Which President Would Have the Biggest Impact on Your Business?

I know.  This is pretty heady stuff for a guy like me.  I figured if Honey Boo Boo and Lindsey Lohan could throw their opinion into the hat, so could I.  

   My answer should not be surprising.  The answer is, the president of your company, or in simpler terms, you.  

   Yes, taxes, regulations, healthcare, and the economy have asignificant impact on your business; however, they pale in comparison to the impact you have.

   Let’s take a look at each area of your business and what you bring to the table as the Commander-In-Chief:

Marketing

(Do at least 1-3 things every day)

   Use a calendar, your smart phone, or a string on your finger, if necessary, to remember to do one to three things every day, to promote your business.

·         Knock on doors, call, email, or send direct mail to prospective customers.

·          Attend at least two networking events per week.

·          Call existing clients and ask for more work or referrals.

·          Partner with another business, in a different industry that has similar customers, and send each other referrals.

·          Offer to do any type of speech or seminar on a specific topic (not a sales pitch) for free.

Management

(Get organized and more efficient)

   We lose a lot of time and productivity putting out fires.  Look for some ways to minimize your chaos.

·         Create Clear Responsibilities - Real business management means knowing who is responsible for what.

·         Delegate and/or Outsource - Delegating and outsourcing cannot only improve your business’ management, but also improve your revenue.  

·         Make Business Planning Priority #1 - “I’m so busy I don’t have time to plan.” If this is your M.O., take another look at your work style. Successful small business owners spend time every day on business planning.

 

Review the Bottom Line

(Trim more fat)

·         Vendor discounts – Most vendors will offer a 1% - 5% discount for paying within a certain period of time.

·         Lower your inventory levels - Getting a large number of products in one shipment might seem like a good deal, but small businesses can’t afford to tie up too much of their working capital in inventory.

·         Reduce personal use of business funds – I know it’s not that much.  Really it’s not.  But, it is more than you think.

   Now let me be clear, the President of the United States matters very much to your life, liberty, and your pursuit of happiness.  They also matter very much to your business; just not as much as you matter to your business.  Now with that being said, you should cast your ballot on November 6th, and plan for your business’ success today.

TSBDC Rising Star Award Winner, Cafe Rakka, on Channel 2 News!

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center at Volunteer State Community College has awarded Riyad (Chef Rakka) and Linda Alkasem of Cafe Rakka in Hendersonville with the 2012 Rising Star award. The Rising Star award goes to a small business that has had great success utilizing TSBDC resources.

Click the video above to see the story on News 2.

November Seminars

November

Mobile Technology for Small Businesses workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, November 1, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Room 110. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, November 6, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

5 Steps to Marketing Success workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, November 8, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

How Businesses are Utilizing Social Media Platforms: Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 31, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $30.

The TSBDC also offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for go to www.tsbdc.org.   

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors. 

80/20 Rule for Your Business

We’ve all heard of the 80/20 Rule.  The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) can be trivial. Business owners know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources.

This works in your personal life as well.

·         80% of your music selection comes from 20% of your iTunes selection.

·         80% of your television viewing comes from 20% (or less) of your channels.

·         80% of your experiences comes from 20% of your friends and family.

The same for us here at the TSBDC, since 80% of the TSBDC’s economic results comes from 20% of our clients.

Some quick background: The rule of 80/20 was first stated by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, so the rule is also known as Pareto's Principle. Pareto observed that 20% of the Italian population owned 80% of the wealth.

I witnessed the 80/20 Rule while growing up and working in our family-owned furniture store.

·         80% of our inventory came from 20% of our suppliers (lots of Lane and Ashley stuff.)

·         80% of the advertising results come from 20% of a campaign (everyone wanted 90 days same as cash.)

·         80% of our customer complaints come from 20% of products (we once tried to sell lawn mowers…..bad idea.)

The concept is that just a few things are responsible for the majority of your productivity.  Just imagine if you apply that to your business.

For example:

·         If 80% of your business’ results come from 20% of your employees, you need to find a way to reward and retain that 20%.

·         If 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers, you need to find more customers like that.

·         If 80% of your customer service is spent on 20% of your customers, i.e. you may need to let those customers go.

·         If 80% of your sales come from 20% of your marketing efforts, you may want to find a way to expand that particular marketing strategy.

You get the concept. The important thing is to take notice in your business which 20% of functions are responsible for 80% of your success. 

Larry Winget on Being Successful in Business

The Unfiltered Truth series is the first time Larry Winget has just sat down and talked to folks about what it takes to be successful. No script. No planned speech. Just Larry talking to you about the actions you need to take to make your personal and professional life better than it is right now.

October Workshops

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, October 9, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


The 80/20 Rule for Businesses workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Room 110. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


How to Become Bankable workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesday, October 31, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Mobile Technology for Your Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, November 1, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Recruiting, Hiring and On-Boarding New Employees – Don’t sink your company!

Click here to register

Wednesday, September 26, 2012 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

TSBDC @ Volunteer State Community College

Betty Gibson Hall

Gallatin, TN

• Most companies spend only 13 days from first posting / looking to hiring a new employee!
• Average cost of a wrong hire is $25,000 and up for a minimum wage worker and $50,000 to $250,000 for skilled employees in the first 4-6 months!
• Most people spend less than 5 minutes preparing to interview someone!
• Average length of time to fire a bad hire – 8 to 15 months!
• 95% of companies have no on-boarding process after new hire paperwork is signed. No formal training program, no key performance indicators employee has to hit at 30-60-90-180 days, etc.


Don’t sink your company by following these examples. Learn the proper way to Recruit, Hire and On-Board new employees. In a short 2 hours learn how to:

• Raise your employee hiring success rate by 300% by doing this one simple thing.
• Have potential employees audition for you
• Reduce your interview time by over 500% by following these 3 simple steps
• While nothing is perfect, reduce that bad hire cost to less than 1 month payroll by doing this 1 thing.
• Have new employees up to speed and producing in less time.

Speaker(s): Jim Holmes - Tim Shaver and Associates

Did you hear the one about the…….

Okay, so here goes, a termite inspector, a pool guy, a home inspector, and a real estate agent all walk into a home inspection.

• The termite inspector looks for termites.
• The pool guy looks at the pool liner and pump.
• The home inspector looks at everything.
• The real estate agent looks at his phone.

   Enter the potential home buyer (a good looking bald guy).

• The termite inspector finds one or two critters and creates a game plan to eliminate them.
• The pool guy points out a couple of imperfections and sends an estimate for repair.
• The home inspector sees a few things that need repair and creates a report.
• The real estate agent sort of pokes around hoping everything goes okay.

   When all is said and done, everyone has successfully performed their job.  Next is the good part.

• The termite inspector asks the home inspector for a business card. 
• The home inspector has a great discussion with the pool guy. 
• The pool guy talks to the termite inspector about possible referrals.
• The real estate agent goes back to his phone.

   And the duck says, “Got any grapes?”  Ha, ha, man that is a good joke….. oh no, wait, that’s a different one.  Alright, so there is no real punch line, but if all goes well, I’ll be in a new house in a few weeks. 

   Oh yeah, and the moral to the story is networking.  And no, this is not a shot at real estate agents, it just happens to be the odd guy out here.  Many agents I know are very hard working professionals.

   Each of the other housing professionals were not only interested in doing their job well and taking care of the customer, but also in meeting other people that have a similar customer base.  In fact, they have even begun sending referrals to each other.  Now the agent could have been following a hot lead or taking care of an important customer on his phone.  The more likely scenario was that he was just missing out on an important networking opportunity.

The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for go to www.tsbdc.org.   

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors.

How to Retain Good Employees

Marcus Erb from The Great Place to Work Institute offers his tip on how to retain great employees including building trust with employees by conducting stay interviews.

How to Increase Your Bottom Line, Today!

            

Not that long ago, we had our second baby and we decided that it was a good time for the wife to quit her full-time job and go part-time somewhere.  We also realized that this would be quite a hit to the income of our household.  Sure we could still eat, pay the bills, tithe, send the kids to college, and maybe even retire one day.  But, it would be a photo finish. 

So, with no real way to increase income, other than working more, which kills the point of going part-time, we set out to cut some expenses.  By the way, my lovely wife is an accountant and well trained in this area.  We quickly discovered that despite our cheap bargain-basement frugal lifestyle, we still had fat we could trim. 

•          We had several channels that we never watched, so down came the cable bill.  Bye-bye C-Span 7 and the Pan Flute Channel.
•          Our cell phone bill had steadily increased and we had enough minutes to cover the entire neighborhood.  Down came the cell phone bill.
•          We had super-duper high speed internet.  We learned that we didn’t need to download a terabyte in .04 seconds, so we downgraded to economy high speed.  Who knew this existed?

You get the point.  The same happened with insurance premiums, the grocery bill, going out-to-eat costs, and door-to-door coupon/magazine sales. 

Before you know it, we had recovered a lot of that lost income.  Too bad we didn’t practice what we preached sooner.

I recently had a workshop on increasing a business’value.  One of the presenters, Jason Ritchason from the The Skyline Group, discussed expense reduction.  This makes sense, since a more profitable business can have more value. 

It is our impulse reaction to assume that we are not wasting money.  We couldn’t be.  Not in this economy.  Sometimes we even rationalize that the cost savings would be so insignificant that it wouldn’t even be worth our time and effort.  And don’t even get me started on being penny-wise and pound foolish.

With all of that being said, the average business could get a bump to their net income today  if they go line-item, by line-item in their expenses and look for ways to save.

·         Telephone bill – Consider a VOIP or renegotiate with your current provider.

·         Cell phone bill – Review the number of minutes/texts/data you need versus what you are actually using.

·         Internet – Shop out various providers and see what level of speed you truly need.

·         Credit card – Call the credit card company and negotiate a lower rate. 

·         Insurance – Review what is necessary in your policy, consider raising your premiums, and don’t be afraid to shop with an independent agent.

·         Vendor discounts – Most vendors will offer a 1% - 5% discount for paying within a certain period of time.

·         Merchant services – Shop around for a reduced rate and cost per swipe.

·         Lease – If you are comfortable where you are, the landlord may be willing to offer you a lower rate to lock you in a lease over the next few years.

QuickBooks Intermediate Workshop

Friday, August 17, 2012 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

$25, payable at the workshop

(cash or check preferred)

Ramer Administrative Building, Room 175

Register for this event online

Our intermediate class is here to get you the most information out of QuickBooks so you can use it to your full advantage! This course will cover the following:

•Tracking and paying sales tax

•Doing payroll with QuickBooks

•Estimating and progress invoicing

•Tracking time

•Customizing forms

•Question & Answer

This class is in the Ramer Administrative Building, NOT the Betty Gibson Building.

August Seminars

August

Time Management and Goal Setting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, August 2, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, August 14, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


5 Steps to Marketing Success workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, August 16, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.


QuickBooks Intermediate workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-12 p.m. Friday, August 17, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Room 110. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. $25.


Government Contracting workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 2 - 4 p.m. Thursday, September 6, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

SBA Loans

Learn about the different SBA Loans available.

Parkinson's Law

Over the past month I've had workshops at 8:30 am, 9:00 am, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm.  It seems that no matter what time a workshop is set to start, there is always one-third of the class that is late.  I’ve tried different times to allow people the opportunity to get here from their busy lives, but to no avail.  No matter the time, a gaggle of folks will show up late.

•  The same goes for my family.  If the movie starts at 6:00, we show up at 6:15 (thank goodness for 30 minutes of previews.)
•  It occurs with my newsletters too.  For July, I wanted to write something really poignant, while apolitical, about the healthcare ruling and how it affected small businesses.  You see how that panned out.
•   This is especially true for business owners.  I’ve had several clients who have a deadline with a bank and they will wait until the last minute to get documents together.  And by wait, I mean they will be consumed with the busyness of the request until then, no matter when the deadline is.

Enter Parkinson’s law.

   Cyril Northcote Parkinson as part of the first sentence of a humorous essay published in The Economist in 1955 wrote, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

   We set arbitrary deadlines for important, not urgent, goals.  We will fiddle around, researching, pondering, running through endless scenarios in our mind, only to have the date creep up on us and either have to push the deadline back or not meet it at all.

   “But you don’t understand, I thrive under pressure.”  Fine.  Just set your deadlines sooner.  Pushing the date back could give you more time to make a better decision.  Unfortunately, it usually just gives you more time to waste.

   Below are areas you should not allow Parkinson’s Law to take over:

•     Tax planning - We know it is important, however we put it off until the end of the year.  We then go to the accountant and expect them to work magic.  
• Visit your accountant now and identify ways to lower (legally) your tax liability for this year.
•     Hiring employees – We know that we will need some additional help once we reach a certain level of revenue.  Unfortunately, we often wait until that revenue level has been reached, and then we hire the first warm body we come across, resulting in the wrong fit.  
• Identify that time now, update the job description, and take your time to get the right fit.
•      Updating that Space Jam looking website – It looks bad and you know it looks bad.  “We’ve just been so busy, you know.”   
• Get it done now!  That website is your storefront and will be the first impression your customer receives. 

The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for go to www.tsbdc.org.   

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors.

July Seminars

How to Get a Loan for Your Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3 - 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 28, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Starting a Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3-5 p.m. Tuesday, July 10, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Increase the Value of Your Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 3 - 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free.

Time Management and Goal Setting for Your Small Business workshop of Volunteer State Community College's Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 9-11 a.m. Thursday, August 2, 1480 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN in the Betty Gibson Hall, Gibson Conf Room 104. Registration is required. Reserve online. www.tsbdc.org. Free. 

The TSBDC also offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for go to www.tsbdc.org.   

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors. 

Commerce Union Bank of Gallatin Wins SBA Financial Champion Award

That would be me, Paula DeBerry, Jeff Bond, and Ron DeBerry,
all three from Commerce Union Bank.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) celebrated National Small Business Week recently with events and award ceremonies. Commerce Union Bank of Gallatin was a winner for Financial Services Champions of the Year.  They were nominated by Volunteer State Community College’s Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) for working with small businesses during the past year.  Paula DeBerry from Commerce Union Bank was the recipient of the award at a presentation.

“They’ve been doing the hard work.” says Charles Alexander, Director of the TSBDC.  “It would have been easy for them to bury their head in the sand over the last few years. They have been working through tough regulations and rough economic waters to make loans to small businesses in our community.”

Over the last 18 months Commerce Union Bank has made several loans to small businesses, from simple lines of credit to a variety of different SBA Loans.  The loans have helped small businesses start and grow in Sumner and surrounding counties.

“These award winners represent the many excellent small businesses that we have in the Volunteer State,” said Walter Perry, District Director of SBA’s Tennessee District Office.  “All across Tennessee, our hard working award winners are the very best at what they do.” 

A complete list of all award winners is available on the National Small Business Week Web site at www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com

Social Media Revolution

Razor Blade Wars (The Key to New Customers)

   Many of you whom I have met may have noticed I have a teensy bit of a hair problem.  This is not new.   I started shaving my head 15 years ago.  And when I started shaving my head, it was not as universally accepted as it is now.  There were many times that I cleared the aisles of soccer moms and grannies at Kroger, simply buying some Honeycomb.  Since then, it is my trademark look.  And I have always been a Gillette Mach 3 user.  I love that blade.  I once tried the Head Blade.  I looked like I got into a fight with the Samuri Delicatessen and lost. 

   Recently, I ran out of my Mach 3 blades.  It was bad.  Five o’clock shadow on my head is not a good look.  My lovely wife Sarah, aka the Coupon Queen, had a solution.  She recently obtained a deeply discounted Schick Quattro.  Oh yes, the four blade razor.  I didn’t really have a choice.  I used it.  And you know what, it wasn’t too bad.  In fact, it did a fine job.

   What does this have to do with the entrepreneurs of the world? 

So many times we give up on our marketing efforts toward a very specific type of customer we want, because they don’t respond immediately.  If we don’t get instant gratification, we try something else. 

Think about it like this:

• I did 7 sit ups yesterday and I’m still 40 pounds overweight.
• I put half a tank of gas in my car last week and now my car doesn’t run again.
• We put our house on the market last Saturday and we still don’t have any offers.

  Sounds absurd, right?  But that’s what we do every day with our business.  We’ll try one or two random things for a short period, get frustrated, and move on.

  Persistence is the key to getting new customers.

• If you are implementing a social media campaign, do not expect 1,000 likes and twice the revenue in a week.  It will take time, good content, and a lot of interaction.
• If you are writing a newsletter campaign, try it out a full year, before you declare people don’t read it.  By the way, make sure you write good stuff.
• If you are networking and prospecting, do it several times a week.  Not once in a while, as you have time.  Also, make it a point to identify other people you want to work with and give them a reason to want to work with you.  If they are already using your competitor don’t just give up and say they don’t need me.  You never know when they will run out of blades.

The TSBDC offers free and confidential one-on-one counseling for existing and start up small businesses.  To register for go to www.tsbdc.org.   

Other contact information - Phone (615) 230-4780  www.volstate.edu/tsbdc

The Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and local community donors.