Finding A Good SEO Agency

Well done search engine optimisation, often called SEO for short, is designed to allow websites to show up in search results when people search for products and services rather than simply company names. The idea is that people looking for things online are able to find a business website without any prior knowledge of the business or its name. There are all manner of tricks and techniques which fall under SEO, but the good sustainable methods (also sometimes called “white hat SEO”) are based around the idea of making your website easier for search engine to read and understand, meaning they rank you higher in searches for appropriately relevant terms.

It is not uncommon to decide to outsource SEO to external marketing agencies and other companies, but there are far too many dodgy types out there who like to take companies seeking SEO – especially local and small businesses – for a very expensive ride. How then does one actually go about finding a good, honest and legitimate search engine marketer?

It is actually incredibly easy to find a decent SEO agency online. Go to a search engine like Google or Bing and type in “SEO agency.” Ignoring the paid ads at the top, whichever firm has landed at the top of the search results are what you want – they must be pretty good at SEO or their own website wouldn’t be so high in the natural listings!

To narrow things down a bit, you could try extending your search. Say you live in Essex and want a local agency – just type in “SEO agency Essex.” Or if your website is specialised and you want particular help with it you can add your industry or site type – “SEO tourism” or “SEO eCommerce” for example. This can be a great way to find niche SEO agencies who have specialist expertise in your field.

Sometimes SEO agencies (or at least people claiming to be SEO agencies) try to solicit companies by sending them emails or submitting contact forms with various enticements and offers. However if you see something like this come in then it is best to ignore it – if a company which supposedly specialises in search engine optimisation is reduced to spamming inboxes to get business rather than, say, doing SEO so their own website ranks highly and people can find them anyway, chances are they aren’t very good. The same is true of SEO services advertised on paid ads at the top of search engines or on banner ads on other websites. If their search marketing is any good, why are they having to pay for their placements?

Another thing to bear in mind is to steer well clear of any SEO agency that promises you “top position for x keywords” or something similar. Nearly all modern search engines used personalised searching, meaning that everyone sees websites in slightly different ranking positions depending on their personal search history. Absolute rankings are a thing of the past, any anyone claiming to deliver this kind of service is lying through their teeth. Modern SEO will use sustainable “white hat” techniques in order to bring useful traffic to your website, not use exploits and dodgy tricks, which will constantly get them slapped by search engine updates like Google’s infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm changes.

Once you’ve found an SEO company that looks mostly all right you’ll need to ask them some questions before you leap into their services. As well as the usual checks like existing client list and testimonials, it is a good idea to speak to someone directly on the phone or in person. Here are some good questions to ask them.

  1. Who does their search marketing work? Is it handled by in-house staff? Do they do any outsourcing, especially to foreign companies? A lot of agencies outsource to cheap link builders in Asia who tend to produce very low quality work that can have a negative impact on websites in the medium to long term.
  2. How often do they report, and what format do these reports take? Any professional SEO agency should be providing regular updates to all its clients, along with written reports detailing actions taken and progress made.
  3. What kind of skills and qualifications do they have? Take a look at their existing client lists for any recognisable big names, and see if they have anyone who is Analytics qualified. Some companies even use quality standards like ISO 9001 which is an excellent sign.
  4. What else do they do? A lot of these companies are primarily website designers who are resellers for outsourced SEO services to boost their profits. It is better to look for an online marketing specialist to ensure you get a good quality service.

If you don’t have the money to hire a professional SEO agency there are other options available. Some companies will let you pay for a one off website review to make recommendations on how to improve your site from a search marketing perspective, or you could research current techniques and ideas to do SEO for yourself.

Many online marketing methods are in fact startlingly simple. Boost your domain authority by getting other relevant sites to link back to yours. Get a backlinks boost as well as general marketing benefit by using social media like Facebook. Keep your website full of regularly updated and good quality content to encourage people to link to you as well as grow the site’s visibility and importance. Use a good, solid SEO plugin for your content management system, and make sure your website’s code is error free.

Remember you’ll get a natural boost from modern search engines if your website is

  • Well designed, easy to use and nice to look at
  • Full of good, up to date and useful content designed for real people, not search engine robots
  • Free of errors, fast loading and devoid of spammy ads or buggy code

Happy website marketing, everyone!

Employment News – The Best Guide to Get Good Jobs

India is a country with more than one billion people. The vast population of the country was known as a great hindrance to India’s development in the past. But, it is now viewed upon as a gold mine of man power, for both intellectual and physical work. The increasing population created several new jobs. The Indian youth make best use of the employment news magazines and online sources to target these jobs. There were only a handful of banks in India before 20 years. Today, there are hundreds of banks expanding rapidly. The upcoming bank exams plans to hire thousands of employees throughout the year.

The economic reforms in the country has paved way for more earning, leading to tremendous growth of entertainment, hospitality and tourism industries. This also leads to more savings, resulting in several new financial investment consultancies and banks. The youngsters seeking job in this decade are flooded with multitude opportunities.

Employment News Weekly

Employment News is a weekly magazine which provides all the information about the public and private sector jobs available in India. They list nearly all the upcoming bank exams with syllabus, applications and ample exam preparation tips. There are a handful of websites which provide similar employment services. But, they limit themselves to collecting the candidates resume and forwarding it to the required private sector companies. Whereas, Employment news weekly, published in three languages serve as a complete job search guide providing A to Z details of every vacancy they print. The weekly is available both online and offline for the benefit of all job seeking candidates across the country.

Employment News Weekly Job Forecast

Several public sector banks recruited fresher’s and experienced people to work for them in the year 2011. The trend is expected to continue this year too. The upcoming bank exams in 2012 are conducted by IBPS or the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection situated in Mumbai. They frame the question papers and conduct interviews for various banking jobs like entry-level officers, Clerks and specialist officers. Nearly 19 public sector banks follow their exam and selection pattern to recruit their employees. The weekly estimates nearly two thousand financial degree holders will be recruited for various banks this year.

Employment news weekly has ample information about these upcoming banking exams conducted by the IBPS as well as other private sector banks. It also lists several railway job openings, defense openings and vacancies in the teaching sector. The less explored fields like mining, plastic technology and agricultural and medical industries also advertise their vacancies in this useful magazine. Based their enormous experience, the weekly forecasts 2012 would hire more than half a million employees in India.

How Good Or Bad Are Cartoon Channels For Your Kids?

This is a Question, which keeps haunting parents (mostly mothers) of all kids aged 3 to 10. Should we allow kids to watch cartoons, or should it be totally banned, is it good or is it really bad?

The issue that often pops up when chatting about young children watching cartoon channels is usually about leaving your children alone with cartoons to divert or entertain them, instead of parents giving our precious time to them.

Let’s analyze this million-dollar question!

I am a mother of 5-year-old daughter and have been regularly monitoring her television viewing. And this is what I have analyzed.

Let’s point out the good points first:

Cartoon shows are neither good nor bad. Occasionally cartoons are being used to demonstrate behavior that we would like our young children to adapt or copy, and even many times these cartoon shows are also used to exemplify qualities we would like our kids to avoid. It is up to the parents to help the child learn which is which.

From time to time there have been some good series like Madeline, Oswald, Noddy, Backyard Science, MAD, Mickey Mouse Club House. And some Hindi Indian Cartoons, which I would suggest are Gali Gali Sim Sim, Choota Bheem, Krishna, Ramayan and all Mythological stories.

It helps improve vocabulary; it could be English or Hindi.

It helps kids in analyzing situations. To understand how small little things are analyzed and then how small little decisions are taken by understanding what is right and wrong.

It helps them understand different cultures, societies, people etc.

There are so many shows, which are really educational, for all ages. And some programs show various Art and Craft activities, which can be actually utilized to put them to some creative work.

Now, let’s point out the bad points:

There are some really bad cartoons out there, which are a definite no-no for kids like Hagemaaro, ShinShan etc. The language used is awful.

With the kids watching television all the time, their physical activities which can only be achieved by playing in a playground are not taken care of.

Kids try to imitate what they see on television. Be it language or violence, they just want to behave like their “Super Hero”.

When parents continually leave their children to be entertained by the television it can have negative effects on child’s mind because children are primarily proactive and like to be doing something.

And one of the major concerns is the time kids spent in watching those cartoons. Every mother has a tough time moving her kids away from television. Ideally what I would suggest is to have fixed television-watching timings.

The best way to help your child create connection from television is if you get involved with them and explain what they are seeing, discuss different scenarios or outcomes, ask questions, and compare what you are seeing to what she has experienced.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Detailed SWOT Analysis

If you are an advertising or marketing student, an entrepreneur or a business professional – be prepared to learn about one of the most basic and functional tools for marketers still practiced heavily today – the SWOT Analysis. Like many topics in school that students seem to avoid (learning the quadratic formula in Calculus, reading a Brave New World for English lit or that extremely uncomfortable topic everyone in health class is embarrassed to learn about) – the detailed SWOT analysis is just something you are going to have to face learning and get used to writing regardless of how advanced our advertising methods get. The detailed SWOT analysis will be around forever and can really help you get a grasp of the environment your product or service is getting into and what you have to give to your potential customers that your competitors have forgotten. So here it is in plain English – the good, the bad and the ugly of the detailed SWOT Analysis.

As a professional marketer that has been working in this field, representing a multitude of companies throughout North America for over 15 years I continuously stand behind the benefits and effectiveness of developing and using a detailed SWOT analysis. Before I start any new project, whether for myself or for a customer, I have, and will continue to include the development of a SWOT analysis. My suggestion to you is that if you want your marketing initiatives to perform like a professionally developed plan then you need to think and act like a professional marketer. In this article I am going to share with you…

o What is Good about developing a proper SWOT Analysis “The Good”

o What is the downside of developing a proper SWOT Analysis “The Bad”

o What if the SWOT analysis doesn’t appear to provide value to my marketing plan? “The Ugly”

So why do seasoned advertising executives claim that a detailed SWOT Analysis of your product/service could open your eyes to an opportunity you had never imagined? Let’s put it this way – if you are the owner of a brand new company and you need to sell your business to your future employees who are ultimately responsible for reselling the idea of your business – it is probably best that you have a clear sense of what your enterprise is about. Your business’ vision, mission and core values are so important to determining whether or not customers see your product/service as a need. Is the product category you are in thriving, full of competition or are you yesterday’s trend? All these answers can be yours – by breaking down your company in a SWOT Analysis.

What’s so great about a SWOT? The easiest way to answer this question – is found in the acronym – plainly stated – a SWOT will tell you what the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are for your business. Strengths and weaknesses are attributes of your business that are identified internally -what’s going on within your own company’s environment? Some of the strengths you may have is that you were the first entrant into a category (i.e. Red Bull in the energy drink category), has your company won any awards, what makes you different from your competitors (do you have something they don’t that difficult to copy?) Weaknesses could be that you were not “one of the originals” and you are lumped in with all the other gazillion varieties of soap available today – you lack that “must-have” feature. Or maybe your product or service is a seasonal item – so your key selling peak only happens during a certain quarter of the year – in which case – how does the company survive for the other 3 quarters? Strengths and weaknesses are easy to identify if you really sit and think about what your company is, stands for and what it offers your customers. Opportunities and threats are identified externally – these are aspects that happen outside of your company that you are unable to control. Going back to the Red Bull example, the fact that the general public was finding themselves more frequently exhausted and looking for a “pick me up” – paved the way for Red Bull to really pack a punch with the public. And perhaps, the easiest example of a threat is something most companies seem to be facing today – the depressing state of the economy and the public cautious with their spending. These four aspects are quick and easy ways to access your company and with a little thought – you may open your company up to opportunities you have not have originally seen.

What’s so bad about a detailed SWOT Analysis – well for a first timer, be prepared this is only one of a gazillion SWOT Analyses you will do on a variety of companies and products. But don’t worry – practice makes perfect. Sometimes the first few SWOT’s can take a fair bit of time to nail down the formula, but soon it will become as simple as riding a bike.

The ugly of the detailed SWOT analysis is very rare but has seen the light of day. Perhaps the product category is so complex that a SWOT really doesn’t answer any immediate questions for your business. Or you’ve finally completed what you thought was an amazing analysis, only to realize that after investing a large amount of money in your “dream project” you’ve entered into an overly-saturated market and your product (with no great added value) will soon be lost in the masses – YIKES! Also, some companies mistake their internal strengths as external opportunities – in which your SWOT analysis becomes skewed and rendered non-helpful.

So even though as a first timer you become frustrated with what makes an attribute internal or external, the fact that sometimes you need to research your category to really get into some interesting opportunities once you become familiar with this process, there’s a good possibility you may begin to dream about SWOT analyses and begin applying them to your everyday life – one of the great things about a detailed SWOT analysis is that it’s a basic structure that really puts your business into perspective for yourself, your employees and most importantly what you have to offer your customers.

5 Really Good Home Business Ideas Using Internet Marketing

It looks like the unemployment rate will stay high. This continues to lead more people to the Internet in their attempt to find ways to replace their lost job.

I would like to suggest that you try Internet marketing and start a home business of your own. Here are five really good ideas on how you could do that.

1. Direct sales. Companies like Avon, Amway, Tupperware, and Mary Kay continue to offer a great way to get into business for yourself with very little startup capital required.

These companies do billions of dollars a year in business using the direct selling business model. They also include network marketing into their strategies so you can make money recruiting people as well.

2. Affiliate marketing. With this business model you get paid to perform a specific action for an affiliate merchant.

You are probably aware of Amazon.com. They are the largest online retailer in the world. Other good affiliate networks to join include Google Adsense, ClickBank, and Commission Junction.

3. Email marketing. In spite of the power of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter people still check their email on a regular basis.

This is a very good way to make money from the comfort of your own home.The key is to learn how to build email lists in targeted niches. Then sell products such as affiliate products to your subscribers.

4. Consulting. Do you have knowledge on how to do something that you could teach other people to do?

For example, do you know how to finish a basement? You could turn this into a consulting business where people pay you to teach them how to do this.

I recently saw a website where a guy was teaching people how to play the guitar. Virtually anything you how to do, that somebody would want to learn to do, could be turned into your own consulting business.

5. Blog writing. You can quickly create a full time income writing blog articles for other Internet marketers.

Right now there are millions of blogs that need fresh articles posted to them. This is something you can easily get started with.

Google search “Angela Boothe”. She offers excellent training on how to make money writing on the Internet.

One good strategy is to start your own blog and use it as sample content. You will also want to join PayPal for free and use it as your payment processor.

These are just a small sampling of really good home business ideas you could make money with using Internet marketing. Right now there are so many ways to make money online that virtually anyone regardless of their current situation can get started today.

The Road to Success in Home Business: Passion, Commitment, Self-Discipline, and a Good Plan

Starting a home business is an adventure, full of exciting twists and turns – and challenging detours, too. It can take you to places you never dreamed. It can make your dreams come true. Running your own home business can teach you things about yourself you may never learn while working for others – how creative and resourceful you are, how much you would like to make a difference in the world. If you do the research and take time to learn the essentials, a home business can enrich your life in many wonderful and sometimes surprising ways. All it takes is a marketable product or service, boundless enthusiasm, enduring commitment, and a good solid plan of action. It also helps to have a big vision for your small home-based business. And let’s not forget self-discipline – one of the most common reasons a home business fails is a lack of self-discipline. It’s not easy operating a demanding business steps away from the hub of family activity and countless distractions.

Home Business Ideas: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Preeminent business philosopher, Peter F. Drucker wrote, “Entrepreneurs innovate. Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. It is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth. Innovation, indeed, creates a resource. There is no such thing as a “resource” until man finds a use for something in nature and thus endows it with economic value.” At another point in the narrative about innovation Mr. Drucker states that “There is no greater resource in an economy than purchasing power. But purchasing power is the creation of the innovating entrepreneur.” Focus your vision on opportunity. Check out the demographics and come up with something new – social or technical – or re-invent something old. It’s all about innovation, a new take on a traditional service, a brand new product that makes life easier, a specialty service that appeals to a small but growing niche market.

The number of home-based businesses is growing by leaps and bounds every year. The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep, just look to the phenomenal success of eBay. Many people derive great personal satisfaction from working at home. After all home is our sanctuary, we feel safe in our homes and free to be ourselves. We are more creative when we are comfortable. The Internet and computers have made it possible for us to build wealth sitting at home in our pajamas or dressed to the nines, it’s our choice when we work from home. Whether we work from a fancy fully equipped home office or a cubbyhole in the kitchen pantry, a home business can be anything we want it to be. And like traditional business, there is no magic ‘get rich quick’ scheme. There is only dedication. Perseverance and persistence are key requirements on the road to success. The winning results are always worth the extra effort you put into your home business.

There are hundreds of great ideas for home businesses. Brainstorm your idea with friends and associates, people whose advice you respect. Utilize your existing talents and skills and acquire the education you need to be expert. If you love cooking take gourmet cooking courses -perhaps there’s a market for home delivery of gourmet food in your area. Learn about your competition, can you compete with them on the same level, or carve out your own specialized niche in the catering business. Love animals and have a country property with acreage? Dog parks and doggy camps, dog and cat daycare, and overnight pet boarding is a booming business. Are you fit and like working out? If you have the space and either already have or can invest in some exercise equipment, open an exclusive home gym. Become a Personal Trainer. Bookkeeping, Freelance Writer, Seamstress, Internet Marketer, the list of home business ideas is almost endless. A home business should ideally be built around a product or service you know well. You will be successful if you expect success, and know your product or service inside out. Believe there is a need for your product or service, and believe in yourself.

Marketing: How to Win Customers and Keep Them Coming Back

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, author of numerous books, including ‘How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life’ and ‘Working Smart’ wrote, “There is absolutely no substitute for an honest, unshakeable, enthusiastic belief that the products and services you offer are the best available anywhere. Couple that with a sincere passion for helping people and you have an unbeatable combination for creating and keeping customers. People are persuaded more by attitude than logic for two basic reasons that you should always keep in mind as you deal with customers or with people in general, people are ruled by their emotions and emotions are contagious. In the final analysis, persuasion (winning customers) isn’t converting people to your way of thinking. It’s converting people to your way of feeling and believing.”

It’s not enough to be excited about your business. Knowing how to generate enthusiasm in others for your product or service is the key component to being successful in any business. You have to find a market. That means developing an effective marketing strategy. There is a wealth of free information readily available on the Internet and in the library. Marketing geniuses like Brian Tracy, Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy, and other popular ‘gurus’ have websites rich with wisdom and inspiration. Seek out books, magazines, and attend seminars about marketing. It’s amazing how many sources of expert guidance you will find – all brimful of how-to information from people who have traveled the same road and established successful home-based businesses. Talk to business people in your community – whether they are home-based, a retail store, real estate professional, or other small business, their feedback will be invaluable to you. Effective marketing is prerequisite to selling everything, including your credibility. Making the commitment to educate yourself is essential to your long-term success. Learning from the experts gives you a good head start, and helps you avoid some of the inevitable potholes you’ll encounter along the way.

Recommended Reading

For timeless business advice these step-by-step how-to guides, time management, and motivational tools, are excellent resources. Here’s to your success!

  • The Perfect Business by Dr. Michael LeBoeuf
  • The Millionaire in You by Dr. Michael LeBoeuf
  • How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life by Dr. Michael LeBoeuf
  • Working Smart by Dr. Michael LeBoeuf
  • Making Time Work for You by Harold L. Taylor
  • Homemade Business “A Woman’s Step-By-Step Guide to Earning Money at Home” by Donna Partow
  • The Ultimate No B.S., No Holds Arred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners, and Make Tons of Money Business Success Book by Dan Kennedy
  • Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
  • Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
  • Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by Napoleon Hill with W. Clement Stone
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker
  • The Psychology of Winning by Denis Waitley
  • 10 Good Reasons Why Small Enterprises (Small Businesses) Fail

    You’ll agree with me that there are so many small businesses which have contributed a lot to the growth of economy. They have created employment opportunities for many families although some remain to be small throughout their operational life.

    It is obvious that those who are starting new ventures have objectives to achieve. And to mention each business has got its own objectives to achieve such as maximization of profits and sales, minimize costs, maintain a certain level of production and labor force etc.

    Failing of a business opportunity is what an entrepreneur won’t want to happen. Inasmuch as we agree with the fact that there are firms which have succeeded, we should also accept the fact that a good number of them have failed even before two years lapse after they commence business.

    If aspiring entrepreneurs addressed the reasons why small businesses fail, then they will not fall to be victims of the same causes of failure. This is because they’ll be in a position to identify these causes and fix them before it’s too late.

    Now you may be asking yourself as to why some businesses remain to be small throughout their operational life despite some of them making profits or are capable of growing.

    4 Reasons Why Small Business Remain to be Small

    1.) The owners of these businesses prefer not to expand their businesses. Some sole proprietors do not want to be bothered with the challenges of managing a big business. They don’t want to employ people to assist them in running their businesses but instead they prefer to be assisted by their family members.

    2.) The nature of the product/service the business is involved in doesn’t allow expansion. There are people offering products/services which make it difficult for their business to grow.

    3.) Lack of capital for expansion. There are small businesses which are viable and have the potential of growing but they lack enough capital. Such businesses have the challenge of securing funds from financial institutions. Lack of capital plays a negative role in hindering the growth of small businesses.

    4.) Very low demand. If the business has a very low demand for its product or service, then at the end of the fiscal financial year/trading period the business won’t realize profits, and if it does, it’s very low, therefore the chances of it expanding are very minimal. Just to mention, realization of inadequate profits as a result of very low demand hinders the growth of small businesses.

    However, there must be a starting point and as such, every business starts as a small entity and it gradually grows to a medium entity and eventually it becomes a big business entity which is either a private limited company or a public limited company. Note that a partnership business can also grow to become a big business.

    Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail

    1.) Wrong Reasons For Commencing Business: People who start a business for wrong reasons haven’t succeeded. Just because another person is making high profits in a certain line of business doesn’t mean that you will also make the same amounts of profits as him/her if you start the same business.

    2.) Poor Business Management: When there is poor management of the business it becomes difficult for such a business to succeed in its operations. Finance, marketing, purchasing and selling, planning, hiring and managing employees is what most new business owners fail to execute effectively thus making their small businesses to fail.

    3.) Lack of Commitment: Starting a business requires someone who is committed in ensuring that it succeeds. Neglecting the business will cause the business to fail. Many small businesses have failed because the owners didn’t take their time in monitoring performance and in marketing them. Some business owners leave their businesses to be managed on their behalf by incompetent people who lack book keeping knowledge and the knowledge of managing a business.

    4.) Lack of Finances: Small businesses have failed because of lack of adequate finances. Some of the owners underestimated the amount of capital required and as a result of this underestimation some ended up running out of operating capital thus ending the operation of their businesses.

    There are those who have no reserves which has led them not to be able to take care of loses and disasters when they occur thus making them to quit business.

    5.) Over-Expansion of the Business: This has led to failure of many small businesses. This happens when there is borrowing of too much money beyond what the business requires so as to expand the business. Moving to markets that are not profitable is also over expansion of the small businesses.

    An ideal expansion is the one that is driven by customers due to their high demand for the products and services which leads to high sales thus the business experiences good cash flow.

    6.) Location: The place where the business is located is critical in determining its success. Small businesses have failed because of them being located in areas that are not ideal for business. They should be located in areas that are accessible, populated with people and has demand for their products and services.

    7.) Personal Use of Business Money: This is the biggest challenge facing many small business owners. They withdraw money meant to operate their businesses to meet their personal wants and needs. If they continue to withdraw money from their businesses without returning it, their businesses will eventually run out of finances therefore forcing them to end the operations of their businesses.

    8.) Lack of Delegation: Small enterprises have failed due to owners not delegating some of the duties to their employees. They think that if they delegate them, then their employees will not perform these duties as they would personally perform them. When such owners fall sick or are away from their businesses, then the operations of some tasks will be paralyzed till they resume to work.

    9.) Not Diversifying: Small enterprises which have only one product/service to offer are prone to fail easily compared to those that have a variety of products/services.

    10.) Procrastination and Poor Time Management: Postponements of tasks which the small business owners feel to be unpleasant to perform has made the small businesses to fail. An example of such tasks include following debtors to pay their debts (debt collection).

    Time management remains to be a challenge for many people who own small businesses. If important tasks like delivering products to customers, purchasing stock etc are not handled in the appropriate time, then the business will lose its customers.

    The above are not all the reasons why small businesses fail, there are more reasons.

    Women & Business Partnership – The Good, the Bad and the Synergy

    Team sports prepare boys for the corporate model of business. Girls, however, typically play closely with one or two friends. What great preparation for entrepreneurial partnership! So it is fitting, as women continue to start businesses in record numbers, that many are finding partnership is a comfortable format. In fact, business partnership works for women coming from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences including those tired of hitting the corporate glass ceiling, stay-at-home Moms, and women who want to turn their passions and their social connections into business ideas.

    Partnership brings a wide variety of benefits including a sense of connection and someone to cover when you go on vacation. On the other hand, many partnerships end in crisis and conflict. To avoid partnership failure, your partnership needs to possess the following seven components of positive partnership.

    Shared Values. Partners need a sense of shared standards regarding what is desirable, undesirable, good, and bad. These values will guide partners’ actions, judgments, and choices. Values, which often carry considerable emotion, may range from valuing family, prosperity, ambition, a work ethic, or a political persuasion. In addition to helping partners make congruent decisions, shared values serve to keep partners united.

    Different (Complementary) Skills and Traits. Successful partners will possess different (complementary) skills and traits. The broader the partners’ range of skills, the clearer the division of their labor (and power) can be. It may be easy to distinguish the marketing person from the technical person in a business but other necessary variables are often not as easy to see. Michael Gerber’s classic book “The E-Myth” explains that a business owner needs to play three roles, Entrepreneur – the creative visionary; Manager, the administrator who brings planning, order and predictability; and Technician – the craftsperson. Partnerships have a distinct advantage in that two or more invested people are available to perform the three necessary roles.

    Sense of Equity. Equity occurs when the rewards of a relationship are proportional to what each side perceives as his or her contribution. Strangers and casual acquaintances maintain equity by keeping track of the benefits they exchange. However, in long-term and more committed relationships it is not healthy to keep track. Instead, a sense of equity should be established. A perception of inequity (I am giving more then I get) takes a tremendous toll on a partnership.

    Growing Together. From the moment we are born until the day we die, we are in the process of growing and changing. Partners and their partnerships are continuously undergoing this process of change. However, we are often not aware of the changes we’re experiencing. And, sometimes change is viewed as a threat to the status quo. Successful partners embrace change and growth, knowing that this attitude benefits both their individual and shared professional identities.

    Proactive Conflict Management Strategies. Competing and avoiding are not effective conflict management strategies for partnership. Instead, successful partners will use proactive and strategic approaches to conflict management such as accommodation, compromise and collaboration to resolve their differences.

    Shared Vision. Partners need a shared vision or plan for the future. Vision is what determines and expresses where an organization wants to go and how it intends to get there. A shared vision allows partners to focus on their goals and the methods they will use to achieve those goals. When partners hold different visions they become discouraged, overwhelmed, and disconnected. In order to create and effectively benefit from a shared vision, four tasks are necessary: creating the initial vision, translating that vision into the necessary physical actions, articulating and selling the vision to others, and holding true to the essence of the vision when reality changes the plans.

    An Exit Strategy. It has been said that a graceful exit is proof of a successful venture. Without an exit strategy in place partners can be faced with making crucial decisions at a time when they were least levelheaded. An exit strategy is a shared sense of when and how an alliance will end and one should be included as the end-point in a business plan. However, while planning for the end may be a critical aspect of owning a business, it is also one of the most neglected. Exits are easy to avoid when the issue is not pressing and raising the issue might sour the deal or suggest a lack of trust. Four questions should be addressed when considering an exit plan: what events might trigger an end to the partnership; how will the business be valued at the end; which options for future ownership are acceptable; and what post-alliance ties and restrictions, such as non-compete clauses, need to be included.

    When you enter into a partnership that is strong in these seven components you have the potential to create synergy and reap some amazing benefits. True synergy comes about when two (or more) people work together to create results that would have been unobtainable independently. In a synergistic partnership 2+2>4 and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

    Five Characteristics of a Good Business Plan

    A business plan like any other write – up can either be good or bad. And if you want to know the difference of a good business plan from something that can be mediocre or even bad, then read on. But first off, let us start with giving everybody an idea of what a business plan is.

    As implied, a business plan is a document that specifies and discusses the following:

    • The company’s nature and identity

    • Your objectives and the purpose of your existence in the world of consumers and entrepreneurs.

    • The products you sell and offer

    • Your marketing strategies

    • The goals that you plan to achieve

    • Your niche – the market that you plan to conquer

    • Your plans for the business’ future

    • And of course your financial standing prior to starting

    By having all those information, you can see that a business plan is very much like a blueprint that will help you or anyone start and manage a business regardless of its nature.

    Now that you realize its importance, the next thing that you should start working on is learning how to make one. But before you have the urge to get your computer going and start writing, here are the qualities of a good business plan that you have to keep in mind.

    1. A business plan should be detailed. In listing your products and services for example, you should not really stop by just enumerating them. You also should write down the descriptions and scope of your products and services, touch base on production and identify means on how you can market your “brain – child” to your targeted niche.

    2. It should include a market research that identifies your competitors, their share of the market and the range of the products they produce. By learning how they conduct their operations, you may learn tricks of the trade in the business you want to enter and you also get to have a basis on what you can do to excel.

    3. It needs to have a list of everything you need. Note that the word everything here comprises of the equipment, technology, raw materials, financial and other resources that you may need when starting and running your business venture. Having all these listed will give you an idea on how much capital you need before you start and how much money should you make in a day to make your business survive.

    4. It also needs to be written in formal format and style. You have to remember that a business plan is something that you may have to present to your business partners, financial firms and banks. So if you can, refrain from using slang in any part of your plan.

    5. Finally, a business plan should be error – free. This is important because your business plan defines who you are as a business person. If it turned out sloppy, then that does not speak too highly of you.

    Again those are five characteristics of a good business plan. Now that you know of them, you can start your research and start drafting your write – up.

    Advantages Of A Good Business Plan

    Planning is a vital ingredient in the success of any business. Developing a business plan is not just a requirement, but a basic necessity for building one’s business nowadays. It is an honest truth that every business needs a plan, starting from large corporations to entrepreneurs. Developing a business plan will help one build a framework that would push his business to his actual destination. The business plan helps one develop work guidelines, map out strategies, understand one’s target market, measure performance, monitor progress, make future plans and raise additional capital either for expansion or to boost operations.

    Quite often, the thought on the mind of most business owners or investors is failure. The only way to overcome this failure is to address the common reasons why businesses fail up front. Presently, the world is facing though economic challenges, global economic meltdown, high cost of commodities, high rate of foreclosure and difficulties in obtaining credit from banks, stiff competition, complicated tax laws and high operational costs, etc.. All these challenges faced by businesses today, even make it more challenging for start-up businesses to survive. In today’s world, both small and large-scale businesses have come to realize the need to evaluate their business potentials and formulate strategies for the future.

    However, inadequate planning has been the reason so many businesses fail, and the rate at which they fail is overwhelming. It is usually believed that most businesses fail in their first year of operation and among those that fail, 80% of them do not have a well researched plan. It has been observed that business failure is not only connected with small businesses alone which I chose not mention here, go down too. Though the rate of failure is highly significant in small businesses, and it is the main reason why a good business plan is needed. Probably for raising additional cash and to provide potential investors and lenders with the information required to make investment decisions. This makes developing a business plan extremely important. One’s business plan has to stand out and his projection has to be firm due to higher competition in attracting funding for his business. Investors no longer risk their money on businesses that do not prove to have great potentials for them.

    A business plan is like a road map, it shows one the route to take, the pitfalls to avoid in order to reach his destination, For instance, if one decides to travel by road from one place to another, he would first need a road map that shows him the route to take. He will need to determine the distance and how much gas his car will need to take him to his destination. Moreover, he will need to calculate how much the journey will cost him, if he intends to raise money, if he’s borrowing, how he intends to refund the money. Putting all this into consideration, he now has a traveling plan that will take him to his destination. In the same vein, that’s what a business plan provides one with, the strategies, the route, and a road map to success.

    Incidentally, the idea of working with a business plan is for one to keep focus on his set goals. Statistics has it that many businesses fail due to inadequate planning. If one doesn’t know where he’s heading to, any route seems to be the right one. Most people make great mistakes by jumping into business without adequate preparation and planning. A good business plan helps one maintain focus on his goals and execute the strategies that the plan assisted him in creating. Just like a road, one’s business plan has to be consulted to make maintain his focus and not running business in a layman’s way.

    Working with a business plan, it will prevent one from entering unfamiliar territory. The plan becomes a working map for him and his organization. I t spells out the things to do and things not to do, the functions and how everyone and every department should operate. It helps one become more efficient, reduce waste and redundancy, channeling one’s resources to rightful place and being a guide to the successful running of his business.

    As a performance tool, it measures the progression of goals in one’s business by tracking, monitoring, as well as evaluating, and can also be used as checkpoints in measuring performance. The world today, is so dynamic that what applied today might not apply tomorrow, and as a result of this dynamism, a good business plan needs to be setup in order to protect one against risks associated with business.

    In addition to a performance tool, perfect business plan should contain other necessary tools in its system, which really make it a perfect plan. It must have a human resource tool, a marketing and strategy tool, financial tool, communication tool, and most importantly, an investor’s guide. A well-defined business plan attracts others to be part of the vision. It has to have a well-defined goal and objective that will set the stage to bring others into the business. It should inspire teamwork and creativity among its people and ensures everyone understands the goals and objectives.

    However, a good business plan defines one’s target market, the class of people he intends to sell his products to, how to reach them, promote his products, in addition, defines one’s market mix- people, place, product and price. People- this defines the people involved in the promotion one’s goods and services. Product- this defines what one’s goods and services are. Place- defines the location which also includes the means of delivering the goods and services. Price- defines how much one’s products and services are worth in the market which will enable him analyze and evaluate his return on investment (ROI). A marketing and strategy tool defines one’s business strength, his weakness, his opportunities and threats. It plots a graph that helps one reduce cost while maximizing profit.

    A financial tool in a good business plan enables one understand his business financial position, develops his budget and determine how his finances will be allocated. It also calculates one’s return on return on investment, analyzes his income statement, cash-flow, balance sheet, break-even point i.e. the analysis that tells one how much sales needed in order to cover expenses, which gives the basis for pricing his products and services, and at the same time calculates how much that is needed to finance one’s business which helps in making his financial needs clear.

    A good business plan communicates one’s ideas to people, communicates his mission, objectives, management approach, responsibilities and demonstrates how one’s strategy will increase profitability and performance, identifying his audience without overreacting his aims and objectives of his business plan. A business communicates in two ways- Internal communication and External communication. Internal communication includes communication of corporate vision, shared value, strategies, guiding principles and employee motivation. External communication includes branding, customer relation, marketing, advertising, media and public relations etc..

    A good business plan is used to attract funding from investors. Most investors will look at a business plan as a decision-making tool. There are certain things investors look out for in a business. These include one’s management team, every investor will want to know a business owner’s managerial skills, passion, and his dedication to his business. A comprehensive description of how one’s products or services should be discharged, his customer base, his market and financial analysis. A business plan should have a realistic financial forecast. Every investor will always like to see his business associate’s return of investment, cash-flow and break-even analysis. Hence, a well prepared business plan is the key to attracting investors.

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