Whizzer's Place

The United States doesn’t manufacture much anymore. We’ve all read in history about people like Henry Ford and his assembly line and only a few decades ago we remember that sprawling facilities that kept entire towns employed but those days are quickly fading.

Today, only 10 percent of all jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs. That’s down from 20 percent just thirty years ago. This is a problem that’s hard to fix.

Take the story of Grant Burns. He owns a business that manufactures Skateboard decks based in Southern California. In 2004, he took his manufacturing facilities across the border to Tijuana, Mexico to better compete with China. Now, what used to cost $14 in the United States costs $4.50 to manufacture in Mexico.

Another small business owner, Steven Gass, owns a company along with other partners who manufactures safety equipment for chainsaws. His company wanted to source the parts for their device from the United States but there was no U.S. based company that could do that cost effectively. They went to Taiwan and found a facility that would manufacture and assemble the products at prices that made American companies not an option. Continue Reading »

epicor

Outsourcing has often been seen as an option for large companies who want to make savings in times of financial disarray. Despite this, there is a growing trend for smaller business to outsource but for entirely different reasons. When a small business needs certain specialties or skills that it cannot afford on a permanent in-house basis, outsourcing can be the answer.

One of the more popular options for SME’s (small to medium enterprises) is outsourcing the management of an ERP system. This post looks to explore exactly what this means and what the benefits of doing this are.

What is ERP?

ERP systems streamline internal, and sometimes external, communication within a business by having every department operate from a common system with a shared database. This means that information is easily accessed at all levels of a business by whoever needs it. Each department has its own customizable module with which to access the database so sensitive information, such as customer bank details, can still be kept department specific. Continue Reading »

unrealbusinesssolutions.com

Have you ever heard the saying, “when you love what you do for a living, it’s never work?” Most people who love their job might find that overly optimistic but the general premise is true. Many Americans are stuck in a job they don’t like and don’t have a passion for.

They do it because it earns them a paycheck but they often spend portions of their day dreaming about what it would be like to do something else. We all have a dream job. Some of us are blessed with the privilege to go to that job every day but if you’re doing something you don’t enjoy, start down the path of changing that. It’s not as hard as you think.

What’s your hobby? When you leave work, there’s probably something that you enjoy. Reading, biking, building, designing—what is your hobby? Your hobby could become a business in a lot shorter of a time period than you think. Continue Reading »

income-books.com

As any manager or business owner is aware, the most important element of business if the customer. The first thing a bank will ask you before giving you a business loan is who your customer is and the simple reason for this is that this is where your profits come from. If you do not have a customer base then you do not have a business. So what do you do with your start up business that doesn’t have customers yet? The answer is to get customers and this is how to go about it.

Create a plan

A marketing plan is the first thing that you need to develop. It will provide you with a structure to follow in order to draw customers in. You will need to develop your internet marketing strategies in line with your promotions and offers so that you can push out a collective message to potential customers.

Make a commitment

Set yourself a target number of returning customers and keep pushing until you meet that target. You will have to make a serious commitment to building your customer base and it will take an awful lot of friendliness. Make sure that you meet and talk to all customers, personally hand them your business card and do everything in your ability to make them comfortable and satisfied. The actual work will seem easy compared to this at the end of each day. Continue Reading »

Antje Verena

Sure, you could wait until the Spring but it’s a new year and what better time to do a little cleanup and cleanout of your business. Maybe you’re different than other business owners but over the course of the year, things get out of place and piled up. Without realizing it, you might have lost some of your efficiency that you once had. Here are a few places to start the cleanout.

Your Office

Most of us live in our offices more than we live in our homes. The daily flow of business causes papers to be pulled and not refilled, refilled incorrectly, important books placed in less than ideal places, and numerous “organized” stacks which, in reality, have no organizational value. February is the month of Valentine’s Day so give your office the gift of a good cleanout. Reorganize your files and get everything back to where it belongs. Continue Reading »

Morpurgo.nl

Twitter is chock-full of good advice for budding small businesses if you know where to look. Amidst all of the celebrity gossip, personal messages and marketing campaigns, there are Twitter accounts out there that are aimed at helping you get the most beneficial information for your small business. Finding the right accounts to follow is the key, and lucky for you here they all are in one place:

1.     @EntMagazine

This twitter account, which is the official account for Entrepreneur magazine, never disappoints as they tweet out sound advice for small businesses day in and day out. Each tweet is helpful and intelligent, and most provide a link to something on their magazine’s website or will direct you to another thought-provoking article.

2.     @SmallBizTrends Continue Reading »

Nik Hewitt

Hoping to put your entrepreneurial dreams in to action this year? Going from idea to a real business is the dream of many but working through all of the problems that come with opening the doors to a business can be daunting and intimidating. If you have no idea where to start, we can help.

Refine Your Idea

Every business starts with a great idea. There’s a lot of competition out there so a good idea isn’t going to work. Once you have an idea, take it to the masses and get some feedback. Ask your Facebook friends to take an anonymous poll where you ask questions to gauge their interest in the idea. Supplement that with people who don’t know you by asking your friends to pass it along to somebody else.

If you get unfavorable feedback, refine your idea or start from scratch. If this informal poll doesn’t return positive results, there are many existing business models that fit your skillset and interests. Continue Reading »

Daniel Chou

As businesses struggle to cope with another downturn in the world economy, they are seeking further cost-cutting measures. Indeed, in an environment of austerity, those cost-cutting measures often involve reducing the workforce, asking employees to reduce hours or reducing budgets.

However, there are measures that businesses can implement, especially in the hard-hit retail sector, which can not only cut costs, but can add to the bottom line. Workforce Management, for example, is a branch of Time & Attendance that is well understood by the larger retailers, but not always fully leveraged.

What is Workforce Management?

Workforce Management is the practice of optimising the deployment of staff who work in shift patterns, and is commonly used in retail, construction and manufacturing industries, although retail banks are among other industries who have started to see the benefit. Continue Reading »

GlitchNYC.com

We’ve all heard that in business there’s no room for emotions but one important economic survey aims to capture a nationwide snapshot of how small business owners feel about the economy. Each month the Small Business Authority Market Sentiment Survey surveys 1,000 small business owners asking them questions gauging their sense of economic optimism going forward. The December survey returned some results that were even more optimistic than expected.

The survey found that 55 percent of small business owners believed that 2012 would be better than 2011 and 64 percent believe that their end of year figures would be better than they once believed.

In another data point, small business owners were asked how they plan to grow their business going forward. 68 percent believed that selling more was a better strategy than cutting costs. This, according to pollsters, indicates that small business owners feel more comfortable relying on consumers for growth instead of trying to run as lean as possible. Continue Reading »

HouseOfHoy.com

You sell a product or service. Whatever it is. There are two reasons a customer typically buys: 1) You are the cheapest and comparable, 2) You are the best. It initially takes a lot of work to be the best. Your product may take longer in research and development. You may have to work harder to get information about your customer. You may have to bend over backwards for your customer. If you work hard enough at the beginning though, it quickly becomes much easier.

The question is: Are you willing to be the best? Are you willing to put in the extra work and go the extra mile? It can be extremely hard on you personally and hard on your family to be outstanding. You need to let everyone know that if you are going to do your business venture, you are going to have to put your whole heart into it. It may be your life for the next year or two, or decade. This is going to have to be a full commitment.

To let you know, customers seek out outstanding businesses. They are willing to spend more for great service. They will beat a path to your door if you have the best mousetrap. If you have everything they want, you will have a problem with exponential growth not lack of business. And honestly, I don’t care if the economy is great or in the dumps, outstanding companies sell. And outstanding companies work hard to constantly improve. Continue Reading »