All posts in Business

How To Make Your Small Business More Secure

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Many small business owners take shortcuts when it comes to security. They may not think they have the money to invest in a security system, or they may think that theyre not a target. However, this negligence is precisely the reason many burglars and other criminals go after small businesses. Here are 7 steps every small business owner should take to keep their clients and employees safe.

Stay Alert
Not all criminals strike at night when the building is deserted. In fact, many prefer to slip in unnoticed through a side door during the day. Teach your employees to pay attention to your property and report any strangers who are lingering nearby. CCTV in Calaveras, CA, is a good way of monitoring your property at all times, and you can usually access it from work or home.

Maintain Your Building
Criminals will assume that your building is an easy target if you dont put an effort into keeping it well maintained. Long grass, weeds, graffiti, and other signs of neglect are signs that you cut corners when it comes to expenses and probably dont have a security system installed. Overgrown trees and bushes also provide good hiding places for criminals to conduct surveillance on your building while theyre planning a way to get in. Keep the exterior of your building clean and well lit to encourage burglars to try a different target.

Keep Emergency Plans Handy
Your building should have a written set of instructions for emergency situations posted in an area where all employees can access it. This should include steps for dealing with natural disasters and phone numbers of the local police and fire department. Review these plans with your employees regularly, and discuss what they should do in the event of a burglary or another crime.

Keep Track of Your Keys
The fewer keys to your building, the better. Make copies only for those who absolutely need them, and make sure you have a list of everyone who has a key. Tell your employees to be careful with the keys, especially in public places like the gym or Laundromat. If you lose track of a key, have the locks changed just to be on the safe side.

Dont Advertise Your Cash
Never let on to your customers how much money you have in the store. Your employees dont need to see you counting cash at the end of the day. Make regular deposits at the bank, and never leave large amounts of cash in your store overnight, even in a safe.

Protect Your Computers
Your computers contain sensitive information about your business and your clients, and its important to take steps to keep them safe. Use firewalls to prevent communication with other networks and block people from hacking into your system. Limit computers in your building to official use only–your employees shouldnt be using them to check their personal emails or surf the Internet. They may accidentally stumble onto something that could compromise the safety of your computers. Give every employee their own individual login so that you can keep them accountable for anything that happens while theyre logged on.

Invest in a Security System
A security system is usually the best defense against burglars, and it can also help keep your building safer from natural disasters like fire. Most burglars look for easy targets where they wont be caught, and will avoid your store if they know that its protected by a security company. This is especially true if they think theyll be recorded by CCTV in Calaveras, CA. If someone does break in, your security company can alert you and the police instantly, giving the police the best chance of apprehending the trespasser.

How To Improve Service Quality At Your Business

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Improving upon the service quality requires a lot of understanding on part of the customer service managers and the services staff to be successful at any business. An organization who can not understand or keep up with customers expectations can not flourish for long. Also it must be noted that not a single customer should be left out who can be valuable to your business, for ultimately it is the word of mouth reputation which works your way towards a growing and healthy business.

In todays organizations, often a customer service software is installed in order to maintain customer database and to take care of the existing customers. IBM is one such hot example of good service delivery organization where the Netcool software provided by them lends quality service management and customer experience management. This kind of software enabled management help the service providers to lower the operations costs and enhance the service quality. The employees at IBM are privileged to have the service management capabilities like real-time service status management, service performance management or customer experience management.

Apart from having a software to improve the service quality, there are other strategies which should be studied and implemented.

Always ask the customers for feedback: Whenever the customers come to you, ask them about your products, whether they purchase or do not purchase your products. If they have used your products previously and are satisfied, you have an extra edge to win over your customer. You can get the feedback forms filled by them and also ask them to give their suggestions

Maintain a record of complaints and act upon them: Maintaining a record is one thing but acting upon them is very vital to get more business from them. Study each complaint carefully, talk to each customer and take adequate actions.

Discuss the ways of service improvement: The employees of any organization should actively discuss the problems accrued by any customers. Regular meetings should be conducted in order to address every particular problem. If changes to be brought about has to be effected at the top level management, the necessary elements of meeting should be conveyed to them. Occasionally, role play should be taken up by employees in orde to understand the potential problem of the customers.

Reward your service staff: The service employees who work towards building a good relationship with the customers and also fetch business from them must be rewarded. If your employees are happy, indirectly your customers will also be happy. Also these employees must be motivated to perform on a regular basis.

Hire people who are interested in services industry: Many times, you hire people who do not have a knack to excel in the services sector. Those who have an experience in this line but no liking for services, will ultimately fail to deliver performance. So, its better to know and understand people during the time of interview.

Take heed of the above tenets of service and adopt them as your long-term or short-term goals. Do maintain a good rapport with your customers but do not stoop too much to their demands. Also, let your customers know clearly about the service practices so that they do not take undue advantage.

Create A Business Opportunity From A Problem

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Turn a Problem into a Business Opportunity by creative thinking.

People pay money to create a problem and then somebody else turns that problem into a business opportunity. How do we do this? First step is to examine and define in great detail what exactly the problem is? Then look at innovative ways to turn the problem into a business opportunity.

Problem – We are eating a lot more then we should. Opportunity – exercise classes, weight loss diets, larger size clothes & diet drinks / foods.

Think of traffic, then think of bottlenecks! Problem – a lot of people stuck in traffic. Opportunity – Billboard advertising & more demand for entertainment on the move!

Problem – In this day of high speed life, people don’t have time to sit down and eat. Opportunity – Create a fast food franchise that serves hot food within minutes for customers to take away and eat on the move.

Problem – people are drinking more. Opportunity – diet drinks, drink dispensers, low calorie alcoholic drinks, vitamins, more fun drinks & definitely more counselling!

In our previous business, we had a problem when we were manufacturing specialised, shock absorbing pallets. We always many pieces of a certain size of wood left. I sent our salesman round local businesses to see if he could find a use for it. In the end we ended up making “button-ups” which had a 100% profit margin after expenses for pieces of wood which we used to throw away!

Problem – Higher number of asylum seekers & refugees. Opportunity – low cost housing, lower paid labour force and increased demand for economy products!

Problem – More spam! Opportunity – more demand for new software, better firewalls & more experts needed!

What problems have you faced recently? Can you nail it down and turn it into an opportunity?

Here are the steps we should take to turn a problem into a business opportunity:

1) Identify the problem
2) Do overall market research
3) Get a team in to collectively debate the problem
5) Sleep on it
6) Do some more market research
6) Apply creative thinking and problem solving strategies to identify a business opportunity

Many questions can be answered by market research. What is the current state? Where is the market going? Who are the main players? How do consumers feel about the current solutions to their problems? How can we meet their needs better?

We can turn every challenge into a business opportunity. Every business process can be improved. Every problem is a business opportunity. Every time you have a bright idea, make sure that you write it down in an ideas notebook. Can you solve last weeks problems in a way which people will pay money?

Catchy Business Slogans And What They Say

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With the number of businesses competing for customers today, it is important that businesses set themselves apart from others. They can set themselves apart in various ways such as promotions, development of new products, purchasing incentives, and many more. Slogans are another way for businesses to get ahead of other businesses.

Slogans are catchy phrases used by businesses as a way to be remembered. The goal of slogans is to associate a phrase with a business so the business is more memorable to people. The idea is for people to always have the slogan in their mind. This should entice people to become a customer of this company.

Several different types of business slogans exist. Company slogans are one type and are used to describe the entire company. These slogans try to tell about the company, about their philosophy, their goals, and other elements as well. These slogans are very broad as they aim to reach many people.

Other types of slogans used by businesses can be developed around a particular product. It is just as important to market the product as it is the company. By making a product memorable, a company will help to promote the product. People that hear the product slogan have a higher tendency to search out the product. This has the potential to increase the number of sales and revenue.

Website slogans are yet another type of slogans businesses can use. Many businesses prefer to have a slogan for their entire company and then a different slogan for their website. These slogans are slightly different because the slogan is designed with the website in mind. Although the slogan is exclusively for the website, the website slogan needs to also keep in mind the slogan for the business.

Many people believe slogans must rhyme or use humor. This is not quite true. Successful slogans can be serious or even just use one word. As long as the slogan accurately portrays the company or product, the slogan will be successful. This is the key to successful slogans.

Creating successful slogans requires a special art. Many online websites offer programs to develop catchy phrases businesses can use for their slogan. Advertising companies offer the development of slogans for a fee. These companies are well versed in how to create successful slogans for companies, their product, their website, and all other businesses needs as necessary.

The Pros And Cons Of Medium And Large Business Coaching Firms

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Business coaching is essentially about making a meaningful difference to a business by helping business owners to achieve their goals and overcome their weaknesses. It is all about polishing their skills and helping them understand their own potential. Business coaching is something that can be practically applied to any industry and at any level of employment. This growing need for business coaching is responsible for making coaching industry as big and competitive as it is today. Business coaching provides excellent career opportunities to those who believe that teaching is their forte and who have profound understanding of the sensitive business needs of diverse businesses.

While some people prefer to set up their own coaching practice, others choose to become a part of well-established boutique (medium sized coaching service providers) or a large business coaching firm, to impart their coaching skills to business communities. Just like a solo business coaching practice, medium and large business coaching firms also have their own set of pros and cons. If you are an expert business coach and are planning to provide coaching services through a medium or large business coaching firm, make sure that you quickly go through the pros and cons mentioned below:

Pros

Working with reputed business coaching firms has several benefits and can be a rewarding career prospect for many. When you work solo, there is a danger of professional isolation that may stop you from learning new skills that are required for survival in this highly competitive coaching market. However, when you work with moderate sized or large firms, you are a part of a highly motivated coaching culture and you are constantly updated about the latest developments in your field. The firm as a whole adapts to the changing demands of diverse businesses and develops new strategies to address these demands.

As a result, you will always learn new survival strategies to sustain fierce competition and stay ahead, in spite of the growing challenges. Being associated with a large organization, your market value is higher. In addition, teamwork enhances your productivity as well as creativity, contrary to solo practice where you have to rely only on your ideas and efforts. Large firms usually have a broad network and a list of influential clients providing excellent growth opportunities for deserving candidates. Clients, especially big companies prefer to hire the services of established firms, as they are usually very professional and maintain confidentiality about business information.

Cons

Some clients feel that large firms may not provide personalized services that solo coaches offer. When working for boutiques or large firms, you wont get the freedom to implement your ideas and may often have to seek prior approval from your seniors before going ahead with a business strategy. Being a part of a large team of professionals, your ideas and strategies may be replaced by those of others, leading to lack of morale and low performance. There is also a strong chance that your performance may not be noticed and you may get lost in the crowd.