Small Business Blog

by Tiana Nelson, MBA, CMA, CFM

In many cases when you mention accounting or bookkeeping to small businesses, the first topic they discuss are tax related issues.  Are taxes the only reason for small businesses to keep their books in order?  Is finding out how your business is doing at the end of the year really in your company’s best interest?  This turns out to be one of the big mistakes small businesses make that in some cases causes serious problems.

If the truth were to be known, taxes are only a small reason why small businesses need to worry about accounting.  It is actually in small businesses’ best interest to use the accounting information in order to determine how they are doing financially on a regular basis.  What products or services are driving profit?   What products and services are hindering the company financials?  How is the business doing compared to last year or last month?  All of these questions and more can be answered with properly done accounting and financial analysis.

by John Mehrmann,
co-author of The Trusted Advocate

Are you harnessing the power of gossip, communities, and social networking to promote your brand? Whether your brand is a product, a service, or yourself, this is the era of connectivity and belonging. The Internet has become a powerful medium for connecting people with more than information access. It is creating communities and relationships by making it easier to find individuals with similar interests and preferences. Tapping into this communication is the new face of marketing, and it has a new set of rules to go along with it.

In the current challenging economic environment, many small businesses are looking at ways to improve their chances of survival.  Other small business owners believe that this is a perfect time to position themselves for growth, and they are right.  What are some of the techniques that small businesses can use to not only survive, but thrive?

We believe the small business owners can learn from their large corporate counterparts that have managed to become lean and nimble by outsourcing.  For the clarity sake, we are not referring to the off-shoring or outsourcing to other countries.  What we mean by outsourcing is finding local or national providers that are highly specialized in a specific field and letting them help you with certain functions of your business while allowing you to save time and money by letting you focus on your main business.

by Stephanie Speisman

Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another.

1. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.

2. Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetings so that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.

3. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.

4. Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.

5. Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.

6. Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.

7. Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.

8. Be able to articulate what you are looking for and how others may help you. Too often people in conversations ask, "How may I help you?" and no immediate answer comes to mind.

9. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

10. Call those you meet who may benefit from what you do and vice versa. Express that you enjoyed meeting them, and ask if you could get together and share ideas.

Stephanie Speisman is a Success Coach who coaches groups and individuals in business networking skills based on her booklet "99 Tips for Successful Business Networking." Contact info: (301)469-8015, successcoach@erols.com, www.strategiesforchange.com.