Archive for category Small Business Challenges
17 “Must Ask” Questions for Planning Successful Projects – Small Business
Posted by AdeleS in Intro To Small Business, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making, Starting A Small Business on October 23, 2009
17 “Must Ask” Questions for Planning Successful Projects
By Adele Sommers
Editor: For more by this author click on the tag Adele Sommers below. In this article Adele tackles a simple way to plan your successful projects. In small business, this is absolutely critical for two reasons. First, owners have a tendency to be people who prefer [...]
Small Business Strategy: Competing On Price Dangers
Posted by Robert Bacal in Advice and Tips, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making, Small Business and The Law on October 11, 2009
In my previous post I talked about the problems with focusing on low end, high maintenance customers. There is a matching issue which has to do with competing on the basis of price. This also comes from my unpleasant stay at a Motel 6/Studio 6 chain (twice).
I found out a few interesting things about Studio [...]
Are You Attracting the Wrong Customers To Your Small Business? You’d Better Think About It
Posted by Robert Bacal in General, Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on October 11, 2009
I’m sitting in a Studio 6 motel room, with almost know sleep after dealing with a group of young people partying across the hall, and IN THE HALL 2 feet from my room. I’ve had a similar problem in another stay at the chain. Calls to the front desk at 1am and 3am were not [...]
The Power of Understanding Your Core Business – It’s About Survival
Posted by Robert Bacal in Advice and Tips, Don't Do This!, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making, Starting A Small Business on October 9, 2009
The universe sometimes conspires. I spent a good part of today talking with a colleague about how important is is for a small business owner to understand his or her core business, AND to orient all activity towards furthering the core business. Then I realized, I haven’t been following my own dictums. Oh dear, it’s [...]
The Final Twitter Report For Small Business – Effectiveness? Part 1
Posted by Robert Bacal in General, Small Business Challenges, Small Business and Twitter on October 4, 2009
This is the first part of a report evaluating the usefulness of Twitter for small business. It is based on my observations as an active Twitter participant for almost a year, and the use of various techniques to leverage Twitter to contribute to small business success.
To provide a context, I’ve run a successful small business [...]
Women, have your say on the status of women in small business.
Posted by Robert Bacal in Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on September 25, 2009
We’re building a library of articles and resources for women involved in small business, and in the process, it occured to me that maybe women do not require “special” articles or resources to help them in small business. Then I realized I didn’t know the answer. So I’m asking, particularly of women”
Do you feel that [...]
If you hang around long enough in your small business, good things happen. All That Free PR
Posted by Robert Bacal in General, Marketing, Micro Businesses, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making, Small Business and The Internet on September 16, 2009
Amidst a week from hell, with a raft of technical problems that are affecting access to our network of websites, I was taking a break, and used google to search for my name. Now, let me be clear. I don’t hunt around for a quick ego gratification jolt (you buying that?). Actually, I periodically search [...]
For Small Business It Can’t Be All About The Benjamins — Passion Counts
Posted by Robert Bacal in Intro To Small Business, Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on September 9, 2009
There are a lot of people who start their businesses because they believe their ideas are fabulous and unique, and they also believe that the operation of a small business is going to make them rich. Often they believe riches will follow quickly if they get their businesses going.
Sadly, it is almost never the case. [...]
Real Life Test of Bacal’s Small Business Recession Philosophy Begins #smbiz
Posted by Robert Bacal in Advice and Tips, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making on September 4, 2009
It’s rare in life that one gets to test out a general approach or philosophy, but the apparent beginning of the end of the recession looks like it will provide the opportunity.
A number of months ago, I suggested that small business owners who were well prepared for eventualities like the recession should stop attending to [...]
Making Sales #smallbizIQ
Posted by Staff in Advice and Tips, Intro To Small Business, Marketing, Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on August 31, 2009
You’ve started or are thinking of starting your own business because you know that you have a great product or service to sell. Hopefully you have already identified your niche market and are fully prepared to discuss the unique values that your service or product will bring to your customer.
This is called a value [...]
Four Musts of Effective Small Business Plans
Posted by Robert Bacal in Intro To Small Business, Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on August 17, 2009
Four Musts of Effective Small Business PlansBy Peter McLean
In order to leverage its talent, ideas and energy to create a high performing company, a small business must be focussed and clear on precisely how it intends to conduct its affairs. Small business plans create this clarity and focus. They take the critical issues [...]
How NOT to be a Small Business Failure Statistic
Posted by Robert Bacal in Advice and Tips, Small Business Challenges on August 17, 2009
How NOT to be a Small Business Failure StatisticBy Eve Jackson
There were about 146,000 business startups a year, and an average of 12,000 business bankruptcies per year from 1994 to 2004 in Canada. A 2004 Statistics Canada study on small business failure rates “Key Small Business Statistics – January 2005: How Long Do Small [...]
More TERRIBLE “Research” About Social Media and Marketing
Posted by Robert Bacal in Marketing, Small Business Challenges, Small Business and The Internet on August 5, 2009
I’m just shaking my head. First we get an atrocious article by President of American Association of Training and Development about Social Learning that is full of irrelevancies, illogical conclusions and just plain wrong information (which I am critiquing HERE), and now we have more trash masquerading as research.
The purported research paper is available here [...]
About Entrance Requirements and Small Business: Easy Isn’t Best
Posted by Robert Bacal in Advice and Tips, Small Business Challenges, Starting A Small Business on August 4, 2009
So many people dream of opening up their own business, and for most it remains a dream, out of circumstances or a lack of commitment. Of those that remain, who really do want to own a business, there are two questions that come up very often:’
What kind of business would be best, and what’s [...]
Try Friendship Instead of Networking (particularly if you are introverted)
Posted by Robert Bacal in General, Intro To Small Business, Small Business Challenges, Small Business Strategy and Decision-Making on July 28, 2009
All of us have been told that networking is critical to success in business or in our careers. I never liked it. It seemed too much like going door to door as a salesperson, and I didn’t start my small business to be a salesperson.
I remember, early in my company’s life, going to a meeting [...]