Small Business Resources in the News

News Channel 5 just did a story about small business resources available in the Middle Tennessee area that featured the Vol State Tennessee Small Business Development Center and Perkins Drugs in Gallatin, TN.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11006203

Customer Loyalty Program

We have all heard the statistics on how much easier it is to keep a customer than it is to create a new customer. Well here are some steps for creating a customer loyalty program that will allow you to keep your customers and create new repeat customers.

1. Track every possible customer. Get the names, phone numbers addresses, and especially email addresses of the customers you deal with on a regular basis. There are several good contact management programs available, such as Microsoft Outlook, that many folks have already. Then ask them to join your customer loyalty program and make the program available at every point-of-sale.
2. Give your repeat customers special offers not available to the general public. Either give them a discount, special buying terms, or something for free (even if it is something small).
3. Let your repeat customers get the first shot at new products and/or services. This will make them feel special and it will allow you to test the product or service before offering it to the general public.
4. Tell them thank you! This doesn't cost anything! Simply send them an email or if you really want to get into this, pick up the phone or write a personal letter. Actually hand write it the letter. Nobody does that anymore and people love it.
5. Be creative when deciding how create loyalty. Nobody knows your customers better than you. Also, don't be afraid to ask them what they want. Makes life easier.
6. Lastly, do not make the rules for joining your program difficult. If there are too many rules to joining, the reward system could end up being more trouble than it is worth.

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

Small Business Grants....

Or as I like to call them unicorns. Small business grants have always been a hot topic, especially now. As stimulus money is being distributed, we wonder, what about me? Then guess what? We see these friendly folks on tv (usually on late at night) telling us about all of this "free" money being made available to you! You want it, right? Well of course you do! After all it's really your money to begin with. All you have to do, is send them $30-$300 to get the ball rolling. Oh by the way, do not ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give someone money up-front for something that is supposed to be FREE.



In reality getting a small business grant to start or expand your business isn't very likely. This is why I make the comparison to unicorns. See, if we had to draw a picture of a unicorn, most of us could do it. If you thought long and hard about it, I'll bet you could even think of a friend (albeit a childhood friend) that claims to have once seen a unicorn. But when it gets right down to it, you have never actually come face-to-face with a unicorn. The same goes with a small business grant. Sure they may be out there somewhere, but the only ones that I have come across are for non-profits, educational institutions, government projects, and even for workforce development training, but not to start or expand a small business. That doesn't mean they don't exist, but trying to locate one might be as worthwhile as trying to find a horse with a horn sticking out of his head.


You may be better served to learn more about the updated SBA lending programs that are part of the 2009 Recovery Act, http://sba.gov/recovery/index.html, or sit down with your local TSBDC counselor, SCORE counselor, CPA, banker, or anyone else that can review your financials and help you find the light at the end of the tunnel.

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

Do your own cash flow projection

One of the recurring issues that I see from clients is the “I seem to be making money, but don’t have any money” scenario. This is not uncommon. One of the biggest issues small businesses face is managing their cash flow. To many entrepreneurs, it is also one of the more intimidating aspects of a business. Cash flow is different than just looking at a profit and loss statement. Cash flow statements show money coming in the business and money going out of the business, in real time. The best way to find out where your money is going is to put together a cash flow projection.
Below is a link to our Business Tools. One of the tools is a financial worksheet that you can use to create a cash flow projection. Simply fill out the yellow fields in the “income statement” tab and it will auto calculate the cash flow projection. If you need any help in doing this, give me a call or email.
http://www.volstate.edu/tsbdc/tools.html

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

Consider using automatic drafts or credit card transactions

Instead of carrying an accounts receivable, you may want to consider using automatic drafts from the customer’s bank account or use automatic credit card transactions. You can set up payments on a certain date or on a recurring basis. You will incur some costs to get this set up and may even incur costs each time the transaction occurs, however, it may be well worth it in the long run.

Let's take a Day Care for example.

(pwease don't kick us out, we're wittle)

If you have a few customers who are consistently late, you could have serious cash flow issues. The insurance, lease, and payroll won’t wait for these delinquent customers to pay you and you feel like the bad guy each time you have to remind your customer that Little Johnny’s and Little Susie's care isn’t free. If you set up an automatic draft out of the customer’s account for each Monday, you could solve that collections issue. You can make it mandatory for all new customers and slowly implement it for your existing customer base.

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.