Never give up Boosting your Sales.

                 

If you’ve been in business very long, chances are good you’ve started out spending hours closing sales, processing transactions, fulfilling orders, and finding new leads in an effort to boost your sales. You wasted time on the phone talking to prospects who asked dozens of questions and then never bought anything. You wasted money into your website without seeing the results you expected. You did your best to provide amazing customer service, but you still had to fight tooth and nail for referrals and repeat business. You worked for hours on end without seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. And you long ago, gave up the idea of doing what you love. But you know, nobody starts a business expecting to give up their personal life and spend hours at the office. It’s just what happens when there are bills to pay, employees to manage, customers to keep happy and prospects to convert. But what you need to realize is, despite all the things that keep you running day-in and day-out there is a reward at the end. Continue building your business despite all the hardships.

Success is all about perseverance and determination, not giving up, doing your best, keeping at it, focus -when you would rather quit and rid yourself of the business. But when we quit, we can forget about achieving the goal we are working towards. It’s like running a long-distance race – a marathon. At the start, you feel strong and full of enthusiasm, but as the miles take their toll on your energy reserves, you think to yourself, ‘Why am I doing this? This is tough!’ If you decide to quit you are immediately out of the race. You will never be able to boost those sales let alone running a business – It’s over for you. There is no committee that sits down at the end and decides whether or not you should still get a medal. No one says, she/he tried so hard in the beginning, “can’t we just give it to him/her?” No. There is no vote.
 
Hang in there! The worthy projects you are involved in are worth fighting for. Success takes strength of mind, courage, moral fiber and drive. It does not come without these traits. But it is worth it in the end. A happy marriage, a successful business, a mature son or daughter, a fulfilling career in your chosen field. These things are the rewards of perseverance and are worth every ounce of blood, sweat and tears. Stay the course and boost those sales. You can do it!

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Financial Control : Cash Flow and Profitability

 No matter what your other reasons are for going into business, one of your main goals is probably to create cash flow and profit from your business. When looking at potential businesses, it’s important to examine the projected cash flow and profitability of the business. Amazingly, there are many businesses that don’t ever create a profit for their owner. While you can’t figure profitability with absolute accuracy, you can get a good overall picture of what you should be able to expect from a particular business. In the simplest of terms, cash flow is the money that comes into your business from the sale of products or services and is then paid back out to keep your business operating. Cash flow is absolutely necessary for the operation of the business. It’s just like maintaining your household. If you want to keep the electricity on and keep the banker from foreclosing on your home, you have to use the household income to pay those expenses when they are due. Businesses must create enough cash flow to pay their expenses, which might include vendors, employees, rent, utilities, etc. Small businesses can get into trouble if they overestimate what their cash sales will be and do not keep good records to always know approximately what their cash flow is. If you don’t know how much money is coming in, or if you are quickly spending the money that is coming in before you pay the business expenses, your cash flow can tighten to the point that you’re quickly in hot water with employees, vendors and others who are vital to the continuation of your business. Always be mindful of what you are spending from your cash sales. Limit your petty cash and spontaneous spending. Above the salary that you earn from working in your business, you may be counting on profit from your business to put your children through college or to pay for your retirement. You may be sorely disappointed if, after you’ve heavily invested into the business, the profit isn’t there. In many instances, a small business will meet expenses and payroll, but not create profit for the owner after all business costs are paid. That is why you must examine the profitability of a business before you delve into it. Follow the simple formula below to calculate the net operating expenses of a business after taxes: A. Determine your capital (this includes debt: money you have borrowed from banks, friends, family and other sources that you still owe) and equity (invested money) that has been paid on the equipment, inventory and other things you use in your business such as computers. B. Figure your cost of capital. C. Multiply your capital times your cost of capital, and you will determine the true profit point.

Simply put, the formula is: Capital x Cost of Capital = True Profit

Justice Mandhla is the author of  Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.

See more at  www.businesslearning4life.com>

Are You The Business Owner

Am I willing and able to devote the time it takes to start and maintain a business?

You probably didn’t just wake up one morning and suddenly determine that you’re going to start a business. Most likely, you’ve put a lot of thought into it and have realized that starting a business is a serious venture that will require something from you if you’re to enjoy the benefits. You’ve probably asked yourself, and maybe asked trusted friends and family members, if you have what it takes to be a business owner. Here are some considerations that may help you determine the answer to that question:

 

Time is a significant consideration when you’re thinking of starting a business. If you think you’ll start a business so you won’t have to work as much as you do at your current job, think again. Anyone who has successfully started a new business will warn you to become intimately acquainted with hard work and long hours. Usually, there is just no way around it while you are starting a business. Starting a business is not for those who tire easily or give up at the first sign of hard work.

There will come the time when you can train and trust others to run your business for you so you can spend less time involved in daily operations, if that’s what you want. In the beginning, however, you must be willing to put in the extra hours necessary to get your business up and running. Be realistic in determining whether you can afford the time to do this and still keep your priorities in order, and maintain the quality of life that you desire.

 

If you are married or involved in a serious relationship, discuss your business plans with your significant other and make sure you are in agreement about how much time will be spent on the business. It’s difficult to start and maintain a business if you are struggling with guilt and loyalty issues.

 

If you know you can’t realistically work full-time at a business, determine how much time you can devote to the business and set your business up accordingly. This may require you to start your business in stages or to even put off the start of your business until you can devote more time to it. It’s better to start slow and successfully get to the finish line than to start off with a bang and lose steam before your business is even established. Only you know how much time you can and will devote to a new business. Be honest with yourself about it.

Justice Mandhla is the author of  Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.

See more at  www.businesslearning4life.com

What qualities do you look for in a good employee?

You’ll want to find energetic people who have the physical and mental endurance to complete tasks in a timely manner and contribute to each assignment with enthusiasm.
You’ll want hire people who will take initiative. You don’t want to have to babysit employees who have no sense of what needs to be done or how to do it, or who just wait around to be told what to do. People with initiative find out what needs to be done and find a way to get it done.
You’ll want to hire people with a cooperative attitude. The last thing you want to do is struggle with someone who refuses to do things the way you need it done in conjunction with the rest of the team. While there is nothing wrong with creativity and thinking outside the box, lack of cooperation by even one employee can create serious problems in productivity. Cooperation is not only productive, but is infectious and quickly spreads to other employees and eventually even affects customers in a positive way.
Hire people who can be trusted to be dependable or you and your other employees will constantly be compensating for the lack of dependability.
Hire people who take ownership of their employment. These employees have a sincere desire to benefit their company beyond what their job description might demand. These are the employees who take pride in their work and in the business. Employees who desire to grow with the company are more easily retainable than employees who are just there to put in their hours and get their paycheck.
Hire people who are pleasant to be around. No one wants to work with grumpy, negative people. Negative people will affect every employee in your business and also your customers. Every employee will occasionally have a bad day, but for the most part, you should expect your employees to be at least pleasant, if not cheerful, at work.
It goes without saying that you want employees who are trustworthy and honest. Do your duty and carefully screen employees before hiring them. It’s better for you to find out that they are dishonest by talking to their previous employer or by doing a background check on them, than by firsthand experience. Dishonest and untrustworthy employees can be a severe liability to your business. Don’t risk it.
Justice Mandhla is the author of Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.
See more at http://www.businesslearning4life.com

Great Employees Increase Business Profitability

The employee/employer relationship is a unique one that is governed by federal and state law, personal convictions, and industry guidelines. It will be your responsibility to comply with all laws and be the kind of employer that motivates workers to remain productive and enjoy their job, while benefiting the company. Are you the kind of person who can do this?
Make a list of the characteristics you believe would be required in a good employee. Comprise a list of questions you would ask each potential employee in the interview process. Think about how you would handle employee issues when they are presented. Would you take them seriously and be willing to deal with them in a professional manner?
Think about what guidelines you’d set regarding your relationship with employees. Later on, you’ll define all of these things in detail in your employee handbook, so give some serious thought now as to what kind of employer you would be and whether you feel you could successfully manage people. If you have not gone through some form of business training that addresses management of employees, consider taking some employee management classes. Community colleges, local chambers of commerce, and other local business organizations often provide such classes.
Great employees increase business profitability, build excellent customer relationships, and help move forward your vision. It’s your responsibility to choose and retain good employees.

Justice Mandhla is the author of Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.
See more at http://www.businesslearning4life.com

Draw on your Strengths to Be, Have and Do anything you want

Most self help and motivational books advocate that we are unique as human beings because we have a set of innate abilities to change and become anything we want to become. They provide us with tools; strategies and techniques which they claim could change any situation and areas of weakness in our lives to our advantage. They say any person can learn almost any skill when the person applies the techniques provided in these books.
Contrary to what these books say, reality dictates otherwise. That is why we have rocket scientist presumably thought of as the most intelligent, hard working researcher and the average cashier. Regardless of IQ one can grow and become successful in life. If success was measured in terms of IQ, India which has the highest number of people with the highest IQ could be the World Super Power and the richest and successful country in the World. But that is not the case.
Most people work 12 to 18 hours a day and that’s hard working. But hard work alone does not guarantee success. May be before we proceed any further on this discussion let’s define what success mean in our context. Success in the context of this topic refers to the accomplishment of your goals. It means becoming what you set out to be, it means having all what you desire and doing what you like to do, when you want to do it, and wherever you want to do it.
If self help and motivation books are not correct, if IQ and hard work has nothing to do with success, what then makes other people successful and others just slaves of their jobs. Most books profess that success is a mix of a number of principles including the following; you are born to be successful, success is ingrained in your fibre, taking action, positive thinking, goal setting, persistence, perseverance, patience, determination, focus, commitment, passion, hard work and never giving in. Think and reflect for a while how these principles apply in your life. You may already be using some of these principles in your business and personal life. But can you point one that is making you successful? If you are like most people you should be using the combination of these principles in your life.
In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton put forward their argument, that people perform at their best when they’re playing to their strengths. They also dispute the fact that any person can learn almost any skill and that a person’s greatest room for growth lies in their areas of weakness. They say that everybody has a set of innate strengths and if they recognise and harness these they will enjoy greater success than if they expended their energy trying to improve their areas of weakness. They argue that most people focus on improving their weaknesses and fail to harness their strengths. How true.
You probably know something about yourself that you do naturally or something unique that other people always comment on about you. It may be a hobby, a skill that you know you possess but you are not utilising. You may be a talkative person who never stops talking even in places where you are not supposed to talk. You may be a data capturer and your work is always behind because you can’t help it, you just have to stop to talk to your peers. You may not have realized that your career path lay in other areas and not in being bog down to an office desk. Based on the above line of reasoning, I want to conclude by saying;
Recognising, drawing on your strengths and abilities will connect you with what will become your successful business idea or career.
Justice Mandhla is the author of Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.
See more at http://www.businesslearning4life.com

How to edge your way and flow through this recession

In these tough economic times experts will tell you to take drastic measures to ensure that you remain in business. They will advise that you to take a complete overhaul on how you run your business. This may be true, but for a small business person this is not always easy, because taking drastic measures may mean cutting costs. It goes without saying that the salary bill for your employees is non- negotiable. Costs that immediately comes to mind and which are within your power to cut are marketing and advertising. As any business person will tell you, cutting your advertisement budget is detrimental for your business. You are going to experience even more financial challenges if you take this approach. This is the time to use your creativity and employ affordable multiple marketing strategies. If you have been using flyers as your main advertising strategy try and put up a well designed website. The more focused your marketing and advertising strategies are the more budget you will have to throw around and the better the profitability for your business. Knowing exactly what tweaks are needed will carry you through these difficult economic conditions. While you have to be informed as a business person about the economic meltdown, that is not enough, you have to be able to interpret what the economic downturn means for your business, and formulate responses that are relevant to carry your business through these challenging economic conditions.
How you respond to these difficult economic conditions will influence how well you are able to edge your way and flow through the storm. It pays to understand the marketing shifts and how you respond will enable you to take advantage of opportunities when the good times returns. The good thing is that your initiatives will continue to benefit your business long after the recession is over. Here are a few things you could do in this economic period;
• Harness the creative and clever combination of duplication and multiplication. Repositioning what you already have can provide your business with another selling point and change your challenges into opportunities.
• Diversify and change your product mix by adding clever extra profit sources by breaking up your products into a number of separate products and then reassemble those products into new offers that have a higher perceived value. Repackage and piece together your products and offer them on a number of different formats at a variety of different price ranges.
• Take care of your staff and ask them to upsell your new range of recycled products to ensure that your sales exceed your expenses.
• Create a process flow structure and develop an automated system in order to ensure a more seamless means of managing your business to deliver in a faster and more effective way.
• Develop a back-end business by improving the manner your customers are treated. Increase your relationship with your customers by being able to understand what your customers want. Be in tune with your customers and identify simple ideas that can make the customer’s lives easier by examining any inconveniences facing your customers.
You can beat the recession by pulling away from the pack and following the above strategies.

Justice Mandhla is the author of Boost your sales and attract new customers and he spends a great deal of his full-time writing days researching and writing about marketing and advertising strategies.
See more at http://www.businesslearning4life.com

Business Planning

Few things are as rewarding as starting your own business. A successful business can contribute to your personal well being and feeling of accomplishment, as well as to your financial security – a security that can last for future generations.
 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream. Discover.”
–Mark Twain
During this time of economic woe and uncertainty, owning your own business can provide a greater sense of control over your finances, rather than depending on flailing and down-sizing companies for financial security. When you own your own business, you don’t have to worry about unpleasant surprises like getting handed a pink slip. You can keep a finger on the pulse of your business and avoid the shock of a sudden job loss.
Sure, you’ve heard the horror stories about small businesses that started up only to close a few months later, but you also hear inspiring stories about the ones that were very successful. Think about it, every successful business you know about, from your dry cleaners and grocery store to your bank, all started out originally as a small business. How many times have you thought of a great business idea but didn’t follow through with it, only to find that someone else did and it they reaped all the profits?
There are few guarantees in life and there is certainly no guarantee that your new business will make it, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.
Justice Mandhla is the author of business prep guide: you’ve got to read this book before you buy any business start up bookand he spends a great deal of his fulltime writing days researching and writing about business preparatory strategies.
See more atwww.businesslearning4life.com

Communicating with your clients

There are three key pieces of information that you must communicate to your clients or customers to achieve success with any marketing program.

1) I’m here!

If a potential client or customer isn’t aware of your presence, you’ve already lost the sale. He or she must know that you are there, what you are capable of providing, where you are located, what store hours you keep—or, in the case of an Internet business—where he/she can find you.

2) Here’s what I’m selling (or doing.)

If the client or customer isn’t aware of whom you are, what you do, or how you do it, he or she can know where you are located— but they aren’t going to consider you seriously for your abilities to meet their needs. Many businesses believe that they must include, in their name, what their business is. Examples of this would include Acme Office Supplies for a company selling office supplies; Denora’s Cookie Company, for a group which sells cookies; Samuel’s Delivery Service or John’s Barber Shop, to define either a delivery service or a haircutter. You will find that other types of businesses—may use the same theory in naming their business. Doctors, Dentists, Professionals such as Attorneys or Accountants almost always use their role in the name of their business.

It’s rare to find a group of Professionals that name themselves something other than the business they are in. It is becoming a trend in some parts of the world, however, to name a business entirely separately from the functionality of the business itself. An example of this might be the medical practice of several Physicians, which has recently named itself “Seasons.” Often, Professionals will think that they can name their group by a name which implies their competencies. An example of this would be a group of Dentists which go by the name “The Smilemakers.” Caution must be advised in going too far outside the norm in naming your business. A business named “Sunflowers” would probably not build custom bicycles or custom developed skateboards. However, as a counterpoint, who would believe the most popular software product in the world would be called “Windows?”

3) Here’s How to Contact Me!

One of the most important facets of business is the ability for your clients or customers to contact you. If they do not know how to find you, you have—again—lost the sale. One point made throughout the material you will review is to have your name, the business name, the business address, the website URL and a telephone number on all printed or online material which potential clients or customers will review. The easier you make it for potential clients or customers to contact you, the easier it will be to close on the working relationship with the client.

Justice Mandhla is the author of <a href=http://www.businesslearning4life.com/> Boost your sales and attract new customers</a>and he spends a great deal of his fulltime writing days researching and writing about Marketing and advertising strategies.

Ten essentials for running a successful business

1. If you are a business person you must aspire to be financially free.
2.Do something you are an expert in.
3. Do something that you love and have passion for.
4. Do your research
5. appoint the right employees
6. Build a long relationship with your customers
7.Keep track of all expenses- no matter how small
8. Upsell your products through diversification of products
9. In order for your business to grow invest in your business
10. Use the power of referrals and joint ventures
Justice Mandhla is the author of  business prep guide: you’ve got to read this book before you buy any business start up book  and he spends a great deal of his fulltime writing days researching and writing about business preparatory strategies.
See more atwww.businesslearning4life.com