While mentoring is common in large corporations, most entrepreneurs don’t have a source of advice to bounce ideas off of. Successful small business owners are often ones who have learned from those who have gone before them. SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” offers these steps for choosing a mentor who will best fit your business goals and give you helpful answers to your business questions. [Read more...]
Let’s get something straight: I work at home. People these days who say they work at home do everything but, it seems.
They work in coffee shops with wifi (even the McDonald’s near me now has wifi), in their cars, on boats, while skydiving or sitting in an eagle’s nest in the high mountains.
Why? Because home is becoming the new workplace.
People, by nature, don’t want to be in their workplace all the time.
Those of us who do work at home may stretch and carelessly say, “Weeelll, looks like time to go…Oh. Yeah…”
See what I mean?
You could say it’s because computers are getting smaller. My Mini Netbook is with me all over the house, and I admit I did take it to do some work while I was housesitting for a friend once.
Does the word “smartphone” come to mind? It was Bill Gates, after all, who once said one day we’d all have computers the size of a man’s wallet. I wouldn’t recommend sticking your new $500+ smartphone in your back pocket to try it on for size, though.
And how about cars? More new car ads are pushing the “mobile office” feature now. Even truck commercials tout the benefits of “mifi”, and once upon a time, it was commonly assumed that many truck owners had enough difficulty spelling their name, let alone running spreadsheets on the fly.
The thought of someone in a brand new 5000 pound Dodge Ram zooming down the highway behind my little car while checking his email is NOT comforting.
Are you one of the poor saps without a spanking new ride weighing down your debt load, like me? Don’t despair, get your own mifi! That and a wireless printer/copier/fax and a nice compact monitor, and you could set up your old desktop right there in the old jalopy.
As for me, I’ll keep pursuing the ultimate home office… Just email me before you go anywhere. I want to be sure I’m safely working at home.
This guest post is courtesy of Dan Reingold the top humorist at Work at Home Humor.
It costs twice as much to gain a new customer as it does to hold on to an existing one. There are six proven actions any small business can take to ensure a customer stays a customer.
Show your customer or client the work you’ve been doing and the results you’ve achieved. By giving them something they can read and react to, questions are answered and suspicions are erased. What’s more, the customer may realize they need you to do additional work.
If most of your dealings are done over the phone, make a point of holding face-to-face meetings periodically. Meeting in person says you are interested in there business and it gives you an opportunity to literally see things that you can help address.
Every business has its own verbal shorthand. When speaking with a customer use terms they can readily understand. They feel more comfortable and sense you’re working as a team.
Never assume the customer is satisfied. Throughout the work process, ask how your customer feels about what you’re doing and show them by word and deed the comments are taken seriously.
As proud as you may be about your product, remember it’s being made for the customer. Make certain you know exactly what they want, when it’s needed, and more. Avoid the kind of surprises that no one likes.
For any number of reasons customers change processes, be it terms and conditions, purchase orders, accounts payable or just about anything. Customers know they are valued if you show a willingness to work with them, just as much as you want them to work with you.
This guest post is by Bob Dieterle, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Smart Online, developers of the OneBiz® suite of web based small business applications.
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