Business Management Articles For Entrepreneurs & Small Business OwnersThe Role Of Process Visibility In Continuous ImprovementAs the most important goal in any organisation, striving to achieve continuous improvement should be at the forefront of all management processes, regardless of the size of the organisation or the nature of work produced. Effective processes are required to achieve this goal, and also assist in quality management. Processes should not only be developed […] Who Will You Choose To Work With?You’d think with all the literature, research, evidence etc out there that small business owners would know who their target customers were and what their needs are. And yet, still I went to a networking event the other day and heard a lady say that she could help “everyone”. So, today I thought I’d turn […] Internet Security – How Serious Should Your Business Take it?Perform any search on any engine about how many computer viruses are in existence and you will get the same answer… too many to count. Most computer viruses are targeted to attack computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, while Apple computers running Mac operating systems experience drastically fewer attacks. Considering most businesses and home users […] Managing Change In Organizations: Lessons From The BestCreating successful change today in any organization is getting more difficult. However, making change successful is not a choice that we have. How is your organization going about changing systems and people? IBM’s Global Business Services survey, Making Change Work Study, asked more than 1,500 people involved with change management projects about their change management […] 4 Reasons To Max Out Your Business Credit CardAs a business owner, one of the biggest questions that you will face is how to get the most out of your different resources. Likewise, another big question that you’ll face is where to find the most advantageous credit terms. Luckily for business owners, there is a way to combine these two things and make […] Do You Know Your Why?When people used to ask me why I wanted to achieve a particular goal in my business or get to a certain turnover, I never used to be able to answer them and I always came away from that interaction thinking the same thing: Why do you want to know my why? After all, I […] Four Benefits Of Hiring An HR Consultant To Update Your Employee HandbookIs it time to update your employee handbook or manual? Are you wondering if you should handle the task internally or hire a human resource management consultant to work with you on the project? While the matter of how much help you might need is a function of how much time and expertise that you […] Is Cold Calling Dead?The other day I was speaking at a conference and was inviting delegates to ask me anything they wanted to know about marketing. One of the audience asked an interesting question – “Is Cold Calling dead?” They’d been along to a social networking seminar on the same day and the presenter had made this bold […] What Targets Should I Be Setting For My Marketing?I know in my own business that I ALWAYS do better each month if I set some targets for my marketing. If I’ve got goals to aim for, I know where I am and I can try to achieve them. So my targets for this month for instance are: 1 x meeting in the diary […] Is Marketing About Being Organised?Whenever I recruit for a new member of the team, I usually don’t ask for someone with marketing experience, but more for someone who is organised and has good admin skills. Why? Because the vast majority of marketing I personally think is admin based and about being organised. Think about it: Making calls to potential clients […] Are Minorities Ruling Your Sales Decisions?The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) recently banned radio stations from playing “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits after it received a SINGLE complaint from a ‘minority group about the use of the word ‘faggot’ in the song. People who are familiar with the song know that it was inspired when Mark Knopfler overheard a […] How To Get Payment From ClientsAlthough you might not think that getting payments from clients is anything to do with marketing, I would completely disagree. Because I think that there is nothing more demoralising that celebrating getting a new client and then finding that they do not pay. It can make you feel very low and be very stressful, which […] Sales Prospecting Best PracticesProspecting is a key selling skill and a critical skill to develop if you want to increase your sales and achieve long-term success in sales. Yet, most sales people don’t invest enough time to this integral sales strategy. Part of the problem is that very few companies teach sales reps how to prospect. Here are […] Why Outsource Recruitment?Employment law, let’s face it, is a minefield – an ever-changing tangle of legislation covering all aspects of human resources; it’s hard to keep up if you don’t have an in-house HR team. This is particularly true of the recruitment process. You need to be mindful of where you advertise any job vacancies, be careful […] How To Increase Your Sales By AskingToo many sales people don’t ask for the things they need or that could help them increase their sales and grow their business. Developing the confidence and ability to ask for the things you need is an essential sales skill. Here are twelve situations that sales (and business) people need to summon up the courage […] Think BackwardsOver the years, I’ve worked with many small business owners who are often put off from doing a task because they feel they need to have everything in place before they can move forward. Take one client who wanted to run some workshops for her business. Sounded like a great plan, but she didn’t want […] Hiring The Right People For The Tangible, Intangible JobsHiring the right marketing, sales people is always difficult because success elsewhere may not translate into success for your company, for you. The difference between the right and wrong choice is more than the money it will cost to hire yet another new person. The real cost can be a year’s worth of lost business […] Increase Your Sales By Avoiding These Lame Sales QuestionsDuring a recent sales training workshop I conducted with a client, we were discussing the importance of asking the right questions; high-value, high-impact, penetrating questions. One person spoke up and said, “When I’m talking to a new prospect I like to ask, “What do you know about us?” An uncontrollable groan escaped when I heard […] Time Management Is BogusTime Management is Bogus! We really don’t understand the problem. In fact, time is unmanageable – it just keeps tickin’ along. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Time should be manageable, but it’s not! Thousands and thousands of pages have been written about “time management.” The trick, of course, is not reading but […] What Is CEO Time?For many of us, it could be triple the value of what it is now. Meaning: Your company could be earning 3 x as much money. (We’ll assume your compensation stays the same!) Ask a CEO or Small Business owner how he divides his time between CEO work, Managing work and “Chief Employee” work (where […] |
|
