Women New Small Business Owners How Three Shifts in Perspective Can Get Your Business Growing By:Kate Sanner

Are you a woman who has taken the leap, has brought your vision out into the world and started your own business? And are you finding the results far less then you expected or are you finding your growth has hit a plateau???Sometimes a shift in perspective can get you growing.?

Take a Closer Look at Who You Are Serving?

Some of the women who come into coaching with me are not clear about their target market or are not even aware that they should have one.?This keeps them guessing about how to market and even what products or services to develop.?One of my mentors, Dan Kennedy, says ?It?s the ?Who? not the ?What?.?? Choosing a target market is vital because no matter how good your product or service is, if you?re trying to sell to everyone, you?re going to remain invisible.?And the more specific you can get the better.?

Finally identifying your special group and speaking directly to them, to their needs and wants, will provide impetus to your business and sustain it for as long as you desire.?The clearer you become about who you are serving, the easier it is to hone your product line and write your marketing copy.

Stop Being Shortsighted When It Comes to Investing in Yourself and in Your Business?

I often hear women tell me that they cannot afford to go to specialized trainings, buy home study courses or hire a coach.(I had been guilty myself of this myself).?In addition to ?I don?t have the money?, I often hear ?I?m not at that level yet?.??

Unfortunately, not acquiring specialized knowledge on an ongoing basis and not investing in mentors and coaches will surely keep you at the level you are at.?To break out of the inertia, you need to look outside of what you know and learn from people who have achieved what you would like to achieve.?

Broaden Your Horizons:?Embrace Technology and Leverage Yourself through Networking?

Begin to look at what other ways you can take your enterprise?s message out into the marketplace.?Consider adding a mix of strategies to increase your credibility and your visibility.?

• If you don?t have one, start a blog
• Leave comments on other people?s blogs being sure to leave your contact information.?
• Get on to social and business networking sites and be active on them
• Start article marketing
• If you have been writing exclusively, then try doing some audio or video work
• Become a guest on other people?s teleconferences
• Interview someone who is well known in your industry and post the recording on your blog or your site
• Cross promote with someone whose business you admire and is complimentary to yours

Tips For Starting and Running a Successful Gift Basket Company By:Sienna Taylor

One of the more interesting business opportunities for entrepreneurs to consider these days is a gift basket business. Making gift baskets is enjoyable, creative and can be extremely profitable as well as allowing the owner to work predominantly from home if they desire to do so. Here are six tips for starting and running a new company in this industry.

1) Look at selling through retailers instead of direct to the consumer. Your profit margins will be lower as you will have to offer a decent percentage as the store owners mark-up but you can make up for this with increased volume as well as reducing your customer acquisition costs. Gift shops and florists are good to target (especially hospital gift shops).

2) Give more gifts. Why spend money on gifts again when you can make your own and give them to your friends and family. Save money as well as get the word out about your business.

3) Don't start out with a product range that is too wide as it will be a nightmare stocking inventory for such a selection of products. Focus on a small range of products and concentrate on doing them well before slowly diversifying your product range as your business grows.

4) Always look for ways to save money on basket decoration. Look into buying in bulk and consider other budget options such as thrift shops, garage sales, online auctions or asking companies for their surplus stock. You can be really thrifty and still have your baskets looking so good that your customers won't know where you are sourcing from.

5) Become a sales representative for a company selling gift related products such as Avon and use these to stock your baskets. Under normal circumstances it can be difficult to sell some of these products but if use them to fill a gift basket they suddenly become much easier to sell. You will also be getting the products at wholesale prices.

6) Use drop-shippers. This system is great if you are strong on product creation but weak on marketing. Drop-shippers will promote your products on their websites and when they get an order they will pass it on to you. they do, of course, receive a percentage of the sale price as their commission.

These are just a few ideas for how to get started and run a successful gift basket business. Try it out for youreself!

The Truth About Marketing Your Small Business By:Larry Arrance

You have to feel sorry for small business owners more now than ever. They are bombarded with gurus, experts and specialists offering them sure-fire, can't miss, going to work this time for sure techniques and strategies. They are promised astronomical results in record time with little or no prerequisite skills, knowledge or experience. All they need to do is buy their DVD course, attend a workshop or purchase their revolutionary coaching systems.

Can these things they're offering work for the small business owner? Yes, but it will take work and often a lot more work than the small business owner is prepared to do. In the sales letters, videos and tele-seminars you'll often hear stories of business owners or entrepreneurs achieving amazing results in record speed.?What you don't see is the little disclaimer like the ones used in many commercials, "results not typical."

If you have been in business any length of time you know that there are only three ways to grow your business. Increase the size of your customer or database. Increase the size of the transactions. Increase the frequency of transactions.

Should you as a small business owner take them up on their offers? Yes, if it is legal and ethical, Yes, if you're prepared to do all the steps required. Yes, if there is an accountability component ensuring the right work gets done. Yes, if they back up their offering with a solid guarantee. ??

Whenever I get a sense from a potential coaching client that their expectations don't match up with their willingness to do the work involved, I turn down the opportunity to work with them.

You can grow your business exponentially. This is proven by entrepreneurs and business owners every day. The key to doing this is having the right strategy for your business and having the discipline to do the work involved. So if you're looking for long lasting results for your small business don't get caught up in the hype and hoopla instead focus on implementing proven marketing strategies. It will save you a lot of time, money and frustration.

The Price You Can Charge Your Clients is Proportional to Your Confidence By:Kimberly Reddington

Confidence is the trust or belief in one's self; it is a sense of feeling certain and sure of your abilities. Confidence is what you experience when someone with a strong presence walks into the room. When you are in a room with just a few people, you can always notice who the most confident person is. That person is usually the one that most people are drawn to. The second they enter the room, you can just feel the change in the air.?

Whether you want to or not, whether you feel it or not, you are sending out vibes to people constantly. If something is troubling you, people around you will notice. They may not understand what is troubling you, but they will feel bad emotions coming from you.
?
Have you ever experienced this? Walk into a room of about 20 or so people. Walk in with a frown, looking down at the floor with your shoulders slouched and your hair slightly askew. Feel sad and depressed as you walk in. How many people notice you? How many people come up and approach you? Not very many will. And if they do approach you, they won't stay for long.
?
Someone with this persona will have a very hard time convincing a prospective client that they are worth what they are charging and that the client will be happy with the quality of that work.
?
Now walk into a different room of about the same number of people. Walk in with a huge grin, looking up and taking in all the surroundings around you. Walk with your back straight, your shoulders square, and your hair neatly combed. Feel happy, energetic and interested in what you will experience in that room. I bet your mood changed just by reading this paragraph.
?
I can guarantee that you will be approached by more people using this method, and this time they will have a ton of questions for you. All successful leaders give off this type of persona. This is what makes them a success and able to charge much more for their services.
?
When you are speaking to a prospective client whether it is in person, on the phone or even through an email, you must sound energetic, interested, and caring. You must display an air of confidence. You will be able to charge much more, possibly even double your rate, just by changing the way you feel and sound to your prospect.

Ten Ways For Small Businesses to Cut Costs By:Alvah Parker

As the economy shrinks businesses must think in terms of cost cutting. Business owners must start by looking at all costs. Finding ways to save money may be challenging but it will be important for surviving and thriving in a down economy. Here are 10 ideas that the Kiplinger Letter lists as ways other businesses have reduced costs.

1. Renegotiate contracts-Look at everything for which you have a contract. This might include advertising, phone bills, leases etc. With all the layoffs and business closings vendors may be ready to make a deal. I recently had my cell phone contract expire. I went into AT&T and told them what I had been paying and that I wanted a discount. They reduced my payments without my having to sign a new contract. It is worth asking even without a contract.

2. Pare benefits-Health Insurance is a big cost. Raising the co-pay and deductible is one way to reduce the cost. If you have valuable employees, you will want to tell them why you are doing this. Look at the other benefits you offer too. Where can you reduce the benefit even temporarily?

3. Curb travel-Use videoconferencing, webinars and teleconferencing to help eliminate the need for most travel. When travel is necessary use discount hotels, economy rental cars and mass transit.

4. Watch energy use-Install and use programmable thermostats that turn down the heat at night or when you are away. Use energy efficient light bulbs and turn off lights and computers at night.

5. Bartering-Partner with other businesses to provide them services or product in exchange for their service or product. Online marketplaces allow swapping for credits to buy what you need.

6. Get by with less-As business contracts you may need less. Look for places where use of product may have been excessive in the past and cut down.

7. Repair don't replace-Don't throw something out just because it doesn't work properly. Instead of buying something new see if it can be repaired. (Shoes are a good example here. When the soles or heels are worn, take them to a shoe maker.)

8. Do it yourself?- Farming out the work may be less necessary now when business is slow. Look at the responsibilities of your staff and be sure that each has enough to do. One caution?- leave time in your day for marketing. One reason for having someone else do the work for you, is to leave time in your day so that you do the work that only you can do.

9. Use electronic methods-Pay your bills online to save postage. Use electronic files and save paper and printer ink.

10. Shop for discounts-Buy in bulk, take advantage of association discounts, look for volume discounts on services (courier, Fedex, telephone) The Kiplinger Letter also warns that care must be taken to make the right cuts without jeopardizing safety or customer service. Care must be taken to insure that it will be easy to gear up when the economy turns around. I'd also recommend you focus on business development at the same time as you do cost cutting. Businesses can not survive on cost cutting alone.

Small Business Profit Possibility Or Dream By:Tom Clifton

Has this been put on hold whilst we live through the downturn? Or is it available for those who see the tough market place as an opportunity?

You can't pick up a newspaper or magazine or turn on the TV or radio without getting a constant onslaught of bad news about the economy. Let's face it, it's getting pretty tough out there.

What's up? Petrol prices, inflation, unemployment, food prices, crime, gas and electricity prices, taxes, mortgages, home repossessions, bankruptcies -that's what's up!

What's crashed? Stock market, house prices, banks, your spending power, value of the pound, wages....

It's hard to remember a more worrying or bleaker time. Small Business Profit seems as likely as a lottery win. And whilst the phrase "Credit Crunch" makes it all sound like a new breakfast cereal, the reality is that individuals and businesses are about to go through a couple of years of financial hell.

Some business owners are borrowing more (if their bank let's them!) just to keep their business ticking over and some have already had enough and have thrown in the towel.

It's Bloodbath Britain, despite what Brown and Co would like us to believe. (Have you noticed how those who are well cushioned financially are those who have the audacity to go on TV and tell us that it's all about "readjustment for the foreseeable future"?)

This current situation is extremely serious for most small to medium business owners. So what's to be done?

Firstly, you can sit back and dream that "tomorrow it might get better - it just can't get any worse".

Secondly, you can put your hands up now and go and do something else - that is, if there's anything available to do.

Thirdly, you can resort to good luck charms? Prayer? Extra lottery tickets?

OR......

You can grab this opportunity by the scruff of the neck and attack the market you're in! Yes, we said "opportunity".

Let me explain - most business owners are tired - worn down with the gloom and doom. Most will sit back and cross their fingers - hoping they'll wake up and realise it's all been a bad dream. And sadly, because of sitting back, many will be forced to give up the ghost in the not too distant future.

However, these scary market conditions present those with the courage and the knowledge to not only survive but thrive. Small Business Profit is more than a distinct possibility.

It really doesn't matter whether you're a Chinese restaurant, baker,computer shop, chiropodist, accountant - whatever! If you have a business today, then you must take a cold, hard look at everything RIGHT NOW and restructure to ensure you're going to avoid being a casualty.

Yes, it's a tough call - but we're in very tough times. And you need to be a little "Spock Like" to do it - yes, we do mean the Spock of Star trek fame - big ears, loads of cold reasoning and no emotion.

Scout the Other Team and SWOT Them By:Larry Galler

While watching the college basketball championship games a couple weeks ago, I was impressed with the coaches' substitution strategies. It was like a chess match and I realized that they had done S.W.O.T. (S = Strengths, W = Weaknesses, O = Opportunities, T = Threats) analysis in the same manner as business strategists.

Business, like basketball, is a competitive game. Each exploits their advantages while trying to minimizing their disadvantages. When one team takes out their biggest player and substitutes someone who is faster, the opposing coach makes a corresponding personnel change to counter any advantage that otherwise might be gained. The coaches have scouted the opposing team to know which players have advantages in certain situations and work to negate those advantages to the best of their ability. Have you done your SWOT analysis? If not, here's a very oversimplified discussion of how to do it.

List your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and compare them to those of your competitors. The goal is to discover advantages and disadvantages and then to create and develop tactics to maximize your advantages while, at the same time, keep your competitors from taking advantage of areas they are strong but you are weak.

As an example you might have a process to be the lowest cost provider. Your competitor doesn't have this process yet so you have a pricing advantage. Strategically you could gain more margin and profit because of this differential or win customers by lowering your prices. You might discover that you have a speed-of-delivery disadvantage so you might work on speeding up your delivery process to counter the competitor and not lose customers to the faster competitor.

Once you have determined the advantages you wish to exploit and the disadvantages you need to strengthen, just like the basketball coach, you put your players on the court (the marketplace) and continue to play the game. The SWOT analysis is just one of the analytical tools athletic coaches and businesses use to win. Put your best players out there and go for the gold by SWOTting the competition.