small business

The global recession may be coming to an end, but it’s not time to crank open the bubbly quite yet; unless, of course, it’s a bottle of Walmart’s cheap sparkling wine.

You see, if anything is to be gleamed from the past twelve months, it’s that we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Whilst things may be rosy one day, they might not be tomorrow; so by being thrifty when times are good, this will help take care of things when times are tough.

If your site doesn’t solve a consumer’s problem, you’ve got a big one of your own. Getting viewers to your website is a win all by itself. But solid traffic won’t necessarily put dollars in your pocket. There’s both an art and a science to converting site visitors into actors, and you’ve only got a few seconds to seal the deal.

A year or two ago, your business was probably running pretty smoothly, with sales and profits growing. And then the recession and credit crunch hit—a brutal double-whammy—and everything started slowing down almost overnight, including your accounts receivable collections.

Here’s one thing about a recession or economic downturn that most people don’t think of: It forces most business owners to focus like a laser on the fundamentals of their business. You know, things like making sure you deliver quality products and great customer service.

Over this past year I have noticed a huge resistance between small businesses and online advertising. Business owners feel that online advertising is no place for their brick and mortar business and the cost to do so would be more than they could afford. That couldn't be farther from the truth.

Well, what the heck other games are you GOING to play?
Gee, talking about win-win seems so twentieth century!
Haven't we got the idea?

Don't we realize that, unless a situation is a win for both (or all) parties involved, it's not a win at all - because the loser will figure out that he/she is the loser, and probably do something to mess things up?

Nah, we don't realize that. I know this for a fact because I coach people to help them sell. And I can tell you that win-lose is alive and well!

Most business owners don’t necessarily think about their insurance coverage until a loss occurs and they need to file a claim. However, the time to analyze your insurance is before you need to file a claim: Preview is always nicer than review.

If you do suffer an insured loss, you need to be very familiar with certain aspects of your claim. Here are the three areas that cause the biggest business insurance disputes with insurers.

In today’s challenging economic environment, it’s more important than ever for small business owners to have a firm grasp on their company’s finances.

When all is said and done, there are a handful of basic financial questions that every small business owner should always know the answers to after the monthly financials have been put in the drawer. If you have a trusted CFO, controller or financial advisor who looks out for some of these, that may be fine—as long as the daily decisions you make take these factors into account. This means your trusted advisor must keep you informed.

I hope you’re doing work that you enjoy. Because I believe that if you don’t love what you do, you will lose out to someone who does.

However, just working in your business isn’t enough. Yes, we all have to make sure
that orders get fulfilled, phone calls get returned, new prospects contacted and the plethora of things you want to get done. I call it the busyness of business.

But in order to excel, we have to work ON our business—and on ourselves. We have to step back for a better perspective. We have to ask tough questions and be willing to be honest with ourselves.

If you read last month's update you know “HOW” Go Green Go came into existence. If you are new to Idea Café or have just stumbled upon this blog – you need to go back and read the “Evolution of Go Green Go”. It’s a spellbinding and thrilling account of how Go Green Go came into being…….Ok, so I tend to exaggerate just a little.

So, without any further delay – on to the next riveting chapter in the Evolution of Go Green Go – the “WHY” behind the “HOW” of the company. On the surface, one would tend to answer the question of “Why?” with “That’s a no-brainer –to make money.” Not so fast. While that may be the main purpose of most companies, it was not the defining motive to start Go Green Go.