The Silent Avatar Speaks

When deciding on how to manage a business, many offer different types of tips for small business.

There are tips on how to use IT, Management of your business, Document management and so forth. Let us begin by looking at just three tips from the wide variety of small business management and go over them one at a time.

Our top three subjects are setting rules for your business, IT and machines in your business, and delegating tasks in your business. Each of the following tips businesses around the world sue to stay on top of their game.

Setting rules in your business.
Every business must have a defined set of rules to go by in order to operate most effectively. You need to decide what rules run your business and then stick to them. However, you will also need to allow some flexibility in the enforcement of those rules as there will always be new and varied situations that are not fully covered by your current set of rules. You need to have these rules in place when an infraction occurs. It is important to make sure the rules you set make sense and are fair to everyone, at the same time, you need to run your business as a business.

Information technology.
In small business the topic of IT or Internet Technology often becomes the topic of conversation. In today’s world it is impossible to run a business without having some form of IT for use in your company. You will need to decide how much IT you are willing to have in your office, what form it takes and what it takes to run the IT department effectively and efficiently. You want to also have a technical person to go to when the inevitable IT breakdowns do occur in order to keep interruptions to a minimum, thus keeping your business on track.

Delegating Work.
One of the tougher topics to handle in your business is delegating work and responsibility in your business. When you are an owner, it is hard to delegate responsibility as well as tasks, but bear in mind that these tasks which can be delegated will be able to teach employees certain business functions as well as the issue of being responsible for a part of a business. Relinquishing work to your employees makes them feel a part of the business and teaches them certain things that formal education just can’t offer. This lesson will pay dividends to both you and you your employees.

There are also many other sidebars of discussion of other management tips, but these really are the three most important managements tips that any small business could and does use in order to both set themselves up and keep themselves running smoothly as a small business. Any small business regardless of what type can be helped with these tips.

I’m the Silnet Avatar.. and I have spoken

Tags: Business Tips, Business and Management by the silent avatar
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It struck me this week how operating an online business is just like a relationship.

We start out full of enthusiasm and potential for what can be and very quickly we find that what we thought would move us towards out goals just doesn’t seem to be working.

Often times we head off along one path only to find that we reach a “dead end”, and things stall or worse end up moving us away from where we want to be.

So what’s the answer?

Well… just like a relationship  where we go to next is just a matter of choice.

We can throw our hands up and give up in frustration that what we are doing is not working, or you can educate yourself on what will work (based on those that do) if you apply yourself and work with known success formulas.

Online business can be just as fickle, just as frustrating, and just as quirky as a relationship. Knowing and applying what gives the results you want is the key to success, and educating yourself allows you the best opportunity for success.

Of course relationships involve a coming together of personalities, values, and shared common interests and goals, just as operating an online business involves clear goals, sharing information towards a common goal, and creating a distinct personality for your site.

Success is simply a choice. When you fall down you get up. You try something different. You model your business on other successful online businesses. You apply your focus towards what you do want, not what you don’t want.

Get to know how to nurture and grow your business, doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Attaining loyal customers requires freely giving information which visitors appreciate and assists them. It requires letting your visitors know what you have to offer. It requires being diligent to their needs and wants. It requires delivering – even over delivering to win their heart and affections. It requires offering personalised service making them feel “special”. It requires your focus.

Yes.. operating an online business is just like a relationship. You reap what you sow. For some it comes together quickly. For others it takes some time, and all the while you are mindful that if you don’t keep meeting the needs of the visitor, just like a partner, they can turn away from you and look elsewhere. Worse, their opinion of you can be far reaching and seriously undermine your chances of success.

So the key is to have a critical look at what you are doing with your business to guarantee its success.

• Are you giving your online business the attention it deserves?
• Are you mindful of the needs and wants of the visitor you want to attract and keep?
• Are you maintaining a personal relationship?
• Are you asking for testimonials and seeking referrals to encourage others to buy based on the good experience of others who already know you?
• Are you keeping abreast of your competition?
• Are you keeping up to date with the latest strategies to assist with your success?
• Are you providing value for money?

Plan for success – “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”

Just like a relationship if you have a plan for your success and diligently apply your plan which moves you towards what you want you will reap the rewards.

Tags: Business Tips, General by the silent avatar
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It was late last night before I got to bed, and my partner and I were cuddled up having a chat before we headed off to the land of nod when I suddenly (for no apparent reason) I remembered a small sandwich bar where I worked some 30 years ago.

There was nothing flashy about this place. In fact quite the opposite. The building was about as old as old could get without having to bulldoze it. Long, narrow with just enough room to stand 2 deep behind the counter, and a single pane of glass letting in the light. There was lots of “old worldliness” and it would have to have been built in my estimate somewhere around the 1930′s.

It was on a main street but it didn’t have any offices around it – just more small businesses, a busy bus stop about 6 shops away, a school around the corner, and the rest of the area was middle class residential.

Three old timers ran the business. Etty, Carol and Bill. Etty was I would say in her 60′s, Carol (the daughter) was in her 40′s, and Bill (Etty’s husband) close to Etty’s age. Together they all ran a sandwich bar.

At the time I worked 4 shops away, and one of my jobs was to get everyone lunch. There wasn’t much choice around – just a cake shop across the road with the obligatory pies, sausage rolls and pasties, the pub up the road (where you could mix with the locals and get a mean steak sandwich), or the sandwich bar.

Given the choice I would nearly always opt for the sandwich bar.

Stay with me as I share with you how the sandwich bar won my business.

As I laid back in bed I remembered…

They were made on the freshest of bread (white or wholemeal only), and no matter if Etty or Carol made the sandwich (Bill just took the  money and got drinks), they would always have the best ingredients, and would always churn out a quality sandwich.

Roast Beef and Salad sandwich? Fresh bread meticulously spread with just the right amount of butter. The roast beef sliced thin and then trimmed of all fat, then manipulated with the skill of a true artisan to completely cover the slice. Layers of crisp shredded lettuce, carrot, sliced beetroot,  onion (optional), and rich red tomato slices cut to order. All this was standard. Then you could add whatever else you wanted. Tasty cheese? Sliced pineapple? Remember this was 30 years ago. No sprouts, avocado, hummus, chickpeas, sugar snap peas. Nothing like the ingredients you can get today.

To watch them  “build” their sandwiches was a spectacle. Their sandwiches would grow and grow until you had a “mega” sandwich which,  (when they had deftly balanced everything and placed the other slice on top),  they cut through diagonally (perfect of course), displaying it’s ingredients in  stripes of vivid colour and texture.

They would then carefully wrap the sandwich in paper, pop it into a brown paper bag along with a wrapped mint and do it all without batting an eyelid quickly and efficiently.

It was 30 years ago and I have no idea how much it cost but I’m sure it wasn’t overly expensive (I was only very low wages as an apprentice), but as you can see I can remember everything else about the sandwich, right down to the feel of biting into the sandwich and feeling the crunch of the fresh ingredients married with the luxurious fresh bread.

So what’s this got to do with bulding a business?

Looking back these three got it right. Despite being in a location which was “average” to say the least, this business

[Read more →]

Tags: Business Tips by the silent avatar
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In this day and age there tends to be a thought that retirement is something you look forward to around 60-65 years of age.  I don’t know about you, but the thought of being able to retire a lot earlier really appeals to me.

How would you like the idea of re-defining when you retire? How about retiring and living off the proceeds of your efforts within the next 10 years?.. or 5 years? or even sooner?

Impossible?  Not if you are committed to your own business and you think like an entrepreneur.

Like most things in life there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and being successful enough to the point where you can retire earlier than most requires hard work and commitment.

I subscribe to “Early To Rise“, – The Internets most popular success, wealth, and well-being newsletter, and Michael Masterton’s newsletter gives some good advice about bringing your retirement forward.

Start a business (because it’s just not going to happen by simply working for someone else – unless of course you are a a crack property investor or share trader).

We all know plenty of businesses fail, (leading the list restaurants, “glamour sites” like travel, bed and breakfasts, and sports, along with retail stores), however the number of business successes far outweigh business failures.

When starting a new business you can drastically reduce your chance of failure by:

• Understanding everything you can about the product or services you plan to market.
• Become competent, and then a master of marketing your business.
• If you haven’t yet been in the industry you want to start a business in, then the best place to start is by working for someone else in the field you want to be in.

By learning on the job you will have an opportunity gather information about what works and what doesn’t. However don’t try and re-invent wheels. If something is working don’t try to change it.

• As you go about your work, have the attitude that you are on a “fact finding mission”.  Start to make notes about how a business runs and absorb as much information as you can. If it means working longer hours then so be it.  Michael says it takes around 600 hours of learning for you to know enough about a subject to avoid mistakes.

You’ll also be inspired to look at improving procedures and your marketing skills, however don’t forget that 80% of your business ideas and strategies will already be used by your competitors – because they work!

For further reading check out Michael Masterton’s 8 Important Things To Know About Business by subscribing to Early To Rise Newsletter.

Tags: Business Tips by the silent avatar
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