Category Archives: Small Business Challenges

A Valuable Lesson for Anyone in Small Business

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I regularly receive an interesting ezine from Robert Middleton, a marketing specialist in the US. I have to admit that there are times when there is some divergence between what he suggests and what we have found works for us but it is still interesting and challenging to read another person’s point of view and so I read Robert’s ezine.

This last week he wrote something quite interesting about interpersonal relationships and the effect they can have on your business. Here is part of what he had to say.

So what do you really want (for Christmas or any other time)?

The best I’ve been able to figure out is that people want, more
than anything else, to make a difference, to make a contribution to
others (family, friends, clients, anyone and everyone).

In other words, to give fully of ourselves. But what can we give
that will make that difference? What will make the biggest
possible contribution to others?

If you get this one, you not only get to fulfill your greatest desire
but the greatest desire of others. And the best thing about it is
that it costs nothing, takes little time, and has long-lasting
benefits. It works any time and in any place.

The funny thing is that we have a terrible time giving it.

And no, it’s not love, compassion, friendship, etc. Those are
wonderful gifts as well. But they are not the ultimate
contribution. They really pale in comparison.

And one of the saddest things is that if you fail to give this you
can trigger a lot of misery, resentment, frustration and
misunderstanding. The inability to give this causes alienation,
divorce and wars. And yet it’s so simple to give.

Are you ready for the answer?

The greatest contribution

you can make to another

is to let them contribute…

to YOU.

Since what we want most of all is to contribute, if you fully
receive that contribution (whatever it is), you’re making the
ultimate contribution to another.

When someone wants to help you – let them. When you get a
compliment – receive it graciously. When someone has an idea or
resource for you – show your thanks. Whenever a loved one tries to
share something with you – listen attentively.

When you accept a contribution, another wonderful thing happens -
you pave the way for more contributions. It can be a never-ending
upward spiral. And it feels wonderful.

Now don’t mess this up by waiting for others to accept your
contributions with open arms. They might not. Turn it around. Put
your attention on accepting their contributions in the most
expansive way you can imagine.

I hope you realize that applying this to your business could add
a whole new dimension of fun and fulfillment. It just might
transform the way you do business and enrich you in the process.

If you want to read more of what Robert has to say about marketing or to sign up for his ezine you should head over to http://www.actionplan.com

A lone eagle over the beach at sunset
A lone eagle soars over the beach at sunset

Small Business and 80/20

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In the build up to Christmas here in our house I was absolutely remiss in not wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas. We certainly hope that you had a great time with your loved ones on Christmas Day and that the gifts you received were just what you wanted.

This year one of our daughters gave us gift certificate for a well-known chain of bookstores and, after reading some comments on Darren Rowse’s blog we’ve already decided on one of the books that we’ll be buying.

Darren commented on a book by Richard Koch – 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less – and it immediately interested us because the 80/20 rule is something that is well known in affiliate marketing.

For anyone who uses the affiliate model to sell their products this principle means that 80% of all sales will be generated by just 20% of all your affiliates. Once you understand that principle then you know which affiliates you need to focus on to help them make even more sales.

Richard Koch applies that principle to wealth generation. His argument is that 80% of your income will be generated by just 20% of your effort and he encourages people to identify that important 20% and focus on it to generate even more income.

It’s an interesting concept and one that all of us need to look at.

The Small Business Entrepreneur

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Michael Gerber in his book The E Myth Revisited talks about the three types of people who are needed to run a small business. Often all three are packed into just one person and the most important person is the entrepreneur because that’s the person that makes the business grow and survive.

Darren Rowse has some interesting thoughts on Seven Characteristics of the Entrepreneurial Life over at his blog and they are well reading and thinking about.

And if you want to know who wears the entrepreneurs cap in our business … well there’s no doubt that it’s Toni :)

Thinking About Small Business Cash Flow

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Cash flow has very definitely been on our mind again these last few weeks as previously reliable clients have had us do work for them and then failed to pay us. For most small businesses it doesn’t take much to reduce a steady flow to a terrifying trickle and so working on your cash flow is always important.

Sometimes ‘working’ can be as simple as doing some reading on the subject so you might find a new book that is about to be released quite helpful.

It’s not out yet but The Truth About Small Business Cash Flow: Why Making A Profit Doesn’t Mean Success does look interesting and you can register to be notified when the book is released.

Small Business Integrity

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Websters Online Dictionary announced last week that the word most people came to the dictionary to find the meaning for this year was integrity.

That’s a sad indictment on today’s world when people need to find the meaning for a word that describes an attribute that every person should have.

Of course not everyone does have integrity and here in Australia there are a few politicians from the religious right and from the far right who need to match their words to their actions. They also need to check to see what the meaning of integrity really is.

But just because others don’t have integrity doesn’t mean that you or I are absolved from displaying that attribute in our every-day activities.

And just in case you don’t know what the meaning of the word is then I can tell you that Websters defines it as ‘firm adherence to a code’ and ‘incorruptibility’.

Are You Too Old to Start a Small Business?

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That’s a question that was basically asked of us the other day and the obvious answer is a resounding NO!

I suppose that has to be qualified just a bit because there are some small businesses that are just going to be too much for anyone who is getting on in years but there are certainly plenty of opportunities for small business people whatever their age might be.

Unfortunately many young people don’t understand that and they are quick to discourage any older person who might want to launch their own small business.

Only yesterday a lady of middle age came into the computer shop where Toni rents a desk several days a week. She happened to notice that Toni had Dreamweaver open and was working on one of our projects. The lady confided in Toni that she was completing a Macromedia (they make Dreamweaver) course at tech and she really didn’t know what to do when she had finished.

She was the only mature student in a class of mostly teenagers and they had all told her that she was far to old to even think of making money on the Internet.

The lady was greatly relieved to see Toni fall about laughing when age was mentioned.

Age is no barrier to anything you might want to do in a small business that wants to use the Internet as a platform. Anyone who suggests that age might be a problem is definitely not worth listening to.

Sometimes the Best Thing to do is Nothing

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Many small business people are people of action. They can’t sit still and do nothing when they have a good idea. They have to explore, sample, test and investigate. Once they have completed those actions then there are times when they should take further action and there are some times when they should do nothing.

That ‘do nothing’ option is probably the hardest option of all for them to take but there are times when that really is the best option.

A guy we know here in town approached us on the weekend with a view to us building a website for him. Currently he has a page on a community portal that brings in quite a bit of business for him. That page ranks very well in the search engines for the key phrase that he needs to focus on but he has no control over the page or what images the portal owner chooses to display on the page.

So our acquaintence thought that his own web site might be a better option. We looked at his situation and in his case the ‘do nothing option’ was the best. That may sound strange but these days a new website has no guarantee of ever reaching the same level of search engine ranking that his single page already has.

If it did manage to reach that point it would take many months and possibly even a year or more. So there was definitely no short term advantage in having his own website built and there were no guarantees that there would be a long term advantage either.

Will he really opt for the ‘do nothing’ option?

It’s hard to say but could you sit still and do nothing if that were the best option?

One Man’s Approach to Starting a Small Business

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Earlier today I offered you a link to some suggestions for starting a small business.

Now here is a story of one man’s approach to starting his business. Sometimes you can gain inspiration from other people’s experience although I’m not suggesting that wearing a wig and a dress is going to work for everyone.

Starting Your Small Business

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In case you haven’t realised it, when you’re reading this you are actually reading a blog and for many people blogging is a business and for many it’s a small business.

That means that successful bloggers often have a lot to teach small business people. That is certainly the case with Ten Rules for Profitable Blog Startups. A lot of what Darren has to say there is very applicable to any small business person who is trying to get their business (whatever it might be) off the ground.