February, 2015

How to Use Pareto’s Principle

When you’re busy creating a successful business, everyday you get hit with endless tasks that you feel that you must complete. How can we take back our days and create time wealth for ourselves? Instead of letting our days run us, how can we run our days the way we want to?

Perhaps this is where Pareto’s Principle comes into play. In the corporate world, this phrase is most commonly used to help business owners make more efficient decisions. This principle was discovered in 1906 when an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto realized that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the population. He also noted that 80% of the peas that he produced came from only 20% of his pea plants.

4 Essential Principles for Organizing and Maximizing Your Inventory Performance

Extracting the most from their investment in inventory is second nature to Best-in-Class enterprises. These high-performing organizations are experts at leveraging their physical inventory practices as a means of achieving peak operational performance. To better understand how this is accomplished, the following article introduces the reader to four of these essential principles and practices.

Take Your Customer Service to a New Level

Customer service can make or break your business.

Happy customers are more likely to spend money, come back for more, and tell their friends and family how great your company is. Bad customer service can lead to customers who wouldn't dream of coming back and the kind of negative publicity you definitely don't want.

If you want your business to stand head and shoulders above the rest, it's time to take your customer service to the next level.

Ordinary Words Can Steer The Whole Negotiation Process Into A Tailspin

Certain words used when you’re negotiating can totally change the outcome of a business deal. In most cases, the actual words are not the problem; it’s the way you use them that has a great impact. Words can change perception in a split of a second. In negotiations, the most common words can often be misinterpreted, or used inappropriately. These have the power to steer the bargaining process are create a lot of confusion.

Why a Network Is an Inventor's Greatest Resource

The stories of the lone scientist having a flash of brilliance that leads to a great discovery are very romantic but generally not accurate. Einstein may have thought up relativity theory on a train sipping a beer but he did so from the data of some equally intelligent men and women. Edison was an industrial mogul that had a team of scientists helping him with his work. The inventor’s mind may be filled with sparks of brilliance but it takes a network to turn them into a self-perpetuating flame.

Yes, a Small Business App is a Good Idea

You likely have many good ideas of how best to run your business in today’s very competitive business world.

With that being the case, where does having a business app rank on that list of thoughts? If the answer is not very high, it is definitely time to change things.

5 Smart Business Moves that Every Owner Should Make

The business world today is more competitive than ever before. Business owners have to always be working to make themselves and their companies better in order to survive. When business owners are constantly improving, they will gain an edge that will allow them to gain an advantage over their competitors.

Six Basics That Business Can't Go Without in Today's World

Technology has changed the business world. The business practices of only five years ago no longer cut it today. To stay competitive, you need to keep up with the changes and adjust accordingly. To help, below are six basics businesses can’t go without in today’s world.

1. High Speed Internet

One thing you certainly need to have as a business is high speed internet. It can allow your employees to handle customer issues in real time through your website. It can also allow you to do research when needed and put in orders to restock supplies without having to make a phone call. Without reliable internet, it can be difficult for employees to do their jobs, not to mention the frustration it can cause customers, say the experts at North State.

Don't Overlook Your SMS Marketing Contact Database

Text messaging is presently one of the most preferred digital communication channels, and it is being widely used by businesses for marketing purposes.

By implementing SMS marketing, you can deliver your marketing messages to a large number of consumers within a short period of time and get very high response rates.

Are Mobile Payments Vital To Small Business?

If you’ve visited a mall, high-end department store or even a farmer’s market lately, you’ve likely encountered a merchant who accepts mobile payments, allowing customers to transact via a tablet or smartphone. But, increasing evidence suggests that mobile payments have moved past the point of being a “nice to have” payment tool for customer convenience, and become a vital “must have” for small-business merchants. Here’s why: