Small Business, Big Impact!

Small Business, Big Impact!

There are millions of small businesses across the United States traveling the same road each and every day. Small businesses fuel our economy and provide jobs for millions of people.

Here are some interesting facts you may not have known about small businesses:

1. The 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales

2. Small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all new jobs since the 1970s

3. The 600,000 plus franchised small businesses in the U.S. account for 40% of all retail sales and provide jobs for some 8 million people

4. The small business sector in America occupies 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20 to 34 billions square feet

5. The number of small businesses in the U.S. has increased 49% since 1982

6. Since 1990, as big business eliminated 4 millions jobs, small businesses added 8 million new jobs

People may think small businesses do not have a huge affect on our economy. However, as a whole, they make up 55% of all jobs in the U.S. It is important for new entrepreneurs to understand the impact their small business can have!

Small Business-Big Impact

Entrepreneurship

Businesses fail more times than not. Many times you do not hear about start up businesses that never take off. Entrepreneurs struggle in converting from your regular average Joe to business owners. According to this article, there are nine main reasons why businesses never get off the ground.
1.)Entrepreneurship is About You, Not the Economy. You have to be fully committed and invested in your business. At any time things could change for the worse and you have to be able to adapt to any adversity you might face along the way. Entrepreneurship in essence is about how you manage and organize your resources.
2.)Success comes from generating sales. Remember you are your first employee and you must make sales and/or provide services until you have the ability to grow and expand. Rejection in business will inevitably occur, but the ability to combat this adversity is vital.
3.)The important of new technology. Social media is a great way to spread the idea about your business if you know how to use it correctly. Technology is the best way to promote an idea because of the role it plays on society today. Embracing new technology opens up new areas of growth, and therefore revenue.
4.)Work for a purpose. Create a reason why you want to run your own business. This reason will be why you get out of bed every morning ready to make a change. Remember the purpose of your work throughout your journey. You do not want to lose sight of your original intentions and goals or else business has the potential to suffer.
5.)The importance of the customer. You are not as important as your customer. While you both have needs, it is your duty to meet his or her needs first.
6.)Be humble. Bragging about your success will only hurt your business. Bragging about how much money you make or how many customers you have creates a negative atmosphere that people do not want to be around.
7.)Have a vision. Having a vision is necessary to make the appropriate decisions in order to advance your business. Remember your vision is your passion and relaying your visions to others is essentials in your businesses success.
8.)Develop a plan. The importance of a plan helps both drafting goals and avoiding problems. Short term goals vary drastically from long term goals, but if you have a way to organize and be prepared for both the short and long term, then you boost your chances for success. Understanding potential problems is vital to a business's success. If you can set adjustments prior to encountering a problem, you will be able to maintain success even during times of hardship.
9.)Knowledge is power. The more information and time one spends on his particular business the better prepared they will be. Not knowing is not an excuse, so every bit of information gleaned is important. Keeping up to date on current economic environment can gives you the upper hand over another business owner.
Clearly understanding these nine points will be the factor that separates a business from failure and success.
Entrepreneurship

The Future of Business

Does the future of business really lie in social media? Some may say it does, while others believe that the main focuses of older businesses still remain important today. Businesses should focus on six main practices that allow them to fully satisfy both employees and customers.

1.) Clarity. A business must be able to clearly explain its goal. Clarity is the first practice that a business must achieve in order to reach its full potential. If a company is unclear on what it wants to do, then how could it possibly help provide services or products to consumers? Knowing the direction they are headed as an organization is how a company can become and remain successful.

2.)Culture. Culture is a huge part of small businesses today. Employees are always looking for companies with great cultures. People who understand and believe in what a company is doing can make all the difference in areas such as productivity or retention. If a company has a bad culture, people are not going to want to work there, which will inevitably weaken the business.

3.) Method. A company's method is it's form around ideas, methodologies and processes that allow the organization to have something in common with others. This is importance because it creates unique methods that allow employees to communicate more effectively. It gives employees a way of thinking and a set of steps to follow.

4.) Content. Content is what connects a company's purpose, culture, and method to the external environment.

5.) Presence. Making your presence known is important because you will get recognition and be able to spread your service and product to the most people possible. Social media is a huge part of this. This has increased the number of people small business owners can connect with in an easy and effective way.

6.) Touchpoints. Touchpoints are the ways in which you turn all of these other practices into action. This practice is how you start to generate actual revenue. Roles are established and everybody understands what needs to be done in order to be successful.

ducktapemarketing

Marketing for Mobile Apps

10 years ago people were using their cell phones for making calls and sending an occasional text message. With advances in technology there are now smartphones such as the iPhone and Droid that have an app store. In these app stores, thousands of apps are at your disposal for just about any use you could possibly imagine. The difficulty with these apps is marketing them to a target audience large enough to generate the kind of success you are hoping for. There are three strategies that you should implement if you have developed an app that you hope will take off in the virtual world.

1.) Be Social. Apps are currently more prevalent than the Web itself. Being on your phone is what it means to be social nowadays. For example, people can check in to a location on Facebook or comment about something you've just posted on Twitter. Being active on Facebook and Twitter gives small business owners to market their product or service in a cheap and effective way.

2.)Tell Your Own Story. Being true to yourself and your mission. This can be done by choosing a creative, witty name that will catch people's attention while they browse through the app store. An important piece of earning credibility is choosing an icon that correlates to the idea of the app. Appealing to the audience through a visual image can attract many customers.

Trial and error is another important part of creating a successful app. Figuring out what category your app should be placed in and being able to describe it with an an accurate description can really help boost your popularity and productivity.

3.) Court Your Audience of Fans from Day One. It is extremely important to take feedback from users and people you know and use it to better your app. If you can take constructive criticism and use it to improve your app, then there is the strong possibility you will be able to market to a wider audience and maximize the potential of your app.

Creating an app these days is the equivalent of creating a website 15 year ago. Most people enjoy being social through using media, so what better way is there to satisfy that need than by using apps which people can use anytime and anywhere. Coming up with an idea for an app is the easy part, however, being able to market and sell your app is where the difficulty lies. However, if you can follow the steps to strong marketing procedures, then it should not take too long for your app to become known and successful.

Marketing Strategies for Mobile Apps

Communicating Company Culture

Developing a code of ethics and setting standards for your company may seem like a daunting task at first. However, if correctly implemented, you will be able develop a strong company culture and a vision for people to follow. There are many ways to get your message across to company employees and it is up to you to make it happen!

A key objective of CEOs and top executives is to set standards for your employees. This can be done by rewarding those who show initiative and go above and beyond their actual job description. The recognition you give your top employees will set expectations for the rest of your work force. Rewards can be something as simple as a trophy, a plaque, or even a night out to celebrate accomplishments. These are simple and inexpensive ways to reward employees for their hard work.

Another way you can connect with employees is through meetings. Holding both in-person and virtual meetings gives a different sense of connection between yourself and your employees. Each morning have a mandatory meeting explaining why you are so excited to start your day. Creating a culture where you, as a manager, are excited to come to work creates a great working environment for everyone.

Leading by example is one of the best way to motivate employees. If your employees can see how exited you are to work harder to reach a team goal they will start to work harder as well. By setting an example and encouraging everyone else to follow you, you have the opportunity to create a great business.

Communicating Company Culture

Playing to Win

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works By Martin and Lafley, both Proctor and Gamble Executives

In the highly competitive economy, small businesses need a strategy to flourish and grow. Creating a successful strategy involves more than just creating a mission statement. Playing to Win is a great book for owners of small businesses because it teaches them how to incorporate strategies into their company.

5 Common Mistakes Developing Company Strategies

1. Leader define strategy solely as a vision. Mission and vision statements are elements of strategy, but they aren't enough.

2. Leaders define strategy simply as a plan.

3. Leaders deny that long-term strategy is possible because of a rapidly changing world.

4. Leaders define strategy as the optimization of what they are already doing in their current business.

5. Leaders define strategy as following best practices, such as bench marking against competition, and then doing the same set of activities.

By just implementing one of these strategies a company will never reach its full potential. For example, Martin and Lafley say plans are not enough:

"Plans and tactics are also elements of strategy, but they aren't enough either. A detailed plan that specifies what the firm will do (and when) does not imply that the things it will do add up to a sustainable competitive advantage."

As a small business owner you need to always be thinking about the future of your company. Developing a successful strategy to gain a competitive advantage in your industry is key. A lot goes into running a business and by taking the initial steps and creating a strategy to set your company apart from the competition, may be the deciding factor in your future success.

Playing to Win

The New Social Media

Social media is and will continue to grow with the amount of technology people use in society today. Some social media websites play more of a role in our lives than others, but there are very few who can say that social media plays no role whatsoever. Whether it be having a business page on Facebook that users can like or a Twitter profile that posts messages about the growth of a business, there is always the challenge of getting the recognition you think your business deserves.

The question always remains: Which website is the best for your company?

A study was conducted by a group of social media pros and marketers for the Dell Social Media Predictions eBook to determine the best social media websites of the year. Contrary to popular belief, Facebook and Twitter were not on the list.

Facebook has been around longer than Twitter, and the decline in Facebook has been evident over the past couple of years. The fast paced growth of Facebook is currently slowing. Twitter skyrocketed approximately two to three years ago due to the simplicity of only having 140 characters to get your message across.

Websites are all trying to compete with these social media outlets that revolutionized the internet business world. Examples of such websites include: Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and believe it or not, MySpace. MySpace is re-inventing its site and targeting teenagers. However, many believe that MySpace will not become any more popular even with their new design layout.

The most primed website to make its mark on society is Google+. This new social media site allows the pooling of information and data together in one place without the communication problems that are encountered with Facebook and Twitter.

All social media websites go through stages of popularity and struggle. Those that can adapt to their users most prevalent needs are the ones that remain successful for the longest period of time. As we change, so do our needs. Maintaining a social media website requires constant change and adaptability. If a website does not improve based on consumer needs, then the site will lose users. It is simple as that. Adapt or become unimportant.

Social Media