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What are you going to do to make your business better in 2020?
Article of the Month - Keeping a customer is as simple as that This article was written because of a friend who manages an auto service center. He does not own it, but he is the reason many people do business there. The article can produce great results according to my friend as he gave the article to his boss who now approaches customers differently and they are busier than ever. As an avid reader of trends in the industry, I find more and more companies utilizing technology and artificial intelligence as a part of their "customer service". My observation is a small business needs to seriously consider if these will help their business or if they make the business more like the competition. Technology and artificial intelligence have benefits, but I don't think they have anywhere as many as the benefits of what the article is suggesting.
Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? - Our resident expert on family business - Henry Hutcheson
Watch your email for the announcement and your invitation later this month to join us as we discuss the challenges and opportunities for a family business.
Book of the Month - Rocket Fuel Gwen Bortner was our guest for the December Small Business Conversations program. She mentioned this book, Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters, as being very influential in her career. We found Gwen to be a very interesting and knowledgeable person. We took her mentioning the book as a referral to read it. The book is about success and how it takes two types of individuals; a visionary and an integrator. While I am still reading this book, I think I am seeing it in action as I have worked with a friend in our hometown to create a non-profit organization to benefit graduates of our high school. I expect to learn from this book that all of us need to learn how to utilize those who work with us and for us, as well as how to use both sides of our brain.
Internet Tool for Your Business - Days of Inventory on Hand Is it just my inbox or are you also getting lots of emails from people wanting to solve all your business problems by offering an inventory control system and their consulting services? Just as working with an accountant, before you consider working with anyone, you should do some work on your own to understand inventory. Let us offer one of the 47 calculators on the Profits Plus website. This is "days of inventory on hand" and it answers a question which is one of the KPIs (Key Performance Index) of business. If you ordered no more inventory, how long would it be before you would run out of inventory. It is that simple. Use our free online calculator to determine the days of inventory on hand for your business. You could look at what the number was six months ago, twelve months ago and two years ago to get a feel for what is happening in your business. Are you ever having to tell a customer you are temporarily out of items? Are you finding at the end of a season that you still have an excellent selection as compared to having a few left over items? Knowing this number and paying attention to your inventory will help you to get the most profit from turning your inventory properly.
Staff Incentive for Your Business Our monthly staff incentive column has brought you an idea of how to engage your staff. This month we are suggesting a unique way of creating your own incentives. On an individual basis, ask each of your employees what they would do if they had a day all to themselves. What could you do to make all or part of that happen for that employee? While our column has some good ideas, the best idea is going to be able to give part or all of what would make for their ideal day.
What's coming up in March that you can promote? We read an article that said the part of an individual's budget that is getting the biggest increase is the spending for entertainment. This is why we created this part of Small Business News. What if your business were to create events to help people celebrate? We contacted the authority on holidays - National Day Calendar - and share with you some events we have picked Putting these together can be quick and easy, but should be planned in advance. As an example, as this is January 1 you should be looking at what you can do in March. Examples of March events include: March 3 - National Anthem Day March 1-7 - Invest in Veterans Day National Crafts Month
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MAY 2024
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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business Management Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
Small Business
The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.
Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?
Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.
Small Business
We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.
Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.
Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.
And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.
The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."
Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.
As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.
Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.
