What stands as the infrastructure of your business? If you are a solo-preneur, a home-based business owner or even just a small business with a partner, then the infrastructure isn't an organizational structure, rather it's how you do your business. Something holds your business together and keeps it going. I posit that one of the underlying structures for tiny businesses is … [Read more...]
Being in Business is Risky Business
Having a business of your own is a bit like being a creative writer. A creative writer loves to ask and answer the question: what would happen if....? What would happen if: the title character were a woman instead of a man the title character were 75 years old and slightly deaf the title character had a side-kick who was independently wealthy all the action took … [Read more...]
Think long-term solidity rather than short-term success
There is no denying that this past year of 2009 has been tough economically for nearly everyone. In the U.S., 35 states were reported to have an unemployment rate of over 5% as reported for October on CNNMoney. That is a lot of people without jobs and income. My home state of California currently has an unemployment rate of 12.3% according to today's CNNMoney report - even … [Read more...]
The Work that Women Choose to Do
There was a time in my life when the work I did was work I could get...sometimes survival mode dictates our direction. I've worked as a waitress, a receptionist and file clerk to earn a paycheck. Those were not choices, those were positions available. And I almost didn't get those because I was "over qualified." In fact my first waitressing job I very nearly didn't get … [Read more...]
Is Speed of Service an Added Value?
Customer service sometimes means how we approach our business...how we "do" our business. For our businesses to be profitable, we need customers and clients so we devote much time and attention to promotion and advertising. Another big percentage of our business is our interaction with our customers and clients in the buying and selling or product and service interface. A … [Read more...]
It’s important to be your own best customer
If you have a business, are involved in commerce in any way, you have customers. Customers are the people who pay money for the products or services or combination of products and services that your business offers. [Even if you are involved in a barter-type commerce, each side of a barter or trade is the other's customer.] This is not news to any of us with small or … [Read more...]
3 Websites you already know about
Or you might not...I don't want to be presumptuous. I love discovering new-to-me things. When I received my laptop as a Valentine's Day gift from my husband a few years ago, it virtually opened up the world. My local world is somewhat isolated by current necessities and I felt cutoff and frustrated. I had tried starting one little business after the other, but when you … [Read more...]
Business Stalled? A Killer Question
Halloween is a scary time of year. Ghosts, goblins, vampires and other creatures of the night stroll around making ugly faces and uttering growls and, like my dad used to do, they slap their shoe on the coffee table when you don't expect it scaring the bejezzus out of you. Actually it was pretty funny because we kids could always see it coming and mom never could and she … [Read more...]
An observation about sales staff
I had lunch one time at a popular eatery in a nearby town. It was a place where on weekends, families and couples would have brunch or dinner; but on a weekday at lunch time, it was usually business people meeting. On this particular day the restaurant was very crowded and I was quite lucky to get a table. My little table-for-two was positioned between two larger tables. … [Read more...]
How to attack the business doldrums
It's nearly mid-October and we've all been shuffling along in our various business activities for 3/4 of the year. The economy has been rough and the need to stay competitive, innovative and fresh has never been stronger or more important. Staying competitive depends, in part, on being able to think (a) one step ahead, (b) outside the box and (c) unpredictably. But that's not … [Read more...]