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              Thanks to freeparking for permission to use this Photo.

One of the strongest characteristics associated with successful entrepreneurs is the ability to lead.  As a small business owner, it’s impossible to be everywhere at once, directly involved in every aspect of the decision making process, therefore you must be able to trust your employees to make sound decisions on your behalf.  This is one area where leadership plays such a vital role.  Your ability to communicate your business vision and get your employees to buy into that vision is deeply connected to building a productive workplace environment.  Here is an interesting podcast interview with Marshall Goldsmith, a leadership training expert who specializes in training small business owners how to be leaders and in turn cultivate leadership qualities in their employees.  Goldsmith makes some good points about common issues limiting the growth of small businesses, then prescribes concrete methods to resolve these issues.  Click on the image above to listen to this podcast.  I think you’ll learn some lessons that will stay with you throughout your career.  Take care.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

              Thanks to Orin Zebest for permission to use this Photo.

When I was a small girl, my family would gather to watch The Art Linkletter Show, a television variety show which aired once a week.  

Although I have watched countless shows since that time, there is one particular segment which comes to mind when considering the many facets of starting and operating a small business.  During the segment, Art Linkletter introduced a juggler who proceeded to explain how we all are jugglers.  There are those who juggle as a profession; however, the analogy was applied to the rest of the population.  No matter your profession, age, or socio-economic status, we can all learn from the juggler’s lesson of “The Spinning Plates.” 

To offer a brief synopsis of the lesson, the juggler first began the process by placing a dowel rod on the floor and balancing a plate on top of the rod.  He gave the plate a spin with this hand and stood back to watch as the plate, balanced atop the dowel rod, would spin around and around.  As the first plate was spinning, the juggler would set up a second dowel rod and plate.  This process continued until the juggler had twelve sets of dowel rods and plates spinning.  In order to keep the plates from crashing to the ground, the juggler had to run from one to the next to keep the motion going.  Inevitably, he would be too slow to attend to all of the plates and one would crash to the ground with the plates shattering into pieces. Quickly, he would set up a replacement and run from one plate to the next spinning, spinning, running, spinning, running, spinning, and running again!  I was exhausted just watching the process.

The morale of the lesson is that no matter how wonderful you might be at spinning plates, you can only manage a certain number of plates effectively.  Add just one too many plates and they may all come crashing to the ground.  The same lesson is especially true for those of us who are business owners.

There are many aspects of your new business which will spin at the same time:  financial, marketing, sales, service, employer/employee relationships, customer relationships, deadlines, industry regulations, ordering supplies, overseeing production, submitting bids, and the list goes on!  With all of these responsibilities, it is no wonder that we find ourselves spinning and running just to keep all of our “plates” operating as they should.  New entrepreneurs are often overwhelmed with the magnitude of responsibilities created when they decided to start and operate a new business. Realizing that all of the different areas must be effectively operating at the same time can create quite a bit of stress for the new business owner.  To be successful, it is imperative that we understand our value to the new business.  The primary responsibility for the new business owner is to focus time and effort on actions which contribute the greatest value to a new business.  So what happens to the rest of the plates left spinning?  Ah, that is the portion which must be delegated to others.  In other words, the business owner should “spin” the value plates and delegate all activities that others can do.  To capitalize on entrepreneurial strengths, new business owners must learn to delegate in order to spend valuable time strategizing and leading rather than doing.  

Art Linkletter has been quoted as saying, “I’ve learned it is always better to have a small percentage of a big success, than a hundred percent of nothing.”  An entrepreneur himself, Linkletter learned early in his career that the quality of employees he hired was in direct correlation with the success of a venture.  Linkletter hired the most creative people he could find to assist with the production of his television shows, “House Party” and “The Art Linkletter Show.”  Then, he shared his success with the employees realizing that without creative employees, his ventures would not have yielded the same results.  If you were to ask the 96-year old entrepreneur his secret for success, he would tell you that he has learned not to spin more plates than he could comfortably handle.  Of the many books Linkletter wrote, it was the title of a book released in 1980 that states the fact entrepreneurs must remember, “I Didn’t Do it Alone!” 

As this article comes to a close, I hope that you also learn from the juggler’s lesson and realize that you can not possibly “spin all of the plates” found in your new small business.  Instead, learn to delegate responsibilities to others within your organization so that you can concentrate on that which brings your enterprise most value.  I’ll leave you with another bit of advice from Art Linkletter: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out!” 

Keep the plates spinning, 

Penny Joyner Waddell
Small Business Management Instructor
Ashworth University

While the “experts” continue to debate whether our economy is in a recession, the rest of us working in the real world have already determined that the semantic definition of this crisis is the least of our concerns.  In the following podcast interview, Dale Collie, a former corporate executive and elite U.S. Army Ranger shares the lessons he has learned throughout his life on how to cope with the stress caused by difficult circumstances.  Although focusing primarily on how the business manager of today can effectively lead, inspire, and provide stability to workers during times of economic hardship; this podcast also offers some “big picture” perspectives that anyone can apply in their personal lives as well.  I think you’ll enjoy this podcast. Please share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.  I’d also like to thank Bill Conerly for conducting this outstanding interview. Thanks…

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University  

 
                   Thanks to PQZ for permission to use this Photo.

With regard to marketing your residential property, it is imperative to remember that first impressions can be made only once.  That is why curb appeal is so important.  Renters want a clean, attractive, safe, and comfortable environment.  When you provide that environment, potential renters will leave with a positive image of your complex.  

You have 30 seconds to make a positive impression on the prospective renter.  Be polite, positive, and interested in their specific needs when you’re touring prospective tenants through the property.  “Read” the customer to see what he or she is interested in when renting.  If you can find out what interests renters, you can gear your presentation to their needs. 

Marketing is essential for the success of the property.  Most residential properties lease units for a term of one year.  Even though many residential renters continue to rent the same unit, there is still the possibility that each unit could become vacant if the existing renter does not renew.  With that in mind, you need to be prepared to fill a vacancy at almost any time.

When preparing your budget, look over the past year’s expenses to get an understanding of what the needs of the property are.  However, never simply take last year’s expenses and add a percentage to predict the next year’s expenses.  Properties age differently, and you must perform periodic inspections to determine what fixtures and components are starting to wear out and when they will need to be replaced.Some properties host excellent tenant social functions that the renters love.  Give them entertainment and a way to mingle with each other, and you can create a very solid community of people who will stay year to year even when the rental rates increase.  Remember, some groups of people like apartments for their social life, and capitalizing on that could reap your owner excellent financial returns.

Chuck Perme
Property Management Instructor
Ashworth University

 
               Thanks to Nick Coombe for permission to use this Photo.

I hope you are already doing this, if not, you should treat you loyal prospects as VIPs (very important person). You should give them discounts, you should provide them with news that very few other people will get and you should provide them with all sorts of goodies, because your loyal prospects will hang around longer.It’s rather easy to use this marketing strategy. Just think about it, what would you really appreciate to get from a person much like yourself? Give them:                                                     

• Discounts on products
• Free products
• Interesting information

If you have a list of loyal prospects, you can just send them an email and you can start the email with ”I want to give my loyal prospects a discount…”You can do this before every launch of a new product. If a person have bought one of your other products, then this person will automatically get a discount on every new product that you will release.You can create a buying frenzy by limiting the number of days the discount will be available.

It’s a great way to build loyalty. Your customers will hang around longer if you give them some special VIP treatment once in a while. It’s important that they know and feel that they are treated as VIPs. Because if they do, they won’t unsubscribe to your lists, and they will stick around in order to be a part of your gang. (more…)

Photo courtesy of foundphotoslj

It’s not really that hard.  I’ve been working with some contractors in my business (I outsource web, PR, database, graphic design, marketing, and various other activities) and Ms. Businomics has been trying to get some contractors to do some projects around the house.  Here’s what we’ve learned.

The key to business success is the return phone calls and show up when you promise to show up.

I hope that isn’t too big a concept for a single sentence.  Time and time again I’ve seen people not respond to messages left for them–messages that sometimes say, “We want to do business with you.”  More than once, many more times than once, people simply don’t show up, don’t provide the promised goods or services, and never call to report that they’ll be delayed.  That leads us to a subsidiary point:

If you will not be able to meet a promised deadline, contact your client as soon as possible before the deadline.

Most of us are pretty reasonable about schedules.  We’ll give contractors and business vendors a lot of slack, if they’ll just call ahead of time and ask.  What we hate the most is hearing nothing.  No call, no email, nothing.

The other keys to business success?  Well you need a decent product or service, you need to market it, but really, your competitors will drop the ball so often that if you are totally consistent in following these rules, you’ll succeed.

Bill Conerly
Creator of Businomics Blog
Ashworth University Contributing Blogger

*Bill Conerly is one of the most respected and trusted Business bloggers on the Web. Mr. Conerly’s in-depth analyses are based on “real world” applicability, a communications’ style he has honed through years of professional experience. We’re honored to have Bill Conerly as a member of the Ashworth University Blog contributors network. To learn more about the life and work of Bill Conerly, visit his acclaimed Businomics Blog.

 
               Thanks to Andrea Z for permission to use this Photo.

We all want to be successful in our careers, but we often don’t reach our potential because we lose confidence in our abilities.  This is why it’s so important to stay inspired, focused, and motivated.  The marketing field is high energy, so you literally can’t afford to get down on yourself.  One way to stay on track is to listen to the success stories of others in the marketing field.  When I observe the hard work others have put in, I realize that I have to put in just as much or even more work to attain new heights of success.  Ok, that was my quick speech.  I just want to make sure you continue believing in your dreams.  Here is an insightful podcast about Consumer-Centric Marketing.  I think we’ve reached the point where this brand of marketing can no longer be simply labeled as a trend.  The consumer-centric perspective largely defines the cultural landscape and drives the marketplace.  Enjoy the podcast.  

Cheryl Syrett
Marketing and Advertising Instructor
School of Business