Posts Tagged ‘small business owners’

If you run a cash based business, you probably would like to keep track of how you are doing on a daily basis. What’s more, it would be nice to compare how you did today with how you did last week, last month, or even last year. Well, you could dig into your accounting software or ask your accountant, but that is not practical for right here, right now, information.

Imagine this. You aren’t at your store right now. Maybe you opened and you have someone else closing. Its in capable hands, but you’d still like to know how you did that day. Sure, you can call and check on the end of the day number. Then you can try to remember what you started with and how much it costs to run your business every day. Work those out in your head and you will have a pretty good picture for today. But what if you want to compare against another day, or track the whole week?

If you are doing this level of daily tracking, it is probably taking extra time. The fact is, you are probably too busy to stay on top of your numbers every day. In fact, you may not check them often at all. This is a problem, because you won’t be able to spot trends or problem areas.

This is where BottomLine, an iPhone App from Jet Set Apps, comes in. BottomLine was created just for small business owners who need to pay attention to their daily numbers. Jet Set Apps has developed a tool that is perfect for cash businesses like restaurants, hair salons, bakeries, or any number of retail or point of sale businesses. It can also be useful for any type of business that wants to track daily trends.

BottomLine is simple, which is part of what makes it great. It asks you for three numbers every day. Your opening balance, your closing balance, and your daily cost. The first two numbers will help you track cash flow and volume of business. The last number is optional, and comes with some flexibility. You can use it to track whatever metric is important to you. For instance, you might average out your cost of running business and place it in the daily cost box. That way, you can tell if you were above or below water for the day.

One great thing about BottomLine is that is supports multiple users and comes with a web interface. This means you can have employees enter the key numbers on the store computer and you can instantly get them on your iPhone.

So, why do you need an app like BottomLine? It is a simple tool that does one job, and does it well. If you use it, you won’t have to wonder how your month is looking. You can pay attention to your volume every day and spot problem areas. For instance, you may find that you have lower volume when a certain employee is on. Or maybe you will find a certain day is very slow for you, and you will want to offer specials to get more traffic.

You can also look at history and see how you did on days up to a year ago. This can help you prepare and bring in more staff for when you are busiest.

BottomLine is basically a simple dashboard for the health of your business. It will show you information about your business in easy to digest graphs and charts, or in a month by month view. A pie chart can help you see instantly what your busiest, and most profitable, days are. The line graph can highlight trends. And there is even a special insight tool that will look at all of your data and pull out key points to look at.

You also have the ability to type in custom notes for any day. So if you are especially busy because of a local festival, you can make a note of it. Then you will be prepared for next year and will know why you had a spike when you look back at your numbers.

BottomLine is available for the iPhone only. It costs $3.99 for the basic package. This includes the full-featured app and a month of history stored. This means you can look back over 30 days of business. If you would like to keep track of a longer period of time, Jet Set Apps offers pricing for 3, 6, and 12 months of history.

It is up to you how you use BottomLine. You can just use it to stay on top of your day to day sales, and rely on other means to track history. Or, you can keep all of the information in one place.

You may already be keeping track of all of this. Good for you! BottomLine makes keeping track of it a whole lot easier. Multiple users can add data, and you can access it from anywhere using your iPhone. If you want a better handle on daily performance, this is an app worth checking out.

You can learn more about BottomLine and view a features video at http://www.jetsetapps.net/bottomline.html.

–

Hi, I’m Bradford Shimp. My goal is to help small businesses succeed. I wanted to let you know that I wasn’t compensated in any way for this review. I had a nice conversation with Rade Stojsavljevic, President of Jet Set Games and Jet Set Apps, in which he walked me through the functionality of BottomLine. I don’t personally run a cash based business, but I thought that those of you who do would benefit from checking out this app. If you end up using it, let me know.

Check out my business at BroadRiverCreative.com

Images courtesy of Jet Set Apps.

I recently talked to Isha Edwards of EPiC MEASURES about her business and how she helps build brands. Here is the conversation:

Bradford Shimp: Tell me a little about your business.

Isha Edwards: EPiC MEASURES (EM) is a brand-driven company, which offers a next practices approach to establishing and operating a business. Extending beyond the ordinary in purpose, promise and presentation, EM seeks to increase the profitability of individuals as well as organizations through four core services:

·        Marketing Strategy

·        Brand Management

·        Business Communications

·        Leadership Training (Seminars & Workshops)

BS: Why did you decide to get into this business?

IE: EM was established to meet an on-going demand from individuals with business communications needs. Also because of demand, services expanded to include brand-driven business consulting and leadership training for individuals and organizations.

BS: What roadblocks or delays did you run into when starting your business?

IE: Since the goal was to launch debt-free, test the business concept, and weigh market demands against sustainability, EM was soft-launched or rolled out in phases over a four-year period. This strategy limited roadblocks that would normally affect the company if it were launched “in full.”

BS: Define “brand” in terms of small business. I think many small business owners put little thought into creating a brand.

IE: A brand is a unique symbol, name, sound or identifying mark, which represents a product, an individual or organization’s story. This distinct story along with purpose and experience are what physically and emotionally engage consumers with a good or service.

Small businesses tend to focus primarily on the A part of the brand definition. Imaging, collateral materials and Web sites are created without much thought about the story or experience behind the logo.

When it comes to creating a brand, small business owners should “begin with the end in mind”. The process of creating a brand from beginning to end prior to launch will help solidify the story and the experience for customers.

BS: How can a strong brand help a small business?

IE: A well defined or established brand is a company’s most valuable, intangible asset. In addition to providing a competitive advantage, a well established brand helps to maximize earnings.

BS: If a small business has little to no money to spend on marketing, what are the best free/low cost marketing options?

IE: Word-of-mouth campaigns, volunteering service or providing product samples to prospective customers are low-cost ways to garner visibility. Find out what schools or organizations offer classes, seminars or events related to your product and target audience. Participating in events, joining organizations or in some way “hanging out” where potential customers hang out, writing or commenting on blogs are other options.

If you prefer to use social networking, then network within groups that are directly and indirectly related to your product. If you really want to stand out, purchase branded paraphernalia. Select a high-traffic day, time and location to regularly service your community with your product (doing so for 30, 60 or 90 days is ideal). Have flyers, Web site link or business cards on hand. The key is to build awareness in your natural element in a meaningful way (versus product push).

BS: Why should a small business spend money on a marketing/branding expert?

IE: Marketers are typically hired to focus on promotions and sales. An enterprising marketer or brand expert will consider product, price, placement and promotion when strategizing. They will also determine where brand value resides and align business operations with marketing strategy to retain value.

BS: How is social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, changing marketing?

IE: Social media levels the playing field between big and small business; new and established brands. Social media provides direct, inexpensive access to customers’ personal space (Facebook) and has the potential to build business credibility and awareness (Twitter) same as traditional media except exponentially.

BS: How would you convince a business owner to spend money on marketing/branding?

IS: Focusing on a business owner’s vision, mission, short and long-term goals yields a high conversion rate. When presented with a comprehensive strategy that makes the most effective use of time, money and resources and ensures set goals are met, business owners easily comply.

BS: What is your best advice for a small business owner who wants to commit more time and or money to marketing?

IE: Select three platforms to promote your product. Evaluate the results from those efforts. Replace efforts that yield low or little results. Relevancy is key as is being able to adapt early. Joining the bandwagon simply because everyone else is doing so is a sure-fire way to lose time and money plus limit results. Your strategy should be to remain ahead of each curve, which is where the greatest value lies and unique brands thrive.

–

Thanks to Isha Edwards for participating in this interview. You can learn more about EPiC MEASURES at www.epicmeasures.com.

Bradford Shimp helps small businesses with web design and online presence management at BroadRiverCreative.com.

All Business Answers Podcast

Download the Podcast

In this special inaugural edition of the podcast, I talk to Jason Markow about the project he is running this week called #FAILweek. Throughout the week, participants are encourage to blog about their biggest failures. Instructions on how to participate are located at bit.ly/FAILweek.

Why talk about failure? Because it is an important aspect of success. #FAILweek is about stories of failing, but then doing something about it. It is an exciting project that is sure to get participants thinking about failure and help all of us begin to normalize the idea of failure so we don’t have to be so afraid of it. To get good at failure is to know when to call it quits, when to change direction, and to develop the skills to adapt quickly. All of this leads to success in the end.

Jason Markow runs the think (here) Blog at JasonMarkow.com. He was inspired to start #FAILweek because of his own recent failure with an angel investment backed web-based startup. You can read his story or failure and what he’s doing about it, along with the stories of other participants, at bit.ly/FAILweek.

Next Episode

Join me this Friday for an interview with Desiree Scales, owner of Bella Web Design. We discuss how she started her own business, how she runs it with a loose team style approach, and we also get her advice to small business owners on social media.

–

Call for Interviews: I am looking to interview business owners, authors, experts, and interesting people on a regular basis. If you would like to tell your story on this podcast, please contact me.

Credits: This podcast was recorded using Skype and Pamela. Thanks to Joe Magennis and Desiree Scales for technical advice. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Editing done with Audacity.

No one likes to have debt hanging over them. In business, if you don’t handle it right, it can become a dangerous distraction. The fact that you owe money makes the risks of business that much more real. Running a debt-free business is a dream for many small business owners. Getting to that point, however, is often difficult. And not being willing to take on any debt, ever, may limit your growth potential.

Debt is Normal

I am not advocating taking on debt for your business. I am just pointing out that it is normal. The nature of business compels many owners to take on some sort of debt. The problem with debt is not usually debt itself. The real problems occur in why you incur debt and how you react to having debt.

Incurring Debt

A healthy business takes on debt to grow. Whether for a big capital purchase, a building upgrade, improved infrastructure, the debt is taken on to pay for a one-time cost. In this case, you are always better off if you already have enough monthly cash flow to cover the debt payments. Taking on debt in hopes that it will help you grow enough to pay the monthly cost is not your best move.

An unhealthy business takes on debt to meet payroll, to pay a vendor bill, to purchase small office items. If you can’t pay your day to day bills, you have a problem in your business that taking on debt will not fix.

There is a gray area here, at least in my estimation. Some businesses are very seasonal and take on debt to get them through the off season. I would say this is a short term plan. Eventually, to be successful, you need to be able to store up enough cash reserves to make it through the off season. An even better business move is to add new products or services that will help you keep the money coming in all year long. If you prefer to take several months off, that’s your choice. You may feel confident in taking on debt to make it through, because you always pay it off. Once or twice on this is fine. But its not a healthy habit to get into. What if you have a bad year? Now you can’t pay off your debt and have to take on more. Far better to walk into that situation debt free. So reverse your habits and start squirreling a way some money to make it through. It may take several years to store enough, but once you do, you should be able to break the debt cycle.

Before you incur more debt, consider what it is for. If it is for regular business costs, you need to reorganize or fix your business. Get your cash flow and profit right before you worry about anything else. Again, this will take time. Just be sure to start walking down the path right away.

Dealing with Debt

Once you have debt, it doesn’t really matter how you got it. You still need to pay it off. Hopefully, you have a budget and a plan. If not, get one in place.

I personally think it is a mistake to throw every extra cent you get toward paying down your debt. It is an especially bad idea if you do not have a budget and if your costs of doing business tend to fluctuate. The first thing you need to worry about in your business is cash flow. Don’t drain your cash flow by tying it all up in paying down your debt. Have a planned amount that you pay each month and stick to that.

If you are on a plan for your debt, you can the focus on building your business and increasing things like profit and cash flow. Never make your business about your debt. Never think, “I need to get more sales so I can pay off this debt.” You didn’t get into business to pay off debt. You got into business to make a profit. So focus on that. Continue to pay yourself and everyone else. Chip away at the debt that you do have. At the same time, plan for future expenses and future dips in business. You should be building a cash cushion.

It would be a mistake not to build a cushion of cash because you are focusing on debt. That cash can help you avoid further debt, which is going to do far more to help your business in the future than paying off your current debt early. Lets say you have $50,000 in business debt. At the same time, you have a goal to build a $20,000 cash cushion. Once you build that kind of cash up, it is going to be very tempting to take it and throw it on the debt. The problem is if you do that you will still have $30,000 in debt and no cash cushion. Now something bad happens, and you need money. You are left with no choice but to take on more debt. Instead, you should keep the cash on hand and continue to pay of the debt as you planned, one month at a time.

I am not saying it is never a good idea to pay your debt off early. If you are in a position to do so, then take advantage of that. But if it is a choice between investing that money for growth or paying off a chunk of debt, I would always invest for growth.

Take the long term approach to your business. You want to be healthy for a long time. Get your business in such a shape that it doesn’t need to take on debt for regular costs and so it can handle new debt payments for wise capital expenditures. In the meantime, take a monthly approach to your old debt. As you get more cash flow and profit, you can always increase those monthly amounts. But do so only after you have gotten your business into the best shape possible.

How about you? How do you deal with debt?

photo credit: Photos8.com

–

Bradford Shimp helps small businesses create web sites and web presence to bring in more leads and sales at BroadRiverCreative.com.

This is part of a series of posts on what you can do to be more successful in your business this year. To get a free report full of success tips for your business, sign up below this article.

If you are looking for success in your business, you may need look no farther than your customers. Customers are a wealth of information that, if properly tapped, can help you mold and shape your business into a success machine. Not paying attention to your customers can have dire results.

Listen to what Ross Felix of Dating Revolution, Inc. had to say about the importance of customers for his business.

It sounds elementary, but my startup wouldn’t be in business if my competition truly listened to its users. There are so many flaws in the online dating market, flaws that we confirmed by interviewing hundreds of daters. Don’t “think” you know what your customers want, go out and ASK them. Thanks to our customers and future customers, we’ve now found a way to democratize online dating and create a site that reduces or eliminates their pain points.

Listening to customers and the wider market can help you position your business for success and really outshine your competitors. But listening isn’t always easy. Too often, small business owners are too busy looking at the trees of their business to ever get an understanding of the forest of their customers. In other words, you get so focused on the details of your business that you miss what is going on in the world of your customers.

Andy Hayes, of Travel Online Partners, says it like this.

Get some customer feedback. If you’re already asking for feedback, then ask something different. You’re too close to your website, to your brochure, to your products and services. You can’t see the little things that are wrong or missing but are causing problems. Get the feedback and do something about it. Your customers will thank you with more business.

Understanding what customers needs are, and what drives them to buy, is essential. This understanding comes best through constant interaction. The good news is that interaction is a little easier today, with more and more people willingly interacting online.

There are all kinds of ways to engage your customer. Susan Jacobsen, of LUV2XLPR, Inc., suggests using tools like Twitter and LinkedIn to pay attention to customers and to react to both positive and negative feedback. She says to look at customers who are using these tools as advocates for your business.

Companies are surrounded by advocates and it’s up to them to listen to what’s being said on blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. Testimonials used to be touted via quotes on a static website; now advocates proclaim their praise to thousands. These advocates can propel companies ahead, and small businesses need to acknowledge their influence. The right comment on the right blog or via Twitter can have a bigger impact on the bottom-line than an uninteresting quote in some regional newspaper left on a doorstep.

If you aren’t plugged in to the online universe, you will be missing more and more opportunities to move your business ahead by listening to what customers are saying. The more you fine tune your business to their needs, the more likely they will become advocates for your brand. Whether they talk about your business in a Facebook status update, or on a personal blog, these comments can have a very positive effect on your business. By listening first to needs, then adapting your business, you will find yourself listening more and more to positive feedback, which will help propel your business forward.

Social media is not the only tool to use for listening. Dr. Marlene Caroselli suggests using focus groups, surveys, and on-site evaluations to get a better idea of customer needs. While this may sound big business, it is not. It is easy to set up a focus group of your customers, for instance. Just invite a group out for coffee and dessert. Going to your customer’s place of business to see how they are implementing your product is also a great idea. If you are working with consumers, this may be more difficult. Use friends as case studies instead, or do an interview with a willing customer where you talk about their use of your product.

Sometimes, you don’t need to do anything to hear from your customers. Sometimes, they complain openly to you. Use customer complaints as an opportunity to improve your business and strengthen your customer relationships. When a customer complains, you know there is a disconnect somewhere between your offering and their need. So listen up. Then, when appropriate, adapt. Katharine Coles, of Mad Marketeer, gives this advice.

Listen to your clients. If they complain that they don’t like something about your product or service, try to find ways to change to meet their needs. If they don’t like your customer service or they think you are not listening or being responsive enough, try to put new systems in place to address the issues. If they don’t understand your documentation or your contracts, make them clearer and easier to understand. One of the biggest mistakes that small businesses make is NOT LISTENING.

If you learn how to listen, you will learn what you need to do to make your business better. Customers are your lifeblood. If you make moves that alienate them, you are pushing your business in the wrong directions. If, on the other hand, you are constantly concerned with what they want and make sound business moves to provide for that want, you are on your way to a more successful business.

photo credit: B Rosen

–

Bradford Shimp designs and implements Wordpress web sites and blogs for small business. If you need a cost-effective web site with control over content, learn more at BroadRiverCreative.com.