Investing in Relationships is Investing in Your Business

May 7, 2013 by Leave a comment

When it rains, it pours and the economy has put a hard hit on small businesses in recent years.  Fortunately, starting and maintaining a successful business is possible in almost any economy.  By investing into relationships, you are sure to see a strengthening of your company and of your brand.

Customer Relations

Your customers are some of the most important relationships a company could have; without them, your business couldn’t survive.   Take the time to communicate with each customer to ensure that they are happy and fully satisfied.  When they understand that you care about their individual case, they will feel as if they are respected and cared for; leaving them feeling as if their investment in your company has done more than just produced a product.

Happy customers will quickly become brand advocates; this is your best advertising attainable.

Thank you handshake

Employee Relations

An equally important type of relationship is a business owner (or boss’s) relationship with their employees. It is not only important to develop brand advocacy within your customers but also within your employees. These are the folks who will be making day to day decisions how they will treat customers, how hard they will work and how they will handle working situations.

If you respect your employees and treat them well, you are likely to harness a team of employees who respect you and your business.  There is no better company and brand assurance as when employees love and appreciate their jobs.

Be Transparent

Honesty is always the best policy.  By owning your mistakes and making them a positive learning situation, your customers and employees will feel confident that they will be able to trust you and your company.  In fact, even in bad situations, you can create brand advocates by acknowledging the issue, respectfully responding and stating how you plan to make it right.

Concurrently, when your business has reached success it is good to publish that information and share in the joy with your employees, their families and your brand advocates (company friends).  Success is appreciated when it is humble and grateful success.

Always remember, being secretive sends a caution signal to all of those who are associated with your company.  Also keep in mind that wisdom of when to share and what to share must be coupled with transparency.

Seek Council

Just because you own a business does not mean you are expected to be an expert in all areas.  Being able to identify when you need help is of great worth.  Finding professionals you can trust when it comes to the tough stuff, like property laws, transactions, taxes and accounting, will be extremely valuable partnerships.  Coincidentally, by delegating those tasks to the more efficient party to handle, you will then have more of your own bandwidth to focus on those items that you do specialize in.

Along with other best business practices, investing in your business’s relationships is one of the best ways to ensure that those involved in your business have your best interest at heart.  Happy employees and happy customers will give more of their time and effort to your cause as well as feel comfortable promoting your product within their networks.  Also, having professionals whom you can trust will help keep many important aspects of running a successful business organized and legal.

 

This article was written specifically for Innovations in Piping Systems by Smith Gilliam Williams & Miles, Atlanta Attorneys who have been serving their clients in areas such as: Business Law, Taxation Law, Real Estate Law and many other Areas of Practice since 1928.

Filed under Business, Economics, Entrepreneur, Human Resources, Sales and Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Industry Resource Pipeline

May 3, 2013 by Leave a comment

For the latest market and finance news that impact PVF, Energy, Chemical, Food and Water industries you can check out our new page here or go directly to the news feed here.

Week18

This weekly news feed will provide insightful information on the economic and market landscapes that impact our industries from the most trusted sources. Find all the information that can allow you to make the most informed business decisions.

 

Filed under Biofuels, Business, Coal, Economics, Energy, Entrepreneur, Interesting Reading, Manufacturing, Natural Gas, Oil and Gas, Piping Products, Sales and Marketing, Social Media, Stainless Steel, Wind Tagged with , , , , ,

Why Your Business Isn’t Making You Rich

April 25, 2013 by Leave a comment

Wondering why you haven’t made your millions yet? If you’re like most people, you greatly aspire to be wealthy and may have even implemented a few strategies to try and make your business successful in order to achieve your financial dreams. But, much to your dismay, you still aren’t getting as rich as you had hoped.

Let’s look at some of the main reasons why your business isn’t making you rich and what you can do about it.

man-stressed

You’re Credit Card Happy

The first reason you may not be raking in the money is if you’re getting a little too credit card happy with your spending. Remember, you are going to be paying interest on anything you can’t buy outright, so really ask yourself before you go ahead and make that purchase.

It’s easy for credit card bills to mount up as it can often feel like ‘free money’.

Do you really need it? If not, it’s best to pass.

You’re Getting Zero Interest

Another problem for many people is that they get such little interest on their savings that it’s impossible to see it grow.

Start taking more precedence over your financial affairs. Sit down with a planner and see how you might be able to invest your savings more wisely to get a higher return.

Are you putting your savings in the best account for you? Could moving your savings to a higher interest account be an option?

You Haven’t Secured Financing

Business growth is crucial if you want to see your bank balance grow! Be sure you have an action plan on areas of growth and how to fund this growth.

If you haven’t secured finance, you may not have the resources to further expand your business in order to get growth and development happening. A lack of working capital is one of the biggest reasons a business fails to grow and turn a higher profit.

You Aren’t Keeping A Budget

If you aren’t budgeting regularly, you’re making a big mistake that could most definitely keep you from seeing the financial gains you’re looking for.

Track everything. It’s the only way to know where your money is going and keep closer tabs over your financial affairs.

This is easier than ever, with apps and software readily available to help you track your spending and control your budget – you needn’t be a financial whiz to take control of your business finances.

You Don’t Have A Plan

Along with having a good budget, you also need to have a good game plan. Make sure that you aren’t just going through the motions of day to day life.

Come up with a plan and then execute it. If you don’t have a clear plan of action, your chances of going forward and seeing success with your financial affairs will be slim to none.

Frequently review your plan to make sure you’re on track. If you’re not,  why not? What can you do to change this?

You Don’t Learn From Mistakes

Finally, the last thing that keeps many business owners low on cash is the fact that they aren’t learning from their mistakes.

Make sure that if you do suffer a set-back, you take a look at what caused this set back and what you can do better next time around.

You either win or you lose. If you lose, you’re going to repeat it over and over again until you learn. Learn the first time around so that this lesson is taught to you over and over again.

Filed under Business, Economics, Entrepreneur Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 5 Money Saving Tips For Small Businesses

April 21, 2013 by Leave a comment

When running a small business, it is important to take enough measures when it comes to saving money. The publicised fact that we are in an extreme recession has made people all over the country tighten their belts and it is one of the most difficult times to be in charge of a business. While individuals can simply avoid unnecessary expenditure, as an owner of a business, this is a difficult task to carry out. Here are some of the best ways you can save money and your business.

Hand

1.       One of the best ways to decrease your costs is by limiting your energy usage. While this may not be avoidable, there are little things you can do which will make a huge difference when it comes to paying your bills at the end of the month. Turning off lights in unused areas is probably the most common way to save money on your next bill, while switching your light bulbs will allow for a bigger saving in the long term. LED light bulbs, while expensive to buy outright will save you considerable amounts and are becoming a lot more popular in the business sector and for homeowners.

2.       Marketing your business is the one way you can get your name out there and become well known. While it may seem like you need a lot of extra spending money to market your business, this isn’t necessarily the case and there are plenty of inexpensive ways of marketing. Networking is a popular option and networking meetings are available abundantly all over the country, allowing you to get the company name out there and hand out your business cards.

3.       Research. In some cases, you may be spending too much money when it comes to necessary expenditure. While a phone is essential for your businesses calls, it is likely you are paying more for what you actually need and may be able to find a cheaper tariff elsewhere. Also, research alternative energy providers as the same may apply.

4.       Controlling your finance is essential in order to keep your business afloat and if you can’t manage your finance you won’t be able to grow your business, even if the product you are selling is great quality. This makes it almost impossible to make your business worthwhile. One of the easiest ways to control your finances is to keep track of your expenditure and the income for your business. It is also worthwhile to seek financial advise from your bank or an accountant in order to keep your money manageable.

5.       Avoid forking out money unnecessarily. What some may think is important for their business, may not be and you could just be wasting your money when it could be spent elsewhere. Office premises are one of the biggest investments you will probably make as a business owner and as much as you need to give off a professional image, some rented offices may charge you a fortune for not a lot. Make sure you take your time and are sure you have the best deal.

Filed under Business, Economics, Entrepreneur Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

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