Growing Your Business - By
Increasing Revenue
Articles:
Increasing Profitability in Your
Small Business
Increasing the profitability of your small business is more than important. If
you fail to increase your profitability, your business can stagnate, rather than
thriving. Increasing profits is the only way in which your company will grow,
expand and become the rewarding enterprise for which you have longed.
How to Increase Sales
Revenue by Geographical Area Using CRM Software
Why did you get into business? The answer is almost always "to make money."
Go From Independent Computer Consultant to Managed Service Provider in 3 Easy
Steps
There are literally tens of thousands of Independent
Computer Consultants out there right now helping small businesses with their
computer support needs by racing over whenever a problem occurs and then
charging an hourly rate for however long the service call takes.
Partnering to Increase Profits
Even with the aid of technology, there are limits to what a small business can
accomplish by itself.
5 Ways to Increase Your
Profit Instantly
From a
few years of experience running my own business, I found a few ways that
actually boost my profit instantly.
8 Easy Tips in Increasing Revenue
These
are the most successful tips ever you can do to increase your revenue.
Why You Need a Small Business Website to Grow
Your Income
If you really want your
business bloom through the use of your Small Business Website, then we must
start with building one.
Three Management
Tips for Bring In More Money
Fundamentally there are only two ways to grow your
business: increase the amount of money coming in and
cut costs.
Are You Charging
Enough?
Over the
course of time the cost of living constantly increases and you also
gain more experience doing what you do. Am I Charging Enough?
Growing Your Money Base
Every small business has to continually increase its
revenue stream in order to grow as a company.
Partnering: Dealing with Clients Beyond
Your Expertise
At some
point you’re going to need to develop partnering
relationships with other non-competing complementary
tech providers in your area for partnering and
subcontracting type of work. That way you can meet the
needs of your clients for many different types of
projects.
Multiple Streams of Income - 5 Reasons Why You
Absolutely Need it
In a nutshell,
multiple streams of income means your business has
more then one way to make money. For instance, you
sell products and you sell services. Those are
multiple streams of incomes. Why do you need them?
Below are five reasons.
Guide to
Reseller Hosting
Hosting reseller
program is one in which there is uncompromising
quality in both customer support and server
solutions.
Partnering: Finding Your
Strengths and Weaknesses
In partnering, the
first thing you need to do is figure out your
strengths. What it is that you do best?
Beware of Partnering Promises: Validate Why and Who
To Engage With Before Forming Business Alliances
Before you engage in any partnering effort, be sure
your expectations are valid. Do you have good
reasons to partner with other businesses?
Partnering: Where Can You Find Good Partners?
Partnering is best done through client referrals. If
you are a generalist, try to find deeply niched
professionals to begin partnering.
Partnering: Joining a Formal Partner Program
Formal partnering programs. They can be good, bad,
and indifferent.
How Does Joining A Small
Business Organization Benefit You As An Owner?
As the owner of a small business
there are temptations to join local organizations,
but often you wonder if it is really worth the
investment in membership fees and time.
Computer Consulting Business: Hardware Warranty Services
As a computer consulting
business, you shouldn’t be spending precious time and your clients’
limited budgets troubleshooting a malfunctioning monitor or CD-RW
drive.
Do You Know Joint Ventures Offer Benefits?
If you've done any kind of research about starting a
business or helping your new business to grow,
you've probably run across the term "joint venture"
or "JV." A joint venture is a means of partnering
with someone else for specific business reasons,
such as to build upon each other's strengths or to
enter into a new market. When two entities enter
into a joint venture agreement, they create a whole
new entity.
Increasing Profitability in Your
Small Business
by
Darryl
Mobley
Increasing the profitability of your small business is more than important.
If you fail to increase your profitability, your business can stagnate, rather
than thriving. Increasing profits is the only way in which your company will
grow, expand and become the rewarding enterprise for which you have longed. How
are you supposed to do that, though? How can an entrepreneur ensure that they
are able to increase their company's profitability, without sacrificing their
entire bottom line on marketing that may or may not yield the desired ROI? Here
are a few simple things that you can do to ramp up your business' profitability
and success.
Get Noticed
The first thing you'll need to do is to make and then keep new customers. Of
course, making customers is never easy, particularly in this age when consumers
have so many options from which to choose. Therefore, you'll need to get your
company noticed. How do you do this? One of the simplest, most affordable
options is to increase the amount of signage used to promote your company. Place
new, dramatic, compelling signs in your windows. Invest in A-frame signs for the
sidewalk and consider signage at road corners and more.
Of course, you'll find that you can also increase your visibility online
through SEO marketing methods, online promotions, creating a mailing list of
your customers' email addresses and other options. In fact, combining online and
offline promotional methods can result in greater savings and better
profitability for your small business.
Expand Marketing Coverage
If you are not receiving the attention you need in your local area, it's
likely time to branch out a bit. Can you reap benefits from marketing in nearby
towns or cities? What other options are around? You will find quite a few ways
to expand your coverage, from sponsoring local events to donating to charitable
causes, marketing in neighboring towns and more.
If you are able to branch out with your marketing, you will be able to
increase your small business' profitability by a considerable extent. Even
simply marketing in one other geographic area can have dramatic repercussions
for your bottom line. In addition, your marketing need not cost a fortune, as
you'll find numerous cost-effective marketing solutions out there for your
needs. Consider networking, donating, sponsorships and even organizing community
events to increase brand recognition and market saturation (as well as the
corresponding financial success).
About the Author
Darryl Mobley has been ranked as one of "the Best Life Coaches on the
Planet!" His famous coaching service is available at
http://www.OneDollarLifeCoach.com
Article Source:
GoArticles.com
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How to Increase Sales
Revenue by Geographical Area Using CRM Software
By
Pete Kilby
Why did you get into business? The answer is almost always
"to make money." Having a product or service that a consumer or business will
need or use is why many businesses are formed but in the end, it always circles
back to the "need to make money."
Marketing plays a vital role in any business. By targeting
your sales to the areas where the products are services are selling the most,
you are getting it into the hands of those who will benefit from them the most.
Understanding where your customers are and exactly where your revenue comes from
is one of the first steps to planning your marketing in a strategic way.
Marketing by geographical location is a great way to target
specific customers. Among other things, marketing to a specific area could
enable you to:
- Target your marketing into the best-performing regions.
- Design and target your products or services to your top
markets.
You may have a hot spot in your area where one product is
selling more than other areas. So why not target specific areas. Another way to
look at this is that you can see if you have a specific area that is buying a
specific product more than other areas. If you had an additional product that
you could cross sell to those customers then it would make sense to target the
specific areas consumers.
Studying your customers buying patterns and trends when it
comes to purchases is a great way to insure that you have a great ROI (Return on
Investment) when it comes to marketing. By targeting core groups you'll actually
be saving yourself money in the long run. This is where utilizing the power of
CRM software can actually enhance this effort. With CRM software you can
pinpoint a specific area or region as well as a specific group of people to aim
your marketing efforts towards. This not only saves you time in determining the
specifics of where to market but saves so much money in the long run.
Web based CRM software allows you to have access to your
customers information no matter where you are at. This makes it easy when you're
off site meeting with your PR/Marketing firm and you need immediate access to
vital information on your company's customers and purchases. You can access your
information easily and securely no matter where you are. Marketing is a must in
today's business world and with the power of CRM software behind you - you're
already ahead of the competition. Now that's always a good thing.
Pete Kilby works with businesses that want to fire up sales
through automation. By now you may have more specific questions relating to ways
you can really do something useful with
CRM software.
A wealth of
easy to understand information for business at your disposal; go to
ITonTap.com
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
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Go From Independent Computer Consultant to Managed Service Provider in 3 Easy
Steps
By
Robert Peretson
There are literally tens of thousands of Independent
Computer Consultants out there right now helping small businesses with their
computer support needs by racing over whenever a problem occurs and then
charging an hourly rate for however long the service call takes.
But with the development of inexpensive server monitoring
and remote support utilities, the support model of on-site, hourly support is
headed for extinction and is being replaced by flat-fee, managed services. Small
businesses are quickly adjusting to getting higher performance from their
systems, much fewer unexpected problems and downtime and a much faster level of
response from their support provider when an issue does occur.
Independent computer consultants will need to either adapt
to the new model of managed support, or watch their client base slowly
disappear. Fortunately, transitioning from hourly support to a managed service
model is neither difficult or expensive.
1. Implement 24x7 Network Monitoring
Using a web-based utility, you can keep tabs on your
client's servers and all workstations around the clock. There are plenty of
these utilities available, and many are very affordable. The one I use
personally is called GFI Max and costs about $13 per month per server monitored.
Utilities like these provide a dashboard that lets you and your client see at a
glance the current health status of all components of the network such as:
Backup status
AntiVirus updates
Patch management
Hack alerts
Low drive space alerts
system Event Log warnings and errors
Windows Service failures
and more
If an error occurs, you can instantly and automatically be
notified via an email or SMS alert.
2. Implement Remote Computer Support
There are plenty of low cost or even free utilities that
will let you setup every server and workstation you support to allow you to
instantly log in to the machine remotely and address almost any issue, just as
if you were sitting in front of the computer. By providing remote computer
support, you can essentially be in two or even three places at once, and provide
support instantly, rather than making your clients wait for you to travel to
their office.
3. Convert your clients to your new MSP model
This might seem like a challenge at first, especially if
your customers have become well accustomed to paying hourly rates. But there are
many ways to show clients how proactive monitoring is far more cost-effective
than simply waiting for problems to arise before reacting to them. You can give
them a cost analysis of the actually cost of downtime, you can identify
underperforming systems that would receive productivity gains thanks to
monitoring, or you can even setup a 30-day trial to your new monitoring
dashboard to let your clients see where dangerous, potential problems might
already exist and have gone undetected because proactive monitoring isn't in
place.
To be effective at converting your clients over to your new
managed service, you're going to want to use tried and true sales techniques to
help persuade them and to combat any objections they might try to raise. These
techniques, along with tons of proven sales and marketing materials can be found
at the author's website.
Robert Peretson invites you to discover the massive rewards
that await you when you start your own highly successful computer consulting
business. Give yourself the ultimate advantage by arming yourself with the exact
same tools, materials and personalized training that have helped hundreds of
Independent Computer Consultants to fire their bosses and create a life of
personal and financial freedom. Get FREE instant access to 9 of our most
powerful training videos... and for a very limited time, receive a massively
effective Sales Prospecting Letter written by one of the industry's top
copywriters, valued at $597... just for visiting
SuccessfulComputerConsulting.com.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
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Partnering to Increase Profits
By
Jacquelyn Lynn
Even
with the aid of technology, there are limits to what a small business can
accomplish by itself. You may understand that, but what if you still want to do
more? A workable solution is partnering. Though it takes many shapes, the core
of the partnering concept is that two or more businesses team up to achieve
something together that they can't do alone.
Partnering with other businesses can help you provide a broader product or
service package to a particular market segment; it can give you the resources to
handle a single major project for a client; or it can organize the resources you
need to get certain components of your customers' needs met. In all of these
scenarios, partnering creates the opportunity to present your clients with the
same vision of seamless capacity that large corporations do--while working from
your home or small office in a relationship with other similar-sized businesses.
There
are no fixed rules for individual partnering agreements. The concept is rapidly
evolving, with some partnering associations looking like a stand-alone business
that is separate from the partner's primary companies, and others more closely
resembling outsourcing or subcontracting. Some business owners partner only
under carefully-drawn contracts; others do it on a handshake. What's important
is that you develop an arrangement for work performed and compensation received
that satisfies everyone involved.
Partnering allows very niche-oriented businesses to serve clients who have
complex needs, and lets them compete against large firms that have all the
necessary staff in-house. For example, a homebased human resources consultant
could team up with a small law firm, an accountant, a management consultant and
a marketing person to provide a broad scope of client services which are
marketed under one name but delivered independently or through a cooperative
effort.
Partnering can also give you the resources to handle a large one-time project
without increasing your own overhead or actually hiring employees. Another
advantage of partnering is that it is a way for a homebased business to grow
substantially without having to move to a commercial location.
Tips
for Effective Partnering
-
Choose partners carefully. Be sure they have the skills and abilities you need,
and share your level of commitment.
-
Define the scope of partnership. Are you working on an equal basis, or will one
of you function as the managing partner? What roles will each partner play? How
will the compensation be calculated and distributed?
- Put
it in writing. A detailed, well-crafted partnership agreement will prevent
misunderstandings, memory lapses and future conflicts.
-
Develop and stick to an operations plan. How will the work actually happen? How
and when will the partners interact?
- Plan
for the unexpected. How will you handle problems and resolve conflicts? If a
partner wants to dissolve the agreement, who ends up with what?
- Set a
minimum "no exit" time period. New ventures take time to become productive. Make
a mutual commitment to stick with the partnership long enough to give it a
chance to prove itself.
Jacquelyn Lynn is the editor of Flashpoints newsletter. Flashpoints is a
comprehensive information resource for business owners and managers who want to
take their operation to the Flashpoint. Visit
http://www.theflashpoints.com
to sign up for a free subscription to
Flashpoints newsletter plus an extra free gift: The Mindset of High Achievers by
JK Harris and Jacquelyn Lynn.
In
addition, Jacquelyn Lynn is the author of more than 20 books, including
Entrepreneur's Almanac; Online Shopper's Survival Guide; Make Big Profits on
eBay (with Charlene Davis); In Search of the Five-Cent Nickel (with Don Abbott);
and 11 titles in Entrepreneur Media's StartUp Guide series. Visit
http://www.jacquelynlynn.com
for more details.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
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5 Ways to Increase Your
Profit Instantly
By
Lee Joe
From a
few years of experience running my own business, I found a few ways that
actually boost my profit instantly. Many small businesses needed to create a
massive cashflow in the shortest possible time. These are a few ways that I have
practiced.
1. Give
free gifts
Givers
get. You can give away small gifts or some of your service for free to build
your customer base, to get free publicity. I remember once I was selling some
small gifts many years back when I first started my business. There is not much
respond. I need to do something about it. I started to give away my gifts for
free. In total, I just gave away 25 pieces of the gift. The result in three
hours: 300 pieces was sold.
2.
Direct mailer with names
Many
said that direct mailer doesn't work. From my experience, I would say, it
depends. First you have to put the name of that person you want to send to. If
you address them as "Marketing Director", "CEO" or "House Owner", you are not
going to get a good response. Do some work, find out their names, address to
them directly. My response rate for direct mailers range from 10% - 20%. Direct
mailers do work.
3. Add
bonus
Customers love bonuses. Add lots of bonuses for your customers, they will
remember you. They will be happy when they buy from you, and realized that they
can have some free bonus. Preferably the perceived value of the bonus is greater
than the item they bought. It will make this technique works even better. People
made a decision to buy a new car when they there is a Free $50 petrol voucher.
How amazing bonuses work.
4.
Urgency
If
possible add in an urgency to whatever you are selling. "while stock last",
"only for 3 days" works well. It makes your customer wants to take action fast.
A retail shop here used this: "50% discount only for 2 days. Start on 9am" I can
see people gathering in front of the shop at 8am.
5.
Customer base
If you
want to have a sustainable business in a easier way, build your customer base.
Many business owner forgot their customer nice the customers buy from them once.
You got to keep in touch with your customers. Once they buy from you once, and
like your products, they will buy again from you. You got to do things to make
them happy.
I
always keep in touch with my customers. Sending them emails, calling them to
chat, giving them gifts. Even though they may not buy from you again, they may
refer their friends to you.
Joe is
an enlightened entrepreneurs starting their business in an out-of-the-box way.
They started their training business with just $20. Learn more about his
experience at Inspiration
Junction
Article
Source:
EzineArticles.com
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8 Easy Tips in Increasing Revenue
By
Gerelyn Diaz Monungolh
These
are the most successful tips ever you can do to increase your revenue.
Guidelines for success in revenue increase:
1. Promote the products or services via your online newsletter.
(Remember that you are not using the newsletter merely for promotion but also
give your readers useful information on your newsletter).
2. Evaluate products or services in order to pre-sell. (Product
evaluation is the best ways to pre-sell.)
3. Optimize your website (by becoming search engine friendly. One of
the most essential ways to reach virtual users is SEO.)
4. Gathering email addresses of the visitors. (There is 70% chance
that this can help to grow your list and make an easy promotion of the products.
By having a larger list you can provide reports for free in order to increase
the number of your audience.)
5. Splurge some money to promote your website. (PPC or pay per click
maybe a great one to use because it attracts the visitors who clicks on the
advertisements.)
6. Enticement for visitors to boost the sales (These are identified
as cash incentives when they make purchase or discounts)
7. Post daily new and interesting contents about your site. (It is very
essential to update if you want to get better rank in search engines.)
8. SEO, Web Marketing and Internet marketing. (These are the experts
that help you boost your rank and increase your revenue by 100 %.)
Learn
new and innovative methods and tactics continuously so that you can increase
your revenue. If you do so, you will be making a good source of income from
these.
When
the
Web
Marketing
has brought the world to everyone's fingertips. The result was
awesome! customers choose businesses that appear on page 1 and 2 of Google,
Yahoo & MSN. Therefore, if your website isn't among them then act now. Thus, Web
Marketing Experts is aware that every website has the potential to rank highly
on major search engines. How? With proper search engine optimization (SEO).
Article
Source:
EzineArticles.com
<TOP>
by
Denise McNerney
If you
really want your business bloom through the use of your Small Business Website,
then we must start with building one. But, are you still unsure about on how to
create and develop an effective, persuasive and affordable website for your
small business?
Have
you been tired searching for a small business website designer who understands
that their job is not just to create a website, but to help you make money?
Would
you like to build your own Small Business Website... one that actually
contributes to the bottom line of your small business?
Well,
today, most small businesses need an on-line presence as much as they need a
phone or mailbox. Customers, users and clients -- current and potential or
future prospects, expect you to have one. For some small businesses, a website
had always become the primary selling tool, a very effective means to access
inventory or collaborate on client projects.
For
other small businesses, a website is not just a little more than a directory
listing with static contact information. Other small businesses have launched
constantly updated web blogs or detailed service-oriented resources. From simple
to complicated or complex ones, websites have become a requirement for doing
business in many industries.
A
coal-and-ice aspect of building a profitable web business is mastering and
acquiring the search engines and achieving better search engine hierarchy or
commonly known as rankings.
On the
other hand, It is also substantial that any Small Business Website design gives
prospective clients and consumers the right and appropriate impression of your
company and presents your company as a professional, savvy and competent
business.
To do
this your Small Business Website must convey or impart such an image and will
only do so if it is professionally designed itself. Always remember to promote
and advertise your Small Business Website off-line as well by stating it on all
your marketing materials and to current customers. And then get back to doing
business.
Your
Small Business Website should be positioned well in the coming weeks on specific
search terms to your local market and service as well as being visited from
local people following your off-line marketing efforts and finding the
information they're looking for on your Small Business Website.
Using
Social Networks is also a great help in promoting your Small Business Website.
This recent phenomena called "social network marketing" which should become a
part of your on-line marketing strategy. Some web experts are saying it could
become more important than search engine optimization in driving traffic to your
small business website.
Also,
before I forget, I would also like to share with you that there is a Free Report
available on the 3 Biggest Mistakes Made by Business Owners when they are
looking for a Small Business Website. Our websites also can help you manage your
own websites and we also assist you on the design and especially the marketing
of your website. We will help you get to the front page of Google for your Local
area which is also an essential component in order for you to increase your
sales and popularity of your Small Business Website.
For
more enquiries you can obtain the full report
from
http://www.realinternetbusinesssolutions.com
Article
Source:
ArticleRich.com
<TOP>
by
Daryl Cowie
Fundamentally
there are only two ways to grow your business: increase the amount
of money coming in and cut costs. If you are just starting out your
cost cutting opportunities are small so you need to turn your focus
to taking in more money.
Here are three
management tips on how to increase the amount of money coming into
your company. The first is focus on increasing the number of
customers you have. The second is focus on increasing the average
amount of value of each sale from your business. The third is look
for ways to make sales more frequently. Each one of these topics is
worth expanding on.
Increasing the
number of customers for your business is all about advertising. Step
one is to figure out what group of people you can help. Step two is
finding all the ways you can reach those people with a message of
the value of your help. All too often people start with step 2 and
try to reach everyone, figuring the right people will figure out who
they are and contact you. If you’ve got a lot of money to waste,
this is a quick and easy way to waste it. If you want to see some
bang for your advertising buck, then you must determine your target
market first, and build your advertising campaign second. If you
think your market is everyone, then you have not properly defined
your market and you are poised to waste a lot of money on fruitless
advertising. Getting new customers is the most expensive way to
increase revenue. It is also something all businesses must do.
In addition to
finding new customers, you can also bring more revenue into your
company by increasing the average value of each sale. The obvious
way is to raise your prices, but that is only one way. The others
are cross-selling and up-selling. Cross-selling is offering people a
related product of service at the time of purchase. If they buy a
burger, ask them if they’d like fries with that as well. Up-selling
is offering a range of higher grade solutions in case they customer
would like a little more. You want a burger? How about trying our
new steak burger its only $2 more and it tastes great!
Finally, you can
have your business bring in more money by getting your customers to
buy from you more frequently. There are many ways to get people to
come back more often: provide exceptional service, teach people how
to use your products so they use them up and need more, schedule the
next appointment before they leave, or make recommendations on how
often things should be done. Make a conscious decision to think
about ways to make people come back sooner.
Increasing
revenue comes from a mixture of these three things: new customers,
higher average value of each sale, and sales to your existing
customers more often. If you are not using all three of these
strategies then you are missing out on some huge opportunities.
Daryl Cowie has
shared management tips with 1000s of people in over 30 countries
around the world. His mission is to help you and your company turn
business opportunities into business realities.
Sign up for a
free home study course at:
http://FreeManagementTips.com
Article Source:
ArticleRich.com
<TOP>
Are You Charging
Enough?
by
Bryce
Whitty of Technibble.com
Over the
course of time the cost of living constantly increases and you also
gain more experience doing what you do. Am I Charging Enough?
is a question all businesses need to ask themselves every few months
to make sure we are keeping our heads above water financially and to
make sure our prices match our reputation.
Here are a
few questions you need to ask yourself to help you determine whether
you need to raise your prices:
Do People Frequently Overpay You?
One of the most obvious signs that your prices are too low is when
people pay you significantly more than your usual rate. I’m not
talking about a five dollar tip here and there. I’m talking about a
full 20 to 50 dollars extra. When this happens its a good sign
people value your service more than the prices you are charging and
its a good time to raise your rates.
What
Are Your Competitions Prices?
Research your competitions prices. Are they much higher than yours?
If there is a large gap between their prices and yours, you can
often increase yours significantly and but still remain cheaper than
them.
However, you can
also raise your prices well above your competitions but you need to
have service to back it up. For example, if your competitions rates
are very cheap but they do poor quality work, it wont take long for
people to get burned and for them to understand that in order to get
higher quality work they need to pay more at your store.
How
Much Do You REALLY Earn Per Job?
Lets say you go out to a onsite repair job that took one hour and
your hourly rate is $75.
You may
believe that you made $75 once you completed that job but you also
need to take into account the value of the petrol that it took (lets
say $5) and the thirty minutes out of your day it took to drive
there.
You then need
to take into account how much it cost to gain that client. If you
were advertising in the local paper for $100 per week and you get
five new clients per week from that ad, that client cost you $20 in
advertising.
Once you
complete the job successfully, you still need to return to base and
spend another five dollars worth of petrol and another thirty
minutes out of your day. The reason why I count the driving time in
both directions is because this adds up to one hour that I could
have been using to fix computers in my workshop. Remember when you
turn your hobby into a business, your time is no longer free.
Last but not
least, you have to give the taxman his percentage as well.
So lets do
the math with our 1 hour onsite repair job
:
You charge $75 for the hour
- $10 petrol
- $20 advertising
- 10% tax ($7.50)
/ 2 to account for the hour of driving
__________________
$18.75 is what you really earned for that 1 hour job
This is one
of the main reasons why so many computer business go broke in their
first few years. The owners believe that other businesses are
charging too much and they would be more than happy earning $50 per
hour since their last job “working for the man” only paid them $25
an hour. The problem they don’t take into account all these other
expenses and wonder why their bank balance isn’t as large as they
expected it to be at the end of the month.
Do the math
with your own rates and you might be surprised how little you
really earn. If you find that you do need to increase your
rates, check out our “Raising
your Prices” article to learn how to raise your rates with
minimal backlash from your clients.
About the
Author
Bryce Whitty is a Professional Computer Technician who started his
business when he was 17 year old. Bryce writes Technibble articles
about Business How-to's and stories from "the trenches".
Article
Source: Technibble.com
<TOP>
by
charen smith
Every small
business has to continually increase its revenue stream in order to
grow as a company. Often, when trying to do that, business owners
tend to over think things and make things more complicated than they
are.
At the most
basic level, there are only three ways for a small business to
increase its revenue stream. This article will look at those three
techniques in some detail. If a small business owner can keep the
focus of his marketing campaign on these three things, he can
steadily increase his company’s performance.
1. Get More
Customers
Most small
businesses focus most of their advertising efforts on this strategy,
and it is the most important one. The more customers you have, the
bigger base you have from which you can draw revenue. When
targeting new customers, there are a variety of tactics that you can
employ. You can design a brochure printing project, and distribute
those brochures to as many of your target customers as possible.
Or, you can focus on media such as newspapers and radio and run ads
in those forms. The goal is to get the attention of people who are
at least somewhat likely to buy your product; people who need the
service that you provide.
2. Get Your
Customers to Buy More Products
Trying to get
more customers is not the only way to grow your revenue base. In
fact, focusing only on new customers will force you to miss out on a
lot of opportunities. When you do get customers into your store,
you should be in the habit of trying to persuade them to buy more
products. This does not mean that you should be pushy, because that
would backfire. But, if you get their contact information, you can
send material to them to entice them to come back at a later time to
buy more.
3. Get Your
Customers to Buy More Expensive Products
This is actually
a variation of #2. In addition to asking customers to buy more
products, you should also try (in subtle ways) to get them to buy
more expensive products. A great way to do this is to send them a
postcard that includes your most high profile products – the ones
that you markup the most. Obviously, you have to have your
customers’ addresses in order to send them a postcard, but you
should be in the habit of collecting contact info anyway. Then,
design a postcard printing project that targets people who have
already bought from you. Acknowledge the fact that they have
already been to your store, and tell them how much you appreciate
their business. Then try to get them interested in your bigger
money making products.
For comments and
inquiries about the article visit:
Brochure Printing and
Postcard Printing
Article Source:
ArticleRich.com
<TOP>
Partnering: Dealing with Clients Beyond
Your Expertise
by
Joshua Feinberg
At some
point you’re going to need to develop partnering
relationships with other non-competing complementary
tech providers in your area for partnering and
subcontracting type of work. That way you can meet the
needs of your clients for many different types of
projects.
Partnering- How To Be The Virtual Solution for Your
Clients
Sometimes you may be asked to do some work that you
don't have experience or skills in. For example, let's
say you’re a really good generalist and you’re good at
setting up simple LANs, but all of a sudden your client
merged with a company who's got a sophisticated WAN
infrastructure.
Help
Your Client by Partnering
In
order to be able to deliver the complete virtual IT
solution, you need to have a Rolodex of people that can
come in and fill in for things that are outside your
expertise and beyond your comfort level.
How
Can You Handle Customers Who Have Needs You Can't Meet?
If
you don’t yet have specialized partners or
subcontractors that can assist in these areas, do you
tell your future clients upfront you can't help them, or
do you search for the partners first? This is the
chicken or egg dilemma. Do you get the clients first or
do you line up subcontracting and partnering
relationships first?
Identify The Needs You Can Meet
You
should be able to map out most of the typical types of
services that you’re going to provide to small
businesses. Then, consider what your clients might need
that you can't provide.
Start meeting with potential partners and interviewing
subcontractors to try to fill in your gaps. Ideally, you
should have a rolodex of anywhere from three to five
people that you have ready to go as the client’s needs
arise.
The
Bottom Line about Partnering
Always be upfront about this with your clients. If you
have partners or subcontractors that can help deliver
the full solution to your clients, tell them.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consulting 101. All
Worldwide Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Joshua
Feinberg, co-owner of Computer Consulting 101, gets
computer consulting businesses more steady high-paying
clients. Now you can too with your free access pass to
proven computer consulting secrets at
http://www.Computer-Consulting-101.com
Article
Source:
Amazines.com
<TOP>
Multiple Streams of Income - 5 Reasons Why You
Absolutely Need it
by
Michele Pariza Wacek
I've become
enamored with the word "multiple," especially when
it pertains to business. I especially like the idea
of harnessing the power of the multiple to grow your
business multiple times over.
There are a lot of
things that can be multiple in a business, but in
this article I'm focusing on multiple streams of
income. In a nutshell, multiple streams of income
means your business has more then one way to make
money. For instance, you sell products and you sell
services. Those are multiple streams of incomes. Why
do you need them? Below are five reasons:
1. Make money
while you sleep. This is a big one for those of us
who sell our time (also known as providing
services). The biggest drawback to selling time is
when you aren't working, you aren't making money. So
when you're on vacation, relaxing over the weekend
or (gasp) sleeping, no money is coming into the
business. But let's say you create a product or two
to sell in addition to your services. Now you've
just created a passive income stream (passive
meaning it doesn't require yours or anyone else's
time). So if you are taking a nap or out walking the
dogs, money can still be coming into your business.
(What a concept!)
2. Leverage your
time. This is especially true with income streams
that are passive. Basically you're making money
without it taking any of your time. Therefore, you
can spend your time doing something else and still
enjoy money coming in from a passive income stream.
This is a good way to use your time wisely. (Rather
than work for an hour, get paid for an hour, you can
be paid several times in several different ways
during that same hour.)
3. Fill your
pipeline. If all you sell is high-priced services,
it can be difficult getting clients to hire you.
After all, clients need to trust you and trust
they're getting a good deal for their money. If you
offer products or lower-priced services, you're
giving those customers a chance to "try you out"
before plunking down several thousand dollars for a
major project or consulting work. Because your
clients' initial investment is lower, you have a
chance to lower their resistance to hiring you.
4. Catch a variety
of clients. No matter what you offer, a part of your
target market is not going to be interested in
hiring you. Why? Because they'd rather do it
themselves. Or maybe they don't have the money to
hire you. Or maybe they do the same thing you do and
would rather learn from you to better their own
skills. By offering a product or a class or a group
option, you're widening your net. Not only are you
able to help more people, but you'll also be making
more money doing it.
5. Diversify. The
more income streams you have, the less devastating
it will be to lose one. Not to be negative, but
things happen. Industries change. Economies change.
People want different things. If all you offer is
services, and those services suddenly become
obsolete, what happens to your business? Or, a more
likely scenario, what if you lose your biggest
client? Or a couple big clients at the same time?
Sure, eventually you'll find other clients to make
up the difference, but what happens in the meantime?
What if it takes a month or two or six? Your bills
certainly won't wait that long. But if you have
other income streams, a dip in your services (or a
dip in product income) is no longer so scary because
you'll still have money coming in.
Michele PW
(Michele Pariza Wacek) helps people become more
successful at attracting new clients, selling
products and services and boosting business. To find
out how she can help you take your business to the
next level, visit her at
MichelePW.com.
Article Source:
BylamoArticles.com
<TOP>
Guide to
Reseller Hosting
by
Rod Hewitt
Hosting reseller
program is one in which there is uncompromising
quality in both customer support and server
solutions. Many techie entrepreneurs have entered
the world of web hosting reseller accounts and have
made a small fortune by providing excellent service
to their purchasers. Web hosting is a hot business
and there are many types of companies that offer a
variety of ways to get your site up and running
smoothly and efficiently. From companies that offer
dedicated servers and virtual servers to those that
provide shared or reseller accounts, there are
plenty of choices for anyone who needs a place to
park their website.
In order to start
you own reseller business, you must first purchase
space on an existing server. Basically, a company
purchases bulk space and then resells it in smaller
amounts to those who need space for their own sites.
Resellers are the middle men and can make a profit
from reselling their own space to others. For
instance, if someone purchases 60 MB of space and
chooses to sell off 50 MB among several clients, it
is reselling original space. These accounts are
administrated through the original server and while
the reseller of these accounts provides the personal
contact with clients regarding questions and
purchases, the business that handles the large
server actually does the maintenance.
When a client runs
into a problem that cannot be handled by the person
reselling the account, he will have to wait for the
company to fix the problem. A person that resells is
not responsible for maintenance and can run into
difficulty with clients as a result. Being a middle
man is not without its positives and negatives and
it is important that an entrepreneur that wants to
offer the hosting reseller program be as
knowledgeable as possible in the computer technical
field. Offering generally a low cost start up
possibility, successful hosting businesses do
require lots of technical knowledge and unlimited
commitment to a business that executes a non-stop
operation.
If you are
interested in starting this type of enterprise, keep
in mind that you will need to know a good bit about
IT as well as have a good general knowledge of
financial strategies. It doesn't hurt to have had
experience in other types of computer related
transactions such as ecommerce, web design, or
technical maintenance. An understanding of servers,
software, and HTML are important as well. Many
businesses hire experts in computer science to
provide support and maintenance for a full fledged
hosting company although it is not always necessary.
Many people have
acquired the IT skills necessary for the Internet
world without having had a formal education in
technology. No matter what your education, always be
sure, however, that you can handle whatever is
thrown at you if you are considering offering the
hosting reseller program through your enterprise.
Selling space purchased on another server is
generally offering web hosting reseller accounts for
a fee and then making a profit on the sales. If you
purchase server space from another company, you can
then micro manage the space and sell portions of it
to customers for a higher price than what you
previously paid.
Since you do not
own the server or manage the technical aspects of
the server, you cannot perform certain functions for
your customers such as maintenance and
troubleshooting. When anything arises, you will have
to field calls from clients and wait until the
problem is resolved. If you wish to graduate to a
larger business enterprise, you can purchase a
server yourself and offer space to many more
customers. It is wise to stay below your allocated
server space in order to have a buffer in case of
problems. When you reach your maximum limits, it is
then best to consider owning or leasing your own
server for more earning potential as well as added
consumer benefits. Of course, this again, will
require good IT knowledge or at the least, excellent
support staff who can field technical problems and
questions.
There are hundreds
of companies that offer services to clients but the
one thing that can set apart any business is the
online or phone support. If you can provide support
24/7 and answer most problems within the day of
receipt, you can be on the front lines of a
successful server business. Support is more
important than purchase price to many consumers so
make sure that you offer superb support and you have
the chance of leaving many companies in the dust.
You can find a wealth of information from many
online sources regarding the web hosting reseller
accounts business. "Thou are worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
and were created."
Rod Hewitt is 27
years old and lives in Portland, Oregon, web
programmer and web designer, owner of
Hospedagem Php a Brazilian web hosting company.
Article Source:
BylamoArticles.com
<TOP>
Partnering: Finding Your
Strengths and Weaknesses
By
Joshua Feinberg
In partnering, the first thing you
need to do is figure out your strengths. What it is that
you do best? What does your store enjoy? What’s
financially viable? What you’re planning on doing for
the next six months to a year? You really want to make
sure that you’re not partnering with someone that’s
going to be a direct competitor of yours and vice versa.
What's Your Specialty?
It might be network consulting for
small dental offices. It might be document imaging
solutions for small law offices. Maybe it’s point of
sale networks, POS systems, for small restaurant
chains. Whatever it is, once you’ve figured out where
your real strength is, the best, most productive kind of
partnering that you can possibly do is with other
non-competing technology providers in your area.
Make Sure You're Not Partnering
With Competitors
Double underline and highlight the
“non” part. Otherwise you’re going to be terrified that
you’re going after each other’s prospects and clients.
One of the scariest things for a lot of people when they
get first get started with partnering is that this
company is going to go aggressively after your business.
In order to be sure that you are
non-competing, you need to move past "business card BS."
Know exactly what it is that they do. Most of the
companies that you’re going to want to partner with and
most of the companies that are going to want to partner
with you need to know more about what your real strength
is beyond hardware, software, LANs and service.
Move Past the Business Card Terms
Everyone says the same thing on
their business card, their yellow pages ad and their
direct mail piece. Most people list PC hardware,
software, and networking and services. But it’s really
important when you’re partnering with a company to
figure out what their core competency is. What’s the
best thing that they do? What are they known for? What
is the one thing their customer prospects come to them
for?
Make Sure Your Partners Have
Completely Different Niches
You need to look for highly
technical people; deeply niched IT consultants who are
already out there. Look for consultants who don’t want
to touch the stuff that you do every day.
In other words, if your staff has
good skills that can get you simple dedicated server
installations but things like Microsoft Exchange Server
or SQL server or VPNs throw you for a loop, that’s where
it pays to look around for some consultants in your area
that would be good to partner with.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer
Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.
{Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource
box required for copyright compliance}
Joshua Feinberg has helped
thousands of computer consultants around the World get
more steady, high-paying clients. Learn how you can too
get more steady, high-paying clients. Sign-up now for
Joshua's free
Computer
Consultants Secrets audio training.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
<TOP>
Beware of Partnering Promises: Validate Why and Who
To Engage With Before Forming Business Alliances
By
Harvey Kraft
Before you engage
in any partnering effort, be sure your expectations
are valid. Do you have good
reasons to partner with other businesses? You
should. Do you know enough about your
partner? You should. Beware of the wrong deal or the
wrong partner. But don't
let that scare you off. Partnering may be your
company’s most lucrative path for
revenue growth and innovation development.
Don’t be swayed by
promises your partner may not be able to keep. Don’t
be
sucked into deals
offering revenue you may never see. First, you must
define your own partnering
goals. Second, find a compatible ally. Before you
start negotiating with anyone,
conduct the appropriate due diligence to be sure
they are actually capable of
delivering up their end of the bargain.
The First Step in
A Thousand Partnerships
Whether your
business generates profits directly or indirectly,
markets or makes products or
services, sells via the Web or a sales force, offers
parts or end-to-end solutions,
operates locally or globally, you cannot afford to
ignore the partnering opportunities
available to you right now for growing revenue,
innovation and brand equity.
But before you
begin to engage potential partners, think about how
far you want this journey to
take you. Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu is quoted as
saying, “A journey of a
thousand miles begins with the first step.” On its
surface the statement seems to say the
obvious. After all, even if the journey is only two
steps long, it begins with a
first step. So what did he really mean? Your level
of commitment and resolution to
reach your destination is encapsulated in how you
begin. Very little determination is
required in taking two steps. But one who embarks on
a thousand mile walk must
summon a whole lot of tenacity and purpose into that
first step.
Starting down the
path of partnership is similar. Don’t take it
lightly. View your first partnering
initiative as the first of many – the first step in
a thousand partnerships. Fail to start out
right and nothing of consequence can follow. Start
with the right reason and a good
understanding of the path before you and you're on
your way to reaching your
goal.
Before You Begin:
Choose A Powerful Reason To Start With
Before you engage
in the partnering process, be sure to have a clear
plan. First, decide on the best
reasons to pursue alliances.
Your first
alliance should be a strong one. Have a reason
powerful enough to launch your enterprise on
its way to future partnerships -- able to take you
as far as you can foresee.
Here are ten solid
reasons for engaging in partnerships:
1. Customer Access
– Two marketers exchanging access to compatible
customers.
2. Sales
Initiatives – Producer or marketer working in tandem
with a sales
force
organization, retailer or Web store to increase
sales.
3. Market
Expansion – Partnership aimed at penetrating new or
niche
markets.
4. Unique Value
Alliance – Marketer with strong customer base
partners
with innovative
supplier adding unique value to the marketer’s
offering and
increased sales
for the supplier.
5. Building Scale
- Partnership formed to achieve economies of scale.
6. Innovation and
Specialization – Public, education or private
enterprises
combine financial
and knowledge resources to research and develop
innovative or specialty
products, services or solutions.
7. Supply Chain
Stability – Marketers trade exclusivity with
suppliers in
exchange for
investment in quality, cost reduction, and priority
speed to market; The supplier is
able to make long-term commitments at stable levels
and pass on the benefits to
the marketer.
8. Distributor
Partnering – An alliance between manufacturers and
distributors to
provide access to new markets, domestic or foreign,
or strengthen a position in
existing markets.
9. Parts
Manufacturing Partnership - Two or more
manufacturers of
component parts
pool their resources to produce a better product.
10. Licensing
Agreements – Alliances providing license to
proprietary
products, support
services or technology.
Before You Engage:
Learn About the Road You Will Be Taking
You may be
motivated to go the thousand miles until you
discover it’s all uphill. So before you start
on your way, be sure you know what’s in front of
you. Six of ten alliances collapse
at some point down the road, because one or more of
the partners failed to
do their due diligence. Before you engage a partner,
learn the following:
1. Management
Strength and Integrity – Who runs the company -
senior
officers and board
of directors? Are these people dealing from strength
or
weakness? Do they
deal with integrity or are they the kind to cut
corners or look the other way? Do they
have a litigation history?
2. Short-term
Objectives and Long-term Goals – What is their
corporate
strategy? What is
their partnering strategy? What will they gain by
partnering with you?
3. Performance
Rating – Is their organization efficient? Is it
flexible? Is it
focused? Do they
have other partners? How well have these alliances
performed? How well have they
performed in the past? Regarding: quality of goods
or services, speed of delivery,
pricing and management response to solving problems.
4. Capabilities
and Innovations – What are their capabilities: past,
present
and future? How
committed are they to investing in capabilities that
would benefit your business? How
creative are they? Are they unique and innovative?
5. Financial
Considerations – What is their credit standing? Are
they
profitable - as
measured by EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes,
Depreciation and Amortization)?
Are they growing? At what rate – as measured by CAGR (Compound Annual
Growth Rate)?
6. Resources and
Employees – Do they have the resources to deliver on
their end of the
partnership at the scale required? Do they have the
staff or
outsourcing to
fulfill your orders? Are there unresolved issues
with labor or former employees?
7. Risks and
Compatibilities – Are your trade secrets safe with
them? Is
their company a
fit with your company in regards to markets and
cultures? Are they looking for an
exit strategy? How would a change in management or
ownership affect your
alliance? Will they be sold in the near future or
right after they close the deal with your
company? Is your partner planning on bringing in new
investors? How can you get out of
a failing alliance? Who will own new intellectual
property rights and patents
produced by your partnering?
Before you make
contact with the prospect partner conduct as much
research as is available to you.
A second, more comprehensive and mutual due
diligence phase must be undertaken
once both parties have agreed to embark on
negotiations. You will want to
personally visit your prospect partner’s offices or
production facilities.
Harvey Kraft is
Managing Director of Partner | M --
partnershipsmedia.com
-- the leading
California-based marketing consultancy specializing
in executive
support for
strategic alliances and partnering initiatives. Mr.
Kraft is a skilled
partnerships
executive, author and speaker and creative marketing
director with two decades of senior level experience
in the media, finance, publishing and wellness
sectors. Are you interested in building a successful
partnering strategy, a revenue producing alliance
network, a value creating co-branding campaign? For
serious executive support with your partnership
efforts from marketing initiatives through
innovation facilitation, please contact Harvey Kraft
at
Partner | M.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
<TOP>
Partnering: Where Can You Find Good Partners?
By
Joshua Feinberg
One of the best
places to find new partnering relationships is
through client referrals.
If you’re taking
on a new client and you get introduced to someone
who’s a very deeply niched expert, invite them to
lunch or coffee. You could say, “We should really
get together and talk about whether we have any
clients that could use your expertise and vice
versa.” After you’ve both already proven your
abilities on this mutual client account, the trust
is there, and partnering is pretty much a done deal.
So when you’re
fortunate enough to have one of these things fall in
your lap because a new client introduces you, that’s
tremendous. Definitely take advantage of it.
Partnering
Relationships Won't Magically Appear
Beyond having them
fall into your lap, you are going to have to get out
there and actively seek potential partners. Going
out to the chamber of commerce, you’re going to
stumble across other people who say that they are
consultants. The key thing here again is to be able
to differentiate yourself.
If everyone is
saying we do PC hardware, software, LANs and
service, then you know, it’s very difficult to
figure out whether there’s competitive issues that
would prevent you from coming together and forming
successful partnerships and contractor types of
relationships.
When Partnering,
Look for Specialists
The key thing is
being able to explain that you’re looking for
something a little bit unique. If you’re going to be
the generalist and provide the total end-to-end
solution, you just want to focus on meeting up with
people who are specialists.
You can also surf
the Web to see who else is out there in your local
market. You may stumble across some potential
partners that way. However, it’s so much easier if
you’re meeting them face to face. Forming these
partnering relationships are easier if you meet in
person at a channel event or a user group meeting or
by an introduction through a mutual client.
Copyright MMI-MMVI,
Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights
Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in
author resource box required for copyright
compliance}
Joshua Feinberg
can help you get more steady, high-paying computer
consulting clients. You can learn how too. Sign-up
now for Joshua's free audio training program on the
Computer Consulting Blog.
Article Source:
EzineArticles.com
<TOP>
by
Joshua Feinberg
Formal partnering programs. They can be good, bad,
and indifferent. They just aren’t that huge. In this
day and age, most people aren’t choosing to join
partner programs just based on the benefits that
they looked for 10 years ago.
Formal Partnering Programs Benefits
These benefits include: high margins, dedicated
partner representatives, unlimited toll free
support, four percent MDFs, market development
funds, 30-day end user money back guarantee, no
quotas, no inventory stocking. If, however, you are
moving towards the service model, formal partnering
doesn’t do as much for you.
Which Formal Partnering Programs are Best?
VAR
BUSINESS, a trade magazine, does all kinds of
studies and surveys on the best partner programs. It
rates them constantly on vendor satisfaction on all
different issues: technical support, sales support,
margins, business opportunities, perceptions of
small business clients. They’re an incredible
resource for looking into different partner
programs.
Naturally you can read about the big ones. You can
read about the Microsoft Certified Partner Program,
and IBM Business Partner, but you’ll also find out
about some lesser known programs and what’s going on
in general. What you will find is that not a lot of
consulting firms are putting a ton of stock and
energy in advertising their vendor relationships
anymore. The tide is definitely turning more towards
advertising yourself, your company, your brand, the
expertise and service you bring to the table as
opposed to advertising the brands that you
represent.
Are
Formal Partnering Programs a Fit for You?
Before you decide whether you want to invest any
time or money with any particular programs, I would
first think through what services and solutions you
want to provide for your customers. These partner
programs involve both a financial and time
commitment. Be certain that the partner program
offers your clients what you want to offer before
investing!
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Business Computer
Consulting .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved.
{Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author
resource box required for copyright compliance}
About the Author
Joshua Feinberg gets small business computer
consulting firms steady high-paying clients. Get
free access now to 1 hour of Joshua's field-tested
proven Small Business Computer Consulting secrets at
http://www.SmallBusinessComputerConsulting.com/blog/
Article Source:
Amazines.com
<TOP>
How Does Joining A Small
Business Organization Benefit You As An Owner?
By Michael Laleye
As the owner of a
small business there are temptations to join local
organizations, but often you wonder if it is really
worth the investment in membership fees and time. In
deciding whether to join a small business
organization there are some considerations before
dropping off your check.
The primary
purpose most people join a business group is for
networking with other business owners in the
community. Organizations such as chambers of
commerce perform numerous functions for its members
including providing help and advice on business
operations as well as dealing with government
agencies. Some can even offer assistance in where to
go for business financing.
One of the things
to look at when making the decision is whether or
not other members of the organization are potential
customers. Depending on the type of business you are
in, there will be those who can use your products or
services. Additionally, most chambers of commerce
recommend to their members that when they need a
specific service they do business with other chamber
members.
That's not to say
that you will reap instant benefits because as the
new business in town you will have to prove yourself
and getting that first customer may take some
legwork. Simply joining an organization doesn't
guarantee a sudden surge in business. It is all
about the networking and attending and participating
in events sponsored by the organization can help you
meet new people and other business owners who can
help you fit in better with the community.
With all new
enterprises it will take time to get your feet under
you and the more help you can muster with other
business owner, the quicker that may happen.
However, joining a small business organization for
the sole purpose of getting new business will
probably not be a good investment. While your
business name may be more publicized, unless you're
willing to devote the time and effort to be involved
in the organization, others will never get to know
you or your business.
Consider the
things in common you, as the owner of a small
business, have in common with other small business
owners. Some of the established businesses have
brought their ambition to reality and are
successful. There may be something about getting new
customers you can learn from them and, even though
you are new to the business world, there may be some
fresh ideas you can offer that will benefit them as
well.
Looking beyond any
membership fee that may be charged and considering
the investment of time that will be needed to make
the most out of an organization membership will help
you decide if the investment is worthwhile. However,
it is hard to put a value on the benefits of meeting
new people and sharing ideas on growing a successful
business.
Michael Laleye Is
A Plug In Profit Site Member As Well As An Authority
On Developing Home Based Businesses. Get more
Information On How To Build Your Own Home Based
Small Business. For Home Business Ideas To Make
Money Online, Visit:
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Computer Consulting Business: Hardware Warranty Services
by
Joshua Feinberg
As a computer consulting
business, you shouldn’t be spending precious time and your clients’
limited budgets troubleshooting a malfunctioning monitor or CD-RW
drive.
If your computer consulting business is large enough that you
have both senior-level and technician-level staff, you’re probably
already doing a great job of directing workload to the right
personnel.
Are You a Company of One?
However, if you are a small computer consulting business, where
perhaps you are the "company", it makes sense to let the PC vendor’s
technical support staff arrange for hardware warranty repairs, using
their large networks of national service providers.
Know the Facts about Warranty Service
As a computer consulting business, you will want to know how long
the warranty period is, if it covers parts, labor or both and what
the promised response and turnaround time on warranty service may
be.
Also, determine whether the vendor will try to pressure your
clients to do their own service. If so, are your clients prepared to
pay your consulting firm to do the labor?
Scheduling Hardware Warranty Service Calls
If possible, try to have your clients’ internal gurus schedule
hardware warranty service calls to coincide with times when you are
at your clients’ offices on other related computer consulting
business. Or at the minimum, be sure that your clients’ internal
gurus are there to supervise the third party hardware technicians.
Be Involved
It’s really up to you to decide how active of a role your
computer consulting business wants to take in coordinating and
managing these hardware warranty repairs. In some cases, getting in
involved with the full end-to-end responsibility makes sense,
including packaging up the defective part to send back.
In other cases, you may be better off training your clients’
internal gurus on how to place these vendor tech support calls and
supervise the hardware warranty repairs.
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About the Author
Joshua Feinberg gets small business computer consulting firms
steady high-paying clients. Get free access now to 1 hour of
Joshua's field-tested proven Small Business Computer Consulting
secrets at http://www.SmallBusinessComputerConsulting.com/blog/
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Do You Know Joint Ventures Offer Benefits?
by
ch manoj kumar
The term joint venture does not in fact refer to
this new entity but to the reason for the
partnership. Also, there are no legal limits on who
can enter into a JV -- anyone can, including
individuals, corporations, websites and small local
businesses.
The most common type of joint venture is between two
large companies. They enter into them most often to
break into a new or specific market. There are
countries that demand any foreign interest entering
their economy first enter into a JV with a native
company. Still, even if it's not a prerequisite,
foreign companies can greatly benefit from having an
interested party located in-country. The local
office can keep a better eye on the social, economic
and political situations there.
Even when a JV isn't a requirement, they can give a
company a great advantage -- as long as they are
carefully considered. Small companies often enter
into joint ventures in order to take advantage of
skills, management styles and even the customer
bases of larger, better established companies.
Let's take an example: You run a computer sales
store but don't offer computer repair services. Your
customers continue to ask about these services, and
you repeatedly turn them away, recommending the guy
who owns the little repair shop down the street. You
realize that you could both benefit by creating a
business partnership, and he agrees to your joint
venture idea. You both benefit. You no longer turn
customers away, and he gets all the business plus a
cut of the profits.
Joint ventures can be a wonderful tool for business,
but they can be a disaster as well if they aren't
properly planned out. Successful JVs usually
comprise two companies with a combination of five
characteristics: 1) Persistence; 2) Creativity; 3)
Negotiation Skills; 4) Client Relationship Skills
and 5) Visualization Skills.
Creativity is one of the most important of these
characteristics. You must be able to think outside
the box to see many different ways your business
could benefit from a joint venture -- and all the
different joint ventures your business could fit
into. There are possibilities for just about anyone
who's interested -- provided that you know where and
how to look for them. It's also important to be
creative when explaining your plan to a potential
partner -- you don't want them falling asleep on
you.
Persistence is particularly important when you first
approach your potential partners. Small businesses
have a lot going on, and the owners can forget you
if you're not careful. You might also have to
explain what a joint venture is if they don't
already know.
You must be able to look beyond the present and
visualize how your side of the partnership will fit
with the other business's contribution. If you look
ahead and see problems, you must iron them out
before you make any firm commitments. Look for the
bigger picture, or the bigger picture might not be
as pretty as you'd hoped.
You need to expect a lot of negotiation with your
partner while you're laying out your business plan
and detailed agreement documents. You want to
protect your interests, and of course your partner
wants exactly the same thing. Sometimes you will
disagree, and you must be willing to show
determination and not give in to undesirable
conditions. You must be prepared for some serious
discussion.
When all that is said and done, you'll need to start
thinking about your client relationships. Clients
are often put off by the thought of a joint venture,
thinking that your business, products or services
are going to change or become pricier. To make sure
that you continue to gain, not lose, clients, you'll
need to nurture them and make sure they understand
what the new entity means for them. If you attend to
your clients, not only will they remain loyal to
you, you will also find out which parts of your new
endeavor they respond to best.
Joint ventures offer great opportunities for those
who enter into them thoughtfully, carefully and
properly. If you do your research and make sure to
uphold your end of the bargain, it's likely you and
your partner will find great success.
For more useful tips & hints, please browse for more
information at our
website.
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Growing Your Business:
