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Are Your Customers Giving You Anxiety?

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They are the backbone of being a successful small business person.

Yes, you may get irritated with them at times, you may wonder why they are so particular, and you may go home at night shaking your head as to why you deal with them in the first place. Yet, they (other than your employees) are the reason that you have a small business in the first place.

For the man or woman who runs their own small business, their customers can be their greatest joy or their biggest nightmare. And why can they be the latter at times?

Among the reasons:

* The customer who undoubtedly complains about their service or product. No matter what you and your staff do for them, they are never fully satisfied;

* The customer who comes to your store at the last minute. Let’s say your store closes at 9 p.m. and you are tallying up the receipts and other bookkeeping for the day. Then, much to your chagrin, here he or she comes at 8:59 p.m. and wanting to make a purchase. You or your employee put on the fake smile and tell them of course it is okay that they waited all day to come in;

* The customer who takes to online forums and social media sites to chastise you and your business. Unlike the “old days” when customers would call or write a letter to complain, many now take to the web to vent their feelings. Instead of possibly a few people finding out, they literally tell hundreds and thousands of people about your company. The end result is you could lose out on potential customers who find the comments less than flattering;

* The customer who you have to bill over and over again. While many consumers are good about paying off their bills either right away or in a prompt manner, there are always the stragglers that make life miserable for you or your accounting folks. Several invoices and reminders about their payment being late can take up valuable time that can be spent elsewhere. While some customers may truly be in a tight financial situation, others undoubtedly decide to make paying you less of a priority. As a result, your books are never up to speed.

Yes, many customers are the kind of folks you would like for neighbors, work to promote your business by telling their family and friends about it, and make you want to get up each day to go to work.

Others, however, can make your business life downright miserable.

At the end of the day, is there a certain way that you handle your customers? Is there any advice you would offer the new businessman or woman who is just about to launch their own company? Finally, what would be one thing you would change about your customers if you could?

As mentioned earlier, your customers are as important to the survival of your business as anything else.

Without them, you might as well find another line of work.

Photo credit: invistics.com

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of items from cleaning your home gutter for winter to starting a home business.

Just How Secure is Your Business?

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For the small business owner that has to deal on a daily basis with making a profit, keeping up with the latest in products and/or services in their industry and taking care of his or her customers, worrying about security should be the last thing on their mind.

That being said, many small business owners do just that, wondering if their business is susceptible to a number of forms of theft.

From a physical break in to stolen data, business owners are finding more and more that security needs to be one of if not their top priority. But can internal threats be just as dangerous if not more than external ones, especially given today’s troubled economy?

Just as you would want the best home security system to protect your family and possessions, having a security system in place on the job is critical too.

So, for the small business owner who is not sure where to start, what should they look for in order to protect all they have worked hard for over time?

The first order of business should be to complete a Threat and Risk Assessment (TARA), allowing you to decide the best security route to travel. Take the time to look at your company’s assets and decide what their value loss impact is. Next, look to see what possible threats are facing your business, be they from the outside or possibly within. Lastly, put in place the needed procedures to make your business as secure as possible.

If you are wondering just who may be a threat to your small business, consider the following:

* Outside threats – The most common threat comes from the outside. Many thieves will scope out a small business first before striking, so look for any unusual activity with people who come to your place of work. Are they there for actual business, or are they there asking questions and trying to get a feel for your operation? If you have customers coming into your business on a regular basis, it makes sense to have security in place such as cameras and detectors at entrance and exit points to curtail shoplifting. Proper office security should also be a priority to protect your employees while they come and go, meaning the proper lighting and locks for the building space you own or rent.;

* Inside threats – Especially given today’s challenging economy, it is not unheard of to find small business owners finding criminals right under their noses. Whether it is someone stealing funds or property from the company, in-house theft can cause major financial repercussions for the small business owner. In some cases, the theft/s may go unnoticed for some period of time, meaning the company’s financial stability can be greatly impacted by the time the crimes are discovered. Make sure employees with access to company funds, computers and other items are properly screened before hiring. Consider using tools such as performance review software from Halogen” to track employee performance and ensure that no suspicious behavior arises. Only give out office keys to those who truly need them to enter and leave the building;

* Threats from competitors – You may think your business is immune from threats from the competition, but guess again. Whether it is spreading untrue rumors about your company or actually doing something physically to tarnish your business like stealing your property, you can be financially impacted from actions by your rivals. Let’s say you run a weekly newspaper and you fill the local vending machines with your product each Friday. After filling up the machines, readers call to report they can’t find your newspaper in the machines. It may not be a case of the product was so desirable, but rather your competition had someone go around and empty the machines minutes after you filled them. As a result, readers can’t get the news they want, the coupons you supplied in the publication, while advertisers are upset people are not seeing their ads. The trickle down effect can harm you before you know it;

* Cyber threats – As more and more business finds it way onto computers, is your small business properly protected? According to a 2011 survey from Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance, 85 percent of small business owners thought their company was safe from hackers, viruses or a cyber-security attack. That being said, a whopping 77 percent did not have a formal Internet security policy for their workers, while 49 percent failed to have an informal policy together. Data theft can be a major problem for the small business owner who does not have the proper firewalls in place. Not only can company information be compromised, but customer data can be stolen. When the latter happens, customers are not only upset, but are more apt to take their business elsewhere. Make sure that not only are you protecting in-house business information, but also have security in place when it comes to online customer transactions and more.

Given you would not leave your home susceptible to theft, can you say the same for your small business?

Photo credit: Stealbreaker.com

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of items from starting a small business to hiring the right employees.

Are Your Employees Driving You Crazy?

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Today’s small business owner should be looking for every opportunity to save money. If they’re not, then there is a good chance they may be closing up shop sooner rather than later.

One area that can oftentimes be overlooked, but should be reviewed several times a year to search for additional savings, is a company’s auto insurance coverage.

For the small business owner that must make deliveries or customer contact calls using company vehicles, having the right insurance at the right price should be a given.

In order to get the right coverage at the right price:
* Obtain several quotes – You should go online and put together several quotes in order to compare and contrast.  Also research each insurer to see how they rate when it comes to customer service and financial stability;

* Consider a larger deductible – In order to save some money on premiums, you can opt for a higher deductible, but make sure you have the money in place to meet the expense of the deductible should one of your drivers be in an accident. Even the smallest of fender benders can turn into something major if the other party or parties decide to consult a lawyer, claiming they were injured by your employee;

* Bundle coverage – Another option for trimming your insurance rates is by bundling coverage with the same insurer. In the event you have a homeowners, renters, life or health insurance policy with Company #1, consider switching your business auto insurance from Company #2 over to the former. Many insurance companies will offer policyholders a deal when they manage all of their insurance needs;

* Maintain a clean driving record – This should be a no-brainier, but having a clean business driving record goes a long way in keeping your rates manageable. Make sure that any employee using a company vehicle has a good driving record, practices safe driving, and is reminded of this on a regular basis (see below). As for your company vehicle/s, the latest safety features available such as airbags and anti-lock brakes will also help lower your rates.

Employees Need to Take Responsibility Too

Having said all that, the business owner must also make sure they have a policy in place with their employees who use company vehicles to properly and efficiently use them.

It should not come as a surprise in today’s technological world that more employers are either using or considering putting in place GPS systems to track employees while on the clock.

As an example, your employee is scheduled for a client call at the customer’s business for 9:30 a.m. The employee leaves your office a few minutes before for the short drive over to the business, with the intent being the call should take no more than half an hour. Some two hours later, the employee returns and you have questions. First, why were they gone so long? Secondly, why did a short trip result in an additional 50 miles on the company vehicle? Yes, you can see where there could be an uncomfortable situation here for both employer and employee.

For the small business owner, did they clearly state to the employee when they hired them that a policy was in place for such calls, along with the fact that all trips are recorded for both time and mileage purposes?

Not only did monitoring the employee present the employer with the potential for disciplining the worker in abusing their driving privileges while at work, but it also called into question potential insurance issues, as the employee could have been involved in an accident while doing unnecessary driving on the clock.

And you thought being a small business owner did not come with a lot of responsibilities?

Photo credit: electronics.howstuffworks.com

With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of topics to help small business owners succeed.

Make Your Reputation Count When Searching for a Job

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With millions of Americans still searching for work, the stars in many cases have to align perfectly to land that coveted job.

While you can have years of experience, a desire to get the job done yesterday and not tomorrow, and the ability to work well with others, what could possibly be holding you back? Perhaps your reputation?

In today’s 24/7 Internet age, it just takes one unenviable image or statement to get online and cost you a potential job. As more and more companies turn to researching prospective applicants online, job seekers need to make sure their history is not something that will come back to bite them in the end.

Estimates indicate that more than 40 percent of resumes include false or altered information when they arrive on the desk or computer of an employer. Given that figure, is it any wonder more businesses are spending extra time checking out just who their next employee may be?

For the prospective employee, turning to services such as Reputation.com allows them to acquire personal information discovered on different blogs, photo sites, news outlets and social networking venues like Facebook and Twitter. Remember, it just takes one bad comment or image to kill a potential job.

As an example, say you are college grad entering the workforce for the first time. Your grades were super, you did a variety of charitable functions during your four years in school, and you come highly recommended by your professors and even an employer or two where you may have interned or worked part-time. Think that the coast is clear?

Wait a minute…. remember that silly comment you made on Twitter a couple of years ago where you admitted to shoplifting something from a store? Remember the photo you had taken at a frat party that was more than just a tad compromising? Lastly, remember that innocent comment you made on Facebook last year about someone’s ethnicity? Any or all of these scenarios could doom you if a potential employer discovers them through a  simple background check.

To start the process of better understanding your online image, do a simple Google search of your name and see what comes up.

In the event there are issues to be dealt with, using a reputation service company will allow you to put out more positive information about yourself and how you can help a prospective employer. By doing so, such information will move to the front of search-engine results, while pushing the negative details down.

In a world where your reputation can mean the difference between a job and unemployment, don’t bank on assuming your online reputation is squeaky clean.

Photo credit: scoop.it

Dave Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, covering news, sports marketing, SEO, press releases, social media and more. 

 

 

Are You in Business to Succeed or Fail?

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Going into business  for yourself can certainly be viewed as a dicey proposition.

If you are currently employed under the watch of someone else, do you leave the salary, benefits, etc. to venture off on your own? If you do, is it in the back of your head that a high percentage of small businesses fail within the first five years? Lastly, do you have the required drive and available funds to make it through the toughest of times?

With a national unemployment rate of still more than 8 percent, it should not come as a surprise that many people are taking that chance, that chance where they can potentially make something out of nothing and turn a business profit.

As someone who has gone through a pair of corporate layoffs over the last six years, it has become more and more apparent to me that job security for the most part is a thing of the past.

Unlike many of our parents who worked for one company most of their lives, many of us today sport resumes that list a couple of employers, even a half dozen or more in many cases.

Starting your own business can be downright scary, however the rewards can be downright impressive. Yes, the financial rewards are important, but what about that feeling of satisfaction that you built something from nothing and made it work?

While there are courses and coaches that can help the prospective small business man or woman, there is really nothing better than those firsthand experiences.

Yes, you will hit some bumps in the road, perhaps many. Yes, you will question your decision to start a small business at 3 a.m. when your loved ones and neighbors are asleep. Yes, you will sometimes, many oftentimes, wonder if leaving that comfortable corporate check every two weeks was really worth it.

Being someone who has given more and more thought to starting his own content writing business in recent months, I can simply say that I would never discourage someone from pursuing their business dreams.

None of us can say with certainty what the small business climate will be like a year from now, let alone a few months down the road.

If you start a small business and it ends up not turning out the way you wanted, never forget the fact that you tried.

In the end, isn’t trying to succeed at whatever you choose what life is about in the first place?

Photo credit: ehow.com

Dave Thomas has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, covering news, sports marketing, SEO, press releases, social media and more. You’ll find Dave at: http://www.examiner.com/news-in-san-diego/dave-thomas