Posted by The business coach on 9:21 AM
The catch phrase nowadays seems to be take your business online. Why all the hype about doing business online? Surely my website is sufficient to have a presence for my business online?Well, yes and no! A website alone is like a business card - you'll have to give someone the physical address to find your business online. However by optimising your website so that search engines such as Google can find your business online, anyone across the Globe will find you...Imagine people visiting your business online: instantly be accessed by 100 Mio visitors! What's even better with the correct optimisation you can easily have hundreds of qualified visitors everyday - visitors that are walking through the doors of your business online; picking up your product and wanting to make a purchase.This is...
Posted by The business coach on 9:29 AM
Correct small business plan research is vital to the long-term survival of any small business. The more comprehensive the small business plan research, the more accurate the decision making will be.
Does this mean you need to pay someone to do your small business plan research? Well that depends on the complexity involved in the small business plan research. I suggest you do your own initial research for your small business plan. With a bit of research into the topic you can probably come up with a very comprehensive small business plan. At least this research will give you a good understanding as to what information you need to research, should you have to pay someone to research your small business plan.
Crucial to any small business plan is market research. I'm going to show you a free...
Posted by The business coach on 3:42 PM
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Probably the most critical step in starting a small business is planning. Planning a small business has to be done in as much detail as you can, without delaying the process indefinitely. Remember indicision probably kills 80% of the businesses before they even start. You also don't need to hire someone to go about planning a small business, but if you do there are many freelancers that have experiance in planning a small business. To find someone just click here!
It's a good idea when planning a small business to do it the old fashioned way - pen and paper. This gives you time to think and somehow writing something down in ink is very decisive. Start with the concept: What product or service? In planning a small business you need to clearly define what sets you...
Posted by The business coach on 3:04 PM
Have you ever wondered when the best time is to book a flight. We all know to book well in advance and that prices are seasonal, but you might be surprised to find out that the time of day also influences the price of cheap flights - so save money on cheap seats - book cheap flights in the afternoon.
Here's a survey done by online travel engine TO. Conducted at various times through the day on 10 Feb 2010, it shows a definite trend indicating that you should be booking at 13:00 to save money on cheap seats.
A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal also indicates that airfare is more expensive over weekends. Their research...
Posted by The business coach on 7:16 AM
The tragic events of Thursday afternoon, when a Pilatus belonging to Italtile crashed into the sea off Plettenburg Bay, highlights some of the not so obvious dangers of business and the consequences of a lack of succession planning.I’m not sure whether Italtile have a succession plan in place, but having lost many of their Exco in the crash could have dire consequences for the company. A tragedy such as this could have the following consequences, should there be no succession plan in place:If the CEO and CFO are counter signatories to things such as payroll; this function could be frozen. The solution to this is to obviously have 3 to 4 nominated signatories, of which any 2 suffice.The succession plan needs to be at least three levels deep within the structure. Obviously in such circumstances,...
Posted by The business coach on 8:06 AM
When a small business owner draws up his business plan, he takes it as a given that he will have sufficient small business management skills to grow the business. But often he loses sight of best practice in his business. Here is some small business advice:
1. Provide spectacular customer service -- every time. Introduce a “mystery shopper”. Have a friend visit your business and provide feedback from a customer’s perspective. This person should be unknown to your staff and willing to provide a candid assessment.
2. Make sure your front and back office work like a well-oiled machine. Are the front line and the back office telling your customers the same thing? Part of good small business management, it’s a good idea to hold frequent staff meetings where the business’ vision is reinforced.
3....
Posted by The business coach on 10:04 AM
The following HR practices in a small business should be guarded against. Never forget that all people want to feel valued, and part of achieving this, is sharing information. Company values, vision, mission statement, worker performance, company performance. All of this information is of interest to employees. You don't have to give detail, but rather share information that is pertinent to the worker and his level of involvement with the information being presented. It's important that this information is regularly updated.
Lack of policies and procedures. need to feel they are being treated fairly andconsistently.EmployeesMisunderstanding probationaryperiods. fail it should not be a surprise.If an employee is going toNo job description. expectation of what they should be doing.People need...
