When small business owners search for a one-stop solution to meet their business needs, they have to look no further than the services provided by a business service franchise. Business services franchises make life more convenient for small business owners by serving many of their needs; and the they have a chance to work and grow with those businesses in the community. Business services franchises are a perfect match for people who’ve been involved with other business services careers but now want a chance to start their own business. Business service franchises are the most technologically advanced franchise systems around. These franchises have the ability to adapt to changing market trends and stay on the cutting edge of today’s economic times.
These franchises emerged to meet the demands of businesses that count on outsourcing to correct their company’s bottom line. Since these businesses are introduced to a new source of reliable service providers, they are equipped to cut down on low-end business expenses and can effortlessly meet their financial obligations. The money saved because of outsourcing can be effectively developed on other business functions. Business services franchises each offer hundreds of different solutions to small businesses. The wide range of services provided by these franchises include cleaning, expense reduction, direct mail, shipping and receiving, brokerage services, consulting, and advertising.
Don’t overlook the importance of finding a well known franchise company or a franchise company with a good reputation when you invest your dollars. With franchising systems “you get what you pay for,” as the old saying goes-this can’t be further from the truth. Low-end franchisors will have you believe that they offer the best system available. Regardless of how extraordinary they make this deal sound, you have to take caution when dealing with low-end franchise companies. Many of these franchisors are interested in selling only a training manual and authorization to use their company name-rarely do they care about seeing their franchisees succeed. Franchisors with a good reputation have very strict standards and will not present a franchise to just any entrepreneur who can afford a franchise fee. Franchisors profile carefully every prospective franchisee to weed out the ones who don’t make a good match for their company. These highly-developed franchsie systems will initially be more costly than a lower-end franchise, but also go to great lengths to ensure the success of their franchisees.
There are many different businesses providing many different services in America. To meet the different needs of these businesses, business services franchises offer a wide range of products and services. You have countless job options in the business services industry to say the least. Try researching the different businesses in your area and assess what needs aren’t being met. Based on your research, you will then be able to find a business services franchise that can meet those needs.
About the Author: Visit Franchise Opportunities for all of your business needs and for the latest information from the world of franchising.
Source: www.isnare.com
September 23rd, 2008
According to paymentonline.com, this includes credit cards processing systems with a Merchant Account to receive payment from the customers. Merchant Accounts are an important element in any ecommerce venture. Merchant services provide the expertise and reliability to enable merchants to accept credit cards, debit cards and checks. A GOOD Internet Merchant Account is one that 1) Deposits money into the bank account immediately 2) Has VISA/Mastercard rate lower than 2.3% 3) Doesn’t have a setup/application/or some other name for a $100+ or so fee 4) Has flexible term contract or commitment 5) Has been issued by a reliable merchant account provider 6) Doesn’t have a cancellation fee or annual fee 7) Has 24/7 telephone and online support from the merchant account provider 
Allows ecommerce indicator security features As per merchantlogic.com, many merchant services include access to all major credit card and regional debit card networks, as well as check acceptance services with electronic deposit. Whether the business is looking for retail merchant services, Internet merchant services, mail/phone order merchant services, or a wireless merchant services, the merchant services provider have a solution that’s right for your business needs. They also take pride in having one of the largest chargeback and fraud merchant services departments in the industry providing the customers with the finest level of service and protection for their businesses. Choosing the right merchant services provider can be critical to the business’s bottom line. But selecting a merchant services provider at first may appear to be a daunting task. A single web search will deliver a seemingly endless list of merchant services providers. The service provided by the merchant services provider is that it will provide various types of merchant accounts that can be used to process transactions. Each type of merchant account varies depending on the merchant’s business model. It is important that the merchant accurately completes the merchant application based on their business model as the rates and fees are determined on their business model classification. If a merchant fills out an application with an incorrect description of the services and products sold, the merchant can be fined and put on a terminated list for all merchant account providers to view. Merchant accounts are reviewed for compliance by a processor’s risk department and the credit card associations on a regular basis.
About the author:
For more information on credit card processing,please visit http://www.paynetsystems.com< /a>
September 20th, 2008
Business startup and failure rates are scary…
In The USA…
- Every Year Over 1 Million
People Start A Business
- By The End Of The First Year 40%
Of Them Will Be Out Of Business
- Within 5 Years More Than 80%
(800,000) Of These Businesses
Will Have Failed
(Source: The eMyth Revisited, Michal E Gerber,
US Department of Commerce)
In The UK…
- 2003 Saw 423,100 New Businesses
In England & Wales Startup
- Over Half of All New Firms
Fail In The First 3 Years
- At Least 211,550 Of These
Businesses Will Have Failed
Before The End Of 2006
(Source: Barclays SME Market Research Team
England & Wales Statistics Based On Business
Current Account Customers)
Unfortunately more and more people are being encouraged to
go it alone by government agencies and banks while being
given out-dated advice that doesn’t actually work.
The advisors in these organisations typically have
experience in larger production / manufacturing /
financial businesses and share marketing advice
that really doesn’t work for the majority of
small service-based businesses today.
Their text-book marketing principles simply do not
translate to businesses with limited money to invest
in advertising, direct mail and telesales.
In many cases these advisors are telling people how to
run a business even though they’re actually working for
a bank or government agency themselves. They have no
real experience spending their own money to grow a business.
Survival and inevitable success means being lean, mean and
focused on getting a genuine result (in the form of profit)
from the time and money you invest.
So here are 5 tips you can use to take
the power back and begin “fail proofing”
your growing business today.
#1. Question “Experts” Thoroughly
Be wary of government funded trainers
and / or advisors put forward by banks.
These people, in many cases, don’t
have a clue what its like to run and
grow their own business. Make it your
job to “suss them out” before taking
anything they tell you too seriously.
Some questions that I like…
What’s your experience of starting
and running a small business?
Have you actually spent your own money
trying to make a business work?
What mistakes have you made? What
lessons can I learn from your experience?
Will this advice / support / idea
cost me money or make me money?
Who really benefits when I take the
course of action you’re recommending?
#2. Model Excellent Businesses
Now by this I don’t mean simply
copy random things they do.
Just because the boss of a successful
firm like yours drives a brand-new Bentley
it doesn’t mean you should rush out and buy
one too. That won’t guarantee success.
You’re looking to find the things
that she did in order to afford the
Bentley in the first place.
So find out as much about their
processes and systems as you can and
then look for evidence to support applying
similar things that work for them to your
business.
Subscribe to their mailing list. Visit
their premises. Talk to their staff.
Talk to their customers. Read their
ads (or notice that they don’t advertise).
Network with them.
You can learn just as much from non-competing
businesses too. So why not set up a
support / learning group or see if a successful
entrepreneur would be able to mentor you.
#3. Have A BIG Goal
Big goals, by definition, should be easier
to hit than small goals. So don’t think small
- think big.
After nearly 8 years in business I still like
to set regular, big, 90 day goals. I call
these goals SHAGs - Short Hairy Audacious Goals.
Too many businesses focus on surviving. They
think in terms of what they don’t want. They miss
the opportunity to really succeed and then get
what they were desperately trying to avoid
- failure!
Focusing on what you don’t want really doesn’t
work. If you don’t want to fail you should
focus on succeeding in a big way.
#4. Improve Constantly
Have goals and set targets. Know what outcomes
you want and quantify them where possible.
Then work towards your goals using the
following cycle…
1. Implement (Do Something)
2. Measure (Test & Review)
3. Improve (Learn & Adjust)
As my friend and firewalk trainer Sanjay Shah
says, if you simply improve by 1 percent a day,
you’ll have improved 300 percent
(allowing for holidays) in a year!
#5. Don’t Follow The Crowd
Look, we both know most businesses
fail so don’t do what most other
businesses do or you’ll get the same results.
Don’t just advertise because every other
business seems to advertise. Make sure
advertising will make you money.
Don’t just do telesales because that happens
to be the service your local Chamber of Commerce
is selling.
Don’t measure turnover when profit
and cashflow is usually more important.
Don’t take on staff just because other
businesses believe more people equals
growth. More people often just means less
profit!
Don’t do the same thing, in the same way,
to the same people as every other business
like yours.
Do something different!
About the Author
4 Out Of 5 Small Businesses Go Bust
Inside 5 Years! Finally - A Guaranteed
Way To Make Sure You’re Not One Of Them…
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk/toolbooks
September 18th, 2008
We hear it all the time about big companies, and most likely we have professed a few of the same sentiments ourselves: “They’ve gotten too big to care about individual customers,” “Personalized service is a thing of the past,” and “If you get mad and go away, there will always be another customer right around the corner.”
Perhaps–but I like to think that no matter how big or small, a company’s first priority is to satisfy its customers.
There’s such a thing as “Buffalo Hunter’s Syndrome”–the feeling that because there always has been plenty of a certain thing (in this case customers) there always will be plenty. But we need only to look at what happened to the once great Buffalo herds of the American plains to understand the fallacy of this way of thinking (are you listening K-Mart? Ames?).
CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION IS LIKE A CANCER
No matter how big an enterprise, dissatisfaction can eat away like a cancer. The bigger the entity, perhaps the longer it takes for the “disease” to run its course–but it will run its course!
Large companies often dedicate entire teams and departments to customer service–to studying it, measuring it, and supposedly improving it. But what about small business owners, or even solo-professionals–individuals who are one-person businesses–who either don’t have the time or lack the budget for such an approach? How can they handle customer service?
KEEP IT SIMPLE
As a solo professional, I’ve kept my customer satisfaction process simple, relying on two main principles to guide me.
Principle #1–It takes less effort and drains less of my energy to be helpful and pleasant than it does to be a “grump.” Try it sometime. If you’re having a bad day, go ahead and be genuinely nice to the next customer who calls, emails or visits–even smile while you’re on the phone. Dare to laugh! You’re bound to get an energy lift, an up-tick on your mood meter. You’ll be happier . . . and so will the customer.
Principle #2–Role play. Whenever I’m contacted by a customer or potential client, I imagine myself in that person’s position. How would I feel? What would my needs be? How would I want to be treated? I then respond accordingly.
By employing these two simple ideas, I’ve been able to make providing good customer service second nature–it’s simply the norm–which allows me to focus more on sustaining and growing my business.
GOOD MANNERS AND COMMON SENSE
For small business owners with employees, are there ways you can instill these principles in your staff? I think so. It’s not rocket science. It’s mostly good manners and common sense.
If imagining yourself in a customer’s shoes isn’t a powerful enough image, perhaps imagining the customer as your “mother” would be more effective. In other words, given a specific encounter, how would you want your mother treated? Think about it.
SETTING EXPECTATIONS
Good customer service also depends on setting EXPECTATIONS with your customers from the outset–possibly even BEFORE they become your customers–and then consistently meeting or exceeding these expectations.
1) Clearly delineate your range of services–what you can and can’t do. Remember, you can’t be all things to everyone, and trying to do so will undoubtedly result in some level of customer dissatisfaction.
2) Let your customers know how they can access your services and when–What are your office hours? What about after hours? and when is email (or a phone call) more appropriate?
3) Provide an idea of your responsiveness–When a customer calls or needs work done, how responsive are you? Be consistent. If you routinely reply to emails within one business day, do this consistently. If, for some reason, you aren’t able to respond as you traditionally do, let your customers know (for example, you’re on vacation, away from the office, etc.).
4) Maintain good, honest communication. If you can’t do something in a requested time period, or aren’t available, simply say so. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s good service.
5) Provide alternatives. If you can’t meet a customer need, offer ideas for alternatives. This may push business to someone else, but you’re certain to engender goodwill among your customers–and that can often result in return business and, at the very least, positive word of mouth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright (c) 2004 by Matt McGovern–All rights reserved.
About the Author
Matt McGovern combines a rare blend of creative and technical know-how with years of experience and a balanced and purposeful approach to life. He has authored and edited numerous books, e-books and e-zines. Get “Know-How” his free e-newsletter at www.700acres.com/pages/ad_archive.html or explore life, death and beyond with his novel, “CURRENTS-Every Life Leaves an Imprint” at www.MattMcGovern.com/books.html.
September 15th, 2008
Small Business Q&A with Tim Knox
If you’re a regular reader of this column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying hard-earned money for a product or service only to have the provider of said product or service become apathetic, obnoxious or just downright rude after the transactional smoke has cleared.
The bottomline, my entrepreneurial friend, is this: it doesn’t matter if your product is fast food, slow food, retail goods, computers, lawn mowers, books, real estate or automobiles, if a customer is willing to pay you good money in exchange for your product or service that customers deserves to be treated with gratitude and respect, before and after the sale. Period.
I’m constantly amazed at how many business owners and the frontline employees who represent them seem to forget this simple fact.
It’s like the old saying about getting a little respect in the morning. If you court me before the sale, you damn well better respect me afterward. Just because you have my money in your pocket and I have your product in my hand, that does not mean that my needs have been fully satisfied or that my expectations have ceased to exist. To the contrary, our relationship is just getting started. It’s up to you how well we will get along and how long our relationship will last.
Here’s the point: customer service should not stop after the sale. In fact, customer support AFTER the sale can have greater impact on the success of your business than customer support before the sale.
Nothing generates negative buzz about a business like bad customer service, and nothing will drive nails in a business’ coffin faster. News of bad customer service travels like lightning and spreads like wildfire. Think back to the last time you were on the receiving end of bad customer service. I’d be willing to bet that you immediately went out into the world and told everyone you met about the experience. You probably also warned them to “never do business with those &^%$ or you’ll get treated the same!”
As a business person, it should be your mission to make every customer a repeat customer, and one of the best ways to do that is by delivering superior customer service every time that customer comes through your door. Superior customer service leads to increased customer satisfaction, which leads to repeat business, which leads to customer loyalty. It is also much cheaper to keep a customer than to obtain a new one.
The fast food industry is especially prone to customer service problems. This is due in large part to the fact that every transaction is a face-to-face sale and the average fast food worker is a disgruntled teenager who would rather be lying on a bed of nails than standing behind a fast food counter schlepping fries.
However, that doesn’t always have to be the case. This is not meant as an ad for Chic Filet or as a slam at Taco Bell, but the difference in customer service between these two fast food titans is astounding.
I used to frequent both establishments (fast food is my crack), so this is the voice of experience speaking. Behind the counter at the local Chic Filet are young people who seem genuinely happy to be of service. They are clean cut and polite. They don’t wear their baseball caps sideways or have anything visibly pierced. They look me in the eye, they smile like there is no place on earth they would rather be, and they ask for my order in clear, concise English. They thank me profusely and invite me to come again. Excellent customer service after the sale.
Inversely, a recent trip to a local Taco Bell almost ended on an episode of Cops because the young lady behind the counter grew angry when I politely pointed out that my nachos were stale and asked for a fresh bag (pet peeve #132: stale nachos).
Miss Mary Sunshine snatched the offending nachos from my hand and slam dunked them in a trash can, then tossed a replacement bag (which were also stale) on the counter in front of me. She then gave me a look that clearly said that if I had any further complaints she’d be happy to escort me outside to discuss them in detail. I like nachos, but not so much that I would risk getting my behind kicked by a disgruntled teenage girl wearing a sideways Taco Bell cap. Not-so-excellent customer service after the sale.
Now, which restaurant do you think I will go to the next time I feel the need to feed my fast food monkey? And which restaurant do you think I enthusiastically recommend to my friends? The one that understands the importance of good customer service before and after the sale, of course.
The worst customer service experience I’ve ever had involved the purchase of a vehicle at a local used car lot. I purchased the used Ford Expedition on a Friday evening and when problems arose with the vehicle over the weekend, I went back to the dealership on Monday morning to speak with the sales manager.
To say the least, the sales manager (who acted like my best friend on Friday) was not thrilled to see me on Monday. To make a very long story short, when I pointed out that he wasn’t being very helpful after the sale he came around the desk yelling at the top of his lungs and waving his hands in my face.
By the time the receptionist managed to calm him down, the sales manager had gone so far as to call me “a retarded idiot” (which may be considered redundant) and had instructed me to do something with the vehicle that I believe is anatomically impossible.
It was an Expedition, I’m a little guy. Use your imagination.
Though the dealership owner later apologized and offered to take care of any problem I had, the damage to his business had already been done. The bad buzz machine started the second I left his lot.
Do you think I told everyone I met about my experience with that dealership? You bet your stale nachos I did. Do you think I will ever buy another car from that dealership? Not on your life. Do you think anyone I’ve told about the experience will buy a car from that dealership? Probably not. Do you think the owner and sales manager learned anything from the experience? We can only hope.
In the end, what is the value of great customer service before and after the sale? Priceless, my friend.
Simply priceless.
Now, can somebody please get me some fresh nachos
Do you have a customer service horror story? I’d love to hear it. Email me at the address below.
Here’s to your success.
Tim Knox
tim@dropshipwholesale.net
For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.
Related Links:
http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.30dayblueprint.com http://www.timknox.com
September 12th, 2008
It’s time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I’m sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I’ve preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service, the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints… would it really be so bad?
What puzzles me most is if bad customer service is such a death knell for business, why do so many businesses allow it to go on? Don’t they read my column, for Pete’s sake? I think the problem is that most bad customer service is doled out (or at least condoned) by business owners and managers who have ceased caring what their customers think. When you stop caring what your customers think it’s time to close the doors. Go find a day job. You’ll make someone a wonderfully disgruntled employee.
My latest parable of lousy customer service was actually experienced by my better half while attempting to buy my daughter a pair of basketball shoes. I won’t mention the name of the sporting goods chain store in which the bad customer service took place, but I will tell you that its name is similar to the sound a frog with hiccups might make.
As my wife waited for someone to assit, the four or five teenagers who had been charged with manning the store stood in a clump at the cash register giggling and flirting with one another as if they were at the prom instead of at work.
When my wife pointed out this fact, one of the employees, a cheeky lass of 16 or so, put her hands on her hips and said, “How rude!” The males in the group didn’t react at all. They were too busy arguing over who could take a break so they could chase other cheeky lasses about the mall.
Needless to say my lovely bride, who has the ability to instill fear into the hearts of even the most worthless employees, left the gaggle of giggling teen idiots standing with their mouths open in disbelief. How dare a customer tell them to do that with a pair of basketball shoes?
As much as I bemoan bad customer service I celebrate good customer service. It should be applauded and the purveyor of said good customer service should be rewarded for actually delivering satisfaction to the customer, above and beyond the call of duty.
So let me tell you the story of my new hero, Ken. I won’t tell you the name of the store in which Ken works, but let’s just say they started out selling radios in a shack somewhere long, long ago.
I first met Ken when I went into the store to buy a mixing board for my business that records audio products for the Web. In a nutshell, you plug microphones into the mixing board then connect it to the computer and you can record audio directly to digital format. Totally beside the point of this article, but I didn’t want you thinking that I was purchasing non-manly cooking utensils.
When I got the mixer installed it didn’t work. So I boxed it up and headed back to the store to return it. When I told Ken my problem he didn’t just grunt and give me my money back as so many bad customer service reps would do. Instead he asked, “Do you mind if I try it?”
“Knock yourself out,” was my reply, confident that if I couldn’t get it to work, neither could Ken. Ken took the mixer out of the box and went about hooking it up to one of the computers on display. He started pulling power cords and cables off the display racks and ripping them open and plugging them in. He tore open a new microphone and an adapter and kept going until he had the mixer hooked up and working. Yes, I said working. It turns out the mixer was fine. I just had the wrong power adapter.
Ken could have just given me my money back and been done with me. Instead he spent 15 minutes and opened a number of other packages that I was under no obligation to buy just to help me get the thing working.
I was so impressed that I not only kept the mixing board, I also bought another $50 worth of products. And the next time I need anything electronic guess where I will buy it? Even if it costs twice as much, I’ll buy it from Ken.
Now here’s the moral of the story: if you are a business owner who has a gaggle of teenagers in charge of customer service at your store you would be better off replacing them with wild monkeys.
At least monkeys can be trained.
About the author:
Tim Knox. Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker. Tim Knox is a nationally-known small business expert who writes and speaks frequently on the topic. For more information or to contact Tim please visit one of his sites below. http://www.dropshipwholesale.net www.timknox.com “>http://www.smallbusinessqa.com www.timknox.com
September 9th, 2008
Printing is a personal thing. Each unique person has varying printing needs. Nevertheless, whatever your needs and experiences in printing are, you can always rely on a specific printer which caters to your exact printing needs.
A printing need is like a language and printing companies should know the language to speak it. If the language is not capable of being understood then it serves no purpose since it cannot effectively confer comprehension among the communicators thus, it breaks the communication process.
In order not to break the fragile process, customers and most importantly printing companies should know exactly what to do. And what to do involves knowing the latest technologies that can be applied in various printing needs.
Latest technologies resulted to the birth of different kind of business cards which include basic business cards , colorful business cards , parchment business cards, pre-printed business cards, colored speckled business cards, full bleed business cards, magnet business cards and folding business cards .
Aside from the aforementioned cards there is the latest craze on metal business cards. Metal business cards are flashy cards with a protective coating which makes it resistant to scratching and fading. It is virtually indestructible. Metal business cards are printed using the anodizing process on well-built gold colored brass or silver aluminum. To create round cornered cards, a special die is used on its dull edges and then printed on .011 in. silver shiny aluminum or gold colored brass plated aluminum. The card is easy to use and has a friendly design interface with one color one side or you can include three standards colors.
You can attach a photo to your business card. It can go right to the edge of the card to give it a greater visual look while providing more spaces for the vital information. The photo may be replaced by a logo or colored text at your choice.
Multi-colored business card, on the other hand, is great to those companies who want to maintain an impact without using a photo. With this kind of card you can maintain your corporate identity or include a logo or illustration. Another kind is the photo inset. When you want the profile of your business to be included, you can use this to have through personal touch the professional look you desired. By reason of the personal touch, retention of the vital information will be ensured. To remove the unsightly backgrounds that detract your subject, you can use the deep etched photo.
One thing about business cards is that they should draw attention to your subject. First business impressions may last thus, it is necessary to have it done through the help of the latest technologies made available by time.
About the Author
For Comments and Questions about the Article you may Log - on to http://www.printingshoppers.com
September 7th, 2008
There will come a time in your business where you feel ready to add another service offering. To make this successful, there are ten tips to consider before moving ahead.
1) Revisit your business plan. If you don’t have one, write one for your business as it currently exists (even a one-page, brief summary will work fine). Compare how your business plan will be the same or different with the addition of this new service.
2) Will this new offering build adequately on what you already have in place? This refers not only to your resources, but also to your own skills and those of your staff. Does this new offering extend further what you’ve already been doing? Or is it a detour into a new area?
3) Is the addition going to be cost effective? For example, if you’re building on what you already have in place, you’re probably going deeper into your current market rather than trying to start a whole new business from scratch. Generally speaking, it’s almost always going to be more cost effective to add a related service line than it is to start a new one.
4) Have your customers asked you about this or expressed a need for something new? If you regularly consult with your customers you will know what they need and want. If they continually ask you whether you provide a particular service, use this information to guide what you next add to your business. Your bottom line will thank you.
5) If you are a solo professional, how will the new service improve what you’re doing now? Will it provide you additional income or additional freedom? Is it an area that is more interesting to you? Just be sure that adding the service is likely to provide you with definable personal benefits otherwise, you might stretch yourself too thin.
6) How will your customers benefit from this new service? If you don’t have a built in market for what you’re offering be sure to think about what this new service will do for your existing customers. Will it allow you to serve more people? Fewer people? Will it cost less? Are the results going to be better?
7) Ask yourself: Why this and why now? What is driving your decision? Is this the right time to implement this new plan? Timing, sometimes, is the main difference between success and failure.
Give adequate notice. Be sure to give your customers adequate notice of these changes if this addition is going to impact your existing customers (as in you might be less available for a while or your prices might increase). Customers are very resilient when they know what’s going on and why.
9) Communicate your enthusiasm. If you are excited about a new offering be sure to share this with everyone you know. Once you’ve decided to go ahead get as much help and support as you can. As the business owner, you have a lot of influence on your customer’s view and response to this change.
10) Set some goals and revenue projections for the new offering. Create a marketing plan and decide how you will reach your targets. Measure your results. This will assist you in gauging if you’re on the right track.
Most of all, have fun with this process. One of the best parts of owning your own business is that you can make adjustments which make your business better for your customers and yourself.
(c) 2004, Dr. Rachna D. Jain. All rights in all media reserved.
Dr. Rachna D. Jain is a sales and marketing consultant to small business owners/solo entrepreneurs who want to make more money and have more fun in their businesses. Check out her daily insights at http://www.salesandmarketingcoach.com/blog
coach@salesandmarketingcoach.com
September 4th, 2008
The importance of pricing can not be underestimated as incorrect pricing can often result in the failure of a business. New businesses often make the mistake of either charging too little or too much for their product or service. So to help you avoid making one of these mistakes, the following section will outline some of the guiding principles of price determination. Price is a key part of marketing. Setting prices is called pricing.
Pricing means more than how much you charge. Smart customers look beyond pricing when considering a purchase. Price is important but so are delivery times, guarantees, customer support and quality to name a few.
Small and home based businesses can - in many cases - do a better job than “big businesses” in some of these areas. You should evaluate your pricing based on this fact. You’re small and don’t have the inertia or paperwork logjams of a bigger business. You’re quick on your feet and can change direction easily and quickly.
How do I get started on pricing a product/service? There are 4 steps here suggested by us. This module may not serve all types of businesses so if you are not sure consult as many sources as possible
Step 1
Do your homework
You cannot determine prices based only on costs and desired profit margins. First step is to do a little research to get some “real world” pricing guidelines. You don’t need a high priced marketing firm to help. Remember, you know your business better than any consultant. Refer to the micro module on Market Research or follow the following pointers on finding out what your competitors and other businesses are doing regarding price. Once again there is no substitute for getting out into the field and doing the research yourself.
Locate a trade association, organization or networking group whose specialty is your service. If none exists, find an association with a similar product. In general, associations can tell you the high-low and average prices charged by members. You can find some organizations listed at our Free for al links or at any local business advice center.
Trade/Business Journals and newspapers contain articles that may include prices. At least once a year, I see an article about my industry online or in a periodical that contains industry fees.
Ask your accountant or Coach for some ideas; after all, they deal with business owners all the time.
There are many career and employee guides that provide industry or job related prices. Consult any industry specific control or accreditation body.
Obtain the cost of raw materials and supplies necessary for your product. Surely you want to charge more than it’s costing you for the items!
Many business owners place a pricing structure on their websites. Using the industry name, plus the word “rate” or “fees”, you can find those sites on the Internet.
Determine your hourly rate. What is your time worth?
Call similar businesses, outside your local area, for their prices. If you’re not their competition, you have a better chance to be told the score.
Visit stores that sell the product you’re interested in selling to determine their pricing system.
Ask everyone you know “if” and “what” they will pay for “x”. Ask prospective clients what they would pay for your product or service.
Step 2
Determine Your Pricing Objective - What do you hope to achieve?
There are 3 ways to find the appropriate level for you and your product.
Base Price — The lowest price or rate you must charge to cover your cost including, cost of living and keeping your knowledge and skills up to date.
Base Price is one of your pricing objectives. It’s a very important one. This is the one figure you need know so you can keep your doors open. This is your break even point. The absolute minimum needed.
Chargeable Time is the maximum number of working days/hours in a given year. This is the one figure most business owners never consider. It is the number one reason why you end up working long hours and long weeks for your business.
Now divide your cost or Base Price by the number of days from your chargeable time figure. This gives you your daily income benchmark. The amount you need to be making per day from your products or service rates.
Be careful about lowering prices just to meet or beat the competition. There are, however, some good reasons to lower prices:
A strategy to increase market share.
Promote a new product or service.
Attract attention to a over stocked product.
Encourage high volume purchases.
Increase seasonal business (Christmas sale, etc)
Realistic Price — Substantially higher than Base Price. Top of the quality range in your field but still competitive while offering good value and service to your customers.
Sometimes you have to increase prices in order to cover, for example, increased cost of materials, labor, etc. When an increase is necessary ease the pain for your customers by considering the following:
Notify your existing customers of the increase and, if possible, give them an opportunity to purchase at the existing prices.
Try and advertise the increase along with “new and improved” products or services.
Give the customer something in return for the increased costs. For example, free shipping with orders above a certain value. If possible, delay the increase for existing customers.
Premium Price — You position your product for the “elite group” and go after the client who wants and can afford the best.
Daily Income Benchmark — How Much Per Day You Need To Make.
How do you determine daily amount? You need two figures… Base Price and Chargeable Time.
Step 3
Consider some key pricing strategies
Pricing to the Market
Compare prices with your competitors for similar products and services. Set the price range that customers will expect. You can use that market price range–what is acceptable to the market–as a guide to set your prices. Businesses or people to whom you sell may also price to the market by telling you what they will pay for your product or service. As you keep records of actual costs, the cost approach to pricing will help you make sure all your costs are covered, which may not be true in a market approach to pricing.
NOTE: Be careful about underpricing in order to compete or make sales. Use competitor’s prices to establish the price range for similar products or services but don’t underprice; if your true costs are higher, your final prices will have to be higher.
Cost Approach to Pricing
Price must cover all costs of goods/services sold, including production costs of supplies, materials, fixed overhead, and time/labour, plus a profit. Costs should include costs of production, labour and non-labour, including overhead or fixed costs as well as supplies and materials.
Use this simple formula in setting a price (per unit):
Total Costs of Production Per Unit + Desired Dollar Profit Per Unit
Businesses can set different profit rates, for example 15% profit on supplies and materials, 20% profit on labour/time, and 25% profit on overhead. These more complicated approaches to pricing usually emerge in response to the special needs of a particular business.
If your research reveals that similar products or services are available on the market at a cost much lower than what you could offer, you may have to either adjust your profit margin, the return you expect, or decide to provide enough specialized service or selection that the market will pay the extra. Alternatively, you may be forced to conclude that you cannot afford to make this item or provide this service and look for something else to do.
NOTE: Remember to cost materials at the level it costs to replace them - NOT at original prices; include salaries as a business expense; include interest in your business cost calculations — interest that could have been accrued had the money used in the company been invested elsewhere (i.e. a bank); make allowances for future refunds, servicing, bad debts, amortization of capital costs of equipment or machinery.
Calculating actual costs is the only proven way to make sure your prices cover your costs. Labour/time charges are to be covered partly in the costs of production and partly as a salary in the fixed/operating or overhead costs. In summary, key points to consider in setting prices are: marketing strategy and your immediate goals competitors’ prices, and the market demand for the product and consumer buying trends need to cover costs and provide an adequate profit.
Step 4
Price your product and review regularly
Don’t guess or do your pricing on a whim. Take time and go through the process and you’ll be on the right track to a more successful and profitable business.
The biggest mistake small businesses make concerning pricing is not reassessing pricing on a regular basis. The marketplace is constantly changing making it mandatory you keep a close watch on your pricing. Raise or lower prices as necessary keeping the above suggestions in mind.
Whatever route you choose, even a small increase in price can have a big positive effect on the bottom line especially if you re a high volume producer, notes co-authors Dolan and Simon. If Coca-Cola raised its prices 1% across the board, the company s bottom line would rise by 6.4%, they write.
Remember that you can always increase your price.
About the Author: Learn more at http://www.my1stbusiness.com Ben Botes MSc. MBA, is an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Writer, Coach and academic. He is the founder of My1stBusiness.com. Join the My1stbusiness.com Reseller Program and earn 40% referral commission http://www.my1stbusiness.com/affiliate Read Ben’s Blog at http://www.my1stbusiness.com/weblog
Source: www.isnare.com
September 1st, 2008
There are many different website design companies, offering different facilities such as flash design, however what should a small business look for when seeking an internet prescence?
When choosing which company you would like to build your website, there are many factors which you need to take into consideration.
Firstly how much is the website going to cost to build and host. We all have different budgets, however there are some very good deals to get, if you are willing to search around.
When choosing a company it is important to look at their portfolio, this will give you a good insight into the type of work they do.
Most web desgn firms will offer additional services such as optimisation, website promotion and may also submit your website to the search engines.
For me the website they have created for you should be fully optimised anyway and I would also expect the web design firm should submit the site to the search engines as a matter of course. It is always worth asking to make sure.
It is always worth asking the company to add a link to your website, preferably from their homepage, as the more backward links you have, the higher page rank you will eventually obtain. The higher the page rank, the more visitors you are likely to obtain.
If you want to promote the website even further, google adwords is a favourite of mine. This is where you pay per click to your website and your advert is likely to appear in the first or second page of the results, on the right hand side.
You can also write articles, like the one I am here. This will potentially obtain you even more additional links and visitors. These are the websites I advise you to submit your articles to: http://www.ezinearticles.com http://www.searchwarp.com http://www.goarticles.com
About the Author
Stephen Hill has a number of websites, examples are http://www.impotence-male.co.uk and http://www.free-self-hypnosis.co.uk
August 30th, 2008
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