Great Ideas for your Small Business: Work the Phones or Walk the Floor Elaine petrocelli, co-owner of book Passage in Corte Madera, California, was named bookseller of the year in 1997 by Publishers Weekly. She’s done many things to deserve the honor, including battling nearby chain stores head-on and continually emphasizing customer service. Book Passage … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Do Something about Your Stress Level The entrepreneurial lifestyle is STRESSFUL. And, just as you manage your time, you need to learn how to manage stress. It’s important to your personal health, and to the health of your business, to maintain high energy and high spirits. Dr. Mark Goulston, … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Meet Clients in Public Places The greatest thing about working at home is that by keeping your expenses low, you can spend more money on high-tech, high-productivity office equipment, travel, and entertainment. But of course there are some drawbacks to this arrangement. Most home offices lack an appropriate space … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Never Work with Anyone Who Gives You a Headache or a Stomachache If i had a motto, this would be it. Life is too short to work with people who make you miserable. This isn’t emotional hogwash. You can’t do your best work when you hate the person managing … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Make Your Meetings More Productive In this high-tech era, it’s a bit surprising to learn that face-to-face meetings are still the most popular form of business communication. In fact, 44 percent of executives surveyed by Office Team, an office staffing service, said they preferred to meet with people in … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Overcome a Fear of Public Speaking many entrepreneurs have to be the company spokesperson, whether they like it or not. While public speaking can be terrifying, knowing how to make a clear, concise presentation can mean the difference between financial success and failure for many small firms. You might … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Move Your Business to an Incubator if you think incubators are just for chicks, think again. Incubators offer entrepreneurs orchestrated business support, including mentoring, financing programs, and a mix of compatible neighbors. There are about 900 business incubators in forty-eight states, according to Dinah Adkins, executive director of the … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Create an Informal Advisory Board the largest companies in the world have all sorts of advisory boards, but entrepreneurs are often reluctant to ask outsiders for help. An advisory board made up of industry leaders, deep thinkers, cutting-edge colleagues, and experts can steer you and your company through the … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Tell the Truth—It’s Critical this idea may seem obvious, but telling the truth is critical to business success. Being truthful helps hone your vision for the company. While you may be tempted to hype sales figures or inflate projections to make yourself feel better, don’t. These little untruths will … Read more
Great Ideas for your Small Business: Solicit a Quick “Yes” or “No” through the years, i’ve learned that a quick and honest “no” is as important as a “yes” in many, many business situations. While we all love to sign on a new client or make a huge sale, too much time is wasted in … Read more
