Tag: small business

Small businesses and small business owners

How a Factoring Company Can Aid Small Business Success

Small Business Success:

It’s hard enough to grow a small business, even in a successful economy. However, with small business invoice factoring, payments for your unpaid customer invoices can help solve urgent cash flow issues.

If you are a high-risk business—or a company that works in industries with generally low profit margins—generating positive business cash flow and increasing your revenue can be very stressful, especially when you are trying to grow your business. Even companies in a low-risk environment need revenue at all times. After providing a service or selling a product, companies will generate business accounts receivable for each of their customers, and send some type of invoice to the client.

Unfortunately, many businesses will not receive payments for their goods and services right away. It is highly common for payments to arrive weeks—even months—after the customer has been billed. This can be incredibly stressful for any business, as funding is essential to success.

This is where factoring can come in.

Factoring is basically the sale of accounts receivable to a third-party factoring company. The company buys the invoice for a large percentage of the balance due, which immediately provides the needed funds to support the business. Once the invoice has been paid in full, the factoring company pays the remainder of the balance to the business, minus a small processing fee, known as a factoring fee.

An example of factoring in action is freight bill factoring. This is the process of selling the accounts receivable owned by a commercial freight company to a freight bill factoring company. This is beneficial, as it can help trucking companies avoid debt and liability. It is also much more beneficial than choosing to finance a short-term loan, asset-based lending, opening a line of credit, or investing in venture capital. Increasing a business’s debt can only hurt a growing business; with freight companies in particular, the cost of operation is constant.

It can be crippling to wait for a payment or, even worse, face the reality of paying back a loan with high interest rates. For a small business, invoice factoring is a cash advance option that provides almost immediate cash flow, has a higher approval rate, and saves you time because the factoring company collects payments from your customers instead of you needing to follow up on unpaid invoices.

Utilizing a factoring company is a practical move for businesses of all types. However, small businesses need the assistance of invoice factoring companies the most. Small businesses are least likely to have funds in reserve and are at the highest risk of bankruptcy or being forced into taking out small business loans. In 2015, less than 15% of small business loans were approved, which indicates that taking out a small business loan may not be a viable option in the first place. Hiring a factoring company can only help a small company stay afloat during their critical periods of growth.

If you are looking for quick cash flow for your business but need an alternative to a small business loan, contact Charter Capital today to find out more about how our small business invoice factoring services can help you.

September 9, 2016
Meeting the Challenges of America’s Increasingly Diverse Workforce
America has been undergoing a major revolution in recent years, and this upheaval shows no signs of slowing. Thankfully, this revolution is not a violent rebellion seeking to overthrow the government, but rather a transformation in the way companies hire employees and do business with customers.

What is this revolution? To see it, you need only look in the mirror. The faces looking back are changing with increasing frequency. They are becoming younger and ever more diverse, a reflection of how the United States itself is becoming a true multi-cultural nation. And the success of your small business could hinge on how well you as an organization react, adapt and make profitable use of this country’s rapidly changing demographics.

Getting Younger

America’s famous Baby Boomer generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) are now retiring and leaving the workforce in ever-greater numbers. In many small businesses, these employees represent the knowledge and history of the company, with experience that often makes them invaluable and sometimes irreplaceable.

True, workers in this demographic are often the highest paid, and when they retire, firms may be tempted to hire younger, and thus less costly replacements. However, as a small business owner, you need to ask if you will face a potential “brain drain” when this inevitably occurs. Can you replace the knowledge and experience Baby Boomer workers take with them when they leave?

If not, you need to set up a plan to ensure the smooth transfer of knowledge to others within the company. Otherwise, you could face difficulty when problems arise and you no longer have these seasoned pros to fall back on.

While Baby Boomers age, the U.S. population is also seeing a rise in younger workers under the age of 30. Younger workers present many unique challenges for small companies, including a lack of experience and skills, unfamiliarity with business protocol and decorum, and sometimes even difficulty with authority and the use of proper channels to resolve issues. When hiring younger workers, small businesses need to be aware of these challenges. How can you manage these employees in a way that they become productive assets to the company?

Consider establishing a mentor program to guide younger employees. This could provide two valuable benefits: it will help you get the younger employees up to speed more quickly and comfortably, and it may help with the transfer and retention of knowledge from the older workers that otherwise might leave when they retire.

Here are some additional ideas for small businesses to get the most out of younger employees:
- Offer lots of internal training and encourage participation in outside opportunities to learn and grow, including paying for classes where possible.
- Vary the routine. Younger workers dislike repetitive tasks and prefer multi-tasking many different jobs.
- Younger workers excel in collaborative environments. Encourage team-oriented tasks.
- Use the latest technology when communicating with younger workers, including instant messaging and social media, and make technology available to them in their daily tasks.
The Changing Face of America

America’s population is expected to grow by 50 percent over the next 50 years. Who will these new Americans be? Most will be immigrants, according to recent trends. As a result, the U.S. will become increasingly less white, down from 73 percent to 53 percent by the year 2050, and more Hispanic, rising to 25 percent, and Asian, doubling to 8 percent. The African-American share is not expected to change.

While the population’s gender ratio will stay the same, more and more women are entering the workforce, continuing a long demographic trend that started in the 1970s.

As the nation becomes more diverse, the challenges of dealing with a wider variety of cultures and backgrounds in the workplace become frequently harder. As a small business owner, the pressure on you to make such a wide range of people happy and productive increases. And as a small business owner, you’re no doubt already aware it’s impossible to make everyone happy all of the time.

What can you do to successfully manage the racial, ethnic and cultural challenges arising from America’s quickly changing demographics? Here are a few ideas that might help:
- Celebrate differences. While people may frequently have more in common than they realize, they also like to have their uniqueness recognized. Encourage them to not only think and act as a team, but to let their individuality show as well.
- Demonstrate fairness and respect. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach when dealing with people, even people who have similar backgrounds and experiences. Treat each of your employees as individuals with their own unique history and perspective on the world.
- Foster a spirit of interaction. As with younger workers, encourage your employees to work collaboratively, especially with those of different cultural backgrounds or those of differing generations. Plan lots of events where people can mix among each other. Problems between people often seem to solve themselves once people get to know one another and realize that in spite of the differences, we’re all just human beings trying our best to get the most out of our day and make the most of our lives.
September 8, 2016
Fixing the Problems Facing Small Business is Good Business

If you’ve watched television, listened to talk radio or read a newspaper in recent days, you might have noticed it’s election season. And of course, as with every election, candidates from every political party are making lots of promises about the economy, taxes, the middle class and jobs. Some candidates have elaborate 10-point plans. Others offer little more than glittering generalities. But there’s one area most candidates consistently overlook, and it’s one area that can have the greatest impact on the economy, the middle class and job creation: small business.

Where the Jobs Are

When a large company lays off hundreds of workers or implements a hiring freeze, that makes the news. It’s a dramatic scene to see people walking out of a tall office building or huge factory carrying their belongings, headed for the unemployment line. But when small businesses stop hiring, there’s scant mention, even though statistics show it’s small businesses, not large ones, where you find the most jobs.

Many Americans don’t realize that small businesses (companies employing 500 or fewer workers) make up an astounding 99.7 percent of all businesses in America, according to the Small Business Administration. More than half of all U.S. workers are employed by small businesses, and these firms create two out of every three new jobs each year.

So, in order to fix the economy and provide more jobs, shouldn’t politicians focus on small businesses first?

Problems Facing Small Businesses Today

Warren Buffett is one person who definitely understands the important role small businesses play in the American economy. Wait, isn’t Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the biggest big businessmen in the country? Yes, he is. But Buffett has used his unique knowledge of how to build successful businesses to identify several problems keeping smaller firms from growing.

Joined by two other prominent business leaders – Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, and Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and former mayor of New York – and Harvard business professor Michael Porter, Berkshire Hathaway recently opined in USA Today that four areas are currently hampering small business across the country.

Capital: Unlike large public companies that issue stocks to raise capital, small businesses rely on banks for funding and loans to grow. Thanks to increased regulation, banks are becoming more hesitant to issue loans, and when they do, it’s often for less than the small business needs. Buffet and partners contend that more lenient and generous loan practices would lead to more small business hiring, investment and growth, both for the firms involved and the economy as a whole.

Regulation: Small business owners are experts in the products and services they provide. But these entrepreneurs have to spend more time complying with government regulations and less time growing their companies. While regulations serve to protect the consumer and the environment, they also create complexities that stifle small business innovation. Buffet and his partners call for a streamlining of regulations, to make it easier for businesses to understand and comply, as well as to help small business to open faster and expand more quickly.

Skills: Many small businesses, particularly those in the manufacturing sector, report a gap between the skills needed from employees and the skills currently available in the workforce. Buffet and company urge government, higher education and employer cooperation in worker development. Targeted community college curriculums, training programs and internships could close the skills gap.

Technology: While technology is one area where prices traditionally fall as innovation creates more efficient systems, technology still represents a major investment hurdle for small businesses. Technology can lead to greater productivity, but in order to access it, companies need funding to buy it and workers with the skills to use it.

Addressing these issues won’t be an easy undertaking. But coming up with workable solutions to each of these four problems would go a long way to providing a path to growth, jobs and a healthier economy.

Alternative Financing Options Can Help Solve Some of These Problems

Small businesses already have one unique avenue for financing and funding help. Cash flow is always a concern for any company, but more so for smaller businesses, which as mentioned above, have less access to capital than their big business counterparts. Getting every dollar for services rendered is critical.

When an invoice is unpaid or is slow to be paid, it denies the small business owner money to re-employ elsewhere and to grow. Invoice factoring is one means available that can speed payments and improve a company’s cash flow. Basically put, an small business owner can factor an unpaid invoice to a third party and receive immediate funding that can be put to use then and there to grow the business, hire new workers or invest in new technology. Invoice factoring is one painless means available right now that can address the issues Buffet and his partners bring up to fix the problems now facing small businesses across the country.

Calvin Coolidge once said, “The chief business of the American people is business.” And when small businesses prosper, the American people prosper.

August 11, 2016
Trucking Industry Holds Great Promise and Poses Great Challenges for Smaller Operators

Trucking industry great promise for small operators: Back in the 1970s, there was an inescapable popular saying you could find plastered all over t-shirts, posters, bumper stickers, and even as part of a Billboard chart-topping song. “Keep on Truckin’!” The saying certainly reflected the times. Truckers were greatly admired. They were seen as a hard-working, independent breed ready for endless adventure on the wide-open highways of America. What little boy didn’t want to be like Burt Reynolds or Jerry Reed in one of the greatest all-time trucker movies, “Smoky and the Bandit”?

Fast-forward 40 years, and little has changed. Trucking remains as popular as ever in the public lore. For those who like the solitude and the call of the road, there’s no better time to drive a big rig. If you’re one of those people who has always dreamed of “putting the hammer down,” this may be a suitable time for you to fulfill that desire with your own small trucking firm. Or then again, it may not be, depending on which side of the wheel you sit.

The good? According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), trucking is high-balling it towards the greatest era in its storied history. ATA president and CEO Bill Graves says he “see(s) no scenario, no outcome on the horizon that is anything but great for this industry.” The ATA is robustly predicting overall industry revenue will jump 72 percent by 2022 and tonnage moved will climb nearly 24 percent in that same timeframe. Truckload volume, meanwhile, will grow 3.5% a year through 2019.

The ATA reported an all-time high in trucking tonnage hauled in February 2016. Other market research studies have indicated that higher demand and ever-rising shipments could create a capacity crunch down the road. This crunch could pave the way for those wanting to enter the industry. Indeed, one report trumpeted that small independent trucking firms are among the nation’s fastest-growing small businesses.

Sounds great, right? Throttle down and take your foot off the accelerator for a second. Before you shift into high gear, lasso up some friends and start your own convoy down the Interstate in search of trucking riches, a few other important things need to be considered.

The Advantages of Small Trucking Companies

Small trucking companies and owner-operators are carving out their own path to success, armed with a deep understanding of the pros and cons of operating on a smaller scale. Despite facing challenges such as navigating supply chain issues and balancing start-up costs, these entities enjoy distinct advantages over their larger counterparts. The freedom to choose types of freight, coupled with the personal touch they can offer in the supply chain, sets them apart in a crowded market. For those dreaming of a career in the trucking industry, becoming an owner-operator within a smaller trucking company not only provides a more intimate driving experience but also opens doors to a variety of trucking jobs that might not be available in larger firms.

With an emphasis on quality over quantity, small trucking firms are adept at offering customized solutions to shippers, ensuring that even the most specialized freight requirements are met with precision and care. This flexibility extends to their operation model as well, where drivers and owner-operators often enjoy more leeway in choosing their routes, thereby improving job satisfaction and work-life balance. Additionally, smaller companies may offer more attractive packages for drivers, including competitive wages, vacation time, and even life insurance options, addressing one of the industry’s biggest hurdles: driver recruitment and retention.

However, the journey for small trucking companies is not without its bumps. The initial start-up costs, license fees, and the need for a safety team are significant considerations. Yet, for many, the advantages of running a smaller operation—such as closer relationships with clients and a greater sense of ownership and independence—outweigh these challenges. In an era where the impersonal nature of large corporations can be a turnoff for both employees and clients, the personalized service offered by smaller carriers becomes a compelling selling point.

As the trucking industry continues to evolve, the role of small trucking companies and owner-operators will be pivotal. Their ability to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, coupled with their commitment to providing personalized service, positions them well to navigate the highways of opportunity. For entrepreneurs and career seekers alike, the small trucking sector is great ground for growth, innovation, and success, proving that in the world of trucking, size does not always dictate capability.

Trucking Industry, a Few Other Important Things Need to Be Considered.

First off, the trucking industry is undergoing a number of regulatory changes. The new regulations may put a brake on trucking’s headlong rush towards a new golden age. These include stricter limits on the number of hours a driver may be behind the wheel per day and per week. A number of governmental entities are also considering more and stricter health exams for commercial drivers, who have to sit for long periods, making them more susceptible to health problems.

So not only can drivers be behind the wheel for a shorter time, reducing productivity and profits (both for the company and the driver), but there are fewer drivers than ever. A massive driver shortage has stymied practically all haulers, big and small, with rapid turnover rates common as drivers continually jump for more lucrative offers from the competition. Not enough new drivers are entering the industry and today’s drivers are rapidly aging, creating even more significant shortages. Industry watchers speculate that the trucking industry will have to hire 89,000 new drivers every year just to keep pace.

That means wages are rising to entice people into the cab. That’s great news for drivers but not so welcome for company owners trying to fulfill more and more orders.

Finally, new technology is having a big impact on trucking. Companies slow to embrace new technologies are finding they are increasingly less efficient and are becoming roadkill for faster, more nimble haulers who swallow them in a convoy of mergers and acquisitions.

So as you can see, the road ahead for the trucking industry has some great opportunities in terms of increasing demand for service, Still, there are also several potholes to dodge in terms of finding and keeping drivers. One effective solution for small trucking companies is freight bill factoring. By working with a freight bill factoring company, trucking businesses can convert their unpaid invoices into immediate cash, ensuring steady cash flow and the ability to meet operational needs without waiting for customer payments. If you’re a small business entrepreneur looking for a new challenge, trucking could be a lucrative path to prosperity, provided you have a firm grip on the wheel, gear your expectations accordingly and carefully map out your route.

June 7, 2016
Small Business – The Ultimate American Success Story
Small business has a BIG impact on the American economy. Sure, big business and Wall St. may grab all the headlines with their multi-billion dollar deals, but to dismiss or overlook the role small businesses play throughout every city in town across the country is to dismiss or overlook some of the greatest success stories of all time.

This week, May 1-7, America and the Small Business Administration (SBA) celebrate Small Business Week 2016. This nationwide event, started in 1963, recognizes the invaluable contributions of the country’s greatest resource – its entrepreneurs.

What is a Small Business?

A small business is most frequently defined as a company employing 500 or fewer workers. According to that definition and the SBA, 99.7 percent of all businesses in America are small businesses. More than half of all working Americans either own or work for a small business. Furthermore, small businesses create about two out of every three jobs in the U.S. each year. Think about it… while big business is busy laying off tens of thousands of workers, small business steadily provides the jobs to keep people working, our economy going, and our nation competitive.

Advantages Enjoyed by Small Businesses

Sure, their larger brethren benefit from greater access to capital, economies of scale and media exposure, but small businesses have several important advantages big businesses lack. First and foremost, they attract people willing to take a risk, to experiment and to try something new. Unlike a big business, which has to answer to shareholders, small businesses frequently answer only to the man or woman in the mirror – the owner who started the business. That means they are often the incubators of new ideas, technologies and ways of connecting with customers and markets. As a result, small businesses are more nimble and can adapt more quickly to changing market conditions.

Second is pride. A small business frequently takes more pride in its work (sometimes because the owner’s name is on the product itself) and that means higher quality and efficiency.

Another advantage a small business often enjoys over a larger one is customer loyalty. A small business owner often meets with customers personally and can build a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. When times are good, that relationship can strengthen and build new business. When times get tough, that relationship can play a big role in customer retention.

Starting Small Doesn’t Mean Staying Small

Several large and famous companies started life as small business, some so small they were first housed in a garage! Among the best known are Ben & Jerry’s (ice cream), Whole Foods (grocery), Disney (entertainment), Mattel (toys), Google (internet), Amazon (retail), Wal-Mart (retail), Harley Davidson (motorcycles), Apple (computers) and Nike (apparel). So dream big, small business owners. With the right idea and determination, you truly can go as far as your dreams can take you.

The Future of Small Business

No one knows for sure what the future holds (if you can predict the future, patent the method and start a business!). However there are several trends economists identify that may be crucial to small businesses in the years ahead. Here are three of the largest ones:
- The face of small business is changing – business ownership is giving way to women and young immigrants as one of the driving forces of entrepreneurism.
- Coming labor shortages – America may be headed for a shortage of workers that could have a negative impact of how small businesses attract and compete for labor.
- Staying ahead of knowledge – Like milk or bread, knowledge has a shelf life. Over time, new discoveries and innovations lead to new ways of thinking and doing things. In our age of technology, this process has greatly sped up. To stay successful, a small business owner must be able to adapt quickly or face being left behind.
It’s Your Time to Shine!

Journalists are supposed to be objective, but when looking at Small Business Week and seeing all the wonderful innovations and contributions these firms provide, it’s hard not to cheer such inspirational stories and numbers. So if you’re a small business owner or worker, get out and celebrate, it’s your week to be recognized for all that you do!
May 3, 2016
Motivating a Small Business Sales Team (And How Not To)

There’s a well-worn old adage that states, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”

Salespeople, like the horse in the saying, can be a stubborn lot. As with any horse, some only need gentle prodding to take you where you want to ride. Others need a good kick with spurs, or at times, during a heated race, even a whip. As a small business owner, how can you not only lead your sales team out of the comfort of the office towards new prospects, but motivate them to close more deals? How can you get them to the water so you both can drink in new sales and revenues for your company and commissions for them?

You could try what one enterprising small business firm did – hold a rather unique sales contest:

“We’re adding a little something to this month’s sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.”

OK, firing everyone after the top two finishers is probably not a good motivational ploy. But it made for great theatre in the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross. Come to think of it, that sales force not only rebelled, but one of them actually robbed the place afterhours, stole the company’s sales leads and sold them to a competitor!

Let’s try to find some more practical ideas that can help you properly motivate a sales staff.

Incentivize

Yes, the disastrous sales contest above proved NOT to be a very effective incentive or motivational tool…at all. However, that doesn’t mean incentives themselves are a bad idea. Just try to come up with better ones than a pink slip!

Of course, tangible prizes (like the car in the example) or monetary rewards are old standbys in all sales incentive programs. But you aren’t limited to just those types of rewards. Use your imagination and broaden your scope when choosing rewards. For example, you could try awarding extra vacation days or weeks to the top finishers. Or allow the contest sales champ to work from home for a month. Or, best of all, let the staff themselves give you ideas as to what they would want to win in a contest (within reason and budget, of course). The staff might work harder for a prize they truly desire.

Encourage Cooperation

Instead of a sales contest that promotes competition and rivalry, you could try a completely different tack: Working together. Most employers assume salespeople are a naturally competitive bunch. However, that assumption may not be accurate.

Some studies have shown that only a quarter of salespeople want to work in a cutthroat, competitive environment. The uber-competitive nature of most sales offices may, in fact, be turning people away from the profession, costing you the talent that could take you to business success.

You could try instead to develop motivational programs that encourage cooperation, collaboration and problem solving. Make your selling process a team sport. Several ways to do that include:

Focus on team goals – Keep the team’s (company’s) goals front and center and clearly explain each member has a responsibility to ensure the success of the overall mission, not just their own. Demonstrate how each person’s role relates to the team’s overall mission and show how that mission depends on each person contributing fully to the total effort.

Distribute rewards collectively rather than individually – Stress that rewards only come when the entire team is successful, and when the team succeeds, be sure to celebrate as a team. While it’s certainly fine to recognize individual effort, don’t forget to point out that effort aided the team goals.

Let the team itself define cooperation – This will encourage them to collaborate amongst themselves to figure out how to better work together, and with other groups within your company, to meet team goals.

Keep Your Staff Up to Date

Training has become a bad word in business today. Too many companies don’t want to provide any kind of training, thinking it wastes resources, and that training really should be the employee’s responsibility. That thinking couldn’t be more wrong.

How can you expect your sales staff to convincingly explain the advantages and benefits to a dubious prospect if your sales staff themselves doesn’t truly understand how your product or service works? Or how can they advise a client on how a changing regulation might impact their relationship with you if the salesperson doesn’t understand the regulation either? Or worse, doesn’t even know about it?

Your sales staff represents you, the small business owner. When they look bad or sound misinformed because they’re not up to date, you look bad and sound misinformed, too. In addition, your sales staff can sense they’ve been kept in the dark, so if you’re not willing to invest in them to make them the best they can be, why should you expect them to go out of their way to make your company the best (and most profitable) it can be?

Invest in your people. Knowledge is power. That’s another well-worn saying, but it’s also a true one. A smart salesperson is a motivated one, because that staffer understands how to make that knowledge work to increase sales for both the salesperson and for you.

Provide Mentoring

No one knows more about your business than you. Take some time to work alongside younger or inexperienced salespersons to build up not only their knowledgebase of your company, but of the sales process itself. You’ve successfully overcome the same hurdles many of them face. How did you do it? How did you handle a difficult prospect, sidestep their objections and close the sale? Or, even closer to home, how’d you pick out your first suit and how did you dress to impress that first client? Where did you take them for lunch and grease the skids for a long and productive relationship?

Mentoring shows a new salesperson you care not only about their monthly sales quota, but you care about them personally. It wins you appreciation, gratitude and loyalty, and those can be the most powerful motivators of all.

March 29, 2016
Can Telecommuting Work for Small Business

Telecommuting – allowing employees to work all or at least a portion of their week from home – isn’t a new idea. However, it’s a growing trend that offers small businesses and workers alike many mutually beneficial advantages, but can cause several problems as well.

A History of Telecommuting

Interestingly enough, working from home was the norm until the Industrial Revolution. The farmer worked his fields. The cobbler lived behind or above his shop, as did the merchant, the tailor and the miller. Only with the advent of the modern factory did workers actually “go” to work somewhere other than where they lived.

Telecommuting as we know it today – letting large groups of people work regularly from home rather than the office – took off in the 1990s after the passage of the Clean Air Act. Employers say it was a way to comply with the act – to give workers extra flexibility and to save money on expensive office space.

In the 2010s, many companies of all sizes utilized telecommuting in at least some form. Both employer and employee have reported many benefits from adopting the practice, but it has caused enough problems and concerns that some firms have actually cut back on its use. If your small business is thinking about allowing employees to telecommute.

Here Are A Few Key Advantages And Disadvantages You Should Consider Before Doing So.

Advantages

Increased productivity – Studies have shown worker productivity frequently increases when employees are allowed to telecommute. Workers report fewer interruptions during the workday, enabling them to accomplish more tasks in less time than at the office, where frequent, lengthy and often unnecessary meetings disrupt the workflow.

Greater flexibility and attendance – Linked with productivity, workers have greater flexibility in their workdays. While, at first, small business owners may wonder how this helps them, they quickly realize employees can better take care of personal tasks (such as cable TV repairs or car repairs) that interrupt their work and cause them to miss days. While working from home they are less likely to call in sick because of an ill child or spouse, as they can now more easily take care of them while continuing to work.

Lower costs – Obviously workers save commuting costs as well as wardrobe expenses, but businesses also see monetary savings as well in terms of having to rent less office space and lower utility bills.

Disadvantages

Work/Life distractions – Let’s face it, not everyone is cut out for telecommuting. It takes discipline to concentrate on work when it’s a sunny day outside. While in an office, the worker is stuck at a desk. However, at home, with no one watching over them, some people may not be able to resist the temptation to go sit by the pool when they should be focusing on the important tasks at hand. If your small business is considering adopting telecommuting, one key question to ask is, “Can this employee handle the distractions?”

Lack of supervision – Tied into the distractions aspect comes supervision. As some workers may not be cut out for telecommuting, some managers or small business owners may not be as well. Telecommuting requires a minimalist “hands-off” management style that gives employees greater reign over what they do and when they do it. It requires confidence and trust from the manager that the telecommuting employee can work with minimal supervision and complete the assigned tasks on a deadline. “Hands-on” managers and owners will have trouble with telecommuting because the employee will be out of sight.

If you’re considering allowing telecommuting, in addition to asking if the employee can handle working from home, you need to ask yourself if you and your managers can deal with it as well.

Dependence on technology – When employees work from home, you will no longer be able to walk to a person’s desk and ask how a project is coming along. You can’t call a meeting at a moment’s notice and have everyone walk into the conference room. You will now be dependent on technology – phones, internet, email, etc. – to contact your employees and to get projects and updates from them – and they from you.

If you’re considering allowing telecommuting, you need to have a system in place to enable quick and efficient communications so that you can reach your employees when you need to and they can reach you when necessary.

Will Telecommuting Work for You? Only You Can Answer That

Many companies have seen great success after adopting telecommuting. Others have been disappointed in the results and have stopped the practice. Each situation is, of course, unique. Whether telecommuting will work for your small business is only something you can decide. As with any business decision, it’s one that should be made with careful consideration as to the advantages and disadvantages both to you and to your employees.

June 24, 2015
Small Business Risk of Lax Online Security

Small Business Risk of Lax Online Security : Hardly a week goes by without news of yet another big online security breach that has put a well-known company and its customers at risk from malicious hackers out to steal identities, pilfer corporate secrets, or install malware or viruses. Recent victims include such household names as Target, Sony, Chase Bank, and even noted makeup chain, Sally’s Beauty Supply. In each case, perpetrators compromised the companies’ data banks and got away with valuable information that not only caused the firms great embarrassment, but opened them to legal liability as well.

Small Business Risk

You may think that as a small business you are somehow immune to these online attacks. After all, you’re just a small fish in a huge pond, while high-profile companies like Target and Chase offer much more tempting possibilities for online thieves. You would be wrong.

Hackers and other malicious online predators are finding that it’s the smaller businesses, not the larger ones that are the easiest to rip off. The reason is simple: Smaller companies have a lot fewer resources and know-how to identify and combat dangerous internet security risks. Smaller companies frequently do not even have an IT department or money allocated (or money to spare) for security. Thieves have come to recognize this fact and are realizing there are many smaller, yet still profitable doors being left unlocked for them. So while the high-profile cases with thousands of victims have been garnering media attention, it would be a mistake to assume that (because your customer base is nowhere near the size of the nation’s largest banks or biggest retailers) you may not be a target of an anonymous predator out to do you serious harm.

As a small business, you have certainly found technology has been a great friend in helping you accomplish more with less. Convenient time and labor saving technology such as laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, wireless and mobile devices have certainly empowered every small business to make great strides in productivity undreamed of just 20 years ago. But these same devices put you at risk if not handled properly. One lost or stolen laptop or smartphone, placed in the wrong hands, could sink your entire operation in mere moments.

The risks jump even higher when firms allow employees to use their personal devices, rather than company-issued ones, to connect with their online network. In 2014, a survey released by Kaspersky Lab found that 62 percent of companies now permitted their employees to use their own personal devices to conduct their work. Frequently these personal devices are not equipped with sophisticated security measures beyond the standard off-the-shelf security that comes with the device when purchased. And you can be sure hackers are well aware of how to defeat these standard measures.

As a result, recognizing both the convenience of working via mobile devices and the risk, several companies are now starting to restrict the use of personal smartphones, laptops and tablets to do company-related work. Instead, they are giving employees company-issued devices that incorporate additional security measures designed specifically to encrypt data and make it harder to steal vital information. The idea is, as described by Marc Malizia, chief technology officer of RKON Technologies, to move from “managing mobility to securing mobility.” If your company allows employees to use personal devices to connect to your network, additional security and encryption could prove a wise investment that might save considerable heartache later.

In addition to risks from mobile devices, wireless networks also leave small businesses open to potential online hacking threats. Experts advise that when setting up a wireless network, be sure to change the default password and encrypt the network with Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).

An old, yet surprisingly still effective online security threat comes from phishing attacks – emails that appear to be from genuine senders but that in fact are from malicious hackers and that contain viruses or malware designed to disable your system. While most people are now generally aware not to open emails from unknown sources, hackers have become sophisticated enough to make their phishing emails look as though they have come from legitimate senders, such as a coworker or customer. Firewalls and anti-virus programs can provide protection and should be installed on any network.

Finally, one of the biggest and yet most overlooked threats comes from the most familiar of places: current or former employees. A current employee or a terminated one out for revenge can wreak as much, if not more, damage than the most malicious outsider. To combat this threat, experts advise wherever possible to split up duties and responsibilities between employees to ensure no one person has complete access to your vital information.

There are lots of companies that specialize in online security and helping small businesses stave off risks. The costs to properly protect your information and your customers may seem daunting at first, but when compared with the price of having that data stolen and facing the consequences of lost trust and potential lawsuits, it’s a small expense to pay.

May 27, 2015
DIY Publicity Campaigns
DIY Publicity Campaigns : Sales and marketing aren’t the only ways to grow your business. There is another component that you can use to influence and attract potential customers: public relations. And one critical component of public relations is the media publicity campaign. The good news is, while there are dozens of public relations firms to choose from, you can conduct a publicity campaign on your own without hiring an agency and you can still get free advertising via the news media that will positively impact the way your customers and the public perceive you and your business.

Most businesses think what they sell is great, and usually it is. But to gain the attention of the media, you need to have something that sets you apart from everyone else. Now you’ll have to put on your thinking cap. But it doesn’t require loads of brain power to figure out what makes you interesting or different if you just answer these questions:
- Have you launched or are about to launch a new product or service? (The media loves anything new and different).
- Does this product or service offer any breakthrough(s) previously unseen in your industry?
- Does this product or service offer significant savings in either time or money?
- Does this product or service tie into any current trends or issues? (Being able to tie into something already newsworthy greatly increases your chances of getting attention).
Or, if you are a planning an event, you might also ask yourself:
- Will something of importance be announced at the event that the public may want to know about or benefit from?
- Will this event feature noteworthy speakers with unique knowledge of your industry or of the area?
When you’ve answered the above and find that you do have something worthy of coverage, what can you now come up with to convince the media to give you that coverage?

You need to develop what’s called a “pitch.” A pitch is similar to how you sell your product or service to a customer, only now you’re trying to convince someone in the media to give you a few moments of their time to consider covering what you have to talk about.

Here are some samples of what would make a good pitch and would draw the interest of a member of the media:
- A new product or service you’ve created involves or utilizes a new and heretofore unseen new manufacturing process.
- A new product or service you are introducing offers a significant and quantifiable saving of time and/or money over previous and competing products and services.
- Your product or service addresses or has a direct impact on a significant local, regional or national trend in your field.
- Even better, your product or service will have a positive impact on a significant local, regional or national problem.
- One of your customers has had tremendous success using your product or service to complete a project. (Be sure to get your customer’s permission to be included in this pitch!)
- An event you are planning will have a unique, different or amusing angle that readers and viewers will find either informative, amazing or amusing.
- An event you are planning will feature a prominent, nationally renowned speaker who has won many awards and is well regarded as an expert.
Communicating your ideas to the media

Keep in mind; before you begin your pitch, that time is the most critical element to the media. In order to get them to think about covering you, you need to give them plenty of advance notice – usually two weeks.

Now, how do you go about finding the media and more importantly how do you convince them to come cover you and thus give you publicity? Here are a few easy tips:
- Visit the media’s website. Be it a TV station, a radio station, a newspaper or a magazine, all have a contact section that lists their editorial (the people who do the reporting) staff, and quite often, their particular assignments (sometimes called beats) and contact information. Pick the one that most closely matches the area you are in.
- In print publications, there is usually what is called a “masthead” that lists the editorial staff and contact information. On TV broadcasts, these people are listed in the credits at the end of the show.
- Finally, there are lists of media contacts you can purchase. However, be aware these lists take time to prepare and update, plus there is frequent turnover in the media, so these lists may be out of date as soon as they are published.
When you do make contact with the media, keep your pitch short and to the point. Media are focused on “who, what, where, when, why and how.” And you should be as well. Be sure to tell them who you are, what your contact information is, when and where your event is taking place (or if not an event, the story idea you have), why it is important to their audience and how the audience will benefit. If you speak to the person, be ready for additional questions and be ready to send any materials you have to them to bolster your case. If you leave an email or voice mail, be ready to respond quickly.

When conducted properly, a good public relations campaign can enhance the public’s knowledge about you, your company and its products and services. And more importantly, it can lead them to have a positive view of them (because the information about you was reported by a neutral third-party and not via a paid advertisement) and leave them with the desire to learn more about you and what you have to offer.
April 21, 2015
Build Your Business by Building Relationships
Build Your Business by Building Relationships: Running a small business takes a lot of time. There’s administration, payroll, taxes, hiring, production, etc. to take care of each and every day. Not to mention the unforeseen but seemingly inevitable “brush fires” you have to put out. Unfortunately, with only 24 hours in a day, some things get pushed back or put off, such as prospecting for new clients and growing your business.

Strengthening Business Relationships for Long-Term Success

Building and maintaining robust business relationships is crucial for long-term success. Effective relationship-building involves nurturing your existing connections and establishing new ones. To create meaningful relationships, it’s essential to prioritize open communication, trust, and mutual respect. Engage regularly with your business partners and stakeholders to ensure you’re adding value and addressing their needs. Actions like sending birthday greetings or satisfaction surveys show that you care about your customers on a deeper level, which can significantly strengthen your business ties.

A practical tip is to stay in touch with your contacts through social media platforms like LinkedIn. Sharing thought leadership content and engaging in discussions helps you maintain a higher level of engagement with your network. Additionally, leveraging networking events and email marketing strategies can help you connect with people who can become valuable business partners or prospective clients.

Developing strong connections takes time, but the long-term benefits include increased repeat business and a higher ROI. Remember, every contact is an opportunity to build a mutually beneficial relationship that contributes to the success of both parties involved. By focusing on nurturing your relationships, you’ll foster loyalty and long-lasting partnerships that drive your business forward.

Build Your Business

As a small business, the surest road to ruin is not growing that business. But if you’re already burdened to the max, taking care of what you already have, how can you get out and attract new business? Is there another way to grow your business without time-consuming and often expensive prospecting?

Yes, there is. You can get more business out of your current customers. How? By building on and strengthening what you already have with them: a relationship.

A happy and engaged customer is one who is likely to want to do more business with you. The trick then is to ensure that your customer feels you care about their needs and have the ability to help them solve problems. And you do that by relationship building, by getting your customer to see you more than just a vendor, but as a trusted partner there for the long haul, not only for the next invoice.

Tips for Building Strong Business Relationships

To cultivate relationships that are both effective and long-lasting, follow these best practices:
- Prioritize Communication: Keep in touch with your clients and stakeholders through regular updates and open communication channels. This helps maintain transparency and trust.
- Be Attentive: Know how to ask a customer for their next order in a way that shows you’re looking out for their needs, not just trying to make another sale.
- Ask for Constructive Feedback: Regularly seek feedback from your customers and partners to understand their needs better and demonstrate that you value their opinions.
- Add Value: Always look for ways to add value to your business relationships, such as offering insights, sharing resources, or providing additional support.
- Show Appreciation: Simple gestures like sending birthday cards or thank you notes can help strengthen your relationships and show that you appreciate your customers’ loyalty.
- Leverage Social Media: Platforms like LinkedIn are great for staying connected with your network. Engage with your contacts by commenting on their posts and sharing relevant content.
- Participate in Networking Events: These events are effective for building new connections and nurturing existing ones, providing opportunities to meet prospective clients and partners in a more personal setting.
- Maintain Professionalism: Always uphold a high level of professionalism in all your interactions to build trust and credibility with your business partners.
- Follow Up: After meeting new contacts, follow up with an email or a call to keep the momentum going. This shows that you are serious about building a successful relationship.
- Offer Solutions: Instead of just selling a product or service, offer solutions to your clients’ problems. This demonstrates that you are a partner in their success, not just a vendor.
- Stay Consistent: Consistency in your actions and communications helps build long-term relationships. Ensure that your customers know they can rely on you.
By implementing these tips, your business relationships will become more beneficial over time.

Building Relationships

Here are a few easy and cost-effective tips to build your relationships and subtly alter the way your customers view you and your products and services:
- Be Communicative: Keep them up to date on what you offer and, more importantly, how you can help them succeed in their business. Be open and honest about your capabilities and about any problems you have. Your honesty will build trust, and that trust will strengthen your client’s desire to do business with you.
- Don’t Just Sell a Product or Service, Sell a Solution: Every business in existence offers a product or service for sale. Unless you are in a very narrow niche market, your client probably has a choice of who to do business with. Differentiate yourself from your competition by showing you’re not just there to make a sale, you’re there to help solve problems. Demonstrate how you can put your customer over the top with sound advice. If you don’t make a sale today, you will make an impression, and a favorable one that could well lead to more business down the road.
- Keep Your Word: The days of the handshake deal are long gone, but the idea that someone is truly only as good as their word lives on. If you make a promise, keep it. However, most importantly, if you can’t keep a promise, say so in an upfront way as soon as possible. That goes back to trust, and the more trust you can engender, the tighter the bond will be between you and your client.
- Always Say Thank You: As obvious as this may sound, a surprising number of companies fail to do the simplest thing of all: Tell your client that you appreciate their business. Who doesn’t want to feel wanted and appreciated? How many times have you gone into the grocery store and checked out with a surly cashier who failed to thank you? Doesn’t feel good, does it? But it doesn’t matter what business you are in, if your customer doesn’t feel like they are wanted or appreciated, if they get the idea they are just viewed as a “revenue stream,” then there’s a client your competition can poach away from you. Reward your frequent clients with discounts or at least preferential treatment. Keep them in the loop about the work you are doing for them, and most of all, tell them how glad you are they chose you to do business with, because they do have a choice.
Following these tips will put your customers in a frame of mind to increase their business with you. And it’s a lot less costly and time consuming than going out prospecting for new clients. So to build your business, remember to build your relationships.

Maximizing ROI Through Strong Business Relationships

Strong business connections are a key driver of ROI and overall business success. When you establish solid relationships with your customers and partners, you create a foundation of trust and mutual respect that can lead to repeat business and referrals, especially if you’re leveraging formal referral partner programs. To maximize ROI, focus on nurturing your existing relationships while also establishing new ones.

An effective approach is to personalize your interactions. Tailor your communication to address the specific needs and preferences of each customer or partner. This personalized approach can help you maintain a deeper level of engagement and demonstrate that you value their business.

Utilize tools like LinkedIn to connect with people and stay in touch with your network. Regularly updating your profile and engaging with relevant content ensures that you remain visible and valuable to your contacts. Additionally, exploring topics that are important to your clients and sharing insights through a newsletter or blog can position you as a thought leader in your industry.

Building relationships also involves asking for constructive feedback and using it to improve your services. This feedback helps you understand your customers’ perspectives better, allowing you to make informed decisions that enhance their satisfaction. By maintaining open communication and demonstrating a commitment to the success of others, you’ll create stronger business relationships that contribute to higher ROI.

Get Working Capital to Invest in Building Your Business Relationships

Focusing on building and maintaining solid business relationships is a strategic approach that can significantly improve your ROI. By prioritizing customer relationships and continually adding value, you’ll achieve long-lasting success and growth for your business. However, it can be difficult to invest in creating and maintaining business relationships when your cash is tied up in unpaid invoices. If you’d like to explore how invoice factoring can unlock that capital, request a free rate quote.
March 30, 2015