Come Up with Business Name

How to Come Up with a Simple, Attractive Business Name

It’s possible that you have already lost or missed customers because of a difficult or confusing company name. At the very least, there are two main problems with a poorly-conceived name: It either makes it harder for your customers to find you, or it’s difficult to remember your business name. This is why you’re always better off taking some time to come up with a simple, concise, and memorable name for your business. A creative name is overrated; a unique name is not. Let’s be honest. Way too many businesses put all their energy into coming up with a name that sounds really cute when actually, unless you’re extremely clever and witty, they usually end up sounding pretty lame and not particularly memorable. It is far more important to focus on making your name memorable and simple than it is to make it clever. In the end, if the quality …

6 Signs that Your Business is Taking Over Your Life

  This is an article about not letting your work get the better of you; it’s about not losing yourself in your business, which can be detrimental to your well-being. Honestly, it is necessary sometimes to devote pretty much all of your time & energy to your business, at the expense of being involved in your own life. It’s when this becomes the norm and perpetuates itself as a permanent cycle that you should be concerned.   1. You literally only go home to sleep. This basically means that you spend just about your entire waking life at work. If it has gotten this extreme (which is not uncommon), then it’s time to seriously assess how your real life fits into your schedule.   2. Your family is sending you signals. When you have a family at home, they are your greatest allies because they have your back. So when …

How Old & New Entrepreneurs Can Teach Each Other

With a massive, multi-generational assortment of entrepreneurs existing today, who are running everything from the small businesses in your neighborhood, to vast corporations, it means there are all kinds of business owners who each have their own knowledge and experience to teach. To focus on two main categories of entrepreneurs, old-school owners who have been around for a while and owners from the new generation, these can both learn a thing or two from each other. LESSONS FROM THE OLD GUARD Customer service is paramount. Old-school business owners generally took customer service to a degree that is not as familiar to the new generation. There have always been companies that provided terrible service, but in earlier generations, the emphasis was on going the extra mile for a customer. In some cases, that would mean treating customers like family, and otherwise never stopping until they were satisfied, keeping them loyal to …

Shouldn’t Become CEO for Title

Why You Shouldn’t Become a CEO Just for the Title

There’s no doubt that starting a business takes a powerful drive, to build something from scratch and bring a vision to life. Exactly where that drive comes from, though, is significant because it may determine whether the business owner will have the motivation to stick it out for the long haul. Mr. John Q. Important, President & CEO It’s one of the most sought-after titles in American history, and it’s understandable that we clamber to reach that position because let’s face it—it just sounds good. But along with the title comes the responsibility and stress of running a business, among other things. So, if you got into business just for the title and the respect, then more power to you—as long as you can handle the other because if you can’t, your whole company could be in trouble. The Magic Fades Yes, it’s great to be the big boss. Keep …

Why Your Customers Need to Know They’re Valued

  Businesses have a secret. It’s actually glaringly obvious, but they seem to act like it’s a secret because most hardly ever mention it—the big secret is that they can’t exist without their customers. Business owners and consumers alike all know this, so why not publicize it to earn some goodwill with your customers? This is why it works.   The Missed Opportunity Some businesses bring it up from time to time, saying that their customers are their “top priority”, or something to that effect; however, most businesses rarely mention this, if ever. Even if they do, it’s usually just a generic sentiment like, “You are important to us.” Few businesses go so far as to admit that their very existence depends on customers’ continued patronage. If you admit that you’re literally nothing without them, it’s an opportunity to show goodwill and appreciation toward your customers. People value honesty in …

Basic Wisdom for New Business Owners

You can find all kinds of advice through research, mentors, and colleagues about what you should do and how you should be when starting a new business. The wealth of information can be dizzying; so here are a few points that boil it down to manageable tips—a cheat sheet for new business owners. Know What to Worry About Blake Irving brings up an interesting point about worry and stress. Primarily, what he is suggesting is that, when you’re building your business, it’s important to know when you can ignore certain things that happen and some things the people around you are saying to you. Here is the gist of it, in Blake’s own words: “Your parents, siblings, close friends and trusted coworkers will all chime in on your plans. If they’re only radiating fear or negativity, you have no option but to ignore them and move ahead.” Know Yourself Starting …

Make More Sales by Avoiding These 5 Mistakes

Entrepreneurs have all types of personalities. Some are brilliantly charismatic, some excel at reading people to know how to approach them, some are hopelessly introverted or antisocial, and some entrepreneurs simply don’t know what can be potentially disheartening to people, making it very difficult for them to interact with clients. That’s where these tips can be helpful—a few of the most common mistakes we make when dealing with new clients. 1. Promising something you’re not sure you can deliver. When you have a potential sale on the line who will probably buy from you if you meet one condition, the temptation to promise to meet that condition is strong, even if you have no confidence that you’ll actually be able to do it. You think, “They’ll probably stay with our business, even when they find out we can’t deliver what they need.” Think again. 2. Making them wait for you …

10 Essential Quotes from Veteran Business Owners

    When you’re starting a new business, you need advice from experienced entrepreneurs who have been in the game. You can scour the Internet for endless articles about how to approach running a small business, or you can look right here for a condensed version with the bullet points of successful entrepreneurship. The following are a few gems of wisdom from seasoned business owners that you can use to fuel your own small business or startup.   1. “Get into good habits early on, such as creating meeting agendas, sticking to meeting times, and walking away with actionable plans.” —Jennifer Mak   2. “Give your employees the right education: Our sales per square foot is above the industry’s average, and that’s due to our extensive training program. If your staff is trained appropriately, they can offer better service and be more efficient.” —Christi Rudolph   3. “Stay away from …

Finding Your Own Rhythm to Get More Work Done

Business owners and professionals of any kind all want to figure out how to be more productive. The best way to be productive and grow your business or career is not to simply white-knuckle it, by forcing yourself to do more work (though that is necessary at times); the best way to achieve high productivity that leads to success is to find your own rhythm. That’s when the work becomes less miserable, and more of a natural flow. Trial & Error Not everyone works in the same way. Instead of completing daily tasks the way you always have because that’s what you know and that’s what you’re used to, the better way is to make a conscious effort to find out how you work best by trying multiple ways of breaking up and organizing your tasks and projects. For example, you might need more breaks than other people between tasks, …

7 Steps to Being a Huge Success with a Small Team

    The truth is that many small businesses don’t quite have as many people on their team as they would like to have because they’re, well… small (and growing). In the ideal situation, it’s great to have one employee for every position, who performs his or her duties unencumbered by extracurricular tasks, but the reality is that much of the time, everyone has to pitch in to cover unmanned positions. This could cause serious problems, however, if not done carefully. The following are a few suggestions for managing a team of employees who are carrying the workload of multiple people.   1. Rigorous Organization When everyone has multiple responsibilities going on at the same, organization is paramount. Who is doing what (down to the smallest task), how long each job takes, how much attention or emphasis should be given to each responsibility, etc.—this should all be worked out in …