Small Business Blog

When most business owners think of a small business plan, they think of a way to secure start-up capital. While it’s true that a good small business plan is a must-have for businesses looking for start-up investments and loans, a small business plan is an important document even if you’re not looking for start-up capital.In fact, a good small business plan is a crucial precursor to a good small business marketing plan. Why? Because the act of creating a small business plan forces you to think about your business in an objective, systematic way. It forces you, in short, to cover all your bases. And that will allow you to move forward with all of the information you need to create a dynamic, successful small business marketing plan.You can buy a software package designed to help you prepare a small business plan, though there are also a number of good free templates online. First and foremost, your small business plan should be well-organized. The essential components include:I)Executive summaryII)General company description1)Mission statement2)Company goals and objectives3)Business philosophy4)Market5)Industry6)Company strengths and core competencies7)Legal form of ownershipIII)Products and services1)An in-depth description of your products and/or services2)You competitive advantages or disadvantages3)How much your products and/or services will costIV)Marketing plan1)Market research: know your industry2)Market research: know your customers3)Market research: know your product or service4)Market research: know your competitors5)Find your niche6)Develop your sales strategyV)Operational plan1)Production2)Location3)Legal environment4)Personnel5)Inventory6)Suppliers7)Credit policiesVI)Management and organization1)Key employees2)Professional and advisory supportVII)Startup expenses and capitalization1)Forecast expenditures (add a 20% “contingency” item)2)Forecast startup contributionsVIII)Financial plan1)12-month profit and loss projection2)Four-year profit projection3)Projected cash flow4)Opening day balance sheet5)Projected balance sheet6)Break-even analysisThe part of your small business plan that will be most relevant in your small business marketing is the fourth section, where you’ll create your marketing plan. Understanding your industry, your customers, your product and/or service, and your competitors will set you up to optimize your small business marketing strategy. And finding your niche is a precursor to developing your brand.As you write your small business plan, avoid writing what sounds good but isn’t true. By making promises in your small business plan that you couldn’t possibly keep, you’re setting yourself up to fail. At the same time, don’t sell yourself short. Whether you’re using your small business plan to attract potential investors or as a guide for growing your business, you want to challenge yourself to reach new heights! I wish you the best of success with your small business.

OK, we want to be consistent in our small business marketing message. How? First, we must seek out the dissonance in our advertising message. Nails screeching across a chalkboard in a quiet classroom or the squeal of brakes in the middle of a residential neighborhood are obvious and startling types of dissonance. It’s easy to see obvious violations of your company’s brand. Many big corporations rightly focus on the company logo as the ultimate visual representation of the brand. Any errors or distortions of the company logo are quickly spotted and corrected. So critical is the logo to many large corporations that they have legal counsel quickly and firmly contact any parties that are misusing the logo in any way. For a small business, the signage displayed on the storefront and within the store is typically the equivalent of a corporate logo. Very few small businesses have really recognizable logos that are their own. They commonly have a piece of clip art placed next to a distinctive font that bears the company name, and that is about as close to a corporate logo that any of them get. And you know what? It is usually enough. Because for most small business, it is not the logo or the signage that is the brand. At its best, a logo merely calls to mind the brand. It is not the brand itself. A logo, like any other symbol, is completely neutral in meaning without being placed in the proper context. So, if the signage in your store in straight and properly fixed and doesn’t need painted and there are no bulbs burned out in any of your flashing signs, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and look for instances where you are really whispering to your customer something that is in direct conflict with what your brand stands for. Here we aren’t looking for that nails-on-chalkboard obvious violation, but the small, discreet nail in the tire of your car that. You know that nail; when you pull out of the driveway you don’t even notice it and then, ten miles down the road, you are sitting there stranded with a flat. When hunting for the dissonance in your brand, it’s best to start small. Begin with the little things your customers–and staff–see every day. Let’s start with your receipt. Most business gives out some type of receipt. Does yours thank the customer? Does it have your phone number or store location? How about your logo? Your website address? Is it something you are proud of, utilitarian as it is? Pack as much useful information on your receipt as is prudent, because it is a little whisper to the customer that you care enough about them to make your relevant info available and at their fingertips should they need it. For most customers, that receipt turns into a scrap of paper very quickly; but for those few that need the information, even if it’s just your phone number, that receipt can be a life saver. Start with the little, mundane items like receipts, and just look for anyplace where you aren’t reinforcing the brand message you want your customer to hear. Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success.© 2006 Marketing Hawks |||People Package Brand BlogCraig Lutz-Priefert’s marketing blog

Perhaps the most important quality for your small business marketing materials is that they are different. If you do nothing else right in your small business marketing, at least be different.Why is differentiation so important? Because, in most industries, there are hundreds – if not thousands or millions – of other businesses that claim to provide the same service or sell the same product as you do. If you don’t differentiate your business from all those others, the chances that you’ll get many customers are pretty slim.Some common ways to differentiate your business are:•Superior service•Greater product availability•Higher quality•Better performance•Greater durability•Prestige•Technology leadership•Satisfaction guarantee•Lower cost•Faster delivery•More customer supportBut even if you are very different than your competitors – you offer superior service, greater durability, or a satisfaction guarantee that beats all others – it won’t matter unless your prospective customers know about it.That’s where your small business marketing strategy comes in. Businesses have been using their small business marketing strategies to announce how they’re different from their competitors as long as they have been using small business marketing strategies. Think Maxwell House’s “Good to the last drop,” Campbell’s Soup’s “Mmm, mmm good,” or WalMart’s “Always low prices.” Those highly successful taglines not only get prospective customers to remember the company name, but also convey a message about the difference between that company and others.To make differentiation a part of your small business marketing strategy, you first need to understand your competitors – you can only explain how you’re different from them once you know what they’re like. Learn what your competitors offer, how they differentiate themselves, and – most importantly – what your prospective customers think about them (if you know what qualities your prospective customers see as shortcomings in the other companies in the market, you’ll have a good idea of the market gap you can fill).Once you’ve decided how you are different from your competitors, you need to tell your prospective customers about it. Building that differentiation into your tagline can be a very effective start. Then include that tagline, along with your logo, on every piece of small business marketing collateral you have. Another small business marketing way to publicize your differences is to write a press release. Explain how you’re filling a need in the market that no other company has filled.Once you’ve differentiated your company and used your small business marketing tools to publicize your differences, you have to follow through on your promises. If you say that you’re the cheapest – or the highest quality, or the friendliest, or whatever – then you better be just that (nothing turns away a customer like a failed promise).Brandt Stohr, The Small Business Marketing Genius has brought startup one man operations to billion dollar corporations by using creative marketing techniques rather then investors and capital. Brandt Stohr has been helped hundreds of entrepreneurs to get their small businesses exploding with sales without the use of expensive traditional marketing techniques. For more information and a free report on the ten deadly mistakes most small businesses are still making visit Brandt Stohr’s site at http://www.smallbusinessmktng.com

A recent iLogos Research study revealed 94% of Fortune 500 companies now hire employees online, a stark contrast from 1998, when only 29% of them were doing the same. If you own or manage a small business, that means the vast majority of your fiercest competitors are now spending less time and less effort on recruitment. And that leaves them with more time to, simply put, get a leg up on you.Sure, it sounds like a threat. But isn’t lack of technology an inevitable drawback for most small businesses? Absolutely not. Maybe 10, even 5 years ago. But not today.Every time we do market research with small businesses, we hear three top reasons why the business has not yet implemented an online hiring solution, in which job candidates apply online:1. The cost is too high2. They lack the technological know-how3. They believe setting up a recruitment software would take longer than just doing it the old-fashioned wayThose are all valid concerns, considering most small businesses operate on a tight budget and without an in-house IT department.The good news is small businesses are fundamental to the North-American economy. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses drive the U.S. economy, representing 99.7 percent of all employer firms. In Canada, according to Statistics Canada, businesses with less that 100 employees account for 98% of all employer businesses.Business software developers are now recognizing the importance of SMBs and designing employee recruitment software that caters to the specific budgetary and technological needs of small business.It’s important to do your research and find the technology that’s the best fit for your company. When shopping around for a recruitment manager program, make sure to ask yourself the following questions:1. Cost: Is the advertised price of this product the actual price my company is going to pay?Beware of offers that are full of limitations. For example, will you have to pay more if a lot of people apply for your job? Is there a hosting charge for filing all the applicants’ resumes? Is there a time-limit for your job posting, after which you have to pay extra charges?2. Ease of technology: Is the technology really easy-to-use, even if I’m a computer novice? The best way to find this out is by trying the product yourself. Most companies offer free trials of their products, which are a great idea, as long they are risk free. Keeping in mind question 1, make sure the trial has no hidden charges. Also try out the front-end application process to make sure it’s really going to be easy when your job candidates apply online.3. Setup: How long will it take to get up and running?You don’t want to get stuck with a product that takes so long to setup, that by the time you’re done, you could have done everything the old-fashioned way. It’s a good idea to talk to a sales representative and ask him/her to explain to you the exact steps you’ll need to take to setup for a job.4. The product: What’s included?What does this product do? What doesn’t it do? Some programs offer only the online job posting functionality. Others focus on the back-end, like collecting resumes, organizing, filtering and searching employees, scheduling interviews, etc. When looking for a program that takes care of the back-end, make sure the company will also be able to help you with the posting functionality, whether you’re putting up a poster on your store window, running an ad in the local paper or posting on job websites.5. Service: Will I get a helping hand?Since most small businesses do not have an IT department, one of the most important questions to ask here is what kind of service will you get. Will you get email support? Phone support? Online Live Help? Will you be speaking to a real business person who knows about the specific challenges you’re facing, or to someone who only knows the tech aspects of the program?Remember it’s your company’s efficiency that’s at stake here, so don’t be afraid to ask questions or request a free trial. Hiring online may sound like something only fit for the big guys, but remember this is the 21st century, which means technology and small business are the most important aspects of our economy.Robert Burko is founder and president of Eliteweb.cc, a web portal and suite of efficiency-improving tools for small businesses. Eliteweb’s Recruitment Manager is budget-friendly and includes unlimited applicants, expert live support, unlimited file hosting and your own personalized web address, where candidates log in to apply online for jobs. Click on the link to hire employees online absolutely Free for 30 days.

OK, in an earlier article we launched you on a scavenger hunt for Sweet Somethings–small reminders you whisper in your customer’s ear and let her know what you stand for.Some small business owners think their products and services can speak for themselves. Don’t fall into that trap, no matter what your employees or your suppliers might tell you about how good your product or your service is. Your customers are your most valuable marketing resource–and your most believable. OK, if you can get editorial copy in the newspaper or on the internet written about you, that can be an equally credible source, but it is much tougher to obtain.So word of mouth advertising–via your customers–is the most cost-effective promotional marketing you have. You want to plant a seed in that new customer’s mind, using your current customers.Just like in nature, your marketing message needs to find the right carrier. You need to find a sticky message–and put it in front of as many customers as you can. Just like a little sandbur that sticks to a dog’s leg and gets carried for miles, your marketing message needs to stick to the customer carrier.And that means your brand message needs to be packaged in a way so that it can be easily picked up by your customers.First, let’s write down those brand phrases you picked up earlier when you were on the scavenger hunt. See what the customers are saying about you. This is also a fantastic time to review your features and benefits.Did you find any nuggets from your customers? Did any of the phrases they say resonate with your own experience? Did you pick up any little gems you can use to refract your company’s brilliance back to other customers? Sounds goofy, doesn’t it, but think about it–isn’t that exactly what you want to do? There are fifty girls in their early-Twenties within a mile of you right now that are every bit as pretty as the #1 Box Office Hollywood actress. They just aren’t wrapped in as pretty of a package.OK, once you write down your brand phrases you are going to use, then the next step is to determine where to put them. How about:

• Your welcome mat (you do have one, don’t you???)
• The back of your restroom door
• On a sticker on the back of every magazine in your waiting area
• Matchbooks—or today’s equivalent (when you find it, let us know)
• Vending Machines
• Any place where customers have to wait
• Drinking fountain
• Coffee machine
• Merchandise shelving. Too obvious? How about on the bottom side of a rack that’s higer up?
• Instead of a “Caution—Wet Floor” pylon how about creating one that reads: “Caution—Savings ahead” or “Caution: Hard hat area ahead—Falling Prices”
• Chair covers. Do you have molded plastic or folding chairs in your waiting area? Why not have some chair covers made with a few of your favorite phrases on them?
• Inside the lids of your boxes. (Check out a Celestial Seasonings Tea Box in your grocery store sometime. Just look inside for a great example of a Sweet Something.)

There are multiple locations just ripe to plant your message. If you and your staff find even a few, you’ll be ahead of your competition.OK, you’ve found the places. Now, take a phrase and plant it there. Maybe the phrase is a simple, time-worn saying like: “Your satisfaction 100% guaranteed or your money back!”You see this phrase often–because it works! It reassures the customer that your small business stands behind your work. And remember, it’s not just the first time, stray, new customer that just comes in the door you want to whisper a sweet something to. Existing customers have a way of being taken for granted by too many small companies. Sometimes we actually feel the customer owes us, instead of the other way around. This attitude sends more customers packing off–straight to the competition–than all the advertising in the world, combined.Let’s imagine for a moment you are an All Terrain Vehicle store–Terry’s ATVs. Besides the farmers and ranchers who use your product on the job, a huge part of what you sell is Fun.”Fun on Sale” could be a major theme you use throughout the year in marketing your small business. You don’t need to limit this brand marketing theme to just the sales floor where the new models sit or to the banner that hangs outside your store (you have a banner, don’t you?)What about hinting at this brand theme wherever you can? How about in the area where you sell parts, such as spark plugs or tire-repair kits? Maybe a little strategically placed placard back there that says: “The sooner it’s fixed, the sooner you can rev up the fun again.” This reinforces the brand of your store as fun, and maybe even puts a little smile on your customer’s face.Think of somebody you like. Maybe it’s a parent, or a spouse, or that guy in 7th Grade you had a crush on. Isn’t it just the mere, little things about that person you think about when you remember them? Most life experience is woven from a thousand little threads and it’s the same with your business and the experience your customer has with it.Bring out your store’s personality, quirks and all, and whisper those sweet somethings in their ear.Remember: People (customers and employees) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + Brand (who you are) = Marketing Success.© 2006 Marketing Hawks |||People Package Brand BlogCraig Lutz-Priefert’s marketing blog