Productivity Steps to Impove your Chances of Success In The Current Environment

There is a glimmer of hope that the worst of the economic recession is behind us and that we are on the road to a recovery. But with shaky consumer sentiment and tight credit, companies and small businesses are reluctant to add to their payroll, raising the prospect of a prolonged and arduous jobless recovery. Employers are seeking ways to boost productivity, asking for results, but offering fewer additional resources. The following are some steps that firms can take to increase productivity without creating organizational strains and employee demoralizing.

1. Use of Technology. There are many affordable productivity enhancing tools that can be employed from managing sales and distribution efficiently to strengthening relations with valuable customers.
   
2. Outsource. Outsourcing certain functions can provide a firm with a competitive advantage. Using outside help can bring valuable expertise to a company, independent of its size, allowing it to access specialized skills while directing resources to core capabilities and strengths.
   
3. Delegate. This is the time for top management to step outside its “comfort zone” and to empower trusted key associates to deliver results. Ask for outside help if you need to improve on communication that fosters organizational trust and empowerment. Recognize that empowerment yields results when there is clarity of purpose, true ownership and full accountability.
   
4. Develop a Team Culture. Do not overlook the stress and anxieties that the dismal economic environment has created on employees’ spirit and morale. Organize events that promote team spirit, optimism and bring back a sense of career security. Celebrate successes and recognize employees' contributions to productivity in the workplace.
   
5. Assess Strengths and Weaknesses. Recognize what your business does well and focus on doing more of them. Conversely, look at addressing the “weak links”, especially those that affect customer relations. Adjust the mission statement and goals accordingly.
   
6. Prioritize. Identify the tasks that are critical to success and growth, set priorities and allocate resources to accomplish the tasks. Focusing resources on the tasks that offer the greatest rewards and the highest probability of success should be a priority.

Regardless what the new year will bring, in terms of economic opportunities for small businesses, I can promise you that the principles outlined will serve you well, regardless of the environment we’ll find ourselves in.

Happy and a prosperous 2010.

A Web Site That Is Right For Your Business

Want to take advantage of the internet opportunities?

Start by developing a new web site or revamping your old one that is customized and it addresses your business needs and your market’s requirements.

You can limit your costs and angst by planning your web marketing initiative efficiently and pro-actively. The following are some action steps to follow that will keep you “on track” and within budget.

1. What are your goals for your web site? Are they branding and/or sales goals?
   
2. Outline your objectives (be as specific as possible) and understand how your internet strategy fits within your strategic marketing and growth plans.
   
3. Allocate a budget for web site design and internet marketing.
   
4. Do some market research by visiting competitors’ sites and communicate design ideas you like to your web design team.
   
5. Decide on the main pages that will be linked to the Home page. Link additional pages to the main pages. What’s the total number of pages?
   
6. Now you are ready to write the content and identify the visuals that you would like to include. May need to purchase stock images, schedule a photo shoot or both.
   a. Are you planning a slide show and/or incorporate a video clip?
   b. Do you expect to harvest contact information on your web site?
   c. How about password protected pages for customers, reps, etc.
   d. Plan to do sales on-line? Do you have a merchant account?
   
7. Assign someone with a good understanding of your market positioning to liaise with the web development team. The web team needs to know your overall marketing goals and expectations. This is a marketing initiative as much as it is a web design one.
   
8. The web design team will present their proposal on costs and time requirements. Is it within your budget?
   
9. Once the site is up and running, implement your SEO and web marketing programs and monitor performance.

Choosing to outsource the web site design does not end your involvement. There are marketing and branding implications on the way your site is structured. Take advantage of the opportunities that the internet provides by not viewing your web site as an “after thought”. Place your web strategy on the center of your marketing campaign and you will see results.

Protect Your Business From Negative Publicity

My Greek grandmother used to say “protect your name like the pupils of your eyes”. Our personal and professional reputation has never been more vulnerable than today. The use of the internet, as source of information, and the speed at which news travel are creating new opportunities and challenges for individuals and businesses. Internet forums like Google and Yahoo allow anyone to hide behind “freedom of expression” and potentially spread malicious comments with impunity. In this environment, it is imperative that individuals and businesses remain vigilant in protecting and advancing their reputation.

Clients frequently ask me to address the problem of false statements posted on web forums or on blogs. This needs to be confronted comprehensively, proactively and with a long-term plan. While many posts and on-line reviews, rating products and services, are legitimate and helpful, some abuse the process by choosing to “settle scores” anonymously. Without much oversight the system is rife with abuse and the options to address it are limited. This is particularly challenging for small businesses, which usually have just a few “on-line reviews”. One bad review out of one posted results in 100% negative rating for your business and it will be read by potential customers searching on Google.

The following are some of the things you should consider:

1. Your Name is your brand. Invest aggressively and proactively to strengthen it.
   
2. Monitor what it is being said about you and your business, as you do with your credit ratings. Remember, your reputation can affect your credit.
   
3. Document significant negative experiences with customers, vendors, employees.
   
4. Create positive “buzz” on the web, encouraging customers and suppliers to post quality and useful information about you and your business.
   
5. Promote any positive news about your business and yourself.
   
6. Implement a plan to continuously enhance your “brand” on the internet.
   
7. Avoid linking your family name to your company’s name.
   
8. Work with a marketing firm to monitor and respond to “on-line” activity that compromises your reputation and name.

Today, the potential exists that businesses and lives can be destroyed by the “click of a mouse”. Make sure it does not happen to you or to your business by proactively addressing this new challenge.

Starting A Business: Start-Up Costs & Priorities

The current economic environment and job insecurity has sent many aspiring entrepreneurs into libraries, their local Chambers of Commerce and to advisors for information on how to start a new business. One of the areas we help our clients with is on their financing options and on prioritizing their needs. The hurdle that every aspiring owner of a small business should address from the “get go” is identifying and managing the funds necessary to cover start-up and operating costs for the first 6-12 months.

Assessing the start-up costs is naturally the place to begin. The start up costs can be influenced by various factors. Consider the following as you make your choices:

What is your vision and ROI expectations?

How competitive is the market you are about to enter?

Would you be competing in promotion-intensive consumer areas?

What’s the geographic area you will be operating in?

Can you outsource certain tasks? Can you lease equipment?

How does the economy affect your products/services?

Are there regulatory hurdles to overcome? Liability risks?

Can you delay hiring full-time employees?

More…?

A recent client came to us with a vision to start a Coffee & Bakery store. He had done his homework, chosen a great location and he had the experience and passion. I liked what I heard, but we needed to work on the “numbers”. We developed a list with all the necessary start-up expenses that will be drawing down his cash. We then set up spending priorities, rating the impact that our choices would have on his vision and on the store’s quality image. We had to consider our options and the inherent “trade offs”. Part of the discussion revolved around the following:

1. The image we wanted to project to prospective customers. The beginning is half of everything.
   
2. Should equipment be leased? Should the roasting of the beans be "outsourced" or needed to roast them in the store with our own roaster?
   
3. Impact of inventory on quality, sales and store image. What is the appropriate “merchandising mix” in the store?
   
4. How extending business hours (adding employees) will affect sales.

Despite the best efforts, it is not always easy to predict or anticipate every single cost driver. My advice usually is to scale back on the "grand vision" in the beginning, unless limited resources is not a factor. Do not allow enthusiasm to get on the way of the “numbers” and of hard realities. Conserving cash should be fundamental in this environment. Look at your options at different levels of your business and consider outside contract help. Include a cushion of 20-40% to account for cost overruns, as you budget your next 6-12 months. And when you are ready to hire full-time employees don’t just think of them as adding a person behind the counter, but rather as adding an advocate for your business, products and services. They have the potential to be your best sales and marketing people and you will need them.

Don’t Fight The Forces, Use Them

A few weeks ago, I was visiting the Grand Canyon with some friends. One evening while marveling at this majestic creation of nature a hawk ascended like a rocket with whirring wings, just a few feet away from where I was standing. I watched this magnificent bird glide some distance down the canyon. It was flying round and round against the sky by just using the forces of the air thermals rising from below. What a beautiful sight that was.

The peaceful sensation I felt, watching this bird’s effortless flight into the distance was so removed from the current economic angst and there was a reminder that we can go far if we are prepared to use the forces around us than fight them. It was a mental call to action.

In an environment of economic anxiety and sagging consumer confidence, businesses should deal with the internal and external “brutal facts” and revisit strategies and priorities, drive for cost reductions and productivity gains and look for opportunities.

Look at your business and how the new realities have changed your relationship to your customers and target markets

Focus on customer retention and use analytical tools to predict customer behavior and loyalty

Understand customers’ needs and develop a strong “call to action” message

Invest in technologies to improve customer engagement and attract new customers

Reorganize and reset priorities, planning to “do more with less”

Manage your business by the numbers with metrics that will help you improve productivity in sales, marketing, customer relations and other parts of the organization

Focus on cost-savings/cost-avoidance that do not hurt customer relationships

Outsource tasks such as electronic marketing, web strategy, marketing communication, business plan/marketing plan development

Avoid unfamiliar opportunities with unknown ROI, such as new marketing strategies and new communication channels, unless experimentation can bring you a well defined competitive advantage

Leverage the internet
--> Enhance web site “stickiness”
--> Invest in Optimization (SEO)
--> Strengthen Email marketing
--> Personalize customer engagement

The Financial Crisis & The Lessons For Small Business

Wall Street’s recent financial “Bang” was heard ‘round the world and its effects will be felt for a long time to come. In the aftermath of this crisis, the US dominance of the global financial landscape is likely to erode and the bright lights illuminating Wall Street’s iconic marquees will dim. As we try to comprehend the gravity of the events that have transpired in the last week, our national self-confidence and unshaken belief in free markets have been dented.

For the longest time, our financial innovations were the envy of the world, contributing to employment growth in an economy where manufacturing jobs were being outsourced abroad. It is ironic that many of the financial “innovations” that gave the industry its competitive edge on the world stage were too complex and too risky in the end, becoming the “poison pills” that led to the current implosion.

At this critical point in time, with people feeling financially insecure and betrayed our “bruised” free-market remains the best guarantor of reform. While imperfect, free-market mechanisms are better than the alternatives, allowing flexibility and adaptability during moments of crisis. Ultimately, reform will usher in some dramatic structural changes in the financial sector, including global realignment through mergers and acquisitions. Business models will be revised, leveraging risk will be redefined, and regulatory oversight will no longer be an aberration. The lessons to be learned will be plentiful and I am sure numerous books on the subject will soon be featured on the New York Times Best Seller list, just in time for Christmas gifts later in the year.

Here are some rules which small businesses, should follow to manage risk and limit downside:

Ø Keep things simple and make sure you understand the products you offer and the markets that you compete in.
Ø Complex and elaborate plans are not a substitute for critical analysis of market opportunities and the resources needed to exploit them.
Ø Optimistic outlook is an important attribute in meeting challenges successfully. But always employ “reality checks” in your forecasting.
Ø Math never lies. Make sure the numbers make sense and can stand up to scrutiny.
Ø Market uncertainty requires the availability of reserved resources to address unforeseen emergencies. Never “bet the farm” on anything regardless of the allure.
Ø Make “management by numbers” a corner stone of your business model. Make measurement of performance and accountability the center of any business.

We are all “on the hook” to borrow Secretary Paulson’s own words, and not just because of greed. There will be a lot of blame to go around when the time comes, but I am convinced that what will emerge is mainly a failure of some businesses to adhere to time-tested economic fundamentals and sound management tools, from risk management to accountability. So let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.