Other Added - Business

Selling Products - Is It For You?
Selling products as part of your computer consulting business is an option you should consider. Products can offer an additional revenue stream but you must determine if the extra expense and overhead associated with selling products are a good fit for your business model. You need to sit down and think long and hard about whether you want to be a reseller or if you want to be a pure consultant.As a consultant you will be specifying what products you recommend your clients purchase. You may actually do the purchasing on their behalf. The time you spend doing this is billable hours. Selling p

what’s planned on any given day. It’s not easy...it takes time and effort to know where I want to be 12 months from now, so I start with some basics.

* Holidays...I take the major ones off.
* Vacation...I am taking a trip with a friend this year and so have those dates reserved and can work around that.
* Business Building...are there any conferences that I know I want to attend? I schedule my time to step back and review – it makes it easier to plan for.
* Profit generating...these are the days that I’m working on activities that make money for my business.

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or noteb

Business Strategy - Why You Shouldn't Fear New Competition
Here's a business strategy to use that turns competition to your advantage. First answer this, what's the first thing we do when new business competition appears on the scene?Panic, investigate the intruder or maybe think we will have to lower prices. Most likely we could do all of these. Now that is the negative way to go about things. The savvy business owner would think far more positively in this situation.They have the confidence in their products or services to know they can withstand any new competition. More importantly, they know how to use this business strategy to their advantag

Do you spend so much time working in your business that you never work on your business?

The corporate world knows the value of taking time out for a step back, taking time to assess what is going right, what is going wrong and what just plain isn’t going anywhere. As a business owner (or as one who dreams of owning a business), it is critical to take time out to plan for the upcoming time period, be it a year, or even a long-term goal. Otherwise, how can you get where you want to be if you don’t know where that is?

I usually plan my retreat in late summer – it’s late enough in the current year to have a good idea of how the year is progressing and yet still have enough time to make changes if necessary. I take a few critical tools and go somewhere alone for a few days where I can sit and reflect on my business as a business, it’s successes and opportunities. It is critical to build a roadmap of where you want to go...here are some of the steps I take:

1. Bring your financial records...in whatever form they exist. I use QuickBooks to track my finances – it allows me to track my income and expenses by any number of categories and dates. With the click of a few buttons, I can tell when my peak times of year are, what services bring in the most income (and how that changes seasonally) and what my expenses are.

I used to figure out how much money I had (or would have based on an estimate) and then what to do with it...until a few years ago when I attended an IVAA (International Association of Virtual Assistants) conference and realized it was okay to start at the bottom and work up. Now I start with all my expenses, including salary, income taxes, advertising, software, supplies, training, etc. and determine how much revenue I need to generate to cover all my expenses plus a profit. This calculation helps to determine the minimum number of profit generating days I need to figure in for estimating my time and efforts.

If your financial records are a mess, now is the time to straighten them out. If you can’t do it yourself, get help, this is one area that you can’t skip! You need to know where you are now in order to effectively plan for the future.

2. Bring a calendar. Personally, I use a large write-on/wipe off wall calendar so I can see the whole year at a glance. This allows me to easily see what I’ve planned. I also use colored stickers to label different types of days: profit generating, business building, vacation and holidays. This allows me to know what’s planned on any given day. It’s not easy...it takes time and effort to know where I want to be 12 months from now, so I start with some basics.

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or notebo

A Word or Three About Delegation
One of the hardest things for a small business owner to do is to delegate. Giving up control, trusting employees to get things done right or even properly identifying tasks that can be delegated are just a few barriers to proper delegation. Sadly, I've been in some offices where the owner was printing off 100 letters and getting mailing labels ready while the receptionist was filing her nails waiting for the phone to ring. Something is wrong with this picture.The first two hurdles require mental changes but the third can be solved very easily with this three step process.Start with identify

a good idea of how the year is progressing and yet still have enough time to make changes if necessary. I take a few critical tools and go somewhere alone for a few days where I can sit and reflect on my business as a business, it’s successes and opportunities. It is critical to build a roadmap of where you want to go...here are some of the steps I take:

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or noteb

Six Sigma – Not Just for Manufacturing
Although the Six Sigma methodology originally started out as a way to improve processes and products in a manufacturing environment, today it has grown to encompass a broad range of industries. As companies begin to realize the benefits a total quality improvement cycle can have upon the organization they are adopting Six Sigma and its practices into their own fold.Organizations not only receive the quality benefit of Six Sigma in their products and processes, but also significant cash savings can be realized as part of adapting such a process. In one example, GE realized a savings of close to $

ces bring in the most income (and how that changes seasonally) and what my expenses are.

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or noteb

Grow Your Subordinate's Competence by Being Less Tolerant
When does your consideration for a subordinate's or colleague's feelings, as a trade-off for being honest about their poor performance or behaviour become counter productive?When does tolerance for small performance shortfalls as a trade-off against a positive attitude, become a liability?The simple answer to these questions is, ‘Most of the time", if not, "Always".The useful answer is more complex.Most people take some comfort from having known work boundaries. People appreciate knowing what constitutes "good" performance and behaviour.Work boundaries are set one of tw

fit generating days I need to figure in for estimating my time and efforts.

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or noteb

Why You Need to Know Your Customers Better
When was the last time you took a customer out for coffee?I know. You're busy. You might have trouble remembering when you last had a real lunch break. You're managing a store, and there is always something that needs to be done yesterday.If you are not regularly spending time with customers, you're missing the boat. And I don't mean just helping customers on the sales floor. I mean getting to know them better and asking for feedback about your store.Independent retailers, like you, have the advantage of being close to the consumer. Often you know many of your customers

what’s planned on any given day. It’s not easy...it takes time and effort to know where I want to be 12 months from now, so I start with some basics.

3. Bring all those scraps of paper or notebook in which you wrote down ideas for your business and things that you want to do. Record them in one central place; I call mine my “Dream Notebook” – it’s actually a sketching notebook with a gorgeous picture of the beach on the front cover. If you have a laptop, bring it...otherwise a notebook and calculator will do just fine. Use this list as the starting point of where you want to go, what you want to do and, equally important, what you don’t want to do in the upcoming year.

4. Break it down into small segments...after determining where I want my business to go over the next year (month, quarter, etc.), I break down the larger goals into quarterly objectives and then into monthly objectives, etc. This takes the “big picture” and makes it more manageable as I can get my arm around quarterly and monthly (and then weekly) objectives much easier than I can the entire year, and it won’t seem as daunting if you plan to take smaller steps toward a larger goal.

5. Relax and remember that you started your own business to do what you love, to focus on those things that bring you joy and also...to make money to allow you to continue to do the things you enjoy. Keep this in mind as you plan and remember to plan some time for yourself away from the business – we all need this to keep things fresh and exciting!

It is critical that you take the time to plan what you want your business to be like. You don’t need to do something just because “you always do it” or because “you’re good at it” – focus on those things that you enjoy doing! You’ll be much happier and productive – after all, you didn’t go into business for yourself to feel pressured or dislike what you’re doing!

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They spend billions. Learn how to catch and keep your Generation Y employees and customers.

Nonprofit staff and board members spend a lot of time planning and fine-tuning a marketing plan, but once the plan is approved, the pressure is on the nonprofit marketer to carry it out successfully. How can you ensure that board and staff members will continue to support the plan? How do you guarantee that colleagues will agree with your actions going forward and be pleased with results? At times like these, nerves can run as high as expectations. Here are four time-tested tips to keep your plan on track, and your colleagues and management on board.

In a special research project for a Business Marketing class, one student proposes using all the carwash wastewater runoff to be recycled and reused for other purposes around the carwash property. Now then the question of the day is this; Is Such a Water Conservation Concept for Carwashes Marketable to the carwash Industry? Yes or No.

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Other Added - Are You Where You Want To Be? 5 Steps To Help You Get There

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