Application of Servant Leadership
When: February 22, 2017, 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. MST
Where: BOSS Webinar
We'll discuss the principles of servant leadership and how to apply them in your business. After this webinar, you'll be able to unleash the power of "courageous conversations," and learn how a higher ROI starts with engagement.
Are you hoping to invest more time into growing your business instead of getting bogged down by day-to-day business challenges? Maybe you are thinking you would like more time away of the business in 2017? More sales? Better profitability? More efficiencies with your team?
The most important tool for refocusing your energies on your company’s core goals is your strategic plan. There is hard evidence from the Small Business Pulse Survey showing the real-world advantages of the strategic planning process.
I’m going to assume you love what you do – check out this video.
Here, we’re focusing on a strategic planning template that will help you to craft your own strategic business plan. TAB’s Strategic Business Leadership® (SBL) process provides an effective framework for transforming your personal vision of your company into a clear and concise road map that will help to guide your organization’s response to every new challenge and opportunity. The SBL strategic planning process is designed to help small- and medium-sized businesses develop practical strategic plans with attainable, measurable goals. Use your “big picture” focal points to meet today’s business challenges with SBL’s five-step strategic planning template:
The Five-Step SBL Strategic Planning Template
The strategic planning process is an essential part of any company’s decision-making process. Regardless of your level of experience, and no matter how large or successful your organization is, TAB’s SBL strategic planning template can help you to excel when faced with tomorrow’s business challenges.
You’ve got a finite supply of business resources, and you’ll use them best when you move forward with purpose and conviction.
Start the strategic planning process today.
What would you consider the most important aspect of a cogent business strategy? Comment below to let us know what you’d need to include in your strategic plan.
What’s the long-term value of a loyal customer? Let’s start with a look at the “non-loyal” customer. He or she will:
Given these scenarios—and considering the high cost of new customer acquisition—there’s a lot to be said for cultivating long-term loyalty among your current customer base. Here’s a look at key loyalty-boosting strategies to boost greater allegiance to your brand:
Reward loyalty with exclusive offers. Loyalty doesn’t count for much if there’s nothing “special” about it. Explore options such as offering exclusive discounts, free shipping or a points-based loyalty program you can promote on social media and in email marketing campaigns.
Be active in the community (and foster a community among your customers). People respond favorably to businesses that display a sense of civic duty. What type of charity events or non-profit involvement seems like a logical fit with your business? Get involved in your community and don’t be shy about publicizing these efforts on your website and social media platforms.
In the same spirit, how about cultivating a sense of community within your business? If possible, invite customers to visit your retail space and host events where they can mingle with you and other customers. Over time, such gatherings can instill a genuine sense of being “part of a family.”
Give customers a say in product development. If you’re looking at a product upgrade or new product launch, why not contact some of your loyal customers and get their feedback? This kind of informal collaboration not only generates loyalty (in terms of the customer’s pride of ownership), but helps ensure that Product 2.0 will more effectively meet your customers’ needs.
“We’ve used a private Facebook group of ‘super users’ to encourage customers to discuss their needs,” says Victoria Lynch of the UK-based Additional Lengths Ltd. Giving customers this kind of influence “has paid dividends both for product development and brand value overall, because people can see that we are listening and responding.”
Share your expertise and insights. You’re an expert in your field, or you wouldn’t be leading a successful business. Create opportunities to share your expertise and insights with loyal customers—for example, through once-a-quarter email newsletters—and invite them to ask questions on your website or blog. If the information you provide proves helpful (in terms of boosting their own customer loyalty or getting them over a business hurdler), their gratitude and loyalty will be strengthened and more likely endure.
Remember customers’ special occasions. Marking an event like a birthday can be both a pleasant surprise and a touching gesture towards your customers. Entrepreneur Jai Rawat suggests motivating customers “to provide their special dates when they opt in to your newsletter” and then “reward them with bonus loyalty points” on their birthday.
Always provide a quality customer experience. Perhaps most importantly, do everything in your power to ensure customer satisfaction with your business at every touchpoint. Provide extra training where needed for customer service representatives. Invest in the most advanced and customer-friendly technology so people can easily contact you with inquiries or complaints. In these days of fragmented and often deficient service, people will often pay more for a quality customer experience.
Putting more effort into cultivating long-term loyalty will help keep your business growing in 2017 and beyond.
According to The Alternative Board’s most recent Business Pulse Survey, 81% of entrepreneurs have seen a positive impact on their business from business coaching. Of course, business coaching comes in all shapes and sizes, and choosing the right coach for your business is essential to a positive ROI.
The survey considered some of the most important questions owners ask when choosing a coach to help improve their business. The answers to these questions as well as the insight found within the survey are not only beneficial to those seeking business coaching, but to business coaches looking to bring on new clients or improve their current services.
Whether you’re looking to bring on a business coach or build out your service offerings, the following questions are an excellent place to get started on your business coaching journey.
Who are the best business coaches?
There’s one thing 73% of business owners can agree on: other business owners make the best business coaches. In fact, the majority of entrepreneurs surveyed chose other business owners as their number one most trusted advisor — placing them over traditional business coaches and family members. Why?
Regardless of size, industry, or value, 70% of businesses face the same challenges. Experienced business owners, with any degree of success, have already overcome the bulk of the challenges entrepreneurs face everyday. Their first-hand experience is likely to hold the answers to any pressing issues.
What is a business coach?
The answer to this may seem obvious, but it’s important to differentiate between a business coach and a business consultant. Consultants are brought on to provide solutions to business challenges, while coaches help business owners find the answers themselves. Consultants solve problems — coaches train leaders. Karen Greetstreet at Passion for Business provides an excellent analogy for understanding the difference:
“A business coach will help you understand how and why you ride a bicycle, help you to determine what’s holding you back from riding properly, and jog along next to you as you ride.
A business consultant will explain why one bike is superior to another, teach you how to ride the bike, and if necessary, ride the bike for you.”
There’s no right or wrong, or better or worse way when it comes to choosing the right advisor for your business. It’s up to you to reflect on your business’s challenges and needs and determine whether you need a business coach, consultant, or both.
When do I need a business coach?
According to the survey results: always. Business owners were nearly split down the middle on whether a business coach is more important when the market is strong or the market is weak. “Business owners see the value in retaining a business coach both in a healthy business climate and an unhealthy one,” says TAB Vice President David Scarola. “The question isn’t when do you need a business coach, but what do you need it for.”
Where do I find a business coach?
The best way to find a business coach is to turn to your personal network. 85% of business owners agree that personal referrals are the most reliable method for finding the right business coach. This comes as little surprise, considering last year’s survey on how business owners choose the vendors they work with.
The majority of business owners surveyed in the 2014 study selected “other business owners using the products or services” as the most influential individual or group when making purchasing decisions for their company.
Why do I need a business coach?
The number one reason you need a business coach is to help you become a more effective leader. More specifically, those surveyed believe a business coach can best assist business owners who have trouble with accountability, growing revenue/reducing costs, voicing their business concerns, hiring more capable employers, and projecting themselves to key stakeholders and their business’s community.
Of these pain points, accountability was selected as the greatest benefit of business coaching. “As you run a growing organization, everything gets complex; you get busy and sometimes push off things you know are important. This is where a business coach comes in,” says Jeff Cayley, of Worldwide Cyclery. “You can discuss the vital things you need to accomplish in order to achieve your goals, and your coach will hold you accountable. That alone will make you more effective.”
How do I choose a business coach?
Take it from hundreds of other business owners – the number one factor to consider when choosing a business coach is their coaching style and philosophy. Not every style will work for every business, or every business owner. Close runner ups include their areas of expertise and their character/integrity. Scarola adds, “Just as your core values drive your business, so should your business coach’s drive theirs.”
With the majority of business owners choosing fellow business owners as their most trusted advisor, it’s no surprise The Alternative Board’s peer advisory model has seen a quarter century of success. Combining the insight of other business owners with additional business coaching provides entrepreneurs with the best of both worlds. If you’d like to profit from the accountability, strategic planning, and growth benefits of working with a business coach, contact your local TAB advisory board. Each advisory board is comprised of facilitators and local business owners to ensure the most powerful 360 degree perspective of your business.
By Guest Blogger, Eileen O’Shanassy
There is a ton of psychology involved in doing business, and as a business owner you must understand that people behave in certain ways and can be influenced with the right triggers to purchase your products or services. There are many examples of how to use basic psychology to get more customers and if you are savvy, you can use these to your advantage as you market. If you want more information, check out applied psychology programs online or courses where you can learn these skills in a business sense.
Using Social Proof
When people have an opinion on something, you will put more weight into that opinion even if they didn’t conduct any in-depth research and haven’t compared the pros and cons. Businesses use social proof in the form of reviews, ratings, social media mentions, and buzz to bring attention to their products and services. They know that if they build a positive conversation around their business, it’ll create a momentum that will attract new customers. Use positive reviews like these to improve your customer reach and to market your business more easily.
Using Authority
You are more likely to trust a business if some kind of authority is attached to them. For example, if you see an endorsement given by a well-known figure or celebrity, you are more likely to trust the company that’s being endorsed. Sometimes the authority is built around reputable roles like doctors, law enforcement, physical trainer, etc. If you can establish authority around your business, you’ll increase your credibility and make it easier for new customers to trust you.
Scarcity
A psychological trigger that you often see used in infomercials is scarcity. People are generally attracted to things that are harder to get. Some get emotionally worked up by the possibility of losing something valuable. Infomercials often use this trigger by building up value in bonuses and discounts. The kicker is that the bonuses and discounts are only available for a limited time. This creates scarcity and often triggers customers to buy when they may not have done so under normal circumstances.
While psychology is an incredible way to gain customers, you still need to realize that your customers are people too. Don’t insult your audience by making it obvious that you’re trying to use a gimmick to get them to make a purchase. You have to walk a fine line and embed psychology into your communication in a way that is respectful while also impactful. Consumers have become more educated about marketers over the last few decades, so it’s important to learn how to use psychology the right way for the right products.
Need more advice on gaining more customers? Find out if the collective wisdom of a peer-advisory board is right for your business.
In the fevered competition to recruit and hire “A-player” job candidates, many recruiters and HR departments are turning to a different model to get the job done. Imposing the structure of a sales process offers a new way to look at recruitment in general, and how to better position their own companies in particular. This approach might well be the answer to your own recruiting challenges.
Here’s a look at how taking a sales approach to hiring can work for your business:
Adapt elements of sales to recruiting. Your sales team follows a rigorous process of cultivating, nurturing and converting sales leads. With a little imagination, your in-house recruiter can adapt many of these same elements for the hiring process. HR thought leader Kim Shepherd advises following these “sales-like” steps:
Look at your applicant tracking system as “more than storage for archiving resumes,” Shepherd writes. Use it to “build and manage a pipeline, including measuring leads, tracking conversion rates and even creating the recruitment version of a sales forecast.” In this way you develop clear-cut metrics, including job candidate targets and deliverables.
Act like a high-performing salesperson. The best members of your sales team diligently stay on top of everything happening in the industry—reading blog posts and articles, reviewing trade publications, looking closely at potential clients’ websites and so on.
They also maintain an active presence on social media, passing along helpful links, connecting with influencers and sharing news about your company without openly engaging in a “sales pitch” to job candidates. “Don’t fall in the trap of tweeting sales jobs! Jobs! and more Jobs!” warns Live and Learn Consultancy LTD. “It’s not authentic and guess what, no one listens.”
Become a pro at selling your company. Here’s an area where many businesses can improve their odds of “bagging” the candidates they truly want. Look at the situation from the job-seeker’s perspective and develop compelling answers to these questions:
These are variations on the types of questions prospective clients ask of any company seeking their business. You’ll see greater interest among job applicants if you answer these questions in an authentic and inspiring manner.
Show off your culture. Just as a salesperson might give a potential client a tour of your business—in order to demonstrate how the culture is geared towards serving customers’ needs—so a recruiter should be prepared to show off your culture to achieve similar results.
Of course, candidates will get a taste of your workplace environment when they show up for an interview, so it’s imperative that they leave with a favorable first impression. Put together a “package tour” so candidates meet your best, most outgoing employees, get the chance to see your technology at work and get a feel for what’s going on. In many ways, this experience might be the “close” to your sales approach.
Finally, even if things don’t work out, be sure to end the budding relationship on a positive note. No one wants a disgruntled job applicant tweeting and posting unfavorable comments about your company based on a bad interview or recruiting experience. You never know when a candidate who wasn’t the right fit might (because he or she remembers how pleasant and approachable your recruiters were) refer a friend or colleague who turns out to be precisely the A-player employee you’re looking for.
Need more help finding top talent? Join us Tuesday, November 22, 2016, for our Business Owner Success Series webinar on “Recruiting When People Are Scarce.”
In the increasingly cut-throat world of employee recruiting, businesses that fail to devise effective digital recruitment strategies face the threat of getting left behind in the dust. That’s because, as the vast majority of prospective job candidates are soon to come from the millennial generation, digital technology is the best way to “speak their language” and draw the interest of this highly sought-after talent pool.
Here are five tips for crafting a digital hiring strategy that yields better results than more traditional recruitment efforts:
1. Focus on creating a memorable first impression.
Before undertaking any other efforts, it’s critically important that your business website—and particularly, your “Careers” page—impress job seekers from the instant they land on your site. The look and feel should be engaging, upbeat and informative (and of course, easy to navigate). A cluttered or amateurish site instantly conveys the notion that a business doesn’t have its act together—and can discourage candidates from looking any further.
Think of your site as a “company storefront” where visitors are treated to a display of your culture and products. Such a storefront must “deliver a cohesive brand image that reflects the company mission, vision and values,” notes HR expert Amber Hyatt. The brand experience, combined with in-depth job descriptions and online applications, “engages job seekers and helps them determine proactively if they are a cultural fit to the organization, and whether to apply.”
2. Showcase your brand on multiple platforms.
Remember, prospective candidates come to your business from a wide array of online sources. Putting together a noteworthy company profile on LinkedIn is a necessary first step—with special attention paid to highlighting your company culture—but no business can afford to stop there. Your brand must have a significant presence, and following, on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram as well.
Maintaining a consistent message across various platforms is key. Since it’s your brand that “gives you the ultimate credibility,” be sure to “use the same banners, icons and style across the platforms and continue this theme into your website.” This way, your brand and messaging are familiar wherever job seekers encounter them.
3. Focus on providing content that engages and informs.
Both on your business and career sites, and in your social media outreach efforts, pay close attention to the kind of content you offer to followers. Tweets, posts, articles, etc., should reflect your company’s upbeat, employee-friendly culture. In order to reach the widest possible audience, mix things up with a blend of images, short videos, surveys, and so on that engage job candidates and keep them coming back for more.
4. Make the online job application process quick and easy to complete.
If you successfully grab the interest of a prospective candidate, don’t make the mistake of putting obstacles in the way of completing your online job applications. A variety of technology options should be considered, from dedicated candidate job portals to employee referral networks—anything that leverages integrated platforms to ease the application process. (Additionally, this will impress job seekers looking for companies proficient in digital technology.)
5. Incorporate big data in your recruiting efforts.
The same “big data” technology used to attract new customers can be applied to your recruiting efforts. Look into high-quality recruitment analytics programs that gather key data such as:
“In the near future, most HR departments (many large companies already do) will have access to considerable pools of data that can tell a recruiter more about candidates than they know about themselves,” writes marketing specialist Aleah Radovich.
Adding a “digital dimension” to your recruiting strategies will broaden the range and scope of potential candidates, including the right type of talented individuals you want in your business.
Recruiting When People Are Scarce
When: November 22, 2016, 10:00 - 10:45 a.m. (MST)
Where: BOSS Webinar
Sometimes it feels like small business owners are fighting an uphill battle in the proverbial “War for Talent.” This month’s BOSS Webinar will focus on pragmatic ideas and considerations for uncovering hidden sources of talent, flipping the traditional candidate pursuit conversation and leveraging tools/plans that you may already have in place. Join us to learn how you can get ahead of the game as we all prepare for the 2017 recruiting season!
Is it possible to use “ethical” and “poaching” in the same sentence? These days, the hunt for qualified talent is ruthless. Many businesses think nothing of covertly recruiting employees of choice away from competitors. For TAB Members, dedicated to running their companies as honestly and transparently as possible, the issue is more complicated. Is there a way to poach a gifted employee from another organization and emerge with your reputation for integrity intact?
Here are factors to consider before embarking down this path:
Certain limits shouldn’t be breached. First off, it’s unwise to poach another company’s employee when the negative consequences outweigh the benefits. “If an employee works for a business partner or vendor, you’ll likely find the lost business connection is far more costly than losing the great employee,” notes digital media consultant John Boitnott, who concludes that “you’re smarter not to hire someone who will cost your business more money in the long term.”
The most clearly unethical tactics include going after an employee to whom you were introduced by others in that person’s organization, thinking the introduction would help your company to work together. That’s a betrayal of trust that’s very hard to live down—as is the tactic of actively smearing a competitor in order to entice a desirable employee away.
Look for non-compete agreements. Before pursuing a targeted employee from a competitor, make sure he or she is legally permitted to work for you. Some employees sign non-compete agreements that forbid the individual from working for a competing business for a set period of time. If you suspect such an agreement exists (or there’s an brief anti-poaching clause in that person’s contract), consult your attorney before doing anything else.
Explore the “employee referral” option. For business leaders bent on conducting themselves honestly, another option is promoting employee referrals within their organizations. An employee who refers the name of someone working for another business can’t make any promises or commitments, and is only raising the possibility of considering a new employment option. No ethical breach is involved.
“An employee asking a good friend or colleague is considered ethical by most companies,” notes HR strategist Danny Kellman. “The employee referral method is more ethical than using recruiting agencies with bad value systems.”
Enlist the services of a reputable search firm. Of course, most recruiting agencies don’t resort to underhanded recruitment techniques. By hiring a reputable search firm to locate your ideal candidate, you maintain an ethical distance from any association with poaching.
Spread the word in your professional network. Another option is letting everyone in your professional network know that you’re seeking candidates with particular skills and have those individuals contact you, rather than the other way around.
If such a person steps forward—and happens to be employed at a colleague’s company—you can approach that colleague and respectfully request permission to explore new opportunities with the individual in question. Should your colleague agree to let the process continue, then everything’s above-board and transparent. If your colleague objects, probably the wisest move is to abandon further discussions with that individual.
You still need to make a persuasive case for a candidate to leave. Even engaging in an ethical approach to poaching doesn’t guarantee a desired outcome. You still need to sell your company to the prospective candidate. Obviously, writes Hilary Johnson at Inc., that person’s first question is, “why should they leave their job and join you? You need to make your opportunity sound more attractive than what they’ve already got.”
One final cautionary note: Remember that, as you consider the pros and cons of poaching employees from others, many organizations are contemplating the same approach towards your top performers. Of course, it’s impossible to control the actions of the people who work for you, but if you’ve created a culture that promotes career development and personal achievement, you probably have less to worry about than companies with a dysfunctional environment.
Preparing Your Business for Policy Change
When: September 14, 2016, 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Where: BOSS Webinar
In May of this year, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a new rule that will expand overtime regulations to an estimated 4.2 million workers, extending the current rule to those making less than $47,476 a year and removing long-standing exemptions. Victoria Aguilar, Managing Partner of The AR Group, will discuss the rule change and steps you should consider as your business prepares to meet this new regulatory standard.
Are you ready to make your content more effective when it comes to real conversion data? Don’t worry, content ROI is certainly out there – and we have the tactics you need to tap into it.
Calls to Action
This step is very, very obvious, but we need to mention it anyway, because it’s at the heart of content conversions: You need a call to action. You can write or create the best content in the world, but it’s not going to get the conversions that you need until you give people a way to respond. So if you want content to do more than build brand awareness and loyalty, you need to include a CTA. Link to your products, ask readers to fill out a survey, request comments or responses – your CTA can have many different goals, but it needs to exist!
Think in terms of a long-term funnel with multiple touchpoints and attribution. If your content is highly informational, you may not want to lead your visitor immediately towards a sales CTA. Instead, consider giving them a simple action, such as subscribing to your email list, so you can continue to market to them over time and slowly guide them to a sale.
Bringing Value
Why do consumers read your content? Hint: It’s not because you really, really want them to. Content can’t ask nicely for people to spare some of their valuable time and attention – it has to promise something in return. In other words, every piece of content you create should provide value to the consumer. Fortunately, there are many different potential approaches to this. Successful content provides value in some of these ways:
Product Information: New or interesting ways to use products, or how-to guides. This can work with services, too, but it’s generally more difficult.
Industry Information: More popular in B2B circles, this approach provides insight and analysis about market trends and the general industry which readers may find interesting.
Entertainment: More common in the B2C field, entertaining content uses pop culture, humor, memes, and other factors to give the consumer an enjoyable experience. A consistent tone is important here.
Savings and Money: If content helps customers save money – not necessarily through discounts, although that’s a possibility – then it has immediately apparent value.
Tip-related articles (just like the post you are reading right now) also fall into this category, because they focus on helping the reader either save time, money or even earn more money through successful practices.
boost conversions
Positioning Yourself as an Expert
The long-term goal of good marketing content should be to set up the company as an expert on its products and industry. This accomplishes a couple things. First, it helps bring in more traffic as consumers who think you are an expert continue to revisit your content and examine new content: More traffic means more conversions. Second, it gives your direct ads and product listings greater weight. If people believe that you know what you are doing, they will be more likely to think your products/services are worth their time, and so they take the next conversion step.
TIP: Give away as much information as possible. Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge. Thin, fluffy pieces don’t perform as well as very in-depth, comprehensive guides where you not only talk about an idea, but you give very specific advice about how to tackle a topic. Trendjack so you can use new and emerging topics to gain thought leadership. For example, Teensafe, a smartphone monitoring app, used the Pokemon Go phenomena to become “Top-of-Mind” for parents wanting to keep their kids safe while using the app. By being first to market with this kind of content, they become the go-to site for parents.
Case studies are another powerful way to showcase your expertise and the success of your product/service/process. Writing in-depth case studies is a prime example of smarter content that provides the proof that your company is the ideal solution for your visitors problems. Backlinko publishes powerful case studies that have helped to rocket their traffic and the sales of their products/services.
Community Connections
Content is the perfect place to tap into the community that exists within your industry, city, and customer base. When possible, try to cultivate a thriving comments section that keeps people talking and sharing.
Create a strong business persona that allows you to comment on other articles in return (like LinkedIn discussions or Google Hangouts). Invite expert guest bloggers or interviewees whenever possible. All of this will help you reach other circles of customers and drive up traffic.
Instant Answers
Let’s talk a little about mobile: There’s a whole lot we could say here, but let’s distill it down. It’s a good idea to have at least some of your content focused on instant answers to questions that buyers have. Sometimes a full post or lengthy article isn’t always necessary. When people bring up their mobile devices, they are both – in a hurry to find an answer and ready to make a purchase decision. You can win these conversions by creating mobile-ready content that gives people exactly what they want.
A “Call Now” or “Order Now” button just may be some of the best content you ever create…as long as people can find it! Make sure you use the right colors and designs to help people find exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily.
Targeted Content
While ads and emails can be targeted, you may not have thought much about targeting your more general marketing content. However, this is both possible and an effective way of getting more conversions from a particular demographic that you aren’t already reaching as much as you should be.
Salesforce and others call this narrowcasting, but it doesn’t really need another marketing buzz term to define it – just work on making content that answers questions and provides value for a very particular type of customer persona that you want to reach.
Just this month, TAB released a Small Business Pulse Survey which revealed how business owners view social media, and how they’re using it to forward their business goals. Surprisingly, the stats revealed that most business owners (59%) are not prioritizing social media, despite its enormous influence on customers and today’s digital society.
Why aren’t business owners investing more time and money into social media? According to our latest poll, they’re having trouble measuring results. “Six percent of small business owners are still using vanity metrics (shares, likes, views) as a way to measure ROI for social media,” says TAB Chief Marketing Officer Jodie Shaw, “and 43% are not measuring ROI at all.”
AT TAB, we believe so strongly in the power of social media, we interviewed 10 entrepreneurs to see how social media directly impacts their sales. Here’s what they said:
Reddit resulted in a sale for us
Max Robinson, Kitchen Specialists Glasgow
Reddit helped establish our business as an authority in our industry. We began by offering free advice to fellow users via relevant subreddits. A few weeks ago, we had a customer read one of our many comments on a thread and approach us for work. It proved to us the value of using social media for business and the value of providing as much free information and advice as you can afford. We now have a member of staff who monitors our Reddit profile regularly to pick up on any leads that we might’ve missed. We currently generate a few leads per month on average through the platform. (Note: since publication, Max has moved to: Flying Scot Glasgow)
If you don’t believe social media is beneficial for your business, there’s a good chance you don’t really know how to maximize it. Try some of the above tips to boost your sales via social media, or contact a local TAB board. A board of fellow entrepreneurs can help you better navigate social media, as well as your long term digital marketing strategy. Get in touch!
A recent study from The Alternative Board revealed that 64% of small business owners are monitoring their social media accounts only one time per week or less, with 22% of entrepreneurs only checking their social channels a few times a year. Why are business owners spending so little time on this highly valuable, yet cost-effective marketing tool?
According to 59% of the entrepreneurs surveyed, social media is merely an accessory to their business, not an essential function. A surprising 18% of business owners report having no social media presence at all.
“Six percent of small business owners are still using vanity metrics (shares, likes, views) as a way to measure ROI for social media, and 43% are not measuring ROI at all,” says The Alternative Board’s Chief Marketing Officer Jodie Shaw. “Without a full picture of the impact of social media, business owners cannot fully comprehend its value.”
That stats reveal just how little focus business owners are dedicating to social media. For instance, the large majority of those surveyed (67%) are putting their social media channels in the hands of beginner to intermediate users – not experts.
Perhaps business owners aren’t observing the full value of social media, because they aren’t devoting enough resources to it. “More small business owners than not (59%) are managing their own social media channels,” says Shaw. “By hiring experts to take that task off their hands, they’re likely to see greater results and win back time for what they really should be focusing on – strategic planning.”
Despite their reluctance to build out their brand via social media, business owners do report social channels advancing their company’s strategic goals, citing LinkedIn as the most effective (38%) over Facebook (32%), Google+ (17%), and Twitter (6%).
“LinkedIn presents business owners with an opportunity to connect with other business owners and build profitable partnerships,” says Shaw. “These numbers show business owners are focusing their social media efforts more on business development than reaching their customer base.”
You wouldn't leave for a road trip without a destination and a route mapped out, would you? So why would you run your business without a strategic plan? Strategic planning allows you to make a road map of your business vision which can give you a more results-driven management approach.
TAB's white paper on strategic business leadership provides you with the information you need to get started on your strategic journey. Be sure to share this valuable resource with your network of entrepreneurs.
Here's how: goo.gl/kiHLAe
There comes a point in every business owner’s journey when they begin to question whether or not they want to grow their business. In fact, for most entrepreneurs, that question will come up more than once throughout their careers. We asked five business owners for their advice when it comes to growth: When should you grow your business? How should you do it? What should be the first question you ask when you decide to expand? Here are the most important pieces of advice they shared:
Nick Leighton
CEO/Owner, The Alternative Board Southern California:
When you feel you are being dragged along by your fingernails, it’s time to embrace growth.
Had to miss that yoga lesson or run because you were too busy? Thinking about work instead of attending your kid’s game/performance? Then it’s time to bring on new team members to help reduce your workload. Not just for the health of your business, but for your own sanity.
Jim Morris,
President & Owner, The Alternative Board Tennessee Valley:
Control and planning prevents surprises and problems that come with growth.
A business is ready to grow when its foundational infrastructure, marketing plan, and strategic plan are in place. When the business has the space and the ability to hire competent personnel and acquire other assets as needed, it’s ready to grow.
Before scaling up, the business owner should do a cash flow and working capital analysis to determine if the business can fund itself adequately as it grows. Financial preparation and knowledge of both current and future needs must be evaluated to avoid cash problems and unpleasant surprises that can come with growth.
Common pitfalls to avoid are growing faster than the business can fund itself and avoiding poor customer service that can come with lack of preparation for additional sales volume. The business owner should also create a strategic plan, with projected budgets, to avoid surprises and provide a baseline of what to expect and a plan that can be measured against and adjusted as growth occurs.
John Meetz
TAB Facilitator, The Alternative Board South Central Kansas:
Know where you want to go.
Know how you want to grow personally and professionally through a carefully thought out personal vision statement. Be flexible while you plan for growth, and your next steps will become apparent.
Bryan Clayton
CEO, GreenPal:
Nail it and then scale it.
You shouldn’t embrace growth until you know how much it will cost for you to pull in additional customers — likewise, you need to know how much those customers are worth before you take any debt on to scale your business.
So often I see fellow entrepreneurs take small business loans to build their business before they have built a scalable model. Make sure you have a sustainable plan before jumping into things.
John Jonas
CEO, OnlineJobs.ph:
Delegate or outsource as soon as you can afford it.
One of the best ways to assess whether or not your business is ready for growth is when you see the value of every hour you spend on your business rising. Let’s say when you’re starting out, you’re making $100 for every hour you spend working on your business. That hourly value rises when you take in more clients and get more work. If you’re doing your own accounting at your hourly rate (at $100/hour), it would make more sense to hire someone else to do it for you.
If you keep doing everything yourself in order to save money, you’ll end up spending more money because you’re paying yourself too much for tasks that are better delegated to someone else.
While all of their answers differed slightly, many of the business owners interviewed focused on three things: having a vision for your company’s future growth, having a plan for how to follow through with that vision, and finally, knowing when you’re working below your own pay grade.
If you think it may be time to scale up your business, but you don’t know how or when, The Alternative Board can help.Get in touch with a local board to see how our peer advisory and business coaching services can help you create a better plan for delegation and achieving your personal vision of success.
Business assessments allow company owners to pinpoint what is and isn’t working in their businesses. By identifying strengths (and playing to them) and weaknesses (and filling in the gaps), entrepreneurs are better equipped to lead strategically.
Of course, business assessment is a huge undertaking that requires substantial preparation. To make the process a little bit easier, we got in touch with Beth Coyle Faris, Business Coach and Facilitator at TAB Texas Hill Country and previous CEO of Coyle Engineering, Inc, and Jo Clarkson, UK Operations Director at The Alternative Board UK, for their tips on all things business assessment.
TAB: What do you need to complete a business assessment?
Beth Coyle Faris: Before conducting a financial valuation of your company (or hiring someone to do it), it’s essential to know where your documents are – especially those a prospective buyer would want to see. Hopefully, your books are up-to-date and in order – if not, that’s the first step. Your CPA will be a big help in this regard.
The documents you need for a comprehensive business assessment include:
Have these documents ready BEFORE you’re even preparing to sell. It takes a long time to gather them from scratch, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity when you’re approached by a prospective buyer out of the blue.
As a real life example: I once had a firm owner approach me about buying his surveying firm. I asked him for a list of his documents, and he responded with: “How would I know where all of that stuff is?” I told him we would talk when he had everything in order – we never did.
TAB: How often should business owners complete a business assessment?
BCF: Business assessments can be expensive. I would only conduct one when you are really serious about getting “sale ready.”
Jo Clarkson: A business assessment can be as small as asking yourself “Is what I’m doing for my business moving me towards my personal vision of success?” I ask my TAB members this every month, and ask myself as well!
TAB: How has a business assessment benefited your business in the past?
BCF: A business assessment provides you with the knowledge you need for successful negotiations. When I sold my engineering firm, the valuation (and work with my attorney and CPA) helped me to make the best possible deal.
JC: In our business, regular business assessment means we have a solid exit strategy, which we’re implementing as part of our ongoing business development plan.
TAB: What are the most important factors to consider when conducting a business assessment and why?
BCF: Do your homework, ask around and get advice on all of the different ways to value your company.
JC: Be clear why you’re doing it and be committed to taking action based on the results. “Without knowledge, action is useless and knowledge without action is futile.” – Abu Bakr
TAB Business Vantage® can help you identify performance gaps in your business, so you can reprioritize your team’s efforts. This online tool will measure the ten most common factors that make or break businesses across every industry. With these results, you are better equipped to focus your Strategic Business Leadership® plan and work towards your personal vision of success. Contact a local board to get started on valuing your business and moving further towards you company goals.
What is a Business Assessment, and When Do You Need One?
Vision – Personal and business
And we’ve already discussed the importance of having a strategic plan for your business, the kind of plan that will make you remember the big picture: why you started your business in the first place.
But while having a vision for your business and having a strategic business plan to grow it are both keys to success, how do you get from A to B? How do you even know you need a strategic plan?
That’s when a business assessment comes in handy. Business assessments are a crucial aspect of understanding what your business plan should look like, what’s working the way it should, and what isn’t.
Think of your business as a car, and a business assessment as the blueprint for its design. While you might know your vehicle’s exact make, model, and mileage, you probably can’t remember all the details about its construction, such as the exact diameter of each of its hoses. The same goes for small businesses. If you install a hose that’s not the exact fit, the car will come screeching to a halt – and in this particular analogy, there are hundreds of hoses in varying sizes.
So much happens and so many decisions are made on a monthly basis — without a business assessment it can be incredibly difficult for business owners to remember all of the details that can make huge differences in their operations and bottom line.
We recently interviewed hundreds of small business owners about what they wish they could do differently, if they could build their companies all over again. Out of all the aspects of running a business, the entrepreneurs wish they would’ve spent more time on strategic planning. Only 2% of respondents thought that a better product would have helped their business more than a better strategy.
That’s why a business assessment is so important. If you have a vision for your business but don’t know where to start when it comes to figuring out a strategic plan for growth, it’s probably time for a business assessment. From there, you can build out your strategic plan and outline specific goals, as well as outline how you’re going to achieve them.
Different firms offer different business assessments, each with their distinct advantages, but all business assessments are fundamentally lead to a balanced SWOT analysis of the organization.
A SWOT analysis looks at internal and external factors that are helpful or harmful to your business and the way it’s run. This type of assessment is particularly interested in identifying factors in the following 4 categories:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
At a glance, it’s easy to see where most small business owners (and most business owners in general) like to spend their time – among the tropical shade and white sands of their company’s Strengths and Opportunities.
Rare is the business owner who takes the time to sit down and honestly assess weaknesses in his business model as well as potential threats (which can be difficult to see without another pair of eyes). This is why many small businesses fail — entrepreneurs often have a vision, but no strategic plan for growth. And they have no strategic plan because they never conducted an honest business assessment.
They thought they were doing just fine when, in reality, weaknesses were eating away at their business model and threats were looming large in their market.
That’s why we offer TAB Business Vantage. “Vantage” (our informal name for our “business advantage” assessment tool) is a business diagnostic tool we developed over years of research working with thousands of business owners that lets you comprehensively identify your competitive strengths but also key gaps in your business. Think of it as an MRI for your business that compares your business to others in the same industry. Not only does it identify the gaps but it also helps you prioritize, so you’ll know what challenges and opportunities you need to focus on first.
A business assessment does not take a lot of time but the results are invaluable. The output of the assessment is fed into the SWOT process. This helps identify the key areas of the strategic plan. Taking the first step in this process will put you on a path to running your business more strategically.
If you’d like to know more about how a business assessment can change the outlook of your business, contact us about our Proprietary Business Assessment Tool. Once completed, TAB can help you develop a strategic implementation plan, focusing on the most important needs of your business.
Aside from those who specialize in accounting, let’s assume you didn’t go into business because of a love of ledgers and spreadsheets. Nevertheless, few elements of operating a business are as crucial to long-term success as maintaining accurate books and staying on top of financial matters. No matter how great your new business idea or model may be, a string of accounting errors can result in severe financial deficits, leading to employee lay-offs or, in a worst-case scenario, being audited and paying significant fines to the IRS.
So if the prospect of eliminating accounting errors from your business is a top priority, here are frequent (and often overlooked) mistakes you should avoid:
1. Not grasping the fundamentals. Some business owners, caught up in developing and promoting a great new product or service, fail to clearly understand the difference between cash flow and profit. As any accountant will tell you, they are not the same things.
Cash flow refers to the stream of money coming in and out of a company as a result of sales, investment, financial activities and related operations. Profit is what a business accrues from sales revenue after all expenses have been deducted.
Closely scrutinizing your financial statements every month is the best way to stay on the right side of this fundamental business proposition.
2. Trying to do everything yourself. Sooner or later, most business owners “get” that they’re not equipped to do everything themselves—especially attempting to venture into the complex world of accounting. Invoicing, payroll processing, accounts receivable, etc., are best left to an expert. Don’t attempt DIY accounting or you may live to regret it (see tip #6).
3. Mingling business and personal finances. In the rush of daily life, it’s easy to get your business and personal finances tangled up. Your business will likely suffer if money meant to fund operations is spent on the purchase of a new tennis racquet (and left unrecorded).
Also, as veteran entrepreneur John Rampton points out, the IRS doesn’t look kindly on such sloppy record keeping: “ … while the IRS can understand that a certain number of meals throughout a month might be business-related, those tickets to a concert or video games on the business credit card clearly do not.”
4. Failing to record cash expenses. Speaking of expenses, how often do you make a point of recording cash expenditures? Unlike payments made by check, debit or credit cards, cash laid out for business expenses can easily get lost in the shuffle. Make a habit to automatically record cash expenses as soon as they’re made.
5. Neglecting to reconcile business accounts. It’s essential that the balance listed in your financial accounts is accurate and up-to-date, and that it matches the balance recorded in your bank account. If days, weeks or months go by, and you fall behind on reconciling customer payments, credit card statements, sales tax, business checking statements, receivables listings, etc., your books will be a real mess.
6. Being too shortsighted to hire an accounting professional. So what if your wife’s nephew took an accounting class in college? That doesn’t make him qualified to handle your books, no matter how much money you save hiring him rather than an accounting professional. Hiring a CPA or other expert ensures you’ve got a person on-board with a thorough understanding of tax laws, invoicing, payroll taxes and so on.
Just as important, is maintaining regular and clear-cut communications with your accountant, so he or she knows what’s going on at all times. This applies both to keeping accurate day-to-day records, as well as forecasting the future of your business. David Wechsler, Vice President of The Alternative Board Denver West advises business owners to “Use your financial professional wisely. You are not paying someone north of $75 per hour to do data entry; you are paying them for guidance, compliance, and peace of mind that your financial house is in order.”
Take accounting seriously. You owe it to the long-term success of your business.
March 23, 2016
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM ET
Location : BOSS Webinar
Your employees are your most important asset. But how much time are you spending managing staff and the variety of associated HR issues?
Join us to learn how you can employ a solid Human Capital Management (HCM) strategy, that will protect your business from potential fines & lawsuits, but more importantly, will free up your time to work on why you really went into business… your personal vision!
The Alternative Board conducted a productivity survey of hundreds of entrepreneurs to discover how business owners are really spending their time. While 76% of business owners reported above average time management skills, 85% admit to working over 40 hours a week. Do these results mean that business owners are not admitting to their time management shortcomings? The answer, most likely is no.
Today’s post seeks to unearth these time sucks and provide solutions for avoiding them. By making the actionable changes found below, business owners will be able to cut down the time spent working in their business, so they can devote more time to long term strategy, as well as their personal lives.
1. Working below your pay grade.
A huge detriment to your productivity as an entrepreneur is wasting time on duties that can be outsourced – particularly day-to-day administration. These easily delegated tasks are very often what’s keeping you IN your business rather than allowing you to work on it.
With so many outsourcing and freelancing solutions available, hiring an assistant to take over these roles no longer requires a full time salary commitment. TAB Member Ron Loveland, CEO of Summit Business Solutions, recommends small business owners delegate administrative tasks to a virtual assistant. “When you go from doing everything yourself to affording an administrative person, there is a crucial step in-between,” says Loveland. “With a VA, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you have enough work for a person. They only charge you for hours worked, and if you go through a company like UpWork, they will take care of the W-9 form and any IRS reporting.”
TAB member Jay Eastland, Owner of Engineered Solutions of Georgia, advises that business owners devote their efforts to cultivating new strategic relationships, leading with vision, solving problems, and engaging with employees and customers. Otherwise, you’re wasting time, “running errands, writing checks, or trying to develop the website.”
2. Reactive Management
TAB’s time management survey also revealed that business owners are spending almost 20% of their time on tasks that are urgent, but not important. Waiting for a crisis to address gaps in your business is a guaranteed path to working IN your business for extended periods at a time – distracting you from precious long term planning.
One way to stay proactive is by ensuring you have a team in place for anticipated growth rather than hiring as you grow. “If you’re like most business owners, your organization has developed almost haphazardly. You’ve hired who you could when you could, usually in response to your most immediate capacity crisis – your most urgent need,” says Jeff Whittle, President of TAB Metro Dallas.” His solution? “Make hiring a priority – not a crisis. Ignore it, and you’ll end up with a jumble of ill-defined positions being filled by people not truly suited for the jobs they’ve been given. Get it right, and you add a new gear to help propel your business to the stratosphere.”
3. Resisting Technology
While technology may temporarily slow productivity as you and your team adjust to it, the long term benefits are indisputable. For example, the Alternative Board’s 2015 cloud survey proved that 95% of business owners rate their satisfaction with cloud technology at or above average.
TAB Denver West President Blair Koch agrees “technology is crucial in our world today.” She recommends business owners adopt Dropbox for accessing important files, Streak for tracking email opens, Evernote for organizing customer notes, CamCard or Scannable for uploading business cards, and Salesforce.com for keeping track of customer relationships.
4. Poorly Managed Meetings
Ineffective meetings are notorious time wasters in the business world. To improve meeting productivity, TAB Member Rick Maher, CEO of Effective Human Resources, suggests limiting meeting invites to those specifically involved in the topic of conversation. “The biggest mistakes leaders make when they hold a meeting, especially in a group setting, is they focus or discuss issues that only affect a small number of people. It leaves the rest of the team twiddling their thumbs, and the value of the meeting is lost rather quickly.”
The Alternative Board UK’s Jo Clarkson adds, “If your meetings are valuable, well run, and achieve the planned outcome, people will make it their priority to turn up! Schedule regular meetings well in advance, so there’s no rescheduling and no excuses.”
Improving your productivity begins with identifying where you’re losing time. Be honest with yourself and admit when you’re being stubborn and when you’re refusing to let go of the reins. If you can’t quite pinpoint where you’re losing time (but know you’re losing it), other business owners – who have been there and done that – can help.
The Alternative Board puts you in touch with fellow business owners in non-competing industries who face the same challenges you do every day. Their experiences of overcoming obstacles very often hold the answers to your business’s biggest setbacks. Contact a local TAB board if you’d like to meet with other executives who can help you identify time wasters, boost productivity, and advance your business.
February 17, 2016
Time: 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM EST
Location : BOSS Webinar
You will learn how to identify the bottlenecks and root cause of any process problems in the business and how to address them. For the business owners who don’t normally think of sales as a process, this will be an added bonus! Similarly, those who merely treat the symptoms of a process, as opposed to the root cause, will come to appreciate the value of finding out why, for instance, none of the sales people you have hired can make a sale!
Presented by Bob Dodge, TAB Certified Facilitator/Coach.
