Grow Your Human Capital by Investing in Your Team

We’re all familiar with startup capital and working capital, but how much do you value your human capital? Even with all the technology available today, human beings, the people who work for you and with you, are still the lifeblood of a small business. This is how you can place more value on your team to get more from them by simply making more of an investment in them. Give your team the tools they need. To get the most out of your people, the first thing you need to do is provide the tools that they need to do their job well. Many small businesses make quality resources and tools for their employees a low priority, and though they may still be able to barely get the job done, this is a mistake because for a small investment, you can get a good deal more output from employees. If …

Creating an Experience Your Customers Can’t Resist

    Your top priority as a business owner is fattening up that revenue stream, but there are a variety of different elements that contribute to it. What immediately comes to mind are things like product quality, good customer service, and marketing strategy. What about the subtle aspects of how a customer relates to and experiences your business? Even though it may not be at the top of your list, fine-tuning the overall customer experience can be just as important as the aforementioned core concerns. The following are a few simple steps you can use to not only satisfy your customers, but to thoroughly impress them.   Everything should be easy to find. For web designers, this is an essential part of their work because all the pages and content of a website have to be organized so that everything is exactly where the visitor expects it to be. It’s …

Build a Powerful Ecommerce Platform with Shopify

Shopify provides some of the most effective and versatile solutions for businesses of any size, to sell whatever you’re selling, in any venue. They make it so easy to create an ecommerce site that you may want to start one for your business, even if you just have a brick-and-mortar store. There are literally too many features and capabilities to name in this brief article, so we’ll cover the majority of features and at least give you a good idea of what Shopify has to offer. A Platform to Fit Your Business It doesn’t matter if you have a startup that’s just beginning to grow, or a vast enterprise, Shopify can provide you with the tools you need to sell your product effectively on any platform—and do it with style. There are a variety of solutions you can utilize to sell your product in-store, online, and even through social media …

5 Ways to Save Your Business from Being Sued

    Small businesses usually have legal counsel on deck, to protect themselves in the event of a lawsuit, but it’s far better to avoid getting sued in the first place. It’s unfortunate that entrepreneurs who go to great lengths to take care of their employees, as well as their customers, sometimes find themselves caught up in lawsuits unnecessarily because someone found a crack in their armor.. Even though you have every intention of running a clean, productive business, you still have to protect yourself so that no one can take legal advantage of an unforeseen mistake or oversight.   1. Avoid harassment & discrimination like The Plague. So here’s the thing with workplace harassment: It is most often perpetrated by supervisors and managers, towards employees of whom they are in charge (though it goes in the other direction, as well); and those supervisors usually don’t realize that what they’re …

Don’t Give Out Your Phone Number—This is Why

Though we all know that our phone number is private and important to us, as an individual or a business, there is something seemingly arbitrary about giving it out to someone, especially in the unassuming environment of the Internet. It’s getting more and more difficult to keep our personal phone number to ourselves, but with a few key steps, you can protect it from the spammers and scammers. Don’t give out your phone number. This is rule #1. We’re all on the defense against unwanted calls, but where are they coming from? How did they get your phone number? Somewhere along the line, you gave it to some organization or business, whether consciously or unbeknownst to you. When you are filling out a web form for anything online, just don’t include your phone number unless it’s for a reputable organization that actually needs it. Even then, be sure to read …

Entrepreneurs: Simple Answers to the Big Questions

    Is great customer service worth the cost? How much should you pay yourself? Do you need a building? Take it or leave it, you’ll find here answers to these questions and more; the universal questions of startup and small business owners.   How much money should I have available when I start a business? As much as possible. Many entrepreneurs and business gurus will tell you that you should have enough money to sustain your business for a year without profit. If you want to be on the safe side, try 2 or 3 years worth of secured working capital. That may be out of the question, which is why many business owners just have to pray that revenue overwhelms cost sooner, rather than later.   Should I bootstrap my business? If you have the means, you’re ultimately better off bootstrapping because this means you won’t be indebted …

6 Common Email Templates for Professionals

    A personalized message is always the best way to connect with people, whether they are colleagues, friends, or customers. But if you’re short on time, or not sure what to say, these prepared templates are a great way to get the message across quickly and clearly.   Thank You for Your Business Thank you for choosing (your business)! You are not just a number. We greatly value our customers, and we hope to continue to fulfill your needs for as long as you’re with us. We appreciate your business very much. Come visit us again soon!   Delayed Response I apologize for my delayed response. I hope that you don’t take my tardiness as disrespect because I’m glad that you have reached out. Thanks for taking the time to contact me.   Angry Customer Thank you for getting in touch with us, (customer’s name). I regret very much …

4 Extraordinary Stories of Great Customer Service

    These are exceptional examples that give us a standard which anyone who works in customer service can strive to achieve. Though we may not be able to make such extraordinary gestures towards our customers every day, of course, these examples show that great customer service can have a powerful effect.   Banker Gives Away $400 of Her Own Money This is an old story. On a Friday like any other, a man was scrambling to get to his bank on time so that he could withdraw money that he would need imminently. His situation was dire because he had just learned that his mother had died, and he needed to get on a plane as soon as possible. As the bank was about to close, the branch manager showed remarkable generosity out of concern for the man’s terrible circumstances. She withdrew $400 from the ATM out of her …

5 Products that Your Business Can Learn From

    One of the best ways to dial-in your product is to learn from those who have already discovered ways to be successful. The products you’ll see here have capitalized on established marketing psychology, provided solutions for the needs of our modern world, and created unique innovations to win over large numbers of consumers. There are valuable lessons to be learned from each one that you can apply to the products of your own business.   Etsy.com Etsy is a useful example to all businesses, primarily for one reason: It is an excellent example of finding a differentiator and making it work for you. Etsy is one of Amazon’s many competitors, but it is one of the top competitors because it employs some of the best bits of Amazon, such as quick, seamless purchasing and a responsive UI, while offering customers a flavor all its own. People go to …

Facts About Phone Numbers

A Little History & Fun Facts About Phone Numbers

They used to start with letters. Up until about the 1950s, phone numbers were alphanumeric, eventually settling on a 2-letter, 5-number system that usually identified the region of the phone number and also aimed to make it more memorable. This system had to be done away with for a few reasons, one of which was due to the confusion that arose from telling someone letters that sounded like other letters, causing people to get the wrong number. Another reason was simply because you just couldn’t make as many combinations using the letters, as you could by using digits—then they had to add even more digits with the introduction of area codes. The most expensive phone number. (866) 666-6666 currently belongs to a limousine service in New York City, and to register this sought-after number must not have been any small feat. Not long ago, the cellphone number 666-6666 (area code …