Author: Ethan Theo

Abe WalkingBear Sanchez is an International Speaker / Trainer / Consultant on the subject of cash flow / sales enhancement and business knowledge organization and use. Founder and President of www.armg-usa.com, WalkingBear has authored hundreds of business articles, has worked with numerous companies in a wide range of industries since 1982 and has spoken at many venues including the Shakespeare Globe Theater in London.

Categories
Operations

5 Time Saving Systems Must Haves for the Small Business Owner

Contributed by Suzen Pettit

If you’re looking to grow you can’t do it all on your own. You just can’t. Your foundation must be laid so that you can be freed up to do your thing. You know, your thing? The thing that makes you money.

As much as we may look like Wonder Woman, or so as not to be sexist, Superman, and feel like them too, we cannot be a one person band and expect that the everything will just fall into place. It’ll fall alright, down, into bed, if you make it that far, from exhaustion.

A smart and successful small biz owner has back up, and I’d love to share my back up tricks honed from trial and error throughout the years that have saved me countless hours of unproductive work.

One of the best tips I’ve gotten to be constantly reminding ourselves of what is a time waster and what is a productive money making action for our day is from the wonderful business coach Jane Pollak, that goes like this: when creating your day to day tasks, use a green marker and mark which daily tasks are your business growth, money making tasks, and which are not. I usually make my list and then mark the moneymaking tasks with a green dot. If nothing else this will be a wake up call. Are you wasting way too much time on your proposals? There’s a system for that! Are you crunching all your numbers yourself for an hour a day? No need for that! Invoicing taking too long? There are a number of great programs for that.

Here’s my top 5 time saving and either free or really inexpensive systems, as I am a tightwad when it comes to these things… all designed to free you up so you can spend your day tackling the big stuff:

1) A really intuitive invoicing system: I use Freshbooks. Not only does it invoice really easily, but it sends them either by snail mail or email, does all kinds of cool numbers crunching, runs reports, allows you to send estimates that can convert to an invoice, and so much more. Bookkeeping — which I personally can’t stand to do so this forces me to do it in a fun and quick way — made easy, and quick.  A nominal cost well worth the expense. Allows for customization as well

2) A proposal/Contract system — which used to take me half a day to do — try Quotegine. It allows you to create, save, customize and re-use templates in a library, sends it out with a click of a button and allows for an e-signature on your clients end so that they don’t even have to print out, excepting for themselves or mail, attach, or fax back. Just pressing a button lands it back in your hands within a fraction of the time it would take otherwise, allowing you to get going on your next project. Free up until a certain amount of clients, and again, allows you to white label it.

3) A CRM system, otherwise known as a Contact Relationship Management System. Other wise known as a database. If you’re not already on Outlook, look no further than cloud based Highrise, run by the same cool, uber smart folks who created Freshbooks. If you are using your email contacts list as your database I might have to come over there and smack you. Highrise has all the bells and whistles you could ask for to allow you to keep on top of all of your prospects, clients and important business affiliates and contacts in an organized manner, create and schedule tasks and have them appear in your inbox when they come due, as a reminder to ‘get on that!’ It can also be synced with Freshbooks so that your whole client profile, jobs as well as the payments and invoicing are under one heading.

4) Housecleaning! I know that this involves money, but again, if you are trying to be all things to all people including a family of 4 back home, something is going to cave if you’re working hard all day and then expected to come home and clean the house as well. Even if you bring someone in just once per month to do the heavy cleaning, or pay your kids to do it. A scary thought I know. The money you spend here will make itself up to you in ROI if you’re taking the time where you would have been under the bed cleaning dust bunnies to instead contact 3 more warm leads to invite them to lunch. Time much better spent. I’d give you the name of mine as a referral but am afraid she’d be spread too thin and not have time for me. Selfish, I know, but some things are more precious than others. I do know that the team at The Maids are great though. Ask for Melissa.

5) Social Media tools. I have a confession. Social media is not my biggest strength. Other than LinkedIn, I do it because I have to, not because I want to, and I make no bones about it to my clients, as they need to do it as well. What has made it tolerable for me has been a little tool called Onlywire, which allows me to share what you’re reading right here with a load of social media and bookmarking sites instead of spending oodles of time uploading things separately when I could be interacting with folks online and off. Great for the SEO.

Hope these help you be more efficient and use your time more effectively. Now run to that networking meeting!

About the Author:

Suzen Pettit blogs at http://omaginarium.com/blog/, a site that guides small businesses through the maze of technology to help them grow their online presence with successful SEO.

Categories
Planning & Management

Planning The Perfect Small Business Fund Raising Event

Contributed by SBA

Each year you will discover hundreds of fund raising events happening everywhere. They vary from very large fund raising events for major companies to fund raising events for small groups or businesses. If someone is planning the perfect small business fund raising event, he or she will be trying to figure out what to do to make it successful. Some tips or steps can help an individual prepare and plan for the perfect event, while avoiding any potential problems.

Tips to Plan the Perfect Small Business Fund Raising Event

  • Before starting to plan the event, an individual will need to check with the local ordinances of the area to make sure what licenses or permits may be needed. Some laws may restrict certain events for that area, and it is better to know before the event is planned what is permitted for the area and what is not.
  • To have a successful fund raising event, the entire community and businesses will need to get involved. By involving the local business owners, an individual can sometimes obtain discounts on advertising for the event.

Businesses in other towns may also benefit from helping with a fund raising event, and they may be willing to help support the event through advertising at their establishment or by offering monetary support. A fund raising event will be more successful if it has better exposure, and this can be accomplished by going into other nearby towns for support. The event needs great exposure from the local areas as well as other areas.

A small business takes funding to be successful and at SBA.com, an individual can find the funding necessary to get started. Then, they can plan additional fund raising events to keep the business going for years. The fund raising event can be rewarding for the organization as well as for the ones involved in the process.

Sometimes planning an event can seem like an overwhelming task, but if someone wants it to happen, it can. A fund raising event is beneficial for everyone involved since individuals get involved in helping others. There are many fund raising ideas available and with the right steps, the event is simple to prepare and plan.

Steps to Prepare or Plan for A Fund Raising Event

  1. Choose the reason for the event. A fund raising event needs to have a purpose to obtain interest and involvement from other people. An event without a purpose will not gain as much attention.
  2. Set a time for the event, and then aim to stay on track to meet that time schedule.
  3. A location for the event will need to be chosen. The venue will need to be chosen according to the number of people expected to participate and the types of activities planned. Any other important factors that might relate to the event will also need to be taken into consideration when choosing the location.
  4. Choose a team to help organize the fund raising event. One person cannot do everything that is involved in planning and creating the perfect small business fund raising event. A few extra volunteers will always be welcomed.
  5. Promoting and advertising the event is the key to success of any venture. If other people do not know about an event, they cannot support it or attend the event. An individual can make flyers to distribute to the community, make announcements at gatherings, announce the event on radio and television stations if possible, advertise in newspapers and visit local businesses to inform them of the upcoming event. The more people informed means the greater success for the event and a bigger profit.
  6. Prepare for the day by gathering volunteers and making sure that each one knows what needs to be done. If the event day arrives and there is not enough help, the event will not be perfect. Assign duties to volunteers in advance to avoid any confusion later at the event.

Planning, preparing and promoting is the three keys to the perfect small business fund raising event. The event will be easy to do when these tips and steps are followed. Careful planning followed by preparation with a great team of individuals will lead to a perfect event.

For more resources on funding a small business start-up, visit http://www.sba.com/funding-a-business.

Categories
Planning & Management

Ten Tips for Working Smarter, Not Harder

Work Hacks
From: BestMastersDegrees.com

Some simple mental tricks can improve your efficiency and the quality of your work while reducing job stress – without keeping you in the office all night.

At Best Masters Degrees we decided to bring together some the best job hacks all in one place for easy reference. Here are the 10 best that we came up with:

Tip 1: Keep a progress bar for a key project and fill in the sections as you complete a task. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and progress and help you visualize the project broken down into more manageable tasks.

Tip 2: If you don’t need to respond to an email or speak up in a meeting this very second, wait five minutes. This period can help you form a response, and the added time may make you rethink your position entirely.

Tip 3: Prime the pump. Keep your mind sharp by reading things that challenge your assumptions or beliefs. Read something new and challenging every day.

Tip 4: If you’ve got a particularly challenging issue or project you always seem to put off, devote 30 to 60 minutes a day to that problem and that problem only. If you find yourself with an excuse not to do it, simply repeat, “Do it now.”

Tip 5: Work in 20-minute chunks, followed by a few minutes of physical activity such as walking to the water cooler or going to the restroom and taking a longer route back to your desk. Even throw in a few pushups or jumping jacks if your are brave. Studies have shown that humans work best in 10-20 minute concentrated chunks and the physical activity will keep you from hitting that brick wall.

Tip 6: Got a job with a million little tasks? Break them into chunks; set a timer and get as many of the tasks done as you can within that time.

Tip 7: Sometimes you just need to punt and try it again tomorrow. Don’t feel hopeless and beat yourself up if you feel like you’re dragging your feet in mud. Remember that with a good night’s sleep you’ll have renewed energy the next day.

Tip 8: Keep a file of positive feedback and revisit it when you are feeling particularly stumped or less than appreciated.

Tip 9: Don’t let roadblocks put you in a funk. Pick some smaller tasks you know you can truly complete. Use that momentum to create a snowball effect.

Tip 10: Don’t allow your instant communication methods dictate what you get done in a day. Set certain periods of time throughout the day (say, three 30-minute periods) to tackle your email, cell phone and instant messaging). Turn them off the rest of the day so that you can focus and work more efficiently.

Categories
Planning & Management

What’s Your RROI?

You’ve had numerous conversations about your ROI—the Return on Investment—your company achieves.

But what about your RROI—the Redefined Reality on Investment—you achieve?

Think of your RROI as what’s different—new and improved—about your business and lifestyle since you started your company. If you previously worked for someone else, what’s better now that you own a business?

A desire to Redefine our Reality is the #1 reason most of us buy or create our own company. But is your investment of time, energy, and money redefining your reality in the ways you imagined?

Give your attention to three key areas within your business to truly Redefine your Reality through your Investment:

Unique Contribution

What primary activities do you invest your most valuable resources—time, energy, and attention—in daily?

Are they activities that are uniquely yours, i.e., tasks that you do best, that maximize your profits of money and lifestyle? Or, are they lower-producing duties that someone else could do, either outsourced or by an employee?

We all start out doing everything, which is part of the entrepreneurial blessing and curse—blessing because at first, we feel the need to do it all; curse because we’re just good enough to think we have to do it all the time.

You define your USP—Unique Selling Proposition—that distinguishes you from the competition. Have you defined your UCP—Unique Contribution Personal—that you make to your business that is yours and yours alone to do?

To grow your RROI and receive the lifestyle you want, define your UCP and be vigilant in outsourcing or employing everything else.

Core Values

How do you achieve your unique contribution daily at work

For many of us, we start with high ideals, expressing our desire to do business differently; core values like integrity, honesty, commitment to exceptional customer care, etc. But after we do business a while, we get worn down, particularly if we are still doing it all. Less beneficial core values sneak into our practices.

These unpreferred core values come in via the cracks of our business kind of like the “stink bugs” that somehow keep finding their way into our home this spring. Despite our best efforts to seal and spray, these odiferous critters show up in the strangest places.

What stinky core values creep into the way you do business? The intense pressure this negative world brings to bear on us today as business owners provides opportunities to either shine or stink.

To grow your RROI and receive the lifestyle you want, define your core values and guard your business practices as a valuable asset.

Focused Priorities

When the phone rings, the email bings, the Facebook messages sing, the Twitter feed dings, and the text messages ping, you understand this is an ADD world. Getting your UCP done while driven by your core values sounds good, but is like trying to do physics while caring for a toddler…

…which makes it all the more important for you to focus laser-like on your priorities. All of that technology has a place, second place, to your focused priorities.

Remember: you pay the bills for all of this technology. Find the “on/off” button. Use it.

Focus your priorities on your UCP, driven by your core values, and be amazed as your RROI—Redefined Reality on Investment—emerges in front of your very eyes.

The business owner lifestyle you imagined becomes yours as you Work Positive.

About the Author:

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.

Categories
Work Life

3 Reasons to Positively Take Time Away

Around this time of year, we take some time away from work. At least those who have jobs…

For those of us who own the business, such time away seems elusive.

Here are some reactions I receive when I coach entrepreneur owners to positively take time away from work and my responses:

“I can’t afford to take any time away.”

You can afford it, and will benefit.

Recall the last time you tried to remember something—a customer’s name, your password, or a vendor—and failed. The harder you tried, the further it crept into your memory.

When did you remember it?

As you went on to something else and relaxed your mind.

It’s so easy for us entrepreneur owners to keep digging when we find ourselves in a hole. To assert our strong wills and work harder in the same rut…forgetting that the only difference between a rut and a grave is a few feet.

Just as we relax and remember, when you positively take time away from work and return, you come back with a renewed mental ability to see more clearly the strengths to accentuate and how to solve system problems. You Work Positive again with a recreated energy and reconnection with your emotional engagement.

“When the cat’s away, the mice will play.”

If we see ourselves as the cat and our employees as mice, we’ve set up for ourselves a predator-prey relationship. As Mark Crowley says in Lead from the Heart, this adversarial work environment is why over half of all workers hate their jobs, productivity suffers, and top talent walks out the back door.

Employees require training and development which pays significant dividends over the long term. Unless you only want employees to micromanage and control as an extension of your fragile ego, hire folks with core values like honesty, integrity, strong work ethic, etc. Constantly evaluate and be evaluated, but just as character is defined by what you do when no one is looking, so is the employees’ ability to achieve peak performance. As you take time away, you discover the strengths of your team and your training, any weaknesses, and adapt accordingly.

Also, you find some more unique relationships in which only you can invest. For instance, I recently took off a few days to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We went antiquing, spruced up some things around our home, and I had a dinner party in her honor. She’s telling all of her friends first about the days off I took to invest in her and only when they ask about the presents I bought.

How’s that for developing a relationship?

“Time is money.”

If this is true, we really bought ourselves a job, not a business and will make more money per hour and enjoy more time away working for someone else.

Is your business scalable? Train others.

How’s your production capacity? Hire others.

Time is more than money.

At our younger daughter’s track meet one year, I overheard her conversation with a fellow runner.

“Your Dad comes to all of our meets. I wish my Dad did,” her friend said.

“Yea, he does,” our daughter replied. “He says he gets one shot at being my Daddy and I’m important enough to take off work for.”

One of our strengths as entrepreneur owners is we can figure out a way to make money.

Time is more than money. Invest wisely.

Positively take some time away from work.

About the Author: 

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Negative World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who help professionals discover success in the silver lining of their business and achieve their dreams. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org/speaking.