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Field kit for entrepreneurs e book
1.
FIELD KIT
FOR
ENTREPRENEURS
Compilation of Tried and Tested Tricks for
Intrepid Business Venturers
(2012 Edition)
2.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................................2
FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................4
The Business Conceptualization Process ...................................................................................6
Choosing a Right Business Name ...............................................................................................7
Branding: Laying the Foundation of a New Business .................................................................8
Essentials of Starting an Online Business...................................................................................9
Top 4 Loan Grant Tactics..........................................................................................................10
How to Set Up Your Website ...................................................................................................12
Importance of Creating a Corporate Business Profile..............................................................15
Pitfalls Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid ................................................................................16
Using Social Media to Boost Sales............................................................................................18
Taking Advantage of the Best e‐Commerce Tools ...................................................................19
4 Ways to Improve Your Website Ranking...............................................................................20
Top 5 Apps for Your Business...................................................................................................22
How to Make Your Brand Matter in Social Media ...................................................................24
How to Keep Seasonal Businesses Afloat.................................................................................25
How to Revive an Ailing Business.............................................................................................26
Top Social Media Blunders to Avoid ........................................................................................27
How to Quickly Gain Traction in the Sales Front......................................................................29
Best 5 Online Lead Generation Techniques .............................................................................30
Make Online Education Work for You......................................................................................32
How to Make Financial Forecasts for Your Business................................................................34
4 Winning Improvements for Your Collections Department ...................................................36
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 2
4.
FOREWORD
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
The world going global is the perfect reason why creative and business‐minded
people should consider becoming entrepreneurs. The possibilities and market
niches are endless and the tools for starting up a business are easily accessible via
the Internet. If you are contemplating on being one yourself, here are some
practical tips you should bear in mind if you're bent on treading the straight and
narrow path of entrepreneurship.
1. If you have a day job, wait for the right moment to quit. It wouldn't do
you good to let go of a steady source of income if the business you are
envisioning is yet to be financially stable.
2. Never wait for approval before building something you are really
passionate about. Just build it and build it with love.
3. Determine the best market niche to service. In all likelihood, wallowing
in a crowded pool of providers will sap your energy without reining in
the returns you are hoping for.
4. Establish a strong online presence. Never scrimp on good website
design, optimization, and social media integration. These will help your
business in very tangible ways.
5. When you already have a product or service, always evolve or diversify
what you offer in order to improve your value to your target customers.
6. Hire good people who are competent enough that you're willing to work
for them.
7. Demand excellence from your staff, and more importantly, from
yourself.
8. Socialize and build strong networks.
9. Connect meaningfully with your customers.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 4
5. 10. Never quit being an entrepreneur. Creativity, energy and motivation are
core values that differ in intensity among successful entrepreneurs.
However, they all have a strong repugnance to the word "quit."
Entrepreneurs are the main drivers of global progress. They represent the
intersection of dreamers and people of action. They innovate, introduce products
and services, generate jobs, and make the world a much interesting place to live in.
If you are one, it wouldn't hurt to consider the foregoing tips.
Neither would it hurt to read the rest of this eBook. Much of the bits of wisdom that
made their way here were adapted from the experiences and personal insights of
successful people in the field.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 5
6. The Business Conceptualization Process
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Without human creativity and imagination, great ideas, technologies, and
inventions that transform lives will not be possible. Profitable businesses are no
exception. The conceptualization processes that help make new technological
marvels work are the same processes that allow innovative ideas to become global
businesses. After all, just about any thing of worth starts as an idea.
Effective business conceptualizations entail a lot of brainstorming and planning. It
also involves drawing up creative solutions to specific problems encountered by
customers. Lastly, the resources
required to make the business idea work should also be established, with the main
goal of acquiring these resources communicated clearly.
To leverage the business conceptualization process, the key people involved should
own the process and gradually form a consensus about the business idea. To do
this, the key people‐‐who can be a single entrepreneur or a small group of business
partners‐‐should establish and agree among themselves what the business idea
stands for (its core value and unique selling proposition) and for which purposes or
goals it is being operated (its vision and mission). Strongly committing to the
fundamental aspects of a business idea will provide the strong foundation
necessary to explore and establish other important aspects of a business‐‐such as
funding, resource management, daily operations and staffing.
Another important element of the business conceptualization process is the
business model, or how a business generates profit for the people who run and
work for it as well as for the investors who provide funds for its inception and
subsequent expansion. Conservative simulations should provide an objective
background on how the business can deliver value to all stakeholders
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 6
7. Choosing a Right Business Name
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Business names can make or break a fledgling company. This is why choosing the
perfect business name for your start up is very important. While truly an enjoyable
and exciting process, choosing your business name should result to a final output
that conveys the core values of your business in a way that favorably engages your
target market. Remember that for new companies, it is the business name from
which potential customers first assess whether a company has what it takes to
meet their product or service requirements. Hence, choosing one that has a positive
connotation and generates the right impression is critical.
Establishing a business name that is aligned with your business strategy can be
rewarding in the long term. After all, your business name will form the basis of your
brand/s and all the product lines you will be developing in the future. A good
business name is one that is both memorable and unique to your target market.
Adopting only one trait will erode your brand, one way or another.
A good business name should also have some aspect that will allow your potential
customers to make easy visualizations. Think of Apple, Facebook and Puma. If
creating easy visualizations is challenging for the business name you are
considering, remember to employ the best artists to conceptualize your logo. Think
of Google, Adidas, and Lacoste. While it is good to dream that your business will
eventually attain the global status of these mega‐brands, it is a safe bet to use
descriptive names that tell a lot about what your business is. For example, naming
your taxi company "Griffin Ride" may not mean much at first to most people.
Naming it Max's Taxis is better.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 7
8. Branding: Laying the Foundation of a New Business
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Branding is one of the most critical aspects of any business. For one thing, a brand
sets your business apart from other entities that offer similar/identical products or
services. Brands tell consumers whether your product or service is reliable, whether
it's easy to use, or whether it demands quite a bit from your customer's budget.
Remember that your brand should convey a unique value to your target audience
and that this value (or set of values) should be consistently reflected in your brand
name, logo, tagline, key phrases, and your particular mode of providing service.
Any company or entrepreneur that conducts successful branding campaigns is sure
to reap not only tangible but also lasting rewards eventually. There are a few
essential factors that you need to consider if you are planning on establishing a
brand for your business. One is to accurately identify your target market.
Remember that each product or service should have a unique set of features that
cater to a specific group of consumers. Once you have established which of these
groups is the segment you will profitably enjoy serving, then you should start
aligning your brand in a way that will make it resonate with the needs, preferences,
and ideals of this niche market.
The next step is to adopt a message that will strongly appeal to your market, using
language that instinctively pique their interest, compelling them towards a deeper
engagement with your products or services. Recall some of the greatest brand
messages that have been conceptualized: Just do it (Nike), A diamond is forever (De
Beers), Think small (Volkswagen), Impossible is nothing (Adidas), and Think
Different (Apple). You should then conduct different marketing campaigns that
consistently promote the core values of your brand. Finally, getting campaign
feedbacks and establishing accurate analyses and conclusions from these feedbacks
should help you hone your brand to truly capture your audience.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 8
9. Essentials of Starting an Online Business
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
There are a lot of online businesses that have been sprouting lately. Not all have
been successful, unfortunately. Many might have been ambitious and promising
initially but still fell by the wayside. If you are keen on starting your own online
business, then it's critical that you avoid the conceptualization or operating
mistakes failed online businesses made that caused them to eventually fold up.
Alternatively, knowing the winning formula of successful online businesses and
applying these to your own enterprise would do wonders. That said, the first advice
that any successful entrepreneur will tell you is that for an entrepreneur to succeed,
his or her business must be closely related to an enduring passion. Making a
business out of something you are passionate about is priceless and has the
potential of changing the game or introducing a truly remarkable innovation.
Another useful insight from veteran entrepreneurs is to focus on attaining carefully
established objectives, not just on mechanically completing various tasks. The latter
is a mindset characteristic of employees, the former of entrepreneurs. Make things
happen not merely by diligently fulfilling a job but by reaching goals that you have
set yourself.
Establish a niche by identifying customer needs or wants that are underserviced or
by providing clever solutions to problems that need to be solved. Focus your
energies on providing services or products that are yet to be saturated instead of
entering a playing field where there is just too much competition. Finally, you
should evolve your online business based on changing market conditions or
customer preferences.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 9
10. Top 4 Loan Grant Tactics
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
For most businesses‐‐both big and small‐‐securing loans can be a major growth or
operational aspect. However, not all business loan applications get approved by
lending institutions. This is because while banks are just too happy to release
business loans (they earn a lot from loans after all), doing so for entities with very
low credit rating is simply impossible. In bank rationale, lending to entities with very
risky credit credentials is tantamount to signing a check with no expectations of
getting repaid in the future.
This makes loan applications quite a challenge for some companies, especially those
with no credit history or low credit ratings. If you are an entrepreneur and need
financing to oil your operations or provide the infrastructure for growth, securing a
loan is one of the fastest ways to do so. Here are some tips to significantly increase
your chances of getting a loan.
1. Be prepared. Knowing the requirements of specific lending institutions
well before sending your application will greatly smoothen the process.
Get all the loan information you need and prepare all the relevant
documentation.
2. Assess and present your cash flow projections and other financial
activities in a way that will increase your chances of getting the loan.
3. Choose the lending institution/s to engage carefully. Not all institutions
are prefect for your business. Some have policies that are pro‐
entrepreneur and knowing which lending institutions are these in your
area is very important. It will also help you significantly if you have a
strong and long‐term relationship with the institution such as having
healthy deposit accounts with a commercial bank.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 10
11. 4. Acquire a third‐part credit rating report as much as possible. Having
gained a good credit rating from other independent agencies will boost
your chances of being perceived as credit‐worthy by the institution you
wish to acquire a loan from.
To conclude, credit and loans are good sources of business funds when managed
diligently. They are also reasonably obtainable despite stricter restrictions that have
been set up following the disastrous results of the lax lending regulations in the US
home mortgage sector. The key is to align your cash flow, credit rating, and
objectives with your loan application and to prepare all documentation in advance
to obtain the loan.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 11
12. How to Set Up Your Website
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
So you've finally taken your business from the corridors of your imagination to the real
world. The fact is, getting it started is really all that is keeping you from taking a shot at your
dreams. To do that, however, entails a lot more work on top of determining exactly what
your business is about and how you intend to finance its operations. One of the things that
can jumpstart your business is a dedicated website.
Having an online presence is a critical requirement for just about any brand or business that
intends to stay competitive. You need a website to communicate what value you offer to
clients and an easy way to get their feedback, have them sign up for a service or to purchase
a product. Websites are one of the best business resources that can get all those things
accomplished.
But for a person who is just learning how to be an entrepreneur, getting your own site online
could be very challenging indeed. The first thing to consider is to determine and secure your
domain name. This is the internet address (also called url) feature that sets your company
apart and gives visitors a hint about what your business is about. Having a unique and catchy
domain name is priceless in the long term so invest enough time deciding on the best one for
your enterprise. Remember that you need to register your domain name to protect it from
being replicated by another entity.
The next step is to build and host the website. Never scrimp on website design and copy as
these provides the initial impression potential customers will harbor about your business. All
things equal, a professionally designed website will outperform a mediocre one any time.
There are hundreds of free, easy‐to‐use website creation services on the net if you have a
penchant for it. Otherwise, it wouldn't hurt to hire professional website designers and
copywriters to help you set up a very attractive website. Once built, you can have the
website hosted by a reliable provider.
Finally, you need to get people (a lot of them) to visit your website. You can do this through social
media and various marketing campaigns. Remember also to regularly update your website so that
people will have something fresh to experience from your site every once in a while.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 12
13.
The Most Critical Product Pricing Principles
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Establishing the perfect prices for your products or services is one of the key inputs
to a successful business. Discovering that sweet spot that will deliver optimum
value for your customers and your operations is like discovering a vein of gold.
There are basically three methods in formulating prices: cost‐based pricing,
competition‐based pricing, and customer‐based pricing. Cost‐based pricing
considers the total cost of producing or delivering a product plus a markup or profit
for the business. Competition‐based pricing considers how a product under a
particular brand compares with an identical product from a competitor. Customer‐
based pricing is based on how much value a customer imputes ion a particular
product or service.
Furthermore, here are some tips that can help you set your product or service
prices right.
1. Establish at the onset that your pricing is intended to make money for
your business and that an ineffective pricing can do just the opposite of
making money.
2. Never set a price too high or too low in an attempt to gain a competitive
edge in the market. Both can eventually lead to cash flow problems later
on.
3. Align your prices with how much value it delivers to your customers. To
do so, you need to really know how your customers perceive your
products or services and how important these are to them.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 13
14. 4. Always set a competitive price that avoids radical differences (i.e., too
high or too low) from those set by your competitors.
5. Implement consumer‐friendly pricing cuts such as sales, discounts,
coupons, bulk deals and other marketing techniques.
6. Recognize that while product pricing is a critical business input, it is not
the only thing that helps businesses achieve success.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 14
15. Importance of Creating a Corporate Business Profile
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
A company profile is a quick look into a company, allowing different groups of
people to get a general idea of what a company does or offers, its target market, its
unique strengths, its track record, and whether it is a good entity to do business
with. However, company profiles should go beyond stating facts about a company.
Well‐written company profiles deftly convey the predominant values and corporate
culture that lends the organization its distinct character. Good company profiles
should also demonstrate how effective a company is at meeting its customers'
needs.
In addition to existing and potential customers, corporate profiles are also viewed
and assessed by investors, service providers, business partners, and job applicants.
For this reason, company profiles should be optimized in corporate websites, staff
recruitment portals, media kits and other external documents, press releases,
brochures, and official online profile pages on social and professional networks such
as LinkedIn and Facebook.
A good corporate business profile should contain the basic information about the
company. These include the year when the company was established, where it is
headquartered, the products and services it offers, its target customers, its unique
strengths, and the values it is committed to. If a company has been around for a
considerable time, a brief discussion of the awards it gained, its achievements, or
the successes it accomplished would help establish a solid case for the company's
dependability and suitability for business engagement. Lastly, contact information
should be included in the profile in order to facilitate correspondence and feedback
from customers as well as potential partners and investors.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 15
16. Pitfalls Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Entrepreneurs are good at creating value but it doesn't follow that all entrepreneurs
have redoubtable business sense. They are not exempt from committing serious
mistakes and some entrepreneurs fail at business.
If you are setting up or are currently managing your own business, knowing the
common pitfalls that cause even formidable innovators to fail is a priceless business
resource. Here are some of the pitfalls any entrepreneur should avoid at all costs:
1. Embarking on a business full blast with limited capitalization and unclear
sources of funding. Taking calculated risks is an integral part of any business
operation and is a known motive force that fueled many remarkable
business successes in the past. However, taking unreasonable risks‐‐such as
plunging head‐on into a highly competitive industry without clear revenue
or funding streams is a formula for disaster. Leaving too much to chance is
never a prudent business tactic.
2. Joining the battle as a one‐man army. Nobody said to do your business
alone even if you somehow can. There are people who can help you
improve your business and getting their help will allow you to learn as well
as allocate more time to grow your business.
3. Establishing unreasonable expectations. Having lofty ambitions is good in
the long run since when coupled with action, well‐motivated ambitions are
the key inputs to change. However, establishing unreasonably high targets
often result to failure and resentment. There's nothing wrong with wishing
your business to perform outstandingly and be a major player in your sector
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 16
17. within a few months. Establishing that goal with inadequate or unreliable
resources is simply stupid.
4. Hinging happiness on the success of the business venture. Happiness
should be a predominant state of mind instead of being an event‐driven
emotion. Otherwise, there's bound to be a lot of unhappiness sprouting in
your office that is sure to erode your prospects for success. The key is to
develop a cheerful personality that's independent of the fortunes of your
business.
There are many other pitfalls that even excellent entrepreneurs commonly commit.
However, the foregoing are the most common and steering clear of them will help
you hurdle the major challenges small businesses encounter in their first year of
operation.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 17
18. Using Social Media to Boost Sales
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
These days, social media piques the interest of just about everyone: its users, top
executives, marketers, and social scientists. The reason is that online social
networks such Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube are redefining people's
lifestyles as well as the way they conduct business on the Web.
Almost a year ago, ComScore reported that social media was the pivotal input that
buoyed 2010's eCommerce performance even within the dampening effects of a
serious economic recession. According to the report, online transactions went up by
a surprising 10 percent, following the strong participation of many brands in social
media campaigns.
But why is social media such a powerful tool for boosting your sales? The simple
answer is that individual and organizational users of social networks have lot of
ways for endorsing ideas and brands, sometimes triggering the so‐called "viral
effect" that generates awareness about something across unusually broad
demographics. In fact, social media campaigns have been demonstrated to yield
significantly high ROI levels when executed properly.
To leverage social media to boost your own sales, remember to understand your
target customers and which social media tool can be used most effectively. Use
different and fresh ways of interacting with your audience in order to keep them
sufficiently excited to join different campaigns. Set up a viable and reward system
that makes it easy for participants to win and claim practical, attractive prizes.
Experiment with different types of content and engagements (videos, games, free
downloads, coupons, catchy articles, etc) but make all these very compelling. Lastly,
consistently build trust in your brand by addressing customer needs or issues that
may be verbally or implicitly communicated during your social media campaigns.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 18
19. Taking Advantage of the Best e‐Commerce Tools
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
The pervading effect of social media as well as online search has enhanced the role
of online stores in facilitating global commerce. If you are an entrepreneur who
intends to start a new or upgrade an existing online business, it is a competitive
advantage if you know the exceptional ecommerce tools that are available in the
market. Many of these tools are free to use although some require fees that you'll
nevertheless eventually find reasonable after reaping pretty good returns on your
investments.
Foremost among the available tools you need to elevate your business are those
related to social networks and search engine optimizations. Both are designed to
draw in traffic to your online store and generate conversions. Some pretty good
social media tools include blog publishing systems such as Blogger and WordPress
which you can seamlessly integrate into your business' Facebook page through an
free app called Networked Blogs. Meantime, useful tools to use in search
optimization include those for keyword and link management. Market Samurai is a
complete SEO package that you may want to try out for your online store.
In terms of optimizing your online store itself, Magento and Loaded Commerce are
both pretty robust software that can transform your site into very stunning and
easy to use ecommerce shop. Never scrimp on aesthetics, simplicity, and engaging
content as these are sure draws in terms of user visits.
If you need help in setting up your online store Shopify is also a very good option
when it comes to attractive website designs. Outside social media chat rooms, there
are also other software that allows your team to address customer issues in real
time. On top of this list is the Click Desk application that easily sets up a Live Chat
feature on your selling site.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 19
20. 4 Ways to Improve Your Website Ranking
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Ranking high on search engine results pages is a critical factor to a business' success
online. This is why many companies employ professional SEO (search engine
optimization) practitioners. SEO experts help transform web pages into search‐
engine friendly documents using techniques that reduce code/content clutter and
target higher page rankings. In addition, companies also employ social media
managers to help drive user traffic into their sites. Here are some basic tips on how
you can improve your website ranking.
1. Optimize the metadata tag on your html. There is little guarantee that your site
will eventually zoom up on search results page rankings just by merely tweaking
your metadata. However, metadata allows search engine bots to index your pages
better and enables you to control how you want your site to be perceived by your
target audience. Being organized and targeted are two big plusses that will
eventually drive traffic to your site. Strategically assigning your title, description,
and keyword metadata will give a competitive edge to your web pages when it
comes to online search.
2. Optimize the use of relevant keywords. In the realm of online search, keywords
are the virtual link between your potential customers and your site. Whenever
possible, use relevant but unique and unsaturated keywords that target niche
customers to help your site rank higher. For optimum effect, integrate the targeted
keywords even on your url's and your metatags. Be sure that the keywords you are
targeting are seamlessly incorporated into the new content that you are publishing.
3. Integrate a blog on your site. Blogs are the best way to infuse fresh, relevant and
compelling content into your site. Remember that search engines have a
programmed bias in favor of sites that are regularly refreshed with new content.
The more pages being published on your site means getting more attention from
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 20
21. search engines.
4. Use social media to drive traffic to your site. Social media sites like Facebook,
Twitter, Digg, YouTube, and LinkedIn are great channels that can drive user traffic to
your site. Getting to know the nooks and crannies of social media marketing can
deliver huge benefits even in the short term.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 21
22. Top 5 Apps for Your Business
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Mobile Apps are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and are developed for
different purposes. Among the emergent apps for any mobile platform are those
used in businesses and other professional enterprises. Regardless of the scale of
your business and the type of smart phone you use, the following mobile apps are
sure to enhance your productivity, efficiency, and business network.
1. Skype. Sans the apps, phones are basically tools for communicating with
customers, partners, investors, staff, and other stakeholders, after all. However,
calls‐‐especially of the variety that crosses international borders‐‐can be very
expensive. The popular online communication platform, skype can be very helpful,
indeed. Use Skype for video calling, instant messages, and chatting for free.
2. Documents To Go. This app allows the creation, editing, storage, and sharing of
various documents in the most popular formats such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, and pdf.
Perfect for reviewing presentations, reports and business plans on the go.
3. Remember the Milk: This app is great for people who need to accomplish
multiple tasks on a regular basis. In a nutshell, Remember the Milk is an online To
Do List that is synched with a mobile computing device.
4. Evernote. This app leverages the huge potential of cloud computing by allowing
the user to upload just about any file: handwritten notes, text notes, video files,
photos, and web pages to a personal account over the cloud. It then allows the user
to sync the data with other computing devices such as any critical information
uploaded by a smart phone can be accessed by a synced laptop or desktop
computer.
5. Dropbox. This is a very useful online file management and sharing application
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 22
23. that uses cloud computing to allow easier access to authorized users and more
storage space. Dropbox is perfect for sharing various documents and photos to
friends, relatives, colleagues and business contacts.
Quite a lot of mobile apps are now being developed for businesses and these are
just the tip of the iceberg. Given the demonstrated indispensability of smart phones
in conducting personal or organizational business, app stores will see the
introduction of more advanced and specialized apps that are designed to perform
business tasks ranging from the very simple to very complex ones that formerly
required networked desktops to accomplish.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 23
24. How to Make Your Brand Matter in Social Media
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
There are very few companies that can ignore the power of social media. If you
want your brand to succeed in today's extremely competitive landscape, then social
media is one of the major arenas you need to excel in. The fact is, deploying brands
in social media has become a necessity just to maintain a connection with an
already captive audience. Without a meaningful presence in social media, many
brands would lose the benefits of engaging hundreds of millions of existing and
potential customers who regularly log on to their accounts on different social
networks.
And that is not mere hearsay. Time and again, it has been conclusively
demonstrated that properly executed social media campaigns have measurable
effects on the bottom line. Moreover, compared with other promotional methods,
leveraging social media is also more attractive in terms of ROI.
To effectively deploy your brand over social media, you need to assess just which
channels your brand is appropriate for. There are at least three main channels you
should actively participate in at all cost: Facebook, Twitter, and the blogosphere.
Not only is Facebook, the second home for hundreds of millions of people who go
online everyday, it also has robust mechanisms for brand building. Ignoring this
space is virtually suicide specially for new companies. Meantime, Twitter is one of
the best ways of leveraging the widespread use of mobile phones. Use Twitter as a
platform for steering your audience towards deeper involvement with your brand.
Lastly, having a blog is the most affordable way of keeping your brand current and
fresh. Align your blog with the dynamics of online search and integrate it with your
profiles on social media. This way, you help establish a viable, organic, and
profitable online presence for your brand.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 24
25. How to Keep Seasonal Businesses Afloat
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Businesses whose core products or services are ski rentals, Christmas trees,
fireworks, or summer vacation houses for rent are all seasonal businesses. Many
ventures that belong to this category have been successful but others unfortunately
fail. This is because handling seasonal businesses is radically different from
managing conventional ones. In order to make your seasonal business successful,
be sure to consider the following tips:
1. Practice diligence in managing cash flows. In seasonal businesses, profits are
reined in only during peak seasons and diligently spreading revenues to
cover operational costs the whole year is of paramount importance. Always
appropriate a comfortable budget for off‐season operations. For seasonal
businesses wherein this is simply not possible, maintaining excellent
relationships with banks and other sources of credit is also critical. Doing so
will help cover operational expenses during the lean season.
2. Allow reasonable flexibility in operations during peak seasons. Depending on
consumer behavior, never scrimp on rendering extra hours to achieve (or
exceed) targets. Seasonal businesses should be agile in order to convert
every opportunity into a sale. Otherwise, it's not really a good tactic to hope
for rain during dry season.
3. Find ways of making profits even during the lean season. Be creative in
diversifying your core business to generate modest revenues while waiting
for the big break. Lean seasons can also be used for intensive strategizing
and preparations for the peak season. Broaden your sales network, train
your staff, or develop new product concepts. There are many productive
things that can be accomplished than just merely waiting for the rain to
come.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 25
26. How to Revive an Ailing Business
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Notwithstanding this article's title, not all ailing businesses can be revived. Some are
just so messed up that reviving them will just be a waste of time and effort. For this
type of situations, closing them up and starting a new business on a clean slate is
infinitely better.
However, all businesses encounter lean periods as well as critical periods wherein
even soundly managed companies find themselves at risk of being dissolved. For
these cases, there are methods that might be able to reorient ailing companies
towards recovery and growth. If your company falls into this category, here are
some tips that may be able to turn your enterprise around:
An ailing business need to contend with company credit, delinquent receivables,
staff morale, customer retention and other issues that require creative strategies in
order to be addressed satisfactorily. One of the first thing on the recovery agenda is
to form the recovery team. The recovery team must be a strong team of managers
that are committed to salvage the most valuable assets of the company and use
them for a calculated recovery later on. To turn an ailing business around, all
stakeholders must be willing to take actions that could really hurt. An assessment of
the situation is needed in order for the right impetus towards recovery is attained.
In addition, immediate and decisive action is required to prevent further
deterioration of the situation. This means that major problems need to be
addressed immediately with carefully drawn solutions.
Essentially, a turnaround is a sustained positive change in the performance of a
business to obtain a desired result. It is the process by which a business with
inadequate performance is analyzed and changed to achieve a desired result. In a
turnaround, analysis and action are simultaneous. The immediate requirement is to
find the major problems, analyze them and implement solutions.
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27. Top Social Media Blunders to Avoid
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Social media is the all buzz these days. And rightly so. Among all channels where
companies can promote their brands, it is on social media where the potential for
ROI is the highest. Often, doing great in social media is doing great in the sales
arena.
That said, building your brand on social media is great. There are very few
businesses that can really afford to ignore social media and if your company is not
one of these, then conducting social media campaigns early can do magic for your
company. However, leveraging the advantages of social media can backfire if your
campaigns are haphazardly conducted. Remember, just as a viral promotional
campaign can have a huge positive impact, the other side of the coin applies just as
much. A campaign gone wrong can generate a viral effect that can be terribly
detrimental to the brand.
One of the worst things social media marketers can commit is to start something on
social media without a plan. Doing so is a hanging disaster waiting to fall heavily on
the brand. Not knowing the basics (the brand's target audience, the best team to
manage social media campaign, the metrics to be used when assessing campaign
success) can be very costly indeed.
Another common social media blunder is to execute a good campaign at the wrong
time. Tweeting just about any time you want can be very wasteful, for example.
Understanding the best time to deliver tweets to your target audience is a priceless
market information.
Lastly, inaccurately assessing the results of your social media campaigns will never
allow your team to appreciate the real impact of your campaign. Subsequent
campaigns may then be executed without the benefits of precise market
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29. How to Quickly Gain Traction in the Sales Front
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Being good in sales is both a science and an art and no two gurus will completely be
identical in their list of the best tactics to help you gain traction in the sales front.
Sales is more than just a numbers game. It's not just meeting quotas. At the end of
the day, successful sales people are concerned more about how they can deliver
value to their customers than just meeting targets.
To be successful often requires unmatched, sometimes insanely dogged
persistence. It's odd but obstacles abound in the world of sales and successful
veterans will tell you that their professional journeys are anything but easy. Giving
up simply is not an option.
Being passionate about the product you are selling is perhaps the greatest booster
to your sales performance. It is also the fuel that can drive your persistence. Once in
a company, make it a daily commitment to be really intimate with your products
and services so that your passion carries over to the techniques and attitudes you
adapt in selling.
Allocating time to listen to your customers will help your team realign your brands
according to the needs of your audience. Knowing your customers' language and
their goals will help you articulate how your products and services solve their
problems.
Lastly, establishing your own goals is critical to your success in sales. Remember,
without clearly established goals, you can never accurately assess your
performance. Setting benchmarks for success is will give your team the proper
orientation to effectively execute your sales strategies.
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30. Best 5 Online Lead Generation Techniques
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Keeping existing customers interested while getting new ones to discover and use
your products or services is a persistent target of all businesses. After all, customers
constitute the major revenue source of most businesses. The more customers you
have, the healthier your business. This is the reason why led generation is a critical
component of any enterprise.
Simply put, lead generation refers to a marketing tool that aims to promote
consumer awareness and interest about a particular product or service. Lead
generation is conducted for a variety of purposes such as building an email list or a
subscriber base. There are many ways of conducting lead generation campaigns,
most of which use the methodologies and conventional advertising channels. There
are also ways that leverage emergent systems or technologies such as online
search. The following are some of the most common ways leads are generated.
1. Traditional advertising. This is the umbrella term encompassing the dissemination
or broadcast of commercial advertisements over traditional channels such as
television, radio, and print (broadsheets, tabloids, magazines, and other
periodicals).
2. Online lead generation techniques. This is the umbrella term covering the
different methodologies for promoting brands over the Internet. By far, this is a
cost‐efficient method compared to traditional advertising in that it can easily be
targeted to specific consumer demographics and it can also be subjected to very
precise metrics.
The best online lead generation techniques include 1) pay per click (PPC) advertising
that can be implemented through the robust ad engines of Google or Yahoo/MSN;
2) Social media marketing that can be conducted over popular social networks and
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31. tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube; 3) Social media advertising
which is now possible through services offered by Facebook and other social media
sites; 4) online advertising (media acquisitions) on selected sites; and, 5) search
engine optimization (SEO) that aims to raise the ranking of particle websites in
search engine results pages (SERPs).
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32. Make Online Education Work for You
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Following advances in relevant technology and its growing widespread popularity,
the global e‐learning industry is nearing the USD 48 billion benchmark based on
conservative approximations. Contributing substantially to its growth are the
dramatic developments in Internet technologies and multimedia platforms.
Formal online education, an integral component of e‐Learning has similarly
experienced steep growth, with several millions of students enrolled in online
courses in the US alone. A 2011 survey conducted by the Sloan Consortium reveals
that more than 30 percent of American students are already enrolled in at least one
online course. Based on the similar reports from other independent observers,
online education is slated to become the most dominant form of post‐secondary
education in the US.
If you are an entrepreneur, student, or somebody who intends to learn more about
a subject or obtain relevant certifications for the field you are engaged in, going for
online education is a very attractive option. Its flexible arrangements can become
very critical especially when you are engaged in business, work, or other studies
that take a fair amount of your schedule. But how do you make online education
work for you?
The first and most important step is to seek out the most appropriate online
program and institution for your needs. Assess costs and time issues carefully in
order to optimize the experience. There are courses and programs for just about
any subject or career training that are also offered in traditional universities.
Secondly, You need to establish the minimum amount of time you can regularly
allocate for the program and practice discipline and diligence in meeting your
targets. There is always a sweet spot between online learning and other aspects of
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 32
33. your life such as work, recreation and family. Lastly, participate in relevant forums
to get and provide solutions to common online education issues.
Online education is a boon to many people who desire a convenient and accessible
way of upgrading their skills for the job market or for their own entrepreneurial
ventures. The key is to determine which online education package is the most
appropriate for your needs, budget, lifestyle and time.
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34. How to Make Financial Forecasts for Your Business
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Businesses need to make financial forecasts in order to be on the right track to
success. Otherwise, conducting a business without reasonably drawn financial
forecasts is like navigating an unknown terrain without a map.
In the parlance of the finance sector, forecasts are called Pro Forma Financial
Statements. Pro Forma Financial Statements represent the business owner's
financial plan. Particularly, a Pro Forma Financial Income statement is a document
relating projected expenses and income for a given future period. It helps business
owners, business analysts, creditors, and investors assess the profitability of a
particular business. To prepare a carefully and reasonably drawn Pro Forma Income
Statement, you should establish the sales projection for your business, impute all
production, sales and other expenses, and determine profit margins.
For both expenses and sales, align your projections by answering key questions such
as how much revenue can be realistically generated next year and how much it will
cost to produce the product or service. Taxes, salaries, and bank borrowings should
also be considered.
The easiest way to go about it without the constant help of a certified public
accountant is to simply create a budget and sales forecast. A budget forecast is a list
of costs related to items and resources that you need in order to keep your business
operating normally. If you have been operating a business for a while, that should
be easy to accomplish. Just review your previous records and determine which
items utilized your operational funds.
On the other hand, forecasting sales is a bit more complicated. To be safe, prepare
two sets of sales forecasts‐‐one extremely conservative and another portraying a
robust market scenario. One is necessary to keep you grounded in reality and the
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 34
35. other for fuelling your path towards phenomenal success. Doing both is a healthy
practice that can lead to actual growth.
To conclude, every business of any scale needs to establish reasonable financial
forecasts as a means of assessing its performance in the market. Not doing so is like
embarking on a voyage without a compass.
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36. 4 Winning Improvements for Your Collections Department
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Cash flow is the one aspect of a business that keeps it in operation. It is an indicator
of customer acceptance as well as the business' potential for growth. For most
businesses, cash flow is a function of billing and collection. The more efficient
collections is, the more cash is being infused into the business to fuel its operations
and help build the infrastructure for growth.
If a company's collections department is somehow handicapped, everything else
suffers. In fact, an inefficient collections system is a sure way of gnawing at
company revenues that can cause the company to plummet irretrievably in the long
run. Based on data garnered by the US Small Businesses Administration, around 70
percent to 80 percent of small businesses close each year, with cash flow issues as
one of the most cited reasons for closure. To keep a business afloat and
competitive, ample cash inflow must be ensured. If you manage or own a business,
here are four ways of improving your collections practices.
1. Establish a viable credit and risk management policy that should be strictly
applied to all your customers. Identify and manage potentially delinquent accounts
to reduce risks of defaults.
2. Use creative ways of collecting receivables over the short term and long term
scenarios. Be familiar with legal ways of recovering bad debts.
3. Implement clear and concise billing forms. This will help customers easily
understand how much they owe and the value they have received. Questionable
billing items often lead to resentment and clarifications, and delays in payment.
Send an invoice immediately each time a job has been finished.
4. Be cordial‐‐cheerful, if possible‐‐and very persistent. Most people become
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 36
37. impatient and irritable when billed and keeping a positive, cordial demeanor makes
customers more susceptible to settle their bills promptly.
Following these fundamental cash flow tips can help you steer your business clear
of the common financial pitfalls many startups experience. Remember, you deliver
value to your customers for which you deserve an appropriate increment in your
collectibles. However, actually reining in revenues is hardly automatic. That's what a
diligently managed collections system is for.
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38. Giving Your Online Store an Attractive Makeover
Making your online store attractive is critical to your business' success. Remember
that all things being equal, the thing that is prettiest to look at and easiest to use
will certainly win in the end. That is Steve Jobs' legacy as reflected in the various
Apple products that garnered not only commercial success but also critical acclaim
for their user‐friendly interfaces and elegant aesthetics.
The hard fact is, unless your online store is attractive and easy to navigate, visitors
won't linger, much less make online purchases or sign subscriptions. Even if you
have shelled out quite an investment for search engine optimization and your store
ranks pretty high on search results, people tend to stay on pages that have an
attractive visual appeal even when those pages ranked lower than yours. It will be
such a waste if you have managed to draw in site in site visitors only to have them
leave shortly after they see what your site offers. On the other hand, making a good
impression on visitors early on tends to convert many of them to become paying
customers.
Remember to hire the best online store design team your budget allows. Establish
easy navigation as the top priority in your store design. Your online store should
also be designed in a way that significantly reduces waiting time before pages are
completely downloaded. Implementing the fastest page downloads possible
without compromising aesthetics is the sweetest spot. Optimize your graphics and
multimedia to allow for faster downloads. Avoid implementing too many pop‐ups
since these can be quite annoying.
Use the best color scheme on your store that clearly reflects your branding. This will
make things consistent and will help customers remember your products better.
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39. How Do I Close My First Sale?
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Closing your first sale, whether as a sales professional or for a particular firm or
product, is always a momentous event. Aside from the biggest sale closed, the fist
sale‐‐regardless of its scale‐‐is almost always a memorable milestone for all people
engaged in the art of selling.
There are widely recommended steps that everyone‐‐including sales greenhorns
and veterans‐‐should follow to make your first sale go smoothly, allowing you to
move forward with more confidence and efficiency. Here are some stuff that you
need to consider when embarking on a sales meeting for the first time in your
career or for a particular company.
1. Know every relevant thing about the organization you represent. This will do
wonders for you as well as your customers. On one hand, it affirms your
affinity with the organization. On the other, it will make customers perceive
you as a true professional who strongly believes in the products and services
he or she is selling.
2. Prepare well. Nothing impresses favorably on customers more than smooth
transitions from pleasant conversation to presentation and feedback. Know
the product well and be an expert in all its features. Anticipate questions
and be ready to address unexpected queries.
3. Be presentable. Make your organization proud of having you represent them
to their clientele. Make your clients develop a healthy respect for
professionalism.
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40. 4. Empathize with and listen to what your customers have to say. Consider
their feedback and criticisms as opportunities to really showcasing the
unique value your product or service has to offer.
5. Close cordially and cheerfully by opening all channels of communication,
regardless of whether the customer is buying the product, indicated interest
about it, is unsure at the moment, or has indicated dissatisfaction.
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41. How to Inspire Staff to Perform Better
Freelancers & || For Entrepreneurs |
Any manager worth her cap will tell you that nothing elevates a company more than
competent and properly motivated staff. Great products and ground‐breaking
innovations are often products of a few motivated individuals. Meantime, good
products that are represented by inspired sales teams are certain to dominate the
market. On the other hand, even an ingenious idea or a potentially profitable
business will regularly encounter stumbling blocks when the people that make it
run are uninspired or have very low motivation to succeed.
Senior executives are aware that staff motivation enhances individual and team
performance and makes the work environment highly conducive to success. But not
all managers fin it easy to motivate their teams. Here are some sure‐fire techniques
that will help you inspire your staff.
1. Give them a tangible model to emulate. By setting a good example yourself,
employees will have a work pattern to copy. When managers come to work
on time, communicate and collaborate intensively, respect their peers and
staff, and deliver exceptional outputs, staff will have no choice but perform
in the same way.
2. Share the company's successes. Nothing makes employees feel they belong
to the company more than sharing the rewards it receives. Profit sharing,
bonuses, and perks can be excellent motivating factors when implemented
smartly. Be wary, however, of using monetary rewards as your main
motivating factor.
3. Never clamp dissent. Allow employees to safely air complaint and feedback
and encourage discussions to formulate relevant and effective solutions.
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43. Tactics for Marketing Services Overseas
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Whether your business is performing as well as you intend at the home front or not,
marketing your products or services in other countries may be a lucrative
proposition. The global market can be complicated but it offers home‐grown
companies a lot of opportunities for growth.
However, before embarking on opening your doors for servicing demand overseas,
it is important to determine which foreign markets are the best fit for your products
and services. You should also objectively assess how prepared your company is in
dealing with overseas operation. Have you started building relationships with your
partners overseas? How committed are they in orchestrating a successful entry for
your brand?
Another critical step is to assess the adaptability of the product or service itself. Will
local consumers readily identify with your brand? Do you need some product
realignments to cater to local consumer preferences? Which local brands will you
be competing with and how will your team build product differentiation and unique
value?
Your local support group is also an important component of your overseas venture.
Have you formed a team with the right people on the job?
Assess how much funds you need to allocate for the expansion and whether the
costs won't compromise your operations at home. Do you just operate an online
store that also caters to foreign consumers? Or do you need working with local
dealers or distributors to bring your products to local customers?
Once you have adequately addressed these questions, you can have your team
draw up a strategic entry plan to the foreign markets you want to participate in.
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45. How to Handle Office Whiners
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Discontent occurs naturally wherever people converge. In sports stadiums, in
classrooms, in shopping malls, and even in churches. With the intense dynamics of a
workplace, it is not surprising that management, staff, and just about anybody at
work will complain from time to time. Regardless of whether their complaints have
solidly reasonable basis, it is in people's nature to observe and to give feedbacks
based on our observations.
That said, it is not a bad thing to complain. Complaints can range from minor
discomfort to outright rage and letting our emotions get the best of us will cause
very unfortunate circumstances. Sometimes, being uncomfortable or inconvenient
and doing something positive about it drives the process we now call as
"innovation". After all, if every one is complacent or content, nothing new will come
about.
However, not all complaints are of the positive kind and there are people who
whine all the time. These people sap other people's energies, create discomfort,
disrupt productivity, and can ironically make the place worthy of being whined
about if left to their own devices. Instead of being productive and positive, these
people waste their time poisoning other people's minds. These are the people that
need to be controlled intelligently.
To do that, managers and colleagues should establish an official system for filing
complaints so that legitimate ones are addressed as promptly, professionally and
effectively as possible. Listen to all complaints even those raised by whiners and
create solutions for valid ones. Encourage whiners to create the solutions
themselves to instill a habit of acting positively when a negative situation arises. In
addition, make everyone busy at his or her work or doing something good for the
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 45
47. The Top Home‐Based Businesses for 2012
|| For Freelancers & Entrepreneurs |
Home businesses are sprouting everywhere as more people are taking the strange
and daunting route of entrepreneurship. With the recession and subsequent
layoffs, starting a home business is starting to look very attractive to a lot of people.
If you intend to start your home‐based business, remember that not every one is
well suited for it and that most home businesses close up within the first year of
operation. Managing your expectations will be critical for the long term health of
your business. Recognize that home‐based businesses follow the same basic
principles and cycles of traditional businesses. Targeting unreasonable ROI in the
short term will only sap your energy and breed resentment. Extremely few people
and ventures become overnight successes after all. The secret is to make adequate
preparations and acquire all the necessary skills, training and market knowledge to
succeed in the business you will be establishing. Most importantly, never dampen
the enthusiasm and passion that drove you to entrepreneurship in the first place.
While many home‐based businesses fall along the way, others thrive and become
phenomenal successes such that the number and output of home‐based businesses
are expected to significantly increase in 2012. According to analysts, most of the
best performing home‐based businesses in 2011 have an associated blog or website
and it is critical to establish one for your business. For 2012, home‐based businesses
that are expected to experience a jump in consumer demand include home
renovation services, catering services, wedding consultancies, cleaning services,
eCommerce, home beauty services, pet‐based services, and business coaching
services.
FIELD KIT FOR ENTREPRENEURS 47
