Tips and suggestions on how to run the small business you want abound all across the Web. You just have to know where to find them. We’ve collected some tips from the most authoritative sources and some from the thriving small business community on BizSugar, one of our sister sites, to compile a list of links that we hope will help transform your business and your life.
Getting Started
Always be inspired and inspiring. When she was just 11 years old, a school assignment lead to an interview with her entrepreneurial grandfather that changed Frederique Murphy’s life forever. She has found that the key to the business she wants the most is to help others find what they are seeking as well. Do you know what your ideal business will look like? BizSugar Blog
Understand your business value. Small business sales have been on the increase of late but whether you plan on selling or being around for the long hall the same remains true. Understanding what creates the real value in your business is critical. See your business as others do not through your own emotional attachment and you will go far. You’re the Boss
Building Connections
Understand your customers intimately. A Website catering to coffee connoisseurs has created a great opportunity for specialty roasters to connect directly with a customer base that shares their obsession. Understanding the kind of customer you serve is critical to success and requires seeking them out first. Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Get your Web strategy nailed down. Chances are no matter what kind of small business you run these days, the Internet will part of it. The means for getting your Website noticed by your customers is always changing. BizSugar “Contributor of the Week” Steve Chou gives you some pointers on this changing world. MyWifeQuitHerJob.com
Managing Expectations
Keep your employees engaged. A recent contest promoted partially on the BizSugar blog looked at the options available for keeping employees engaged and offered small business owners the opportunity to compete against one another by submitting their own ideas about how to keep employees focused. BizSugar Blog
Understand a customer’s pain. Small businesses will need to work harder for every dollar in the aftermath of the great recession as consumers become more cautious about spending decisions. Have you noticed a difference in the way customers evaluate spending? How can understanding their needs yield better results? Open Forum
Branding & Building
Figure out your branding strategy. This is more than simply a logo and a catch phrase, says consultant Isabelle Mercier. In her video interview with Jonathan Kay of Grasshopper Media, Mercier asks about the key to creating a brand that will make your business stand out from all others in a meaningful way. Leap TV
Get your finances under control. Growth has become a huge challenge to small businesses, principally because of the need for cash flow and lack of easy access to small business lending. One option available is the use of “commercial paper” to lower the cost of borrowing. Open Forum
Odds & Ends
Grow your business with technology. This goes beyond the Web, of course, but in this post Ramon Ray suggests four ways to put technology to use taking your company to the next level. If you’ve wanted to get more into the use of technology in your business, this post is a great way to get started. smallbiz technology
Improve your delegation skills. You’ve heard the expression, of course. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Running a great small business may require just the opposite sentiment. Unless you are a solopreneur, you certainly have employees or contractors working with you. Refusing to delegate will hurt your business by distracting you from other key projects. Planning Startups Stories
Thank you for including me in that piece.
It was such a pleasure to share that memory 😉 As an inspirational business speaker, I truly believe that we have to be inspired to be inspiring, and it is a magic loop! I am inspired, I inspire my audience, and my audience are inspired and then, they inspire their audience, and etc!!!
So, your intro starting by “Always be inspired and inspiring” is a fantastic start.
I always tell my clients to connect, ideally daily, with their why; it brings you clarity, focus, drive, passion, reason, cause, motive and direction!
Small businesses have many advantages that larger businesses don’t. They can identify their goals for the business and the needs of their customers and act more quickly than larger, more bureaucratic, businesses.
Interesting point about growing business technology and in some ways also re-assuring. As part of our growth strategy a lot of the profit has been used to invest in better technology which makes everything easier for myself and my clients, something that has made my business able to improve service. However with technology comes the toys accusation, but everything bought has been a big boost to my business. So now I am able to concentrate my focus purely on growth, which has happened slowly so far due to getting the infrastructure of the business right.
But reading this has been nice because those family members who only see the gadgets and software and not what these items do to benefit the business tend to think it a waste of money without seeing the bigger picture, and if you are on your own in business, you do tend to ask yourself if they are right. As a business web designer it is important to make sure that the software is right and when running a business at first on your own, the technology meant I have been able to maintain communications and organise things and even get some sleep at night.