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20 THINGS I LEARNED IN BUSINESS THAT IS NOT TAUGHT IN SCHOOL

By Julie Brander Neiman, MBA 

1. Always go with your gut instinct, it is usually right.

2. Always have at least 3 sources for everything you purchase

3. Sell you products or services as many ways as you can. Some examples are online, storefront, public sales, home parties, trade shows, corporate sales, consignment, joint marketing

4. When charities ask for a donation always give a gift certificate, then the customer is forced to come into the store.

5. Control your time, don’t let people or things distract you, learn to say no and address unimportant issues at a later time.

6. Be innovative and creative in new products and services. Customers and buyers will tell you what they want.

7. Know your customers names and nurture customer relationships. Encourage them to come again.

8. Never stop learning: take courses, get training, acquire new skills, learn the industry, read trade articles.

9. Always exceed customers’ expectations, make it easy for customers to do business with you.

10. Company image is essential, consider name tags, appropriate greetings and proper attention to all customers.

11. Employees can drive and build the company, train them, empower them and pay them well

12. When an employee stops performing at peak level, never hesitate to replace them.

13. Employees with prior experience and expertise will always be more productive and add value to the business.

14. Productivity is essential to the success of any business, hire people that take initiative.

15. Challenges and problems always arise, know there are many solutions to each problem. Carefully think about each solution before making any decisions.

16. Always educate your customers, all customers compare products, services and prices before they purchase.

17. Protect your intellectual property properly with copyrights, trademarks and patents. Protect your trade secrets. 

18. Always control your expenses in all areas of business to increase profit margins. Money saved adds thousands of dollars in profits.

19. For legal issues always hire experts in that area of law and get a price for services in advance. Never pay a retainer and always cap fees.

20. Hire an accountant that specializes in small business that can help you with a business strategy, costs and profit margins.

How to Come Up With New and Creative Ideas in Business

The biggest challenge in business is always coming up with new ideas, new products, and new services. Creativity is very difficult if you always continue to do the same things for many years and are afraid to change because you may make a mistake.

The more we do things the same way the harder it is to do things a different way.

“Try folding your arms…..now fold them the other way…it is not easy is it?” 

It has been found that once you have a set way of thinking about things it is sometimes hard to think about things a different way. 

In business it is essential to always think about ways to improve your product or service and think about how it can be better. That is the challenge!

• What      is missing? 
• What      can be added? 
• How      can it be better? 
• How      can it improve and make the customer happier and more loyal?

Think of new ways to enhance your products or services. The customer will tell you how to improve your products or services. An unhappy customer will complain and a solution to the complaint must found or you lose the customer. You always need client, customer and consumer feedback. How can the business improve the products or services so that the customers you want to reach are happy and want to continue to do business with you.

Be creative and think of new product lines and new markets and stay competitive. 

• What      problems need to be solved? 
• With      each problem there is an opportunity for a business. 

State the problem: Add something, change it, make something bigger, make something smaller, eliminate something, or substitute something. It is essential to know your products and know your customers. 

Analyze great ideas and look at why they succeeded, what did it do for people?

Why do people buy it? How much will they pay for it? How long was it popular?

When you have a new idea you must know “who will buy it?” and “how much the customer will pay for it”? Always try to increase sales with new items and bring in more customers or old customers looking for the next new thing that you have to offer. 

The more ways you can sell a product the better. All sales must be tracked and as soon as sales begin to fall the next new item has to be ready to be introduced. This is one of the many challenges in business and those who do this best continue to be successful for years and years. Expanding your market, increasing your business and always knowing that you have to make a profit are the key to business success. 

How to be an Effective and Memorable Speaker:

Public Speaking is a great way to promote your business. You instantly become credible and can share your expertise. I just attended a talk at the Chamber of Commerce, there were 3 speakers talking on a topic having no idea who was in the audience. 

Mistake #1: Not knowing who is in the audience and speaking on a topic that is not relevant makes the audience walk away feeling like they wasted their time.  Know your audience by having them introduce themselves. Not only do you want their name, name of their business and perhaps a short elevator speech you may want to include the information that they hope to learn or questions they would like answered.

Tips on how to be more effective 

1. Always know your audience and talk about the information that they are interested in. As an expert it is essential to present valuable information that can be useful and practical.

2. Always give your background and credentials with some proven measures of success to build credibility.

3. Share real life stories that are relevant to the information being presented, it always makes a talk more interesting. 

4. Engage the audience. If you can get audience participation it makes the talk more effective. Encourage questions.

5. Enthusiasm is essential when speaking. Being a dynamic speaker keeps the audience attention and makes you more memorable.

Always know that when you speak the audience is looking to be entertained and at the same time you are educating them. Always engage the audience and encourage networking. You never know who you may meet at any event. Share stories and ways to keep talks interesting.

Follow up  and keep in touch.

Naming Your Business

If you have no idea what your business name should be, brainstorm with friends and family, and write down all the words that describe what you do and the benefits to your customers. Out of hundreds of different words you have come up with, the name with appear.

The name of your business is so important as it creates your brand and it will be what you will be identified with for the life of your business.

The name of your business should be easy to say, easy to spell, easy to remember. Avoid foreign languages unless that is your target market.

It is very important that the name tells what you unless you are using your actual name which can also be your brand. Is the name clear and what your business does.

Make your name expandable, in case you add more products or services

Name trends can be cool now but in the future will sound dated like “Toys R Us” at one time it was a good brand however now it is out of business. Not a good idea to use that now.

Is the website available? Without a website and social media the business is invisible.

TAG LINES AND SLOGANS

A tag line gives more information in a few words about your business attributes. Keep it short, clever and clear and memorable. Keep your company image consistent. Simple easy to understand language. Avoid abbreviated words or foreign words that no one understands

BUSINESS CARDS:

Once you have the name of the business you need business cards. A business card would reflect who you are and your business image. It will eventually be your brand when you become more well known.

A business card should always be eye catching, printed on high quality card stock, easy to read and include your business name, associates name and title, address, email, phone, website and any social media addresses.

A business card can have a logo or a photo if relevant. It conveys who you are at a quick glance. Always consider using the other side for a slogan, tag line, or additional information. 

Use a card stock that can be written on.

NTWORKING BASICS:

Always present yourself in a professional way, leaving a lasting impression. You are a reflection of your business be on time and say goodbye to everyone you have met.

You have your business card and now the networking begins. 

The elevator pitch is essential. 

At a networking event you would Introduce yourself, exchange business cards, write notes on the business card when and where you met 

Repeat their name when you meet them and repeat the name in conversation to remember the name. If the name is repeated 5 times you will remember the person.

Finding the right financing or finding ANY financing for that matter is one of the most difficult aspects of starting and building a solid small business. You may have a great business plan and be a talented workaholic, but finding financing is another matter.

Business owners often start with too little money. It is one of the most common reasons that new businesses don’t make it. Adequate financing and managing the money is crucial in order for your business to grow and thrive. Inadequate funding can limit what you can do. 

Sources and types of small business funding fall into a few broad categories. It will either be debt or equity financing from family and friends, a bank, venture capital, angel investors or alternative lenders. Debt financing is a loan that you pay back. Common sources include: family and friends, personal credit cards, home equity lines of credit, commercial bank loans and bank loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

With equity financing, you offer investors shares of your business in return for cash. Unlike loans, you are not required to pay the money back, but these investors now own a part of your business and will want a return on their investment. Venture capitalists work this way, and stock offerings are a type of equity financing.

Businesses can also receive a type of funding from vendors and suppliers in the form of special payment terms, discounts, direct loans or leasing options. Suppliers and vendors want you to succeed and often times are willing to help.

Other funding or cost sharing options include partnerships, joint ventures, and co-branding arrangements. Partnerships are two or more people who plan to create a business together, a joint venture is when two or more firms pool their resources and create a jointly owned organization. Co-branding is a relationship between two or more firms that promote each other. 

The SBA 7(a) loan program is the main small business financing tool. It helps secure loans up to $1 million for small businesses that are unable to find financing through conventional lenders. The SBA website has an excellent section on financing that includes helpful advice on funding basics, estimating costs, personal vs. business loans, eligibility standards, steps to successful borrowing and lists of small business lenders. For details on all SBA programs, visit www.sba.gov/financing.

Pick a financing structure that works best for your business and make sure that everyone involved understands it. Specifically be clear on whether the deal involves an ownership stake in your business or whether it is a simple debt to repay. And be clear about the payment terms.

To legally seal the deal, use a document such as a “Promissory Note.” It is crucial to put the terms of your borrowing agreement into a proper legal form. You can find the downloadable legal documents that you need at www.findforms.com. Self help legal publisher Nolo also offers loan forms and related information at www.nolo.com. 

However, we always advise to contact an attorney, who specializes in corporate law and contract law to advise you. Understand the basics and then always let the expert create the final document that will protect you and the investor.