Small Office, Home Office Information

Over on Web Worker Daily one of the questions raised in a post about surviving in 2009 is whether or not some clients are really worth the effort.

That’s an interesting question and one that Toni and I are pondering right now as we look at those who are making us money and those who are just a drain on our time and resources.

We’ve actually reached the point where we’re ready to let one of our long-term customers go simply because they have become a drain on our time and they’re not going to like it when we increase the rates we charge them for the work they expect us to do for them.

In many ways it will be sad to see them go but sometimes there just aren’t enough hours in the day to deal with clients who want everything done very cheaply because times are a little tough and then don’t appreciate what you have done for them.

So does your small business have customers that you should really let go or are you going to put up with them for another year?

If you’re involved in small business right now then you’re probably looking at what’s happening with the world’s economy and wondering if you’re going to survive all the turmoil.

The fact is that a lot of small businesses probably won’t survive the next year or so but if you’ve been taking my advice and working hard to reduce your debt levels these last few months then you’re probably in a much better position to survive than most.

If you are in a good position financially then now is not the time to go spending money on luxuries … now is the time to put even more money into building your business. Now is a good time to purchase new equipment if you need it. Prices are coming down as suppliers find it harder to shift their stock.

Now is a good time to increase your advertising. There are still people and other businesses out there looking for what you’re selling so advertise your business so those potential customers can find you.

Now is a good time to look around for new staff. As more and more people lose their jobs the chance of picking up some very talented employees is increased but don’t hire people unless you have the work to pay for them.

Now is the time to look at expanding your business into new areas. As other less well-managed businesses fold new opportunities will open up for those that can survive so watch for those new opportunities as they appear.

Now is the time to be a little bold and not run and hide until the economic storm is over. It’s at times like these that some small businesses have the opportunity to make money so don’t be afraid to be out there in the marketplace.

And what have we done? Are we following our own advice? You bet … we’ve purchased new equipment this week … we’re expanding into some new areas and we’re increasing our advertising and we’ve got new leads and new orders coming in.

So if you run a small business now is the time to see whether you’ve got what it takes to survive.

I guess that if you’ve read my ramblings here you could be mistaken and think that everything about our small business is sweetness and light … problems never arise … the wheels never fall off … and we simply go on from strength to strength. If that’s what you think then I’m about to disappoint you.

You see, our small business is no different to any other out there … we have problems just like everyone else and for a few days this week things really went downhill. Wheels were falling off all over the place … and wheels we didn’t even know we had fell off.

So what do you do when things go wrong in your small business? Do you panic? Do you run around in ever decreasing circles till you disappear up your very own you-know-what? Or do you calmly assess the situation and get on with the job of fixing it?

Let’s face it, very few of us can assess a situation calmly when you’re standing in the middle of potential loss that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars … so don’t feel bad if you’re like most of us and you indulge in a little panic.

Just don’t let the panic go on too long and while you’re panicking be careful about the decisions you make and the things you hear people telling you. All sorts of odd communication filters come into play when you’re panicking and what you hear may not be what someone is really telling you … and that can lead to even more problems.

So when things go wrong get over the panic stage quickly and only then can you really get down to the serious business of fixing those problems that have suddenly appeared.

The difference between survival and death for a small business or home based business depends on whether your potential customers know you exist or not. Sometimes that can depend on whether or not you can manipulate the media.

You will find some interesting thoughts about that here.

It also goes to show why sometimes using Google Adwords as a source of advertising revenue on your web pages doesn’t always work. The article talks about manipulating the media and Google wants to advertise the Bravado Nursing Bra. (I wonder what Google will show on my site?)

Here in Australia we’re going through our usual fuel price increases that happen just before major holidays. Lots of people are complaining and lots of people are suddenly finding that it’s costing them a lot of money just to move around their local area.

Unfortunately worse is to come and not just for Australia. Here analysts expect the price of fuel to reach $3.00 a litre by next year (and some suggest that it will get there well before next year). Other countries won’t escape the fuel price rises because demand has now far outstripped supply and the simple economics of supply and demand are cutting in.

So the price of fuel is going to impact on everyone because everything that we buy or sell relies on fuel for production and/or transportation.

So now’s the time to start identifying all the ways that the rising fuel price will impact on your small business. It might be something that is rather scary to do but it’s far better to be prepared than to leave yourself exposed by sticking your head in the sand.

1. Anyone who tells you that they are a guru in their chosen field isn’t

2. Half the people named as supposedly satisfied customers that some websites use to promote their services don’t even exist

3. If anyone uses the term “trust me” then don’t

4. Half the people who claim to have been around on the Internet since 1996 didn’t even own a computer back then.

5. Free downloads always cost something.

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.

I hope you will pardon my apparent absence for the last few days but the pressure of work has just kept us from so many things that we would much rather be doing. The work is still there to be done but we’ve hit one of those strange little lulls in a project that comes while others catch up to us.

Of course, right in the middle of all that work a major storm swept through the region and knocked the power out for over five hours. We were not impressed because it hit about 6pm and affected a wide area around where we live.

Fortunately we could continue working with our laptops and so the loss of power didn’t affect us too drastically. We even had the good fortune for the power to out at a point where we had both saved all the work we had been doing so we weren’t too badly affected by the blackout.

However, things could have been worse and the experience has just brought forward the purchase of several uninterrupted power supplies (UPS). A UPS is basically a battery back up for your computers and gives you ample time to save all your work and shut down the computer if a blackout strikes.

Little insurance policies like a UPS and the laptops are important for small business and we also found another useful task that a laptop can perform. Dining by the light of a laptop screen may not be all that romantic but at least you can see what you’re eating.

Unfortunately the cost of fuel is affecting small businesses wherever they might be located. Qually unfortunately there is no quick fix for the problem but there are survival strategies and you might find the suggestion you need right here

There are many small business people who are involved in online marketing. Of all the huge range of things a small business could be involved in online marketing would have to be one of the hardest and it is becoming harder and harder all the time.

The amount of competition that people who market online is just one of the factors involved here. There are many others and most of them are almost beyond the control of the small business online marketer.

So it’s no surprise that, when one well-known person in this part of the small business world becomes excited about a product and writes about in genuinely glowing terms, that a lot people will rush to jump on the bandwagon without taking time to read the fine print.

Of course, the fine print is more than just the fine print on the contract. The fine print also includes things like how the product will fit with what the small business is already doing and whether or not the new product is well established or still in beta mode.

Ultimately, if the product doesn’t work for you then if someone needs to be blamed for that failure the blame should start with you and not with the person who suggested the product in the first place.

Toni and I have been watching as a very genuine and responsible online marketer has been trashed by people who blindly rushed in to take advantage of something that was working for him.

Nobody forced them to follow his lead, no one held a gun to their head and made them take on the product he found that worked for him. Instead, they rushed in without understanding the fine print and some of them have not made the money that the expected to.

Instead of blaming themselves they’ve blamed him for the inability to make the product work for them. Right now they are making life hard for him but in a few days it will have all blown over as they rush off to follow some other great idea that probably won’t work for them either.

If you want to seriously make your small business work then don’t be a lemming - don’t rush from one good idea to the next till you are worn out. Take the time to read the fine print and see how the product will fit with your business and only then should you take some tentative steps to see if it will work for you.

If it doesn’t work and you are committed to the product them improvise adapt and over come instead of standing around crying and blaming someone else.