Small Business

What time do you wake up?

January 12, 2012 by Alan R Leave a Comment

Clock on an old wall I work a lot. I have a regular job and I am starting a business, Book Worm Laser & Design. Over the past few days I have begun to ask myself if all this work is worth the effort? How long am I going to work like this before I see some sort of payoff? Am I working all these hours for a reason?

What time do you wake up? In a recent blog post from Andy Traub, “Anything that motivates you to get up at 5am is healthy”, he discusses some of the reasons he wakes up early. I don’t get up quite that early, but I am usually up by 5:30a. Since I don’t get to bed until around 12:30a, I have been missing a lot of sleep (although I do sleep until 7:00a or so on the weekends, maybe a little later at times). Am I being productive?

When I wake up at 5:30a, I get ready and go to my normal job. We have a treadmill so I have been known to run on it for 15 – 30 minutes when I first get there. Otherwise, I get started with my business at around 6:15a. [Read more…]

I promise…

December 29, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

…to be a good person. I promise to do my job. I promise to operate my business in such a way that I would be happy for everyone in the world to know that I own or work for my business. I promise to do what I promised to do.

In business, how much do promises really matter? In a recent post (“I am here”), Seth Godin talks about how the world does not only judge a business by what it produces but how it acts and keeps it’s promises. It is getting increasingly important to keep your promises in business, just like it was long ago. Business is no longer only business; now it is business, personal, social, and so much else.

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My super-secret business plan (shhhhh)

November 9, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

I have a business plan. Very few people have ever seen it and it is effectively, super-secret. I worked on this plan for months and months, editing the financial forecasts, adding detail, investigating the competition. This business plan was the best I’d ever done (strangely enough, the only one I had ever done…) Then, life happened…..

Today, I was trying to catch up on some blog posts. I happen across this post by Seth Godin about having a plan. It was concise (as are most of the posts by Seth Godin) and thought provoking. It made me think of my own business plan and how it developed. Along the way to starting a business, I have learned that a business plan is a great resource. Everyone will tell you, with good cause, that you need a business plan. Business plans are the foundation upon which great businesses are built. What is better that starting with a solid foundation? What is better than having a business plan?

A mission.

I want my business and my life to have a mission. I don’t want to be derailed by a minor setback, major failure, or anything else in between. I want a mission. I want to change the world, even if the only part I change is my own little corner or the life of one person. I want to look back on the story of my life and know I have accomplished something important. I want everyone who looks at my life and my actions to know that I am fulfilling my mission. I need to have a mission.

What is your mission?

How are you accomplishing your mission?

Are you working hard enough at your mission for the world to see?

I have a mission……

(Name) tag, you’re it!

November 2, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

Wood Name Tag from Naag Tag

I know who I am. Not only that, I rarely if ever forget my own name. The problem is, try as I may, I can’t recall everyone’s name off the top of my head. Sure, maybe after five minutes of thinking, the name may pop in my head. What can we do? Well, you can wear a name tag.

I enjoy watching David Siteman Garland’s interviews at The Rise To The Top. He talks to some amazing guests and the information you glean from these interviews is great. One such interview was with Scott Ginsberg. Years ago, Scott made a choice that would change the direction of his life forever; he decided to wear a name tag everyday for the rest of his life. He even went so far as to get a name tag tattoo. What may have started as a quirky thing to do turned into part of a business that now supports him. So, what is important about a name tag? Should I be concerned with name tags if I own a business?

A big part of owning a business is having a professional image. The image you and your employees project to customers, prospective customers, and the general public can have an effect on profits. Would you hire a plumber in a three-piece suit? Would you hire a banker in short pants, flip flops, and a Hawaiian shirt? The image you project will often dictate the clients and customers that are attracted (or not repelled) by you, your employees, and your business. So, how does a name tag fit in?

First impressions are important. If you and your employees are dressed appropriately for the clients and customers that are in your target market, you have made a good first impression. Now, assuming that you introduce yourself to your customer, you are continuing to make a good first impression. What happens if the customer is bad with names, did not understand what you said, or was just not paying attention to the introduction? Name tags allow you and your employees to become more personal with the customer or client. Some clients or customers would feel more comfortable dealing with John rather than Mr Smith. By having a name tag, you lesson the worry of the client or customer in using he wrong name. Since name tags vary widely, what style should you choose?

Name tag from WoodenNameTags.com

Your first impression should be memorable. The client or customer should remember you above the competition. Your product or service may differentiate you from the competition, but how are you, as a sales person, being remarkable and memorable? Does a small, plastic, generic name tag sound remarkable or memorable? What if you interfaced with clients with a name tag from Wooden Name Tags? What if the only thing your customer or client remembers is how unique your name tag was? Wouldn’t you want to do everything you can to be memorable?

Many businesses try to be relevant and remembered. They believe they are being memorable by offering their logo on pens and other small trinkets but how often do those trinkets get thrown away because they are low quality or not relevant to the customer or client? A well designed, unique, creative name tag is memorable, cost effective (able to use it over and over), and is yet another way to make you and your business remarkable. Remarkable is what gets remembered. Remarkable is what differentiates the common from the extraordinary. Being remarkable drives business, drives profits, and drives growth.

How are you being remarkable in your life and business?

What can you do to your personal or professional image to be remarkable?

How can a simple name tag make you remarkable?

What’s my (business) name again?

October 26, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

How important is a business name? Does it really matter? How about a made up name like Squidoo (not really original; there was already a fishing lure named squidoo if I recall, but the site was not named after the lure) or misspelling like Google (a googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros…). How about a descriptive name like Quality Products or a name trying to get a good yellow page placement, AAA Towing? Does it really matter?

Business names are important but in more ways than you might think. You want your business name to tell what the business does (The Trophy Shop) or you may want it to be unique, but there are some important guidelines to keep in mind:

Try to choose a name that has some connection with your personality. For example, if you don’t like sports, don’t name your company “The Sports Shop” but choose something you like and can build a brand around.
Be careful of generic names such as “Quality Service” or something like that. I have always heard that if you are the boss, and you have to tell everyone that you are the boss, you really aren’t the boss. Same thing applies; if I have to tell the world I sell quality products, there may not be a lot of truth in that. Show people, don’t tell them.
The domain needs to be available. The more people that spend their lives online, the more important your business name matches your URL. You don’t want your business name to be one thing and your web address something completely different. The easier you make it for potential customers to find you the better.
When choosing a URL (and thus, a business name), pay attention to the combinations of letters, not just the words, in the web address. For example, when capitalized and spaced, Kids Exchange is fine but when used as a URL, http://kidsexchange.net/ is what you get (if you don’t see it, look at the first word being kid…) There are others like this one, just make sure your business is not one of them
The name should be different from your competition. If you are not differentiating your business from the competition, you are just noise to the consumer. Be remarkable and start with the business name

Although not all inclusive, these guidelines should help along the way. There are business naming companies and services that you can pay to help you, you can get friends and family to give you their suggestions, but in the end, the name of your business has to mean something to you. It needs to reflect your personality. So, what are you going to name your business?