Author: Pamela Swift

Categories
Recommendations

Small Business Podcasts

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Small Business Trends Radio: Sometimes it can be hard to determine which of the many small business podcasts will provide what you need. So much audio, so little time.
So we have taken the guesswork out of it for you. We narrowed it down to 100 informative podcasts for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Most of the following podcasts specifically target a small business audience. Others have a broader business focus. All, however, are relevant to business owners and entrepreneurs. Explore and listen, and see what you think of this list.
100 Small Business Audio Podcasts [Small Business Trends Radio]

Categories
Sales & Marketing

Pitch In The Elevator

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USATODAY: Now my friend was going to a social event, but in business, every entrepreneur needs to have his or her “elevator pitch” ready. Whether you’re networking at a business function, exhibiting at a trade show, trying to raise money, or meeting a prospective client, the first question they’re going to ask is “What do you do?”
You’ve got to have a clear, concise way to answer that question — and that’s your “elevator pitch.”
It takes quite a bit of thinking to decide which aspects of your business to mention. Even more frustrating, you have to decide which parts of your company to leave out. Often these can be the things you’re most excited about — a new technology, a great location, the fact you get to go to Europe on buying trips. But if they’re not central to the core of your business, then they don’t belong in an elevator pitch.
The biggest mistake most people make when answering the question “What do you do?” is that they take that question too literally and start describing exactly what they do. I remember one woman who sold advertising who described in detail what she did: came to the client’s office, picked up their ad copy, went to the printer, sent back proofs, and on and on.
Your elevator pitch must not only be short, it must be clear. Unless you’re in a highly technical field, your neighbor or grandmother should be able to understand your business well enough to be able to describe it to someone else. After all, you want Grandma out there marketing for you too, don’t you?
Your elevator pitch should touch — very briefly — on the products or services you sell, what market you serve, and your competitive advantage.
A good ‘elevator’ pitch will lift your business [USATODAY]

Categories
Franchise

Johnnie’s Hot Dogs

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The Johnnie’s Dog House Franchise is the newest addition to the growing fast-casual restaurant franchises. Over the past three years, Johnnie’s Dog House customers have enjoyed the best hot dogs brought to them from around the world, and a variety of menu selections of “The Foods You Crave!” Their food, coupled with a comfortable-nostalgic atmosphere has made Johnnie’s Dog House a destination restaurant for friends and families of all ages.
With an eye towards the future, Johnnie’s Dog House has developed multiple business formats that compete in the booming fast-casual restaurant business, both locally and nationally. The fast-casual restaurant is a natural fit in Residential Business Districts, Town & Lifestyle Centers, and Beach & Shore Communities. The Fully Self-Contained Mobile Kiosk Solution is well suited to locations such as airports, college campuses, malls, retail outlets, hotels, tourist attractions, shopping centers, transportation centers, and casinos. Starting in August 2007, Johnnie’s Dog House will begin taking franchise applications from their newly re-designed website.
Johnnie’s Dog House

Categories
Operations

Create Effective Mission Statements

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SmallFuel Marketing: I was recently at a rather large expo, and I decided to keep track of the many different mission statements I came across. I also kept track of the responses we got at our booth with our mission statement. Out of all the data, there was one glaring trend.
Mission statements are so common place and so exaggerated that no one even listens to them. What went wrong? How do we fix it?
1. Mission statements are too long
If you want anyone to listen until the end of your statement, it needs to be short and sweet.
2. Mission statements are too complicated
With everyone telling small businesses how to write a mission statement (me too, evidently), they have become filled with gibberish as each writer tries to satisfy every condition of a successful mission statement. Your mission statement should be focused to the point, which brings us to the next bullet.
3. Mission statements are too much about companies and not enough about customers
Many companies have mission statements that get into company heritage and history—can you think of anything more boring? The entire point of your mission statement needs to be about your customer. What are they going to get from you. Repeat after me: “My mission is about my customer.”
4. Less mission, more mantra
Company mission statements are generally just a paragraph of exaggeration that is brought out in front of customers, only to disappear before getting back to the office. Your small business needs to live and breath your mission. Everything you do and say should reinforce your mission.
If you don’t live by your mission, people will know immediately that you’re not being sincere. In a world of sensationalism, you need your mission to be as sincere and trustworthy as possible.
Mission Statements Don’t Work, Get Something That Does [SmallFuel Marketing]

Categories
How-To Guides

How To Raise Money For An Invention

raise-money-invention.jpgInventor Resource: The initial funding for independent inventions normally comes from ‘friends family and fools’, but once this is exhausted, and you need to progress to the next stage of development, you will need to find other funding.
Grants
There are a number of publicly funded grants available for innovative businesses, some of which can be applicable to inventors. There are two levels of grant suited to independent inventors, and each will require some funding commitment from the applicant, aside from the grant. ‘Micro projects’ are described as ‘simple low-cost development projects lasting no longer than 12 months’. With a maximum grant of £20,000, this is probably the most appropriate for inventors starting out with the development of a new product. ‘Research projects’, lasting 6-18 months, can receive a maximum grant of £75,000, with the aim being ‘to investigate the technical and commercial feasibility of innovative technology’. For more radical inventions, perhaps using new materials or advanced technology, or involving external partners, these are appropriate.
Loans
Do not re-mortgage your house in order to pay for your invention, no matter how brilliant it may seem. If one piece of advice comes through clearly time and time again from inventors who’ve ‘been there’, it’s this.
Small business loans are suitable, however. By presenting yourself as an entrepreneur — a businessperson looking to involve the bank in a mutually profitable relationship (even if you think of yourself as a ‘garden-shed-in-your-spare-time’ inventor) — you stand a good chance of receiving a favourable loan. If your business takes off, quite apart from the interest on the loan, the bank will want to have you as a customer, since business banking charges are a significant proportion of banks’ income.
Venture Capital
Venture capital is most often appropriate for inventors who have made significant progress with their invention and are well on the way to turning it into a successful business. In this sense it should not be seen as a first option for funding your invention. Venture capitalists, or private equity financiers, are looking to make significant returns on the money they invest — which typically belongs to others, as part of a fund — and clearly want to maximise the upside of the risk while minimising the downside.
How Do I Raise Money for an Invention? [Inventor Resource]