|
|
|
9 Things You Must Do To Maximize Your Chances Of Obtaining A Small Business Loan
To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria. To vastly increase your...
Brainstorming! The Key To Wealth
Advertising executive Alex F. Osborne first coined the word “brainstorming” in the early 1940’s. Since then literally millions of ideas, products, services and solutions have been created and improved on.
Every institution from Fortune 500...
Small Business Loan
Do you have a great idea? Are you an entrepreneur at heart? Then
what are you waiting for, now is the time to start your small
business. The best way to get started is to secure the financing
you will need to fund your small business....
The Benefits of Catalog Sales For Your Business:
Things to watch out for when selling your product in catalogs.
Giving away the farm.
Many catalogs will ask for a multitude of discounts and concessions before they even place one order. You give them a set price for your product. But...
Unsung Heroes! Small and Homebased Business Owners
The homebased and small business owner is the "Unsung Hero". Why? The small business owner and today even the homebased business owner are the cornerstones of our society. The homebased business owner employs a number of...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Five Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line
Copyright 2005 Log Cabin Rustics
“A penny saved is a penny earned”, the old adage attributed to Ben Franklin, only tells half of the story. A penny saved is really better than a penny earned, because you don’t have to pay taxes on it. Here, then, are some time-honored ways for you to save money and improve the bottom line for just about any business:
1. Review and Update Your Business Goals
Many people are adept at staying very busy while accomplishing nothing of value. Don’t fall into this trap—and, if you do--dig out as quickly as possible.
In order to succeed, you must set clear goals. If you have employees, those goals also need to be communicated to them. While there are many good and noble goals you can set for your business, one of the most profitable that I often ask myself is “what can I do that will make the most money the fastest?”
This doesn’t mean that other goals such as contributing to good causes or providing excellent customer service aren’t important. If you don’t provide excellent customer service you won’t be in business very long anyway. But goals can often be clarified by setting them in order, and determining which will bring the quickest, most long-lasting financial results to your business is a great place to start.
2. Find your Niche and Develop a Competitive Edge
While it’s hard to compete with the “big boys”, there is plenty of room for small businesses to find their competitive niche. My competitive niche happens to be log furniture. While there is competition in that niche, I don’t have to compete with the “big boys” such as Walmart when it comes to selling log furniture. Tracking down Amish suppliers on lonely country roads, developing relationships with those suppliers, picking up, packing and shipping log furniture just isn’t part of their business plan. And it probably never will be.
Your niche will probably be something different than shipping log beds, but you can be sure that there is a niche open to you. The key is to find the profitable activity that your business does best, and focus on that.
3. Hire Superior Employees Who Share Your Company Culture
If your business is large enough to require employees, be careful who you choose. In my experience, it’s better to pay more for top-notch employees who won’t require daily baby-sitting, than to nickel and dime it with job-hoppers who are perpetually unmotivated, late to work, or enmeshed in personal problems so deep that they can’t perform their job.
Everybody goes through difficult times in their life, and you need to be sensitive to that. Your company will be miles ahead, however, if you can find employees with the emotional energy to buy into your vision and get excited about their jobs.
You can find, develop and keep that kind of employee by investing significant amounts of time to recruiting and training. Make sure your compensation package is attractive, and, if at all possible, offer health insurance. Incentive compensation or
profit-sharing plans can also be quite helpful in motivating employees to previously unheard of heights of achievement.
4. Standandize and Simplify your Procedures
It’s amazing how much time developing a simple form can save a company. The more people involved in your business, the more important it is that you have a set of standard procedures to follow. This will reduce training time when employee turnover occurs, lower the chance of errors, and increase efficiency in all aspects of your business.
5. Measure the Results of Your Efforts
Company and personal goals need to be quantified to determine if the desired results are being achieved. Key areas of measurement include the cost, quality, quantity and timeliness of work to be done. Each of these areas can have a profound impact on the bottom line of a business.
Cost: It goes without saying that if two Amish furniture suppliers offer similar quality, furniture design and delivery timing—but one is substantially lower in cost than the other, I go with the lower cost supplier. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but not many.
Quality: Quality is everything in most businesses, and log furniture is no exception. I’m not the least bit interested in shipping defective furniture from Michigan to California and back again, all because a customer wasn’t happy. That is a total waste of money, and hits the bottom line directly. This is why we are such sticklers about quality control, and why it’s been nearly four years since a customer even thought of returning an item.
Quantity: Generally speaking, if you sell more, you make more. This is certainly the case with rustic furniture suites, especially with the high cost of shipping today. As a result, our website is focused around selling larger orders. We’re always happy when somebody orders a log bed, but we try to make it appealing for them to buy a nightstand and dresser too, by offering truly significant discounts. Regardless of your business, you can likely do the same. It’s generally easier to sell more product to an already existing customer, than to go and find new customers.
Timeliness: Late deliveries cost money—at least they do in our business. It costs money to overnight packages that could have been sent by UPS ground or the postal service. It costs big money to expedite pallets of furniture. In addition, there is the stress, hassle and disorganization that comes with rushing around to do things at the last minute. This is why I try to leave a timing “cushion” in every furniture order I process. Regardless of what you’re selling, you should too.
Doing things in a timely, organized manner gives a sense of professionalism and control—and that practice, together with the other suggestions mentioned in this article, can also have a direct and positive impact on your company’s bottom line.
Cari Haus, CPA, is webmaster and owner of http://www.logcabinrustics.com/ an online retailer of log furniture and log beds.
|
|
|
|
|
| United States Small Business Administration |
| An electronic gateway of procurement information for and about small businesses. Search engine for contracting officers, marketing tool for small firms, ... |
| www.sba.gov |
|
| SBA |
| The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
| www.sba.gov |
|
| Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
| Find Small Business plans, advice, tutorials about organization, corporations, entrepreneurship, and smallbusiness. |
| www.smallbusiness.com |
|
| Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
| Yahoo! Small Business provides products and services that enable you to establish and grow your business on the Internet. Services include domain name ... |
| smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
|
| Small business advice business start up small business finance ... |
| business start up small business finance start up advice. |
| www.smallbusiness.co.uk |
|
| Smallbusiness.gov.au redirect to business.gov.au |
| Business Entry Point - Helping small business in big ways. An Australian Government initiative. The content from this website has now been consolidated into ... |
| www.smallbusiness.gov.au |
|
| Business & Small Business |
| Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
| www.entrepreneur.com |
|
| Microsoft Small Business Center |
| Your home for information about Microsoft's small-business products and services, tailored business advice, technology tools, and more. |
| www.microsoft.com |
|
| The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
| Advice and assistance for starting and operating a small or home based business. |
| www.isquare.com |
|
| SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" |
| A nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide through counseling and mentor programs. |
| www.score.org |
|
| Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource |
| IR-2006-2, January 3, 2006 - Temporary and proposed regulations will significantly reduce tax filing burden for nearly 950000 small business owners. ... |
| www.irs.gov |
|
| Welcome to Small Business BC your business resource in British ... |
| BC Business Services offers assistance and resources for those running or starting a business in British Columbia and Vancouver. |
| www.smallbusinessbc.ca |
|
| Small Business Service | Home |
| Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
| www.sbs.gov.uk |
|
| NSW Small Business |
| A site developed by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development for small businesses. Topics include management, resources, current issues and ... |
| www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au |
|
| Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
| Looking for business management and advice? Our website includes small business resources and information that can help you. Visit the small business ... |
| www.businessweek.com |
|
| Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
| Information and legal sites relevant to small business. |
| smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
|
| Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
| Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
| grants.nih.gov |
|
| Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
| Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
| sbd.bcentral.com |
|
| Our site has moved! Please update your bookmarks! |
| Facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among small business development centers, the small business administration and other business-oriented ... |
| sbdcnet.utsa.edu |
|
| Small Business Development Corporation |
| Our business information services provides guidance to improve business skills and knowledge on advice on starting, buying, selling and expanding a small ... |
| www.sbdc.com.au |
|
|