Just about every small business that extends credit to its customers has to create and implement internal credit procedures. The extent to which a small business has to deal with credit and collection issues depends on the nature of the business, the margins of the business and the how customers pay for goods or services.

There are many times, as a small business owner, you benefit from outsourcing a project to an external specialist, rather than assigning it to your full-time staff. For example, if you are planning an aggressive social media campaign for your financial advisory firm, you need a skilled professional who has the time and talent to focus on this objective and complete it by the deadline….

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How to earn customer loyalty? They do not say without a reason that the customer is always right. No one beside them can know exactly what they have in mind and how they want their products or services to look or be like. However, what they do need help with is the following: they need to feel that they can put their trust in you…

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The influential role of leadership and its impact on the success of your organization It was interesting last evening watching the fourth GOP Debate and listening to the individuals talk. Some of them looked and sounded like leaders. Some of them looked and sounded like politicians. Some of them looked like they might have been coerced into being there or had something better to do….

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Steps to Recruiting and Keeping the Best Employees for your Small Business You have managed your business, whether it be a direct mail marketing practice or pet care business for the last few years. As a disciplined, independent entrepreneur, you have managed every detail; the semi-comedic introduction plays out like this: “Are you the CEO?” “CEO, secretary and janitor.” However, as a well-studied businessperson, you also…

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How to Take Your Service-based Business to the Next Level A few years ago, you decided to start your own service-based business, providing your company’s specialty to individuals and businesses. You followed the advice of respected entrepreneurship experts by starting slowly and capitalizing on a recognized niche. For example, your custodial service focused solely on servicing offices located within a concentrated area, or your accounting…

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A business assessment is the basis for short-term change and strategic growth As a small business owner, you probably have about a million million-dollar ideas floating around in your head. Problem is that while there is no lack of ideas, determining where to invest your time and resources may be an issue. Oftentimes, it is a challenge of opportunity cost: if you invest in one…

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Dartmouth’s recommendation on the process of decision-making Problem solving is something that everyone has to do. Sometimes decisions are so simple that you don’t give much thought to it. At other times, decision-making can be very complex with a large number of possible outcomes. When business leaders face complex problems in their organizations, the outcome of their decisions can have ripple effects throughout the organization….

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How your company can learn to improve from observing companies with poor customer service Poor service. High prices. Injustice at best. Seems like these are the hallmarks of some service providers that dominate the landscape. The airline industry. Cable companies. Mobile phone companies. Take a look at Business Insider’s list of companies with the worst customer service. Any of you agree/disagree with me? As a business…

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Could your business benefit from more sales? Are your marketing materials producing the desired results? Do documents demonstrate that your company is an extraordinary business? As Rick asked in a recent blog: Are you producing the right message to the right target in the right way? Effective writing is a universal requirement that leads toward increased sales and success. Regardless of your industry, product, service…

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How BMS software can be a vital tool in organizational effectiveness In the manufacturing sector and in many large businesses, tools abound for helping businesses run better. By better, we are looking at the ability to avoid double steps, maximizing the use of resources, reducing the number of steps and costs with processes and perhaps creating a track record of activities that happen in and…

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How a good product development process can save you time, productivity and money Over the past 10 years, nearly all of our clients have been entrepreneurs – people who spotted needs in the marketplace and built companies to meet those needs. So, by nature, we all – myself included – constantly think of new ways to sell more stuff – products or services. Based on…

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Observing trends and planning for change in your industry When looking at a growth strategy for your company, where do you look for direction? Are you looking at your company? Your market? Your industry? Do you know what drives change in consumer spending? What about change in your industry? Where is your industry headed? How do you know? Observing trends in all three – your…

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Six essential components of an effective marketing plan   Soooo… you want to reach your market. You know what to say, what to do and where to say it; the challenge is when. Perhaps, more specifically, with a number of marketing tactics under your wing, what is the best way to execute them in order to get the best results. The challenge companies face is…

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Defining and employing the right tactics to reach your audience Have you ever noticed that the way you speak to your parent probably isn’t the way you would speak to your kids or friends? No brainer, right? Mom might be more of a Facebook or text messaging person, where you might use SnapChat or something to that effect with your friends. So what about your…

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Dimensions of product improvement and the product improvement cycle While I am not a car person, per se, there are a few models that I tend to keep an eye on for what changes are made year after year, One year, there might be body styling changes, another, there might be a better engine, another year, they might have added airbags or something to that…

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