the human being can seek Self-Actualization in which he becomes more creative, spontaneous and better able to ponder and solve complex problems. 

Organizations exhibit similar stages of actualization. Many small businesses struggle in the early levels of the pyramid. They constantly strive to generate enough revenue to make payroll and provide safety for their organization, their owners and employees.

Many small business owners are stuck in a constant cycle of anxiety and tension and have very little opportunity to pursue growth.

If an entrepreneur can overcome the lower levels of sustenance, she can jump into growth, pursuing a healthy company culture, high esteem in the business community and, finally, actualization of the organization in which it becomes highly creative, driving additional growth and success.

Are you struggling with the day-to-day anxiety and tension of the lower levels of this pyramid? If so, evaluate the business you are in and determine what it will take (and if it is possible) to get to the next level of development in your organization.

Cookies Making Machine for set up Small Business

Cookies Making Machine is a very good idea for set up a Small Business at home or any other place. By a little effort you may earn handsome money with Cookies Making Machine.

Demand and Market of Cookies:

Almost everyone likes cookies and the demand of cookies is found all throughout the year. With the Cookies Making Machine you can make cookies and after packing it you may sell it or supply orders in local market.

How to make cookies with Cookies Making Machine:

With the semi automatic Cookies Making Machine you can make upto 80 to 90 kg cookies per hour. It needs different types of materials to make cookies of different tastes. Usually, you need floor, sugar, beking powder etc. to make cookies.

At first you have to make a mixture of all materials with Mixture Machine. Then  you have to pour the mixture on the hopper of the machine. Now srat the Cookies Making Machine and cookies will be made and come out automatically. Then bake the cookies on the Woven. After that pack it and it is ready for sell.

It needs 1 hp motor and 220 to 440 volts to operate the Cookies Making Machine.

Price of the Cookies Making Machine:

The price of the Motor Operated (with 9 refills) Cookies Making Machine is approximately Rs.7 lakh. The price of the Mixture Machine (can make upto 50kg mixture) is approximately Rs.75 thousand. The price of the Electric Woven (can contain 20 trays) is approximately Rs. 2.5 lakh.

Where to buy the Cookies Making Machine:

Bharat Machine Tools Industries,

61, Ganesh Chandra Avenue,

Kolkata-700013.

You can find many companies manufacturing a wide range of Cookies Making Machine. Their machine matches high technology electronic control.

To read the reviews and buy the Semi Automatic Cookies Making Machine visit websites

http://www.indiamart.com/agust-engineering-works/cookies-making-machines.html

www.alibaba.com/showroom/automatic-cookies-making-machine.html

14 Feb KK

A Valentine's Day Ode To Your Business

Do you heart your business? 

My guess is that it's a bit of a mixed bag: most of the time you like it; sometimes you love it; sometimes you hate it.

Don't worry - this is totally normal! Just like a human relationship, your relationship with your business is multi-faceted; it's not supposed to be perfect.

In fact, seeking a perfect relationship with your business (in which neither of you ever makes a mistake) is a recipe for failure. 

Today, focus on the positive parts of your relationship with your business ... fall in love with it all over again. We are in relationship with our business, and that relationship is a living, breathing entity  that has a past, present and future.

Take a minute to consider the following:

 Yesterday
Remember when you first saw your business (in your mind)? That first rush of excitement and the feeling of overwhelming opportunity? Remember the first days, months and years of your business? Remember how energized you were? Remember how you would wake up each morning with a spring in your step, anxious to dive in again?

Today
What is your business giving you today? In which aspects of your life is it excelling? Is it a great provider financially, emotionally? When you walk in the door, do you feel satisfied with the work you have done together so far? Are you eager to see what happens next? Are you perhaps overly comfortable with your business, or is it still challenging you daily to be a better partner?

Tomorrow
What do you want from your business tomorrow? Where do you want to go with it? Are you happy settling down in your current neighborhood, supporting each other through old age? Or do you foresee relocation, expansions, travel together? Do you want to grow your life together through more employees, customers and partners?

 Virginia Ginsburg is founder and chief consultant at Swell Strategies. She is passionate about supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting and running successful enterprises. An avid reader, in this blog she reviews books and articles and relates specific learning points back to entrepreneurial businesses.

Entrepreneurs: Athletes without Coaches, Trainers and Open Competition

From Inc. Magazine

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship, Jessica Bruder, Inc. Magazine

What She Says: While our society idolizes successful entrepreneurs, they suffer from depression and constant stress. Three out of four venture-backed ventures fail, and fewer than 5% achieve their financial projections. Entrepreneurs are chasing the American dream while juggling disparate work roles, struggling to make payroll, arguing with partners, employees, vendors and their boards.

"In the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, 34 percent of entrepreneurs--4 percentage points more than other workers--reported they were worried. And 45 percent of entrepreneurs said they were stressed, 3 percentage points more than other workers."

What This Means for You: Entrepreneurs are business athletes, but there is no formal path to success as there in athletics. Athletes are trained and guided, and they figure out fairly quickly (and early in life) whether they will succeed in their dream.

But the path to entrepreneurial success is less defined. There are no races, tournaments or competitions in which you learn how you stack up against your peers. There is no ranking, recruiting or signing in the world of entrepreneurs.

It is this lack of knowing the path - of working your ass off without a clear understanding of what it takes to succeed, that is so incredibly stressful for entrepreneurs. Many push through their fear and make it to a certain level of success. But, once there, they are exhausted and worn out. They often can't find their way to the next step in their journey.

So they founder and stall.

If you are at this stage - stressed out, disappointed, and unsure of your next step as an entrepreneur, then please seek outside advice. Find the equivalent of athletic coaches, trainers and physical therapists who can help you overcome your plateau and move to the next level without killing your body and/or spirit in the process.

Virginia Ginsburg is founder and chief consultant at Swell Strategies. She is passionate about supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting and running successful enterprises. An avid reader, in this blog she reviews books and articles and relates specific learning points back to entrepreneurial businesses.

If Your Employees Were Like You ... They Would Leave!

Your Employees are Not Clones

Something almost every entrepreneur struggles with is managing and leading employees. The skills required to skillfully manage and lead are very different from those required to build an enterprise (i.e. design, sales, production). And while most entrepreneurs start businesses based on their innate talents, employee management is not typically the sharpest tool in their toolbox. 

I hear a lot of entrepreneurs wondering why their employees aren't more self-motivated, aren't "stepping up to the plate" and "running the ball down the field." The fact is, if your employees were naturally that way, they probably wouldn't be working for you - they would be out starting their own companies.

Entrepreneurs have a unique drive to build something of their own. The people who are working for them are coming to a job. They expect to be told what to do and they need to be managed throughout the process. And, yes, they also expect to be lead and inspired. 

This is where most entrepreneurs need some leadership training. Setting up the structures and expectations within your organization while also maintaining positive energy are critical skills that you need to develop. Yes, you can try to outsource employee management, but while I have seen many people try, I have not seen anyone do this without first learning leadership themselves.

If you want to build an organization, then you need people working for you. Thus, you simply must learn how to lead them to succeed.  

When you invest in your leadership skills, you set yourself up to overcome the limitations that hold most small businesses back. 

What are you waiting for? Go out and lead! 

Virginia Ginsburg is founder and chief consultant at Swell Strategies. She is passionate about supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs in starting and running successful enterprises. An avid reader, in this blog she reviews books and articles and relates specific learning points back to entrepreneurial businesses.

How To Protect Your Small Business and Give Yourself Security for the Future

Protect Your Small Business

As the owner of a small business, are you constantly worried about the high cost of a single mistake? One lawsuit could take away everything that you have spent years working toward, sinking your company and plunging you into debt. High government taxes could make it impossible for you to turn a profit, even when you are putting in extra hours and doing everything in your power to succeed. There are many issues out there facing people just like you, making the world an unstable and unreliable place, but you will be glad to know that there are ways to protect small business owners and keep their companies growing. 

First of all, incorporating your company can help to save you from the possibly devastating impact of a lawsuit. As an LLC, you will be given some protection that you could not possibly have on your own. However, becoming an LLC is not something that you want to undertake entirely by yourself. You need a registering agent who can go through the process with you, making the transformation legal and efficient. It is not as hard as you may assume to get this type of a safety net in any industry. 

Another issue that any small business has to face is the payment of taxes. The government is always changing the tax laws, so you need a professional to help you see how this alters things for you. Do you feel like the taxes are more invasive every single year, making it incredibly costly just to make a living? Rather than just paying the amount that they ask you for, you have to look at the intricacies of the law that could help you save tremendous amounts every tax season. There are many things that can be written off and benefits to reduce your tax burden, as long as you know what they are. 

Finally, you just need to consider all of the things that make your small business unique and protect yourself against anything that could strip you of that. Identity theft happens in the business world just like it does with people's personal identities. You could also face copyright infringement, trademark infringement, or the theft of your intellectual property if you do not have the right trademarks and copyrights. Getting all of the legal paperwork in place is more and more crucial as your business grows and attracts more attention.  

InCorp has been working to protect small business owners for more than 40 years. They have all of the experience necessary to take on your case, help you incorporate your business, give you assistance with taxes to the full extent of the law, and remove the massive amount of risk and doubt that are hanging over your business right now. Do not let the issues that have damaged so many other businesses impact you, as well. Get in touch with InCorp today to find out just how easy it is to get the protection and assistance that you need. 

Automatic Staple Pin Making Machine for set up Small Business

Staple Pin Making Machine is a good option for Small Business. Anyone may set up a Small Business and can be self-dependent by investing a small amount. It is also a good opportunity to earn handsome money. 

Demand and Market of Staple Pins:

The usage of Stapler Pins is found in schools, colleges, offices and homes. The necessity or demand of Stapler Pins is in everywhere, in educational field or in official work. Stapler pins is very necessary thing in Office, School, Colleges, Court, Govt. and Non-Govt. institutions and also in our home. Stapler pins is used to pin up papers.

With the Staple Pin Making Machine you can make Stapler pin and can sell or supply orders in local market. After packing it you may sell it in the market or you may take orders from stationery stores in your locality and supply them as they require.

How to make Staple Pin with Automatic Stapler Pin Making Machine:

At first you have to buy copper or iron wire from the market. It is available in cheap price in the market of Barobazar in Kolkata. For copper wire, the price is approximately Rs.500 to 600 per kg and the price of the iron wire is approximately Rs.30 to 35 per kg. Now put the role of wire of the roller of the Staple Pin Making Machine and set the other end of the wire on the indicated place of the machine. Now start the Stapler Pin Making Machine and Stapler pins will be made automatically. You may use attachments of different sizes to make pins of different sizes. This Staple Pin Making Machine can make 20 to 25 pins at a time.

To operate the Staple Pin Making Machine you need 1 hp motor and 220 to 440 volts.

Price of the Automatic Staple Pin Making Machine:

The price of Stapler Pin Making Machine including motor is approximately Rs. 1 lakh and 20 thousand.

Where to buy the Automatic Staple Pin Making Machine:

You may afford the machine in the address given below-

Bharat Machine Tolls Industries,

61, Ganesh Chandra Avenue,

Kolkata-700013

You can find many companies manufacturing a wide range of Staple Pin Making Machine. Their machine matches high technology electronic control.

To read the reviews and buy the Staple Pin Making Machine visit websites

http://www.indiamart.com/prema-ind-corp/staple-pins-clips-machine.html

http://india.alibaba.com/country/suppliers_india-staple-pin-making-machine.html

31 Jan, KK