Small Business News: Small Biz Map to Success

The map to success is different for every small business, but information and a commitment to constant learning are the first steps in the journey. Today we share the latest news on many different aspects of small business from finding a niche to getting loans to hiring employees and beyond. If you’re starting on your small business journey or are already well on your way, let us provide some of the detail for the map you use on your road to small business success.

Trends

Wedding business a royal pain? Sure columnist Rhonda Abrams is trying to target interest in today’s royal wedding the world over with this delightfully playful and pithy title (and one that no doubt, search engines will enjoy) but her post is also a great explanation of how to target a market (any market) using weddings as an example.USA Today

10 small businesses making big bucks off the royal nuptials. And just as further proof that small businesses really do come in all sizes, here is a list of ten companies that will reap huge profits from today’s ceremony. If you think there are limits to small business earnings or potential, take a moment to check out these big earners for this historic event.Business Insider

Finance

Are the flood gates finally opening? Here atSmall Business Trends,we’ve never subscribed to the idea that small business success is tied to loan availability alone and certainly not simply to loan programs under the U.S. Small Business Administration, but we recognize that, for some of our readers, this funding is an important issue. Here’s a Q&A with some further details about what the new expanded SBA loan program will do. News OK

Human Resources

How will you be hiring your new talent? Not necessarily from unsolicited resumes or through job boards, say many of your fellow small business owners. Instead? Small business owners are turning to employee and online networks to find qualified new hires. Don’t be left behind. Networking can be a great way to connect with the people you need to make your small business a success. WSJ

Global

Can small business help bring about peace? Some entrepreneurs might not immediately consider such an altruistic goal but one small business advocacy group focusing on developing small business leadership in regions touched by conflict believes a new generation of small business owners can make the difference creating jobs where once there was violence.You’re the Boss

Health Care

Will ”private exchanges” lower business insurance premiums? In a move anticipating the state exchanges likely under a new federal health care law, some business have begun to send employees to“private exchanges” for health insurance programs. The aim is an attempt to control unpredictable changes in premiums in the health insurance industry. Would a private exchange ease your health insurance costs?USA Today

Tech

Small biz tech explosion. It might not be a surprise to anyone who runs a small business daily, but now there are some impressive numbers connected to what many small business owners already know. Small business use of tech is exploding in particular the use of the Internet via smartphones, notebook computers and other portable devices. Check out the data in this summary for more details.Silicon Valley BizBlog

Education

Help small businesses compete by holding a workshop. That’s the plan behind an event scheduled for next week to help small businesses in Oklahoma capture some of a budgeted $2.5 billion in federal research grants. For some small businesses, the greatest tool is information. How could you best help small business owners recognize and take advantage of the opportunities in a rapidly changing world?News OK

Online

Why SEO is still in your future. Yes, of course, Search Engine Optimization is still important to your small business. At least, it is if you have any online presence at all. And that’s pretty much everyone of us these days. Sure, social media has become a critical part of the mix, but as everyone who has ever run a small business knows, the recipe for success has more than one ingredient.Top Rank

Self-development

An entrepreneur checklist for May. As we wrap up this post, it seems only right to do a little forward thinking for your small business success. This success is about reacting creatively as opportunities and problems arise, but it also involves being ready with a plan of action and with daily maintenance needed to keep up with the stages of your business. Solopreneur Miranda Marquit gets us started with a bit of monthly brainstorming. Personal Dividends

Source

Is Franchising Your Business Really the Way to Go?

Ultimately, the answer to the question, “Should I franchise my business?”is a personal one. But what franchise systems excel at that all small businesses can learn from is their systematized, replicable way of doing things. If you’re seeking to franchise your business, you’ll need to document your own systems. Even if you’re not seeking to franchise, documenting your systems can be a good way to go.

And maybe the thought of franchising right now sounds like too much, when all you’re trying to do is survive this economy.  Well, dreaming is free, and strategic dreams are smart.  The “franchise my business” dream just might get you moving on documenting your systems. The immediate reward is better business today, followed by expanded business tomorrow.

How Close Are You to the Dream?

Regardless of the business structure you choose, Susan L. Reid suggests that youstay within two degrees of separation when starting a business. She is concerned that your dream will remain a dream when“the gap between where you are now and what you need to learn to start a business is more than two degrees of separation.”

Not that you can’t learn something new, but if you are looking for a business that can pay off sooner rather than later, then Susan feels that you may need to go for what you know or something near it“because if you extend beyond two degrees, it is likely that you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed with all that you’ll need to learn just to get up to speed.”While you are figuring things out, consider the following question:

Are You Losing Out if You Don’t Franchise?

Scott Shane highlights the numbers in,“How Much Does Franchising Contribute to the Economy?” Not every industry uses franchising, but for those that do, the franchise system is a power tool employing millions, generating billions in payroll, and accounting for $1.1 trillion in annual sales. When directly compared to independent companies, Shane says, the numbers vary drastically by industry.“Independent establishments have higher average sales, payroll and employment in automotive parts and accessories,” Shane notes,“but in convenience stores, franchisee-owned establishments are higher on all three measures.”

The personal decision about whether or not to franchise your business will be based on something more than numbers (i.e. the freedom, the structure, the passionandthe numbers).

Joel Libava, the Franchise King,  points out the5 reasons fitness franchises keep growing.  He says,“After two solid years of pretty negative small business news, seeing businesses with solid growth is quite energizing.”If you find the one that is right for you, the niche is king.  If fitness is your business niche, Libava says,“the fitness franchises that continue to innovate will be the ones that continue growing.”

The small business landscape is diverse. It takes effort to find what works for you. If it works for you, franchising can be the way to go.

Source

Small Business Financing Might Get Easier If SEC Eases Crowdfunding Regulations

Social media has made it cheaper and easier for small business owners to market their companies. Now, social media companies might be making it easier for small businesses to raise capital, too.

Back in January, I posted on Small Business Trends aboutthe rise of crowdfundingas a possible solution for small business owners seeking financing. Closely related to peer-to-peer lending sites, such asProsper.com, crowdfunding goes one step further. While peer-to-peer lending focuses on individual transactions, crowdfunding uses the Internet to encourage many individual investors to contribute small amounts, adding up to substantial capital.

Today, individual investors are clamoring for a piece of hot social media companies like Facebook and Twitter, but those companies don’t want to go through the complex legal disclosures current securities laws require. As a result of this demand, reportsVentureBeat, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to study the crowdfunding issue.“{The} staff is taking a fresh look at our rules to develop ideas for the Commission about ways to reduce the regulatory burdens on small business capital formation in a manner consistent with investor protection,” says SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.

Easing restrictions on crowdfunding would let Facebook and Twitter raise money from thousands of investors–and could also benefit small business owners looking to bootstrap their businesses without having to give up control to venture capitalists. For example, if you wanted to raise $100,000, you could sell $100 shares to 1,000 individual investors via Facebook.

Of course, although these individual investors are investing only small amounts of money, there’s still a risk involved–and that’s what the SEC is concerned about. Back in 1992, the SEC allowed small companies to issue shares of up to $1 million to ordinary investors without any going through the usual regulatory hoops, such as full disclosure of the company’s financial information. In 1999, however, that regulation waschanged because of concerns about fraud.

A petition that would allow crowdfunding of up to $100,000 has been backed by 150 organizations and individuals. What do you think about the SEC’s move?

Source

5 Things an Administrative Assistant is Better at Than You

I know, I know, as a small business owner, you rock at everything you do: make sales, balance the books, prepare the coffee…well, maybe not so much. Tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day, and in honor of that day, we want to make you feel good by telling you all the things an administrative assistant can do better than you.

1. Keeping Your Calendar Organized:Let’s face it: You’ve missed more than your fair share of meetings because you wrote them down on a bit of paper and then promptly lost it. Administrative professionals know all the latest, cool tech ways to keep you on schedule using your computer, phone and telepathy.

2. Managing Your Travel Plans.If you travel for work, chances are you eat up a lot of time trying to find the cheapest flight that doesn’t have eight layovers. Again, leave it to the pros. They make travel arrangements more often, so they know how to do it faster than – ooh, did you see that? No? Your travel plans are already made.

3. Removing the Pile of Papers on Your Desk.The last time you saw over that pile was, well, how long ago did you buy the desk? You keep putting off dealing with the papers, but simply asking your assistant for help can clear it off and make room for an assortment of desk toys and stuffed animals.

4. Managing Others.You know how you’re supposed to be checking in to make sure your staff has turned in their TPS reports, but you just never get around to it? Delegate it to your administrative assistant, and you never have to think about it again. Unless a red Swingline stapler goes missing…

5. Setting Up Conference Calls.Those fancy phone systems make you crazy. You’d rather send smoke signals than deal with entering your code (“That’s what I put in! It’s right! Why won’t you let me in??”), so why not hand it off to someone who knows what she’s doing?

The list goes on and on, but we don’t want to insult you too much by mentioning your ineptness at dealing with the copier, coffee maker… you get the idea. At any rate, the backbone of a good business is its administrative assistant. Whether you have a gatekeeper posted outside of your office to protect you from shiny-haired copier salesmen or your assistant is virtual, he or she is an invaluable asset to both you as a professional and to your company as a whole.

Take today to thank your assistant for all the hard work, and ask him or her to send him- or herself a gift… from you.

Source

Small Business News: Social Media Mainstream

Social media, especially in small business circles, is showing its age. It isn’t so shiny and new any more. Instead social media has become part of the landscape and is now being embedded into everything from sales to marketing and more. Small businesses who haven’t yet, will be getting on board. Are you leading the way or lagging behind? Social media will soon become how most people do business.

Trends

Is social media mainstreaming. One of the medium’s lead proponents sure thinks so. This post proclaims,“Yes, not everyone has embraced social media, and yes, there are two or so more years left for social media consultants to make some money helping people get their wiring in place. But it’s moving into being part of the fabric, not something exclusive and amazing. In several places, it’s already become that.”Chris Brogan

Forget social media marketing. One expert argues the greatest value many businesses can get out of social media is an increase in knowledge sharing and collaboration among employees. The greatest danger? Saying no to this powerful tool because of fears connected to sharing of information on potentially public sites. With the right guidelines and the right discussion beforehand, think of how added collaboration would help your business. WSJ

Self-development

How to move beyond the hype. As social media use in small business heads for an increasingly mainstream position, it’s still important for small businesses tempted to“rush to the social Web” to proceed with care and look beyond the hype and newness to a more realistic examination of these complex tools and what they can do for your business.PC World

Creating your digital self. Taking charge of how you are presented to peers, customers, clients and potential customers is an important part of establishing a small business social media presence. Here are some tips for polishing off a social media presence that your community won’t be able to resist.Business2Community

Social media 101: The basics. Want to know how to effectively use social media, or social networking as it is sometimes called, to build your business, find a job or simply interact with like-minded people on a personal or professional level? If so, here is a basic look at how to get started. As social media goes mainstream, you won’t want to be left behind.Charlotte Observer

Customer Service

Listening to customers in the social space. What if you knew what people were saying about your brand day to day, minute to minute and hour to hour? What if you could measure their reactions to better understand the customers and potential customers interested in your product, service or business? And what if you could respond to them as well, addressing their concerns or thanking them for their input? That day has come! Read on.WSJ

Your social media should have ROI. Even though many small business owners and experts talk about the power of social media these days, it’s a great idea right from the start to measure how your investment is paying off. Here are some ideas for measuring your social media ROI to fine tune your efforts when marketing your business.KimBeasley.com

Tech

Are all social media platforms created equal? While Facebook is huge and controls a gigantic demographic, Twitter is smaller and used by trendsetters. Does this make one social media platform better than the other? Not necessarily, depending on who you want to contact and what kind of interaction you expect from your target market. Remember, the platform you choose will depend on your community and your niche market. Always start by choosing the tool right for you.abc15.com

Research

Social media: Top 6 benefits. The number one benefit of using social media is brand awareness, says a huge social media report we shared last week. There are, however, other reasons why online marketers and businesses alike are jumping on the social media bandwagon. Which one of these benefits explains your use or interest in social media for your business?Voxy.co.nz

Emerging

Health-care industry ventures into social media. While talking about the mainstreaming or social media, it might be helpful to note that even the medical industry is getting on board. Doctors may use social media to check on the status of patients, for example. They’re also increasingly using the technology to market their practices and share general health information.The Republic

Source

Is Your Mobile Device Good For Business, But Bad For The Family?

Sixty percent (60%) of small business owners admit that they spend more time holding their mobile devices than the hand of their significant others. If that doesn’t tell us something about the pervasiveness of mobile communications, and our priorities, I’m not sure what does.

That finding comes to us from theStaples 5th Annual Small Business Survey(PDF), based on 300 U.S. small businesses having no more than 20 employees.

I was struck by several of the points made in the survey about mobile communications, suggesting how profoundly mobile devices have not only changed our business lives, but our personal lives, too. Depending on how you look at it, the results could be good, bad or a mix of both.

The impact of mobile technology on our life-work balance

For the most part, small business owners and managers tend to consider the virtual office to be a gift, according to the responses in the survey.  We can draw 3 positive impacts on our lives due to the virtual office and use of mobile communications:

1. We are less tied to our desks— like 56% of the owners and managers in the survey
2. We can be more productive, professionally, by working during hours spent with family– which is the case of 43% of those surveyed.
3. We feel less guilt taking vacations and can relax more— like 52% of the surveyed small businesses who feel more comfortable taking a vacation because they can stay plugged-in.

But is staying plugged in a good thing?

A majority of the businesses in the survey are family-owned (72%) and I know from experience that this romance with the cell phone (and other portable devices) isn’t necessarily good for family relationships.

Dr. Seth Meyers, a licensed clinical psychologist and relationship expertwas quoted about the survey resultsas saying:

“Technology and mobile devices, in particular, can actually be good for family relationships, allowing Mom or Dad to stay plugged in with work while simultaneously attending events– ball games, school events– that were historically only possible for the non-working parent to attend.”

Dr. Seth acknowledges that“small business owner’s attention may be divided in such contexts,” but mobile devices still provide a “greater balance than life before such technology.”

It seems like a mix of good and bad to me:

• Good because you can actually spend more time with family.
• Bad because you may never disconnect entirely, and your family still may have to compete for your attention.

How do you deal with mobile devices?

Is the ability to plug back into business at any time and place a good thing? Or do you feel it’s an infringement on your personal life?

And what do you do to keep the balance (i.e., build the business and give family and friends the attention they need and deserve)?  Tell us in the comments how you feel.

Source

What’s Wrong With Groupon (and How to Succeed Anyway)

The first wave of reaction from retailers toGrouponwas overwhelmingly positive. Where else could you get hundreds of people to buy from your business so easily?  The second wavewasn’t so positive. Businesses were losing money on the deals, and didn’t have the staff to accommodate the customers.

So where do we fall now?Is Groupon inherently evil, or is it a fantastic marketing tool? The answer, I’m afraid, is up to you.

The Problem

In looking at the businesses that suffered from their Groupon (and similar deal sites) offers, the connection seems to be a lack of preparation and unrealistic expectations. Restaurants simply didn’t have the staff to take care of the steady flow of traffic they’re likely to see after a deal.

Then there’s the revenue (or lack thereof) generated from the deal. Word has it that Groupon takes 100 percent of any deal under $10 (the assumption is that once customers visit your business for the deal, they’ll spend more than the $10). Many smaller coffee shops suffer because the average bill is $10 or less. It turns out that Groupon fans are cheap, and don’t really like spending more than the value of the deal.

And there’s the matter of Groupon users who never comie back as repeat customers. If you lose money on the first visit, your hope is that people will come back for more and bring their friends. That’s not happening.

The Solution

Groupon’s not for everyone–and if you don’t execute a unique strategy for how you’ll handle the deals, it won’t work for you. Try these tips to get more out of Groupon:

1. Plan for the surge.You can put stipulations on days people can use the Groupon and give it an expiration date. Then plan to have extra staff on hand based on the number of deals sold.

2. Capture the customers.Sure, you can give them their“free” muffin and bid them adieu–or you can encourage them to connect with you via social media and Foursquare for more good deals, as well as ask for their email addresses when they check out. Give them as many ways to connect as possible (with a benefit to them, of course) to keep the relationship sticky.

3. Calculate your costs.If your average bill is under $10, you might not want to do a deal with Groupon. But if your average sale is more, then shaving off $10 shouldn’t put you in the red. Know how much your costs are, and base your deal on what you can afford to lose.

4. Look beyond Groupon.Local and specialized deal sites likeSpaphileandJuice in the Cityare sprouting up everywhere, and they may offer you a better cut of the profits than Groupon does.

Source

Small Business News: Small Biz Social Media Guide

Social media is such a huge part of small business marketing these days, we just can’t resist sharing the latest whenever we can. This roundup is arranged with the latest news and opinion, but also as a guide to help you figure out the latest trends and where your business needs to be looking in the near future. Do you have a plan for using social media? If not, we hope this roundup will get you started. Please leave any additional thoughts you believe might help other business owners in the comment section below.

News& Opinion

State of social media today. How is your small business affected? Are you using social media to market your company online? Like other aspects of your business, the world of social media is evolving almost daily. How is your business responding? Today’s effective new trend could be tomorrow’s old school. Be ready and be aware not only of where social media is but also where it is headed. And what this means to your bottom line.Business2Community

Why even bloggers need a business plan. Is there more to being a superstar blogger than just sitting down at your laptop and blogging your way to fame and fortune? You bet there is! That’s why many of the greatest and most successful bloggers out there have a surprisingly well-developed business model backing them up. Want to know more about how the social media universe works? Read more from Christine McCarthy on strategic business planning for your blog. Christine.com

Research

Social media is boosting small business everywhere. And there’s data to support it! Of course, a lot depends on what expectations you have for your small business in the first place…and how you use your social media campaigns to connect with your community and customer base. But be assured, social media will attract more attention to your brand and lead to better leads in the process.Small Business Trends

2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Here is the hard data from Michael Stelzner. Referred to in theSmall Business Trendsarticle above, this is the full report on how social media is evolving. There is a list of highlights, a video overview hosted by Stelzner and, of course, the report itself free for download and perusal. Stelzner asks that everyone who reads and finds the report helpful share it via social media with a friend.Social Media Examiner

Trends

How toavoidmarketing with social media? Of course, marketing your business or personal brand is the whole point of social media…or is it? To use social media best, perhaps we must first change how we look at marketing versus building relationships and sharing information in a more authentic manner. If marketing means talking about yourself and your product 24/7, then maybe it’s time to rethink what marketing means to you AND your customers.BizSugar Blog

Social media makes your small business look bigger. But use of social media is not about presenting a false image of you business. Instead, it’s about being able to reach more customers quickly and in a different way than has ever been possible before. As Ramon Ray ofSmallbiztechnology.com explains in the article above,“With the rise of social media and ubiquity of online software the time is NOW for small businesses to reach a big business audience…” Nuff said!Inc.com

Tips

Using technology to thank your customers. Sure, you’re using tools like Twitter and Facebook to spread your brand and to share more about your products, services and company. But, if that’s all you’re doing, could you seriously be missing out on a big opportunity? What about customer service, thanking your customer and making them feel valued and special? Put your social media efforts to work in this area, and discover a whole new range of possibilities.Smallbiztechnology.com

Why youdon’tneed to be social with everyone. Social media may be all about reaching out and getting in touch. But could there be some folks youdon’twant to associate with so much out there in social media land? Oh, there sure are and have we got their number! Just check out the post above and see if you’ve already met some of these characters on Facebook, Twitter or elsewhere. And if you have, consider avoiding them in the future.Small Business Trends

Tools

Startups developing new social media tools. Maintaining your social media presence can be a daunting task, especially added to everything else you’ve got to do in your small business. So how do you monitor and take part in conversations about your business out there on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms while still creating the incredible products and services that make your company great? We’re glad you asked.Fox Small Business Center

Book Shelf

The Social Media Survival Guide. With everything going on in the social media space, the bottom line is that small businessesmustbegin to take these powerful tools seriously. There are a lot of great resources out there to help, but when it comes to creating a campaign that works, what’s a newbie to do? If there is one book that can lay out some simple answers small businesses can use immediately, Ivana Taylor has this suggestion…and a detailed review.Small Business Trends

Source

Marking Earth Day (Month?) in Meaningful Ways

Tomorrow is Earth Day. Well, is it Earth Day, Earth Week or Earth Month?Apparently, it’s all three.

But Earth whatever-you-call-it has, in recent years, become something of a PR bonanza. Businesses use April to strut their greenness, sometimes in trite or superficial ways. (“Come to our Earth Day sale!”) And some businesses  miss the point that they should be thinking about their environmental practices every day – not just on April 22.

Even so, it’s not a bad idea for businesses to commemorate Earth Day or “Earth Month,” and use it to reinforce their commitment to green practices, while engaging customers on the topic of environmental stewardship. Anoriginal purposeof Earth Day in 1970, after all, was to promote pro-environmental behaviors and policies.  We’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go.

The challenge is to avoid the superficiality and mark Earth Day in meaningful ways that will resonate with customers. Here are some ideas for how to achieve that:

1.Explain the value of buying green products.It’s fine to have an Earth Day sale and offer discounts on your eco-friendly products or services – in fact, that’s a great idea. But make it about more than just selling “eco-friendly” stuff. Add heft by telling your customers how buying the featured product or service is good for the environment. A company selling products made of 100 percent recycled paper, for instance, might let customers know that recycling one ton of paper saves7,000 gallons of water, 13 mature trees and enough energy to power the average American home for six months. Those are pretty powerful facts.

2.Raise money for environmental causes.Pick a nonprofit that supports or advocates environmental protection and donate a portion of sales around Earth Day to that cause. Make the gift significant enough that customers will care, and get them engaged. I think this upcomingEarth Day“Cut-a-Thon”by a Burr Ridge, Illinois, hair salon is a neat idea.

3.Set new, more ambitious goals for your business.No time like the present to consider ways to ramp up your green practices. Perhaps you’ve been thinking of substantially cutting your business’s energy use or starting a recycling program. Use Earth Day as an opportunity to raise the bar–and let your customers know.

4.Volunteer your time.There are lots of ways to get involved with local, national and international Earth Day events. Devoting a day or a few hours of your time and your employees’ time to an environmental-related event – even if it’s picking up trash at a local park – shows you’re willing to devote both time and money to the environment. It’s also a great way to engage employees around company green efforts.

Are you doing anything to mark Earth Day at your business?If so, what?

Source

Helping Women Entrepreneurs Get Angel Capital

The relative difficulty that women entrepreneurs have in finding financing for their businesses has long been a topic of concern. Now a new project is aiming to improve women’s access to capital by mentoring and training women to become angel investors and eventually fund other women’s companies.

Pipeline Fund, a social venture fund founded by Natalia Oberti Noguerathat invests in women-led for-profit social ventures, recently launched its Pipeline Fund Fellowship, theNew York Timesreports. ThePipeline Fund Fellowship will trainwomen philanthropists to become angel investors through education, mentorship and practice.

The 10 women fellows will learn about due diligence, term sheets, valuations, board governance, and other aspects of evaluating a company for investment. They will each be matched with an experienced angel investor, including both men and women, to serve as a role model. Finally, they’ll apply what they learn to real life; at the end of the program, the entire group will select a women-owned social venture to receive a $50,000 investment.

Oberti Noguera, whose website describes her as dedicated to improving the visibility of female changemakers in the media, told theTimesshe launched the Fellowship to improve funding options for women and help address the lack of women in venture capital.

The 10 fellows (you can view the full list at thePipeline website) come from a diverse range of industries. Each fellow pays $1,000 for the program and also commits to investing $5,000 toward the overall $50,000 investment in the chosen startup.

I think the low amount of capital needed to participate in the fellowship is one of its best features since it opens the program to women who might not otherwise participate. As women, too often we achieve success in business without fully understanding the details of finances. We leave it to someone else, or we’re shy about asking how certain elements of financing really work for fear of admitting our ignorance. And for many women, talking about money openly just “isn’t done.” (One fellow interviewed by theTimesnoted that, although women business owners often network and seek advice from each other, the one area they are still reluctant to discuss with each other is financing, raising capital and investing.)

Getting more women involved in angel capital can only be a good thing. One of the benefits of obtaining an angel investor is not just the money, but the experience and mentorship an angel can bring to your business. Angels typically have some experience in the industries they invest in, so their advice and guidance can be especially meaningful to an entrepreneur. If your angel is a woman who’s been through the same kinds of startup and growth challenges you have, so much the better. Angels who can relate to the women heading companies they invest in will be uniquely poised to help them grow.

TimesauthorAdriana Gardellawill be following the progress of the fellows as they go through the program.

Source

After Tax Time: What’s Next for Your Business?

Another April 15 (or April 18 this year) has come and gone, and you’ve dutifully sent in your tax forms for one more year.

If you’re self-employed operating as a sole proprietor, tax time can be yet another reminder that you haven’t addressed your business structure yet. Maybe you started your business as a side project, and a sole proprietorship made sense. But now, filling out that Schedule SE and paying all those self-employment taxes make you cringe. And maybe your tax advisor has mentioned that you could reduce your taxes by forming an S Corporation.

The end of tax time is a perfect time to reassess what’s next for your business. Is it time to take that next step and create a legal structure? Here are some things to consider:

Are you looking to lower your payroll taxes (self-employment taxes)?

The S Corporation can help business owners reduce their self-employment or Social Security/Medicare taxes. As an S Corporation, you’re able to split your profits into two payment types: salary and S Corp distributions. You pay Social Security/Medicare tax (i.e. 15.3 percent) only on the salary portion. Meaning, if your business made $100,000 in profit and you pay yourself $50,000 in salary (and then $50,000 in distributions),you’ll only need to pay the Social Security tax on the first $50,000.

Of course, you can’t just go ahead and pay yourself $5,000 in salary and $95,000 in distribution. The IRS looks for“reasonable compensation” for any shareholder who is employed by the business. And they do watch this closely. This means you need to make sure you’re paying yourself market rate for the services you provide to the S Corporation.

Bear in mind that every business has a unique financial situation and it’s always wise to consult with a tax advisor or CPA on your own situation.

Do you want to protect your personal assets?

Without incorporating your business or forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC), your own personal savings and property are at risk to settle any debts of the business. Once your business is an S Corporation, C Corporation or LLC, it becomes a separate legal entity. This means that the corporation or LLC (and not you) is responsible for all of its debts and liabilities.

I know you don’t anticipate angering clients or defaulting on any payments. And most likely, you’ll never encounter this kind of trouble. But things do happen. A legal business structure gives you peace of mind that your retirement savings won’t be wiped out by your business venture. And since creditor judgments can actually last a total of 22 years, forming an LLC or corporation can protect the assets you’ll have in the future, not just what you own today.

When’s the right time to incorporate?

Your corporation’s“start date” is not retroactive. Any tax benefits you might receive apply from the date you incorporated. If your corporation receives a filing date of April 30, 2011, you’ll still be required to file your taxes as a sole proprietor for the first few months of the year up till April 30, 2011; then you’ll file a corporate tax return for the remainder of the year.

However, if you’re concerned about liability protection or your CPA is advising you to incorporate, there’s simply no reason to wait. Now’s a great time to invest a little effort in getting your legal structure squared away and your business set for many tax days to come.

Source

How Attractive Is Your Business?

“Success is when opportunity and preparation intersect.  The opportunity is always presented through arelationship.  Preparation solely depends upon you.”~ G.E. Warren, author ofNo Regret! Living Your Life to the Fullest

The most appealing elements of business (at least for me right now) are innovation, connection and courtesy.  I love the way today has the answer to yesterday’s problem; the way relationships drive every business; the way the values we learned as children still matter in our work.   In fact, these are the elements that make our businesses attractive.

Think about it. Our clients want the smartest, simplest and most effective solution to their problem (that’s innovative). And on top of that, they want to be treated well and feel connected to your company. In addition to innovation, courtesy has a lot to do with with lasting professional relationships.

We understand, because when we’re on the other side of the counter we want the same things: innovation, connection and courtesy.

However, Innovative Networks Are Not What You Think

InLooking to Innovate? Expand Your Networks, our very own Anita Campbell highlights recent research that examines the impact of social networks on an employee’s ability to be innovative in the workplace.  It turns out that the most innovative employees were not necessarily connected to the most“popular” people. In fact, the most innovative networks were connected to people who weren’t well connected to others at all.  There are educated speculations about why, but the point is: Everybody matters.

Anita suggests that instead of“patronizing” or“brushing off” the new ones, the younger olds, the different ones,“Try picking their brains…Seeing things through someone else’s eyes can give you a new perspective on how to innovate in your company.”There is a key tool to this type of innovation.

The Importance of Being All Ears

In3 Types of People You Want to Be, Diane Helbig makes the point that“there are three types of people that everyone wants to meet.”All are important, and being any one of them will make you more attractive to others, but the one that resonates with me is the listener.

Diane says,“People love to talk about themselves. When you let them, and you really listen to what they say, they will put you in a higher category than the person who is always selling.”I’ve seen it happen. In fact, I’ve left conversations with barely three sentences issuing from my lips, and the person I listened to felt connected and sought me out for future conversations and business.

Fully engaged and truly interested listening makes you attractive to others. Diane makes it clear that this is the first step to making it“less about what you sell and more about how you help.”She says,“Remember, people like people who are interested in them and who are helpful.”

“Please” and“Thank You” Make a Difference in Business

The biggest turnoff in business is a lack of gratitude. Yes, if someone is in charge, they can do whatever they want. In fact, that’s a human right that exists regardless of position. But attitude and gratitude matter if you are trying to be attractive business.  And we are— after all, we want our clients to have an irresistible connection with our solution.

InAttitude and Gratitude—What Matters Most, John Mariotti says,“A little sign of gratitude makes a big difference. Just saying“thank you” to someone who has helped you—or to a group of employees who have worked very hard to get a job done—is a tremendous reward; much greater than you would think. Doing it with a smile is even better.”

I’ve spent a lot of time working with volunteers (and being one too) in all kinds of settings—theatrical, foster care, feeding the homeless, as well as ongoing relationships with varied communities of serious givers. What has amazed me the most is the time commitment they put in. Some gave week after week, year after year, in exchange for two rewards:

• The awareness of their impact
• A heartfelt“thank you”

In a volunteer setting with limited resources, often a“thank you” is all that you have to give. But what happens when you bring that attitude of appreciation to a business setting?  What happens when you show your employees the kind of appreciation that you would show a volunteer? What happens when you show your dedicated clients the kind of attention and gratitude that you would show yourmost serious new prospects in anticipation of a sale? If it’s heartfelt and you have the right kind of people of on your team, then gratitude can be irresistible and build company and customer loyalty.  Apple does it with their clients. We can do it with ours (and our employees).

John believes that attitude is the linchpin to your quality of life and business. He says,“If you have the right attitude, life will be much better for you.”Looks like“please” and“thank you” do matter in business after all.

It’s funny how the simple things– like kindness and listening— can ultimately make us innovative because we are in the right place to hear the creative ideas. These virtues are classic, and classic never goes out of style.

Source

Sales Are Quite Bleak

For a while there, I was getting really awful reception on my cell phone. In the kitchen, I got a great signal. Move to my office, though, and I may have well have been on the moon.

I soon became obsessed with checking my bars and trying to figure out exactly where and under what conditions my calls got dropped.What if I stood this way? What if I opened the window?

The blue sweater! It must be the blue sweater!!

And then one day it hit me that those little bars looked a lot like a sales graph(goodness knows I love a good sales graph!)and the above cartoon was born.

So I guess something good came out of it - but I’d still like to be able to call my friends from my office.

Source

Fresh List of Entrepreneurial Contests for Your Small Business

This list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses is brought to you every other week as a community service bySmall Business TrendsandSmallbiztechnology.com.

-
* * * * *

Start-Up, Boot-Up
Enter by April 25, 2011

Here’s a chance to get your start-up out of the garage with over $75,000 in servers and development tools! Some of the greatest start-up ideas were born in a greasy garage or cramped basement. But Start-Up, Boot-Up™ will take one winner out of that environment and put them in a modern office with access to the servers and development tools to take their idea to the next level: reality. See website for full list of prizes and entry details.

AMD Visionary of the Year Awards
Enter by April 30, 2011

AMD has announced its first ever VISIONary of the Year Awards, honoring innovation in the three passion categories of Foodie, Photography and Entrepreneurship.

Eligible voters can vote and enter to win one-of-a-kind category prizes, including the ultimate culinary trip to New York City (Foodie category), a $4,000 technology shopping spree (Entrepreneurship category), a $4,000 camera (Photographer category), as well as AMD’s $10,000 grand prize.

Recognize an Administrative Professional
Nominate by April 26, 2011

Chances are you rely on one or more administrative professionals to conduct business.  A great virtual assistant, administrative assistant or other administrative professional can be a big part of your success.  Show your appreciation.  Nominate someone deserving, in honor of Administrative Professionals’ Day (which is April 27).  The person with the most nominations gets a $2,500 American Express Gift Card.  Another 100 nominees will be randomly selected to win $25 Gift Cards.

2011 Small Business Awards
Enter by May 20, 2011

In its 6th year, The New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards honors the achievements and accomplishments of the 500,000+ small businesses throughout the tri-state New York area. In addition to the Best of the Year Categories, the New York Enterprise Report Small Business Awards will honor nine small businesses for their accomplishments and best practices.

National Association for Moms in Business Grant Competition
Enter starting March 1st, Competition runs May 1– June 15, 2011

Business grant competition via crowdfunding to give mom entrepreneurs a better chance at launching a new or current business project. All participants win a half-page feature in Moms In Business Magazine, publicity on peerbackers.com and momsinbusinessgrant.com, and a $2,000 publicity toolkit from PRNewswire. When the crowdfunding competition ends, all grant applicants who raised 80% or more of their funding goal will become semi-finalists. A team of mom executives and entrepreneurs will judge each application to determine the $10,000 Grand Prize Grant Package winner. Competitors must be a member of NAFMIB.

Ernst& Young’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women Competition
Enter by June 30, 2011

Ten winners will be paired with advisers and resources for growing their businesses and they’ll get to participate in a customized executive-leadership program. In addition, winners will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Ernst& Young Strategic Growth Forum 2011 in Palm Springs, Calif., in November.

The contest is being run in collaboration with the Women Presidents’ Organization, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, the Committee of 200, National Association of Women Business Owners and Babson College.

The Conway Center for Family Business Awards
Enter by August 4, 2011

The Conway Center for Family Business Awards Program was established in 1998 to recognize excellence in family business and has honored more than 115 Central Ohio family businesses during its first 11 years.

The program honors recipients in categories consistent with the success and longevity of a family business: leadership, planning, communication, support and community service. For more details, see the website.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit ourSmall Business Events Calendar. In addition, we also have a giveaways page; click to learn more about oursmall business giveawayssection.

If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through ourSmall Business Event and Contests Form. (We do not charge a fee to be included in this listing. )

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.

Source

State of Small Business Lending: Better or Worse Than Last Year?

Has the state of small business lending gotten better or worse since last year? The answer depends on who you talk to.

Confused?

The answer to the question“Are banks finally starting to lend again?” also varies based on what’s being written and where. Even Small Business Trends’ ownScott Shane weighed in.

For example, according to a recent survey given to members of the International Franchise Association, 39 percent of franchisors report that more than half of their franchisees and franchise prospects are unable to obtain needed financing– up from 33 percent in a similar survey last November. Only 5 percent report their franchisees and prospects have hadnodifficulty with credit access, compared to 8 percent in the November survey.

Compare that negative news with a story I just read in theDayton Daily Newsabout Chase Bank:

“Chase said Thursday it loaned $505 million to small businesses in Ohio last year, marking a 30 percent increase over 2009.”

The article also stated that according to bank executives, Chase made loans to 9,800 small businesses with annual revenues of less than $20 million.

Even more positive was the fact that Chase (according to the article) added more than 500 business bankers and created what it calls a“second-look” program to look for ways to extend credit to companies whose initial loan requests were rejected.” (ReadThe Dayton Daily News article.)

An increase in small business lending in Ohio, which is a state absolutely ravaged by the economy, is certainly great news. But let’s go back to the IFA survey again:

“60 percent of franchisors say they have seen no improvement in credit access in recent months, compared to 65 percent who reported the same conditions in the November survey.  Only 3 percent report they have seen a significant improvement in credit access compared to 1 percent in the November survey.”

You canread the IFA surveyfor more information.

Do you see what I mean?

Now, it’s not like The White House and the Small Business Administration aren’t trying to help improve small business access to capital.

There’s Startup America, which is the White House initiative to“celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation.”As was explained in a recent private conference call with the Small Business Administration (several Small Business Trends writers were invited), theSBA’s Reducing Barriers websitewas created so that anyone can submit their answer to this really important question, posted right on the website: “What concrete ideas could reduce federal barriers for entrepreneurs trying to start and scale companies?”

One look at the ideas submitted to the site so far shows that most of the ideas have to do with improving access to capital.

Recently, the Business.gov website was merged with the SBA.gov website and totally revamped. The focus of the new site is easy access. The Small Business Administration is really trying to make the process of getting capital a lot more streamlined. The new site is a lot friendlier to people who are looking for information about getting small business loans (or any kind of small business information). All they have to do to get started is go to the section of the site named SBA Direct and type in their ZIP code.Go ahead and try it.

Not only is the SBA trying to make things easier for current and future small business owners, they’re trying to make things a lot simpler and more streamlined for banks, too. They recently rolled out a section of their website devoted solely to lenders– The SBA Lender Toolkit. Look at what it includes:

• Find a Loan Package, which allows users to select a loan type and download all the associated forms so they can prepare more accurate loan applications

• Find a Service Center, which enables the lender to search for service centers based on loan processing parameters, loan type and stage

• Lender FAQs, which helps lenders get answers about the SBA’s approach to financing and underwriting loans

• Weekly Lending Report, which provides updates on interest rates and important lending news

The SBA is certainly going out of its way to cut out some of the bureaucracy that has existed for years and get things moving in the right direction.

The credit crunch has been going on for a solid two years now. It feels like the entire small business community has been mobilized to get the lenders lending again. Let’s hope that they start doing what they’re paid to do— lend.

Source

Ensuring America’s Small Businesses Get a Fair Deal on Tax Day

Business owners often have to make tough decisions when it comes to their bottom lines. Unfortunately, for many self-employed and micro-businesses, health insurance has become a luxury item– purchased when times are good and given up during times of belt-tightening. A contributing factor to this “unhealthy” reality is the fact that theself-employed do not receive a tax benefit for purchasing coverage, unlike every other type of business entity, which can write off the cost of health insurance as a business expense.

Congress passed a temporary reprieve of this minor quirk in the tax code that has a major effect on our nation’s smallest businesses when it passed theSmall Business JobsAct last fall.For the 2010 tax year, self-employed business owners are able to deduct the cost of their health care coverage, which will put about 15 percent of their premium back in their pocket.The average self-employed business owner, who pays about $3,000 a year in health insurance premiums or $6,300 for family coverage, will save $456 to $962 in taxes on this year’s deduction.

A large business might not notice such a relatively modest amount of extra cash on its books, but this is not an insignificant amount to a self-employed business owner. The temporary health care tax deduction could help pay for an extra phone line or fund some online advertising. It could be used to purchase new office equipment or pay for an energy efficient lighting upgrade.These are tangible benefits to small businesses that can help them stay competitive— and in business— in an economy that continues to shun robust recovery.

With the ups and downs of our current economy, this extra savings could be the extra help a struggling business owner needs. Approximately 23 million self-employed business owners across America are eligible to claim the temporary self-employed health care tax deduction this year.

But here’s the rub.Congress only gave self-employed business owners the 2010 tax year to claim this deduction. An overwhelming number of the potential beneficiaries of the deduction won’t be able to take advantage of the deduction because health coverage is a luxury they can’t currently afford. Self-employed business owners need Congress to make the deduction permanent and make the tax benefit of purchasing coverage fair to all business entities.

According to the latest available data,23 million small business ownerscontribute nearly $1 trillion to our nation’s economy. What these businesses need is more than just lip service from President Obama and Congress, who both are proclaiming that it’s the small business community that will put our economy back on track. These businesses don’t need another major piece of legislation:Thoughtful tweaks to existing law will help small businesses stay afloat and expand.

The temporary self-employed health care tax deduction is a step in the right direction,but making it permanent is just one of the little fixes our policymakers can address to support the small business community.

Source

Two Burning Questions About Shipping

This series is underwritten by UPS.Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

Here atSmall Business Trendswe like to discover what’s on the minds of small biz owners and entrepreneurs. So at the recent GrowCo conference April 6-8, 2011 in Las Vegas, I knew what I wanted to ask Luke Mauricio, Small Business Marketing Manager for UPS (pictured below), when I had the chance to sit down with him.

My question was simple: what do small business owners attending the conference want to know about? In other words, what’s on their minds when they talk to a company like UPS?

According to Luke, not many people had questions about basic shipping services. Most people seem to have a good handle on that. Instead, the questions were about:

(1) How do you ship internationally?

(2) How do you save money on shipping?

Well, seeing as how I had Luke’s ear, I sat down with him for a chat to get some information about these questions.

On shipping internationally…

The reason this question comes up so much is that ”You’re dealing with unknowns when shipping to another country,”  according to Luke. You’re probably not familiar with local customs regulations.  Business practices may be different.  Currencies are different.  Even the language may be unknown to you.  It’s natural to feel out of your element.

When it comes to international shipping, Luke says“UPS wants to inspire confidence”— confidence that items will be delivered and that someone will help them slice through the red tape. For instance, Luke pointed out that UPS haspartnered with the U.S. Commercial Service(part of the U.S. Department of Commerce) to help give businesses information about exporting.

UPS also makes available an online resource library with information about shipping internationally. There you will find a downloadableinternational shipping guide(PDF).  The guide explains things such as the documentation used in international shipping— example, the Certificate of Origin document.  Another useful feature on the UPS international resource library is the country snapshots.  These snapshots are concise documents giving you facts and figures for doing business in specific countries.  Countries include Canada, China, Brazil, Vietnam, Poland and India.

On saving money…

According to Luke, a goal should be to create an efficient and effective supply chain. That can have a direct impact on your customers’ experience.

“An effective supply chain is not so much about cutting expenses, but about your customer’s experience.  There are a lot of paybacks from an effective supply chain.  It becomes a comparative advantage for your company.”

And sometimes the bigger issue businesses face is a cash flow issue, i.e., having to wait too long to get payment in hand. “Not a lot of people know that UPS has a finance subsidiary called UPS Capital.  We actually give out small business loans,”  says Luke Mauricio.  Loans are designed to bridge a short-term situation a business may face, such as the gap between delivering products and getting paid for them.

UPS is itself an entrepreneurial story.  It was founded 104 years ago in Seattle by two teenagers who took out a $100 loan.  According to Luke,“Their first business model was very very simple.  They were bicycle messengers who delivered customer purchases from Nordstroms, the department store.“  The two young entrepreneurs saw a need and expanded to meet that need for package delivery services.

For additional coverage of Growco, seeWhy You Should Never Define Your Financial Goals as Revenue.

Photos above: (1) View of Las Vegas from my hotel balcony at the beautiful Cosmopolitan Hotel, at night. (2) Luke Mauricio during a few quiet moments at the UPS Lounge at #GrowCo.  Note:  UPS subsidized my attendance at the conference.

Source

Why You Should Never Define Your Financial Goals as Revenue

This series is underwritten by UPS.Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

If you are used to setting financial goals for your business you undoubtedly have a revenue goal.  In other words, you’ve set a figure for how many dollars your business is going to bring in this year.

But according to Carissa Reiniger, CEO ofSilver Lining LTD, that’s not good enough.  If you want to achieve a financial goal in your business, you must break your goal down  into“units of sale” rather than an annual, quarterly or monthly revenue number.

Last week (April 6-8, 2011) I attended theGrowCo Conferenceput on by Inc Magazine.  I was inspired and as always when I attend events, I learned a few things.  (Many thanks to UPS, which subsidized my attendance.)  In a series of posts this week, I’d like to share with you some of what I learned at GrowCo.

In this, my first in the series, I cover one of the key tenets outlined by Carissa Reiniger in her workshop,“Build a Growth Plan for Your Business.”

Using her company’s proprietary methodology, Carissa walked us through the steps to build your financial goals from the bottom up.  I will focus just on the portion of her session that deal with how to set financial goals for your business in such a way that you can align your strategies and tactics to achieve them.

Figure out Your Breakeven Amount

The first step for setting financial goals is to understand your monthly breakeven amount.  Carissa says,“This is the  revenue dollars that you have to generate if you don’t want to lose money.“  To determine your breakeven number, you’ll need to list all your expenses. And you’ll start with your personal expenses.

Now if it seems odd to start setting business financial goals by looking at your personal expenses, it’s not.  The reason you start with personal expenses is that you need them to determine your salary.  You’ve heard the advice to“pay yourself first” in your business?  Carissa Reiniger is a believer.  One of your business expenses will be your salary as the business owner.  Your salary needs to be at least enough to cover your personal expenses, or more, so that you have enough to live on.  That’s why you start by adding up your personal expenses.

Next determine your hard costs.  Hard costs are what you have to spend in your business regardless of your revenue.  These are the things you spend each month that would not be easy to get rid of— office rent, staff salaries, and so on. “Most people don’t want to know this number because it sucks,” she says.  She’s probably right— but knowing your expenses is crucial— unpleasant or not.

Set a Minimum Revenue Goal

Now that you know what your costs are, you are ready to determine yourminimumrevenue goal.Naturally, you want to strive to make a profit, not just break even.  But at the very least your revenue number should equal your expenses so that you don’t LOSE money.  Your minimum revenue goal shouldat leastbe the monthly, quarterly or annual amount needed to cover your salary as the business owner and your business expenses.

Of course, you may have a desired revenue target that is higher.  But at least if you start with your expenses, you know what the minimum needs to be.

Break Down the Revenue Number

Now comes the crucial part— you have to break down your revenue goal into manageable chunks.  While it might sound impressive to announce that your goal is to generate $1.5 Million in revenue this year, you need to be more specific, or you and your team will lack focus on how to achieve that revenue goal.

And that’s where“unit sales” come in.  Unit sales are the real targets you should be establishing, monitoring and working to achieve in your business.

Unit sales are calculated based on your revenue streams.  Determine your revenue streams by asking yourself, “What are the things you sell?”  Revenue streams are simply the things you invoice for.   But how many are the right number?  She notes:

“If you have 27 revenue streams you have too many, and if you have one revenue stream you have too few. The right number, a good number, is 2 to 5.  If you have more than 5 you’re trying to sell too many things to too many different people and you’re all over the place.  If you only have one, then you’re in trouble because if that doesn’t go well it doesn’t look good for your business.“

After you have outlined your revenue streams for the year, you do an equation:   X  x  Y =  Z  The purpose of the equation is to get to the number of units under each revenue stream that you have to sell in order to reach your overall revenue number.  Essentially you work backwards from your desired revenue number.

Your financial goal should be how many units  of a given product or service you need to sell and deliver if you want to achieve your desired revenue.  Let’s take an example of a company that sells consulting services and also software licenses.  If you are forecasting that you will make $1,000,000 from selling consulting services, and each project averages $2500, then you’d break it down into something like this:

Example:  $1,000,000 divided by $2500 = 400.

The number 400 is how many of those $2500 consulting projects you need to sell in order to bring in $1,000,000.  And to get to your total $1.5 Million figure, you’d need to find an additional $500,000 from software sales, your other revenue stream.

Start doing these calculations for each revenue stream.  Whenever you think of your financial goals for your business, always think in terms of how many unit sales you need to make for each revenue stream— not an overall revenue figure.  That’s how you get to financial goals for your business that are specific enough to be achievable.

Now, if you felt the above exercise is like opening a set ofRussian nesting boxes, each time encountering yet another smaller box inside, you’re not alone.  However, if ever want to establish an action plan for what to do each day, week or month in order to achieve your revenue targets, you have to know where the money will come from adds up to your annual revenue.  This level of detail is important to understand that.

Detail = clarity and purpose.

Source

Read Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible

Whenever I hear people say they couldn’t predict the recent financial fiasco that we lived through, the little voice inside my head saysreally?I’m finding it hard to believe that all these intelligent people just couldn’t see it coming.  Maybe they should have read Daniel Burrus’ latest book, Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible.

InFlash ForesightBurrus covers what he calls the“seven radical principles that will transform your business.”I don’t know about the transforming my business part.  But I can tell you that it has certainly transformed the way I look at the world of business and make decisions.  And that just might be good enough.

Who Is Daniel Burrus and How Does He Know So Much?

“Daniel Burrus is one of the world’s leading forecasters, corporate strategies and visionaries.”(That’s from the book jacket.) Burrus (@DanielBurruson Twitter) is a“trendwatcher” who previously wrote a book calledTechnotrends.  His client list is a virtual Who’s Who of consumer and technical products that includes the likes of Proctor& Gamble, GE and Kaiser Permanente.  And if there’s one thing all these companies have in common, it’s the need to predict what we unpredictable humans are going to do next.

This is where Burrus’ insights about how to look at the data around us and make sense of it in a way that helps us make the right decisions comes in.  I was looking through his bio and his profiles to see what he studied. Was it economics, mathematics or something completely different?  I wanted to know just what it was that prepared him for parsing and looking at data in such a powerful and insightful way.

As it turns out, he started his career teaching science!  I can only assume that Burrus’ passion for science has translated into a passion and a gift for looking at data and recognizing patterns— a gift he is sharing with the rest of us inFlash Foresight.

7 Principles That Will Change How You Look At Data

Burrus has distilled his technical know-how and intuition into seven principles we can use to look at the data that surrounds us:

1. Start with certainty.Focus on distinguishing“soft trends” from “hard trends.” This was the most useful principle for me.  Soft trends are things thatmighthappen; hard trends are things thatwillhappen.  An example of a hard trend is the Baby Boomer demographic.  Millions of people were born, they went to school and they will retire.  There is no question about that.  A soft trend is something such as a surplus or a deficit.  It looks like it’s heading in that direction, but it can change.
2. Anticipate.Base your strategies on what you know about the future.  Instead of being proactive, Burrus encourages us to be preactive.   In other words, anticipate what tomorrow’s problems will be and think about how you’re going to solve those future problems instead of today’s problems.
3. Transform.Use technology-driven change to your advantage.  Looking at how popular Apple and Steve Jobs are today, it’s hard to imagine a time when Apple was actually thought to be dying – out of the game.  Instead, Steve Jobs and his team transformed the company by looking at hard trends and solving tomorrow’s problems (being preactive) when theycreated the iPod.
4. Take the biggest problem and skip it (it’s not the real problem anyway).What you think is your current biggest problem is nothing more than a distraction that will keep you from your solution.  Skip it.  Leap over it.
5. Go opposite.Look where no one else is looking, see what no one else is seeing and do what no one else is doing.  Easier said than done.  This principle will take some practice. Flash Foresightoffers lots of examples such as Amazon, Crocs, Dell, Jet Blue, Kiva and more.
6. Redefine and reinvent.Identify and leverage your uniqueness in new and powerful ways.Flash Foresightgives examples of Lee Iacocca redefining and reinventing the family station wagon and other examples of reinventing the old by using it in different ways.
7. Direct your future (or someone else will direct it for you).This is the conscious exercise of your creative capacity to envision and rewrite your future life and career that wraps all the other flash foresight principles into one.

Each principle has a chapter devoted to it. And each chapter nicely reflects back on previous chapters so you get a sense of layered learning.

What I Love About This Book

Flash Foresightis well written.  It’s fun to read and it sort of tickles your brain into seeing everything around you in a new way (although I’m still catching myself reflecting and being in hindsight instead of foresight).

Action steps at the end of each chapter guide you through the process.  We aren’t naturally wired to look at the world the way Burrus is encouraging us to do, so these action steps really help.

Burrus’ enthusiasm and passion for sharing his talent and skill pop off the page.  In a case study on the Miracle Earbud (in the Anticipate Chapter) Burrus talks about being in a meeting with the management team and discussing the hard trend of baby boomers aging and not wanting to wear a hearing aid –that’s just too “old.”  In a flowing conversation and stream of ideas, he transforms a hearing aid into a“hearing enhancement experience” that allows you to drown out the screaming baby on a plane and listen to Jimi Hendrix instead.  Brilliant!

Flash Foresightwill teach you how to think and re-think.  I love this.  The biggest challenge I see for myself (and maybe you, too) is taking the time to stop and think along these new pathways.  Perhaps this is what makes Burrus so good at what he does.  His brain is wired to think this way— and the rest of us will just have to learn how.

Source