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Many people dream about turning their passion into a career. But how many twelve year olds do you know who started their own company and became a millionaire by age 17? Ephren Taylor, now the youngest African-American CEO of a publicly traded company, is one of them. At age 12, he started a company programming video games because his mother wouldn’t buy them for him. Five years later, he was a millionaire.
Check out this inspirational interview with Ephren Taylor.
For many small business owners, intellectual property and other complex legal topics only bring fears of expensive lawyers and other fees. Because of this, many owners tend to ignore such topics, which can be detrimental to your business in the long run.
In a recent article in the New York Times, common fallacies about intellectual property were addressed and corrected. Because the Internet allows international commerce and competition so easily, it is imperative to understand intellectual property.
Here are some of the myths (and corrections) about IP from the New York Times.
No matter how exceptional our product or service is, we will all eventually have to deal with an angry customer. Instead of losing that customer due to unordinary circumstances, S.A.V.E. your clients with these easy steps courtesy of New York Times blogger Jay Goltz.
“I understand why you are angry” and “I am so sorry” will go a long way when dealing with angry customers.
Follow your sympathy with action. “I am so sorry but I am going to make sure this is resolved immediately” is one of the many things that you can say to not only calm irritated customers but solve their problems as well.
This morning I woke up and checked the news to find that two more earthquakes shook California last night. Between discussions about earthquakes on the West Coast and hurricanes on the East Coast, I got thinking. Am I prepared? Does my business have a plan for emergency?
Below are some simple survival tips for any emergency or disaster.
Odds are, when an emergency strikes one of the first things to go are telephone landlines. When landlines go down, the only means of communication employees will have are cell phones. Create an emergency list with employee personal cell phone numbers. Store these numbers in your cell phone or laminate them on a small card to keep in your wallet or purse. Also, try not to make a habit out of using your cell phone until the battery runs out. Frequent charging will pay off when emergency strikes.
Strolling down the street, I can’t help but notice all the “Going out of Business” signs. It is obvious that the economy has taken its toll on small businesses in America. In between the vacant and out of business signs on storefronts, there are many that are doing very well. What are these small businesses doing to stay successful?
Blogging Innovation complied a list of rules for small business success.
So many companies begin with a passion. Just look at Annie’s Homegrown Foods. It started off when Annie decided to put her passion for food, health, and the planet into a company. Years later, her multi-million dollar company is one of the leaders in organic premade foods.
Last week, the federal minimum wage increased 70 cents from $6.55 to $7.25. For those small to medium business owners in California, this increase is irrelevant due to higher state minimum wages (for us in CA, it is $8.00!). But for many other states, this increase is worried to cause owners slashing hours to save money.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, the increase in minimum wage will bring $5.5 billion more into the economy. Others are hoping that the hike will cause an increase in the quality of applicants for minimum wage positions.
Here are a few tips to that can help you stay profitable despite the increase in minimum wage.
Last night, I indulged in the ultimate fast-food. In-n-Out. If you have never tried the West Coast burger chain, you are missing out. Anyways, while I was enjoying my delicious meal I started to think of how great it would be buy an In-n-Out franchise. After some research, I sadly found out that In-n-Out does not franchise any of their restaurants but I did find many other franchise opportunities. Have you thought about buying a franchise? If the answer is yes, you should check out a franchise expo.
All over the country, franchise expos are put on to showcase new franchise companies and ideas. At these expos, potential small business and franchise owners can talk to seasoned veterans in the industry. Here are a few tips that will make your hunt for the perfect franchise easier.
Many small to medium businesses invest a lot of time and money into their websites. Their wise investment to establish a virtual home for their business where customers can find information at all times can be a waste if simple mistakes are overlooked.
In a great article from “Small Business Trends” common website errors in small businesses are discussed. Below are the highlights from the article. The full article can be found here.
“Building a professional looking Web site is one of the most powerful ways to gain instant credibility with visitors. When someone lands on your site, they’re going to take one glance and immediately use it to determine whether or not they can trust your business. If your site looks too standard or like you just threw it together in an hour with things not in their proper place, they probably won’t find you trustworthy enough to do business with. And they’ll leave for a competitor.”
Every day, I hear more and more about large corporations, small business, and everything in between mandating bi-monthly, weekly, or random Telework Days. In the state of Virginia, Governor Kaine went as far as issuing an executive order to “green” Virginia and urge employers to support Telework Day.
For many, this is a win-win opportunity for employers, employees, and mother earth. Telework benefits include:
For many service providers, this may seem impractical because services at your place of business still needs to be conducted. Although this is true for the actual service providers, other employees who handle human resources, paperwork, or non-service oriented functions can take advantage of “Telework Days”. Do paperwork, marketing, and scheduling appointments from home.
Today, the New York Times published an article about mom-and-pop business owners using social media to boost business. For small businesses with no ad-budget, twitter seems to be the perfect solution. (For tips on how to use Twitter, check out this blog post).
“Small businesses typically get more than half of their customers through word of mouth, and Twitter is the digital manifestation of that. Twitter users broadcast messages of up to 140 characters in length, and the culture of the service encourages people to spread news to friends in their own network,” said the article.
Twitter is not only for e-commerce businesses and companies with a website. It can be used to make the corner shop known to people three cities away, or tourists coming to your town. The Times tells the story of Chris Mann, the owner of a spa in Cincinnati who uses twitter to advertise discounted massages and manicures every Tuesday.
Using Twitter to advertise discounted service appointments is a great way to fill perishable appointments. Here are a few tips for making your business tweets more effective.