Are You a Reactor or a Creator? And Why Does It Matter?

Great article on your perspective on life. Are You a Reactor or a Creator? And Why Does It Matter?

Initiative aims to take owners to the next level

Q: My small business has gotten off to a good start. I've proved my concept, and there is ample unfilled demand for my service. Now I need to get prepared to grow my business substantially. How can I make that happen?

A: You need the expert training and mentoring that is required to make that leap forward to compete at a higher level. Fortunately, there's a successful program just getting started in Houston that can prepare you for the challenges you face.

The Small Business Administration's Emerging Leaders Initiative is a federal training program conducted in 48 communities since 2008. It specifically focuses on executives of businesses poised for growth, providing them with the organizational framework, resource network, and motivation required to build sustainable businesses and promote the economic development within urban communities.

Over the course of seven months, participants are given the opportunity to work with experienced mentors, attend specialized workshops and develop connections with their peers, city leaders, and the financial community. The initiative incorporates a research-based curriculum specifically designed to stimulate and support the expansion of your business. It enables participating businesses to engage in focused development and expansion strategies, including options for accessing new capital and securing government contracts.

The Emerging Leaders Initiative is for established business owners, not start-ups. The series is open to owners and executives of small businesses that have annual revenue of at least $400,000; have been in business for at least three years; and have at least one employee other than the owner or executive. There are no restrictions on the types of businesses that can participate.

At the conclusion of the training, entrepreneurs produce a three-year strategic growth action plan with benchmarks and performance targets that will help them access the necessary support and resources to move forward. The executive education prepares and encourages small businesses to move to the next level on their growth trajectory and helps them emerge as self-sustaining businesses that create jobs and build communities.

Participation is free. The only cost is your time and commitment to complete the curriculum over the course of seven months. All other costs are covered by the Small Business Administration and cosponsors SCORE and the Women's Business Center.

Business executives interested in participating should register before March 1 at www.interise.org/sbaemergingleaders. Classes begin in April. For information, contact Steve Curry at Stephen.Curry@sba.gov or 713-773-6542.

 

Forecasting and Budgeting - Why Bother?

This week, I am turning over the podium to a buddy of mine, Greg Tilley of Weather Gage, LLC.  His contact information is greg.tilley@weather-gage.com.  Greg, it's yours.....

Business owners are busy running their business.  Creating a plan for the coming year is not high on the list of priorities.  A forecast is just guesswork anyway, so why bother?  Projecting an increase in sales doesn’t make it happen!

It’s true that a forecast doesn’t guarantee success, but how do you know if you have succeeded in business if you have never defined success for your business?  When a runner starts on a marathon she may not be certain that she will finish, but she certainly knows where the finish line is and how to get there.  Otherwise, her chances of success are pretty slim.

It’s the same in business.  Your chance of succeeding is greatly reduced if you haven’t planned for success.  That includes setting goals for the year and then figuring out what resources will be needed to achieve those goals.  The forecast translates those goals and resource requirements into a measurable action plan.  The forecast becomes a blueprint that guides day to day decision making.  It influences your response to every new opportunity or setback during the year.  At the end of the year you can evaluate what worked and what didn’t, and make an even better plan the next year.

Once you’ve decided to make a plan, how do you start?  How much time will it take?  If you have never done it for your business (or at least not since start up), then it could take some time.  The good news is that it will be easier each following year.  Also, you can reduce the impact on you and your business if you enlist a professional to help.  Either way, here are the basic steps:

1.       Set realistic goals.  Most businesses set goals based on revenue or income, but goals can also relate to other factors like staff sizing, inventory turnover, operational efficiencies, debt reduction, quality improvement or some combination.  The only requirement is that they are measurable and reasonably achievable (you don’t want to set yourself up for failure).

2.       Determine what, if any, resources and actions are required to achieve the goals.  This could include new hires, equipment, marketing, etc.  Identify the costs and timing associated with each, and whether there are contingencies to consider.

3.       Develop a financial forecast model that incorporates the goals and resource requirements.  At a minimum, the model should include a P&L and cash flow statement so you know if your cash and credit lines are sufficient to fund the plan. (This is where you may want to enlist a professional with experience in forecasting.  They will be able to do it faster and more accurately than you could.)  The model does not need to be as detailed as your accounting system, but it should be detailed enough for you to measure your progress on key revenue and cost items throughout the year.  It should also include a list of assumptions. 

4.       Use the process as an opportunity to question your expenses.  Sometimes, we spend at levels based on prior years, without serious consideration whether a particular expense, or level of spending, is still appropriate for our business going forward.  Where possible, check your ratios against industry norms.  Is your sales and marketing cost in line with your competitors?  What about the revenue per square foot for a store, or revenue per server for restaurant.  Statistics are available for most industries.  Not all businesses will conform to the norm, but it gives you a basis for understanding any variance.

5.       Evaluate your progress against the model at least quarterly.  You might make adjustments in the model as you go, but always keep a copy of your original forecast so that you can evaluate deviations at the end of the year and make adjustments the following year as appropriate.

A plan and forecast can be done any time of year, but the first quarter of your fiscal year is optimum.  Let’s do it!

Insightly - the leading small business CRM.

Insightly - Powerful Customer Relationship Management tool to help small businesses deal with the vital task of managing your contacts, organizations, partners, vendors and suppliers.
Using CRM best practices, you can see everything about a contact — from background, email history and important dates, to any projects or opportunities in which they have participated. With Insightly’s web-based contact management features you won’t miss a beat:

Flexible Calendaring and Events
Automatic Address Book
Insightly Notes, Evernotes, and Comments
Lightning Fast Search
Custom Fields and Filters
File Sharing
Web to Contact
Tags, Notification, and Following
Linking (Direct Relationships Between Contacts, Organizations, Opportunities, Projects)
Mass Email Contacts with MailChimp Integration

Insightly’s online CRM lets you look at your business any way you want. Get real time information with any of these features:

Dashboard
Task and Milestones
Pipeline Activity Sets
Opportunity Reports
Customer Invoice and Payment Status (via QuickBooks Online)   

Integrated Project Management 

Insightly uniquely offers CRM and Project Management in one so you can make sure you’re on top of your customer relationship at every stage. With the project overview screen you can see the recent activity on any project, and track project performance against milestones over time. With Insightly project management you can:

 Create Milestones, Pipelines and Tasks for Projects

Get Automatic Email Reminders

Specify Roles for Contacts

Track All Email Correspondence

View Completed Tasks and Events by Project

Include Any Files Associated with the Project

View Task and Event Reports

   
Go Mobile with the Solution that Works for You

The Insightly mobile app allows you to take Insightly on the road with you wherever you go, on whatever device you have at hand. Supporting tablets like the iPad, Google Nexus, through to phones like the iPhone, Android phones — the Insightly mobile app has you covered.

Insightly Application Programming Interface

Welcome developers! To help you integrate Insightly with other programs there is an HTTP REST API. API is pretty conventional and you can pick it up pretty quickly if you have experience with REST APIs.  Insightly provides you with technical details and other resources to make your job easier. The API allows you automate data retrieval and modification in Insightly.  Insightly supports JSON and XML based requests, and most of the data stored in Insightly can be accessed and updated via the API.

Social CRM

With social media integration you can simply put in a contact’s email address and  Insightly detect virtually every social media profile related to the email address. You can see Twitter content and your contact’s public LinkedIn profile displayed right in Insightly. Also, with a single click you can explore your contact’s public profile information on Facebook, Google+, FourSquare, Picasa, Klout and virtually any social channel where the contact has participated.

Insightly is integrated with Google Apps, Office 365, QuickBooks Online so you can easily see all your customer invoices and payment status.

A comfort level of trust, confidence with an accountant is a must

A comfort level of trust, confidence with an accountant is a must

December 21, 2014

Q: How can I find accounting help I can count on for my small business?

A: Many responsibilities come with being a small business owner, and every one is critical to maintaining profitability and promoting growth. You can't risk letting a deadline slip or overlook an administrative requirement, yet there are only so many hours in the day to get things done.

To ensure you stay focused on the most important things, it may be a good idea to transfer some routine chores. Even though accounting software programs have simplified the process of bookkeeping and tax preparation, someone well-versed in this area can spot trends or problems you might miss. And the more complex your needs - preparing financial reports, invoicing, payroll - the more time-consuming accounting becomes.

If you decide you need the skills of an accounting professional, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants can help. The "For the Public" section of the AICPA website, www.aicpa.org,offers guidance in selecting the right CPA for your small business, including a searchable directory of AICPA member firms.

Fees vary greatly among accountants, depending on location, expertise, and services provided. Some firms will provide bundled services for a flat monthly fee, but may charge less for bookkeeping and other tasks that don't require CPA-level training. If you are considering a larger accounting firm, make sure you meet and get to know the people with whom you will be working. As with any business relationship, a comfort level of trust, confidence, and communication with an accountant is a must.

If you're not sure you need a CPA, a professional bookkeeper may be the right choice. The free online "Bookkeepers Hiring Test" from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (www.aipb.org) can help you assess candidates' qualifications.

Other good sources are the membership directories of your local chambers of commerce, particularly if you need an accountant or bookkeeper within your geographic area. Most chambers have searchable directories on their websites showing their members by business category, including accounting.

Make sure customers know you value their business

Make sure customers know you value their business

November 23, 2014

Q: Not as many of our customers are returning for service as we expected. What can we do to encourage more to come back?

A: Every successful sports team has a "go-to" player, someone who can be counted on to deliver whatever is needed in specific situations.

As a small business owner, you want your firm to be a "go-to" resource for your customers, the place they'll turn to whenever they need a certain product or service, regardless of other options that may be available.

To achieve that distinction, you have to develop loyalty among your customers. At first glance, that might seem easy to do; give them what they want, and they'll come back, right?

Not necessarily. Customers have always wanted to feel valued, and to know that their specific needs will receive special attention. But building customer loyalty has become more challenging with the convergence of trends including easy access to data about competing companies; more price- or location-driven purchasing decisions due to economic factors; and greater expectations of value from those purchases.

Fortunately, there are many tactics to foster customer loyalty that can be integrated easily into your daily routine. A simple "thank-you for your business" goes a long way, but so does a personalized thank-you note, especially in the digital age. Don't cut and paste sentiments or use a form letter. Let customers know in a personal way that you appreciate their business.

Creating value will also help boost loyalty. Ask customers if there is anything else you could be doing for them. Then do it. If you blog or send an online newsletter, include stories or links to topics they may find interesting or that relate to your product or service. Consider offering incentives, such as discounts or freebies for frequent customers.

Review each customer touch point - your phone, website and store - to determine the kind of reception customers get, and how helpful each one is from the customer's view. And make sure your employees feel valued. When they feel good about working for you, they'll help customers have a better experience.

Even if your best efforts fall short and a customer goes elsewhere, you can still gain from the experience. Ask why the customer made the switch. If you can change or improve on something, do it.

You may not regain that customer, but you can use the input to better serve the ones you have.

Tictail- start your free online store!

You’ll be up and running within minutes without spending a dime. Join our community of over 60,000 shops and start your online business today.

From building your website and setting up your shopping cart - everything you’ll need to start selling online has been taken care of, with no software to install or maintain.

Tictail is a free-to-use e-commerce platform that allows individuals and retailers to set up their own virtual store. Launched in 2012, in under two years Tictail has seen over 35,000 stores created on the platform.

Founded in Stockholm by Carl Waldekranz, Kaj Drobin, Siavash Ghorbani and Birk Nilsson, Tictail was dubbed ‘the Tumblr of e-commerce’ by Wired Magazine in 2012, when the company was listed as one of ‘Europe's 100 hottest start-ups'. Central to the service is the Tictail feed, which guides users through the process of setting up and running their online store, from incorporating T&Cs and a returns policy, to offering advice on marketing and customer service. This interface essentially removes technology from the process – users do not need to know anything about coding or web design to create an attractive, professional-looking storefront.

Tictail focuses on strong community integration, simplicity of use and attractive, customisable design. This accessibility and affordability is key to what founder and CEO, Carl Waldekranz describes as the democratisation of ecommerce. Along with thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners, the UK’s oldest manufacturing company, The Whitechapel Bell Foundry, can also be found on Tictail.

While the basic Tictail service is completely free-to-use, users can pay to access premium apps, which add more complex features to a store (for example discount codes or a custom domain). In September 2013, Tictail opened up its platform, allowing third party individuals to develop Tictail apps that all users can purchase to add extra functionality to their store.