7 Business Planning Fundamentals

Time flies. Thirteen months ago I posted Economic Dark Clouds here in September of 2007. Back then I said “the economic news is clustering now,” but my point was essentially sticking to the fundamentals …

With some notable exceptions, your business moves up and down far more because of very-micro specifics of what you and your team and your customers do. Your specific marketing programs, your new product release, your email campaign, your pay-per-click keyword decisions, your product development, your word of mouth … it’s what you do with your business that moves it up and down, not what happens in the headlines.

… but at that point I really had no idea how bad this whole thing was going to get. And that’s with apologies to Anita’s post on small business optimism yesterday.

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Beware Of Telephone Relay Fraud

The Better Business Bureau warns small business owners that reports of scammers plying their trade through telephone relay services — typically used by the hearing impaired to make phone calls — are cropping up all across the country.

BBB has received reports from many types of businesses that received suspicious orders through TTY or telephone relay services. These services are meant to assist the hearing impaired in making telephone calls and often rely on an operator who relays a typed message from the caller to the business. Because, by law, the operator is not allowed to disclose the origin of the call, this service allows the scammers to hide their identity.

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Quick Tip For Entrepreneurs ~ April 14

Looking to pitch your business...watch this!

Charlene Li, founder of digital strategies consulting firm Altimeter in this interview on Vator.tv with Bambi Francisco , shares her advice to entrepreneurs relating to pitching a business concept to her as well as insights in to the use of Social Media for business.

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Entrepreneurs Turning To SBDCs For Free Advice

Entrepreneurs are looking to economize these days, so it’s small wonder that free advice from Small Business Development Centers is in great demand, writes microbusiness expert Dawn Rivers Baker.

SBDCs offer a range of services, including classes and individual counseling.

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New Economy Means New Entrepreneurs

Business school students are turning to entrepreneur courses during the recession rather than working toward landing a job with a Wall Street firm or a hedge fund, another sign that the U.S. has entered into a so-called new economy.

With a $787-billion stimulus package and the second part of an enormous financial bailout both set to offer benefits to small businesses and entrepreneurs, the trend could persist for some time.

The Kauffman Foundation, which touts itself as one of the world’s largest foundations devoted to entrepreneurship, has observed that prior to the recession that started just over a year ago, there had been a great expansion in interest on college campuses in entrepreneur courses.

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Attacking Business Debt

It’s natural to feel a certain measure of despair when your business goes into debt, but if you use it as an opportunity to reevaluate your core assumptions and strategies, then this can also be time to initiate necessary changes and make your business stronger.

Not sure where to begin? Consider some of the following recommendations.

Take your business plan out of mothballs
Intractable debt could be the result of a problematic business plan — one that was either too ambitious, no longer applies, or that simply needs to be adjusted at the edges.

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Getting Your Boss to Pay Attention to Customers

While management and the team below them are key factors in the customer world, that is not to say that the higher up officials of your company shouldn’t be involved in some way when it comes to your customers. Afterall, the high boss is benefited just as much as you are by those customers. So how do you convince your boss to pay attention to the customers?

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Top 7 Ways To Succeed With Business Etiquette

In the business world today, there is little difference between goods and services from one company to another. What truly sets you and your business apart from the competition is your relationships and your people skills. The best way to improve your people skills is to learn and use the rules of business etiquette. Business etiquette isn’t meant to be stuffy or formal. It’s really about being kind, considerate and respectful. Learn the top seven ways to success with business etiquette and you will see the results in your bottom line and your enhanced client relationships.

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Uncertainty In Your Business

Today it is no surprise that business’ are facing uncertainty about their business all around. It is almost impossible not to face it at some point in a recession. However, maybe business’ are being held accountable for these uncertainties that are out of their control.

Take for example the economy down turn, this causes many uncertainties such as customer needs, customer’s want’s, technological possibilities, distribution channels and the viability of an already existing business model. These are all examples of an uncertainty that is out of the business’ hands.

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Brochures can do a lot for businesses if used correctly

Developing a company brochure can be a time-consuming, laborious and often frustrating event. After the first brochure is developed, the memory of the pain and anguish causes many to keep on using that first effort, despite the fact that it may be out-of-date, incomplete, unfocused or simply just flat out bad. And then they are handed out like Monopoly money — willy nilly and sometimes without thought to the return-on-investment that is expected.

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Think about what makes business worthy of a story

Often the local media (newspapers, radio, magazines) will do feature stories on local businesses. The question I am often asked is, "How do I get them to feature my business?"

So, I ask the question, "What is unique about your business?" What is the "Aha!"?

If the response is, "Well, nothing," therein lies a good reason for the media NOT featuring your business.

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Ban These Words in Business

In business it is always important to speak with authority but also intelligence and some compassion to your listeners. Certain words and phrases not only make you look insensitive but also can make you look a little lower on the intelligence poll. Below are a few examples of words that one should not use in business.

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Avoid Negativity in Business

Today there are so many people embracing the negativity at work of our current economy. It seems as though everyone has their own supporting statistic that proves our world is going to come to an end, this only creates stress and panic throughout your office. Below are a few ways you can stop the negativity in your work office.

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Characteristics That Point Towards Entrepreneurship

Have you ever wondered if working under someone else is the right fit for you? Have you struggled with finding that perfect job that you can be happy with for more then a year at a time? You just may be built to be an entrepreneur rather than working for someone else. Below are some characteristics that may point towards you wanting to switch to entrepreneurship.

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5 Key Characteristics Of Successful Entrepreneur

I’ve heard a lot of great business ideas lately — and more than a few people announcing that now is the right time to go into business for yourself. I think that there’s a lot to be said for becoming an entrepreneur during a down economy — although the risks definitely go up.

There are certain characteristics that can significantly improve the odds of succeeding as an entrepreneur. Without these characteristics, though, it’s hard to do well even with the best of business ideas.

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Advisory Board Big Asset To Small Biz

Advisory boards work for any size business but can be particularly helpful for a small business.

After all, most small businesses don’t have a large management team, but their owners still need to be able to brainstorm ideas and strategies with others who have more than a passing knowledge of their business issues.

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Upside of Hiring Now

A lot of highly qualified and talented people have been laid off or fired with it being no fault of their own. While a lot of companies may find it to be a risky move right now to hire new people, now is actually the time to hire employees provided your company can afford it

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Manage Your Temper in Work and Out

Today more people are getting enraged with anger, frustration and sometimes even rage. But in today’s economy and world…it’s easy to get this way fast and mostly understandable. But, we must remember that releasing our anger and rage in a destructive manner will only worsen the situation.

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Evaluate business’s financial health

Try these three things to simplify the examination of your business’s health.

1. Compare the year-to-year results from your profit and loss (income statement).

Ideally, you will compare at least three years.

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Cutting Payroll Guidelines

Entrepreneurs everywhere are facing the difficult task of needing to start cutting pay roll. But many of them wonder which ones should be cut, how much should they cut and how can they make these necessary changes without too much damage in the work place. Below are a few guidelines to follow if your faced with the difficult task of cutting your pay roll.

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