Growing Your Business Articles For Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners

Product Differentiation: “A Success Story”

In 1983, Howard Schultz was inspired to buy the Starbucks Coffee Company, and according to his book Pour Your Heart into It – this occurred because of a cup of watered-down, bland instant coffee that he was served on a flight to Canada. On that flight, he was inspired to bring a European-caliber appreciation for coffee […]

Read More

From Complaint To Raving Fans

One of the hallmarks of world-class customer service is how your company manages customer service failures. When a customer speaks up with a complaint, it’s time to listen. Think of the complaint as a gift, and you will see it as an opportunity to learn rather than something to avoid or resist. The few courageous […]

Read More

What You Need To Know About Marketing!

If you’re like most small business owners, you have a basic understanding of marketing and why you need to do it. However, most small business owners these days are forgetting the basic goal that effective marketing will archive and are reducing their marketing efforts because of an “economic downturn.” The text book definition of marketing […]

Read More

The Keys To Business Success

Dun & Bradstreet reports that “businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years (of business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.” The Lessons in this module, The Six P’s of Success, are dedicated to helping you thrive, not just survive in your business. By enhancing […]

Read More

7 Reasons Why Ethics Helps Your Business Succeed – And 5 Easy Action Steps

7. You’re much more likely to build a lasting business, and build it more easily 6. When your customers trust you, they come back again and again 5. It’s much easier to build joint-venture relationships that can exponentially grow your business 4. When your customers fall in love with the way you do business, they […]

Read More

Enhancing Organizational Performance Through Total Quality Management (TQM)

While Total Quality Management has proven to be an effective process for improving organizational functioning, its value can only be assured through a comprehensive and well­thought­out implementation process. The purpose of this chapter is to outline key aspects of implementation of large­scale organizational change which may enable a practitioner to more thoughtfully and successfully implement […]

Read More

How To Choose A Business Partner

If your business is going to be owned by more than one owner, the simplest business form to create and operate is a general partnership. Forming a partnership entails an agreement between two or more prospective partners. Whomever you choose to be a partner in any given business venture lies solely in what skills, attributes, […]

Read More

Let Robert Plant Be Your Financial Advisor

In 1969, Robert Plant famously sang: “Don’t know where you’re goin’, only know just where you’ve been”. Even for those that don’t listen to Led Zeppelin on a regular basis, there is some truth to be found here. When a financial advisor attempts to build a relationship with his client, it is useful to ask […]

Read More

Simple And Quick Ways To Get Clients Fast

August is traditionally a time when things go quiet for a lot of businesses as potential customers get back into the swing of things. When you need customers fast though, knowing that is no help at all. So, here’s my top simple and quick ways to get customers fast.  1.    Talk to your past clients […]

Read More

Franchising Process: How to Start Franchising

Start a Franchise Business Many small-business owners reach a point where their company’s success makes them think of expansion.  One possible way to enjoy additional income involves opening a second location, and then adding more as time and cash allows.  But an increasingly popular method involves franchising your business.  The franchising process will allow you […]

Read More

How to Write a Business Plan

What is a Business Plan? Business plans are essentially resumes for companies.  They provide a description of what your business involves, how it hopes to operate, what level its earnings are expected to reach, and how soon those milestones will be met.  Anyone who wants to start a business must write a business plan, primarily […]

Read More

Is Franchising a Safer Path for Entrepreneurs?

Business Start-Ups Are Risky According to statistics compiled by the SBA (Small Business Administration), a U.S. government agency responsible for, among other things, guaranteeing loans to owners of small businesses, somewhere around 33 percent of new ventures fail within their first two years. When deciding whether or not to start a business, an entrepreneur must […]

Read More

How To Get Business From Social Networking

Social networking a.k.a. the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Ecademy, LinkedIn and so on have become the new marketing buzzwords. Everyone is interested in finding out about them and knowing how to use them to get business in through the door.  So, if you’re interested and want to use them in your business, where should you […]

Read More

How Do I Start a Franchise?

Creating the Franchise Concept The wily entrepreneur will always express a desire to start a business and make lots of money.  While there are no guarantees, it is difficult to succeed if you don’t even try.  One of the ways to leave a lasting impression on the world of business is to start a company, […]

Read More

How Do I Get a SBA Loan?

What is the SBA? The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is a federal agency, created in 1953, responsible for assisting and protecting the interests of American small business.  The agency operates through a series of field offices around the country – as well as in partnership with public and private organizations – to offer such […]

Read More

Should You Accept Feedback In Your Business?

This morning I received an email from a contact of mine. It went something along the lines of “Just listened to your new audio. I have some feedback if you are interested.” Oh dear, I thought. That doesn’t sound good.  I’m pretty sure that if the feedback was positive, the email would have sounded like another email […]

Read More

In Sourcing

Business Knowledge Test What does UPS do? Delivers Packages Provides Logistics Services Drives fashionistas crazy with the never-trendy brown Repairs laptops for Toshiba All of the Above In order to reduce costs and speed up repairs, Toshiba handed over its laptop repairs in North America to UPS.  Now when a Toshiba laptop malfunctions, a UPS […]

Read More

Why You Should Build Your Reputation

Reputation in business is everything. It helps you build trust and credibility with your customers and contacts; it can help persuade someone to buy from you if they’re not sure and it’s also far easier to raise your prices if people perceive you as an expert. Building your reputation is one of the most important […]

Read More

Marketing vs Tech…Consumers Need Voice in Driving Products

On any given day you will find a group of engineers or programmers huddling in the back room, sitting in the corner of the coffee shop, or gathering around the most recently divorced individual’s kitchen table to plan the next major new company built on breathtaking technology. The hard fact is…we really don’t need more […]

Read More

Achieving Extraordinary Results: It’s Just a Skill

When you look at all the “superstars” our heroes, the people we emulate we tend to think they are endowed with Super Powers.  They are able to achieve fame, success, fortune due to abilities beyond those that we have been given.  They are simply blessed.  However, that isn’t the case.  The people who achieve extraordinary […]

Read More