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News of the day - Wednesday, March 20 SBDC day We have to be the first to admit when we heard of SBDC we had no idea what the organization was or what the letters stood for. Now that we do, we want to share that information with as many small business owners as we can. SBDC stands for Small Business Development Centers which are represented by over 1,000 counselors across the country. This organization is a comprehensive network of small business assistance. The organization is funded by Congress through a partnership with the Small Business Administration.
Let us suggest a visit to their website to find the SBDC office in your area. Whether you are a new, proposed, or long term existing business, the SBDC has a sizable number of qualified counselors who are available to answer your questions and help your business.
We have seen far too many small business owners subscribe to some self-proclaimed expert who sends videos and articles each month without any individual attention given to the business owner. These services are far too expensive for what little is given. Whether you are paying one of these "experts" or just want to bounce some ideas off of a true expert, you will want to talk to your local SBDC which is not going to cost you anything!
Article of the Month - Having worked with software providers, we find they are making the system far more complicated than it needs to be. They are also busy talking about AI (artificial intelligence) and other cutting edge (or is it bleeding edge) components to your software system. This month's article takes the discussion down a few notches and looks at the basic items you should be concerned with as you consider updating what you use to operate your business.
Who is visiting Small Business Converations this month? - Keeping with the same theme as our news of the day, the March Small Business Conversations program will have the president of America's SBDC, Tee Rowe, and the Wyoming SBDC state director, Jill Kline visit with us. We know there is not enough management and ownership education being provided through events such as trade shows and association meetings. The SBDC can help you connect with your personal advisor.
Book of the Month - Hug your people The full title of this book by Jack Mitchell is "Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results".
Happy staff means happy customers. Happy customers mean more sales and profit for your business. This means you are happy.
Consider reading this book. If you have a library as we do, be sure you order the book through someone other than Amazon. Visit your locally owned bookstore; you'll make a new friend and will be supporting a local business - just as you want them to support your business.
Internet Tool for Your Business - How to stop discounting Each month we highlight one of the 47 free tools on the Profits Plus website; we call them "calculators". While some provide analysis by numbers and ratios, some are assessments and others are self-examination questions. Many are downloadable while others, because of the complexity of the calculations going on behind the scene, are a part of the website and allow you to print your answers. None of them require you to give any personal information nor are there any "cookies" tracking you or your information.
The guest on last month's Small Business Conversations was Ron Friedman who shared his experience and information on how you could stop discounting your prices. This idea also promotes repeat and referral customers. With Ron's permission we have turned this into our newest calculator on the Profits Plus website. As with previous calculators, you plug in information about your business and see the results appropriate to you. We had an awesome response to Ron's visit and in addition to the online calculator we will be creating a new seminar on how to make this work in your business.
Staff Incentive for Your Business - Some time off The book of the month has a subtitle which mentions recognizing your people. This segment of the Small Business News gives some specific ideas each month for recognition. This month we share one of our favorites. When recognizing the achievement of an employee, we found one of the favorites was getting time away from work. This recognition gives the employee time away from work with two unique additions. The first is that the employee receives their pay for the time away. It could be as simple as coming to work an hour later or going home an hour early. The second component is you work their time away from the business for them.
This reward has a minimal cost and gives all employees something to talk about.
We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.
What's coming up that you can promote? - Give your existing and potential customers a reason to celebrate. We collect information from National Day Calendar and share certain events that we know you could include as a part of your promotional efforts.
During February we heard multiple mentions of National Wine Day, National Margarita Day and National Chocolate Cake Day. It does not matter which country you are in; it is just a day to celebrate and call your customer's attention to your business.
Putting these together can be quick and easy, but should be planned in advance. As an example, as this is March 1 you should be looking at what you can do in May.
Small Business Week - May 5-11
Nurses Week - May 5 -11
National Pet Week - also May 5 - 11
Bike to Work Week - May 13 - 17
National Lemonade Day - May 4
Cinco de May - May 5
National Third Shift Worker's Day - May 8
Mother's Day - May 12
National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day - May 15
Armed Forces Day - May 18
National Waitstaff Day - May 21
Brothers Day - May 24
Memorial Day- May 27
We want to thank National Day Calendar for this information National Day Calendar - Where the world gathers to celebrate every day.
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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.
