The Business Management Blog Resource

One of the questions that I’m sure many people starting an online or offline business ask themselves is: “Can I really do this when I’m not really a salesman?” The thing is, being a good salesman does not just mean being good at making sales. Of course that is part of it, but what is really important is building yourself into a successful and positive leader, as well as building relationships with your customer-base. Whenever you feel like a lousy salesman, remember that you can build yourself into whatever you want to be with a little determination and effort. The following are a few sales tactics to keep in mind that can help turn you into a super-star salesman!

Advertising and marketing are huge when it comes to making sales. This requires that you have a source of income and that you set a budget that you can afford. While there are many free ways to advertise your products and services, building a business does take a monetary investment and before you get started, you want to make sure you can afford to maintain your business.

Next you want to have a business plan, which includes clear goals and objectives about where you see your business going and how you want it to grow in the future. You can always modify it later as things change and grow, but starting out with written goals will help define your path and process, and will help predict your results.

Writing good ads is vital to your sales success and can be quite tricky. Even minor word changes can have a huge impact on your sales. You can hire someone to write ads for you, or learn how to create headlines that have impact. Once you learn how to write good ad copy, you can run the same ad for years and still get the same great results. Your headlines should appeal to a feeling or emotion, such as stress, and offer some benefit, such as relief. They should make a customer want to take action!

Your sales approach is not just about writing good advertisements. You also want to take advantage of offline marketing strategies, such as making referrals by talking to people you know and meet, taking them out for coffees and lunches, and making phone calls. Do this not only for your prospects, but for your existing customers whom you want to build and maintain relationships with. Know who your customers are and what they want. Understand what motivates them and why they would want to buy from you! You can also do this online by building your newsletter and subscriber list, and offering freebies such as an e-book or e-course.

When you already know you’ve made a sale, it is important to develop up-sales, or offer something else at the same time that you have already sold them something else. Especially if a good relationship already exists there, customers may be more tempted to buy a little more product for a little extra cost from someone they trust. Not only that, but if you offer a package rather than an individual item, you have the potential to sell more.

If you apply these tactics consistently, and you plan and take action, then your sales will eventually skyrocket! Remember the bottom line is your relationship with your customers. If you are a leader, your customers will follow you!

About the Author
Visit Liane Bate’s PIPS web biz! http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com, Plugin Profit Site, and Success University

Heads up to business owners. The recent Federal Reserve short-term interest rate hike was the 15th consecutive increase since June 2004 and the first since Ben Bernanke took over as chairman of the central bank in February.

The Fed indicated that even more rate hikes may be necessary in the next few months. “Some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance,” the Fed said in its statement.

Translation: more rate hikes ahead, let’s hope it doesn’t hurt the economy and your business.

The target for the federal funds rate is now 4.75 percent, the highest it has been in five years. This overnight bank lending rate affects the amount of interest business owners pay for various types of debt, including credit cards and business lines of credit.

Just one more thing for a business owner on the edge to worry about. The long hours and constant demands of building a business can take a heavy toll on a business owner. Physical or emotional exhaustion as a result of long-term stress often leads to burnout.

In my view, here are the top ten reasons for business owner burnout:

* Dealing with government policies, regulations and red tape
* Paying the high costs of taxes and insurance
* Meeting rising health care costs
* Stalling or coping with unionization
* Finding available and qualified labor
* Fighting ruthless competition
* Coping with changing markets
* Getting bored with the day-to-day
* Lacking a challenge after obtaining goals
* Desiring a change in objectives

Often business owners eat, sleep, and breathe and their businesses. They spend every day (and many sleep deprived nights) managing people, tracking finances, and monitoring the myriad tasks of running a business. As time marches on, pressures build, and an owner can quickly display signs of burnout.

While burnout can occur in any kind of job, for business owners the symptoms can seem overwhelming.

Even worse, the effects of the business owner being depressed and burned out trickle down — to staff, suppliers and business partners, to name a few. The suffering can also extend beyond the business into the lives of the entrepreneurs’ family and friends.

Burnout can come with a business that’s successful as well as one that’s failing to grow. The right time to exit is before the situation becomes a threat to the effective management of a business.

According to the University of Missouri , physical symptoms of burnout can include exhaustion, depression, headaches, stomach problems, and sexual dysfunction. Burnout can also manifest itself through frustration, apathy, negativism, depression and boredom. Unless they are acted upon, the symptoms of burnout can transform into behavioral changes such as outbursts of anger, loss of enthusiasm, family problems and increased use of alcohol or drugs.

What should you do if you are feeling burnt out? Whatever you do, don’t fight the feeling alone. First, take care of yourself and get the rest, exercise and nutrition you know should get. Next, manage your time. Poor time management and a lack of delegation leads to burnout. Consider bringing in a mentor to reset your goals, objectives and plans for the business.

But what if you can’t overcome burnout? Then by all means sell the business. As someone who for 23 years has helped owners of privately owned businesses sell their business, I know the transfer of ownership is both good for the burnt out business owner and also good for their employees.

When a business is sold, the fact of the matter is that virtually all employees fare better in the future because a high percentage of new owners come in with additional capital and a desire to grow their new business. This growth typically spells opportunity for employees who want to grow their careers and who welcome working with a new owner.

Meanwhile, the former owner of a business typically either buys and grows a new business or invests for retirement and those invested funds and savings are recycled into to new loans and additional capital expansion through the banks, savings and loans and other investment vehicles typically used by retirees.

About the Author
As president of Acquisition Services Group, a San Diego business brokers based firm, Steve Fitzgerald has extensive consulting and merger & acquisition experience with an emphasis on the sale of manufacturing, service, and distribution firms.

The value of the accurate financial statements generated is undisputed. This is as financial statements are like windows into the health of a company. Just by viewing financial statements, adept business owners will be able to determine the strengths and weaknesses at the time that the statement was generated. With this, the owner can then chart the way into the future for the company, by addressing the weaknesses and capitalizing on the strengths that the company has.

The two main financial statements within any company are the balance sheet and the Profit and Loss statements. The balance sheet provides anyone with a snapshot of the assets and liabilities within a company at any one point in time. This essentially means that the balance sheet shows what the company has and how much they own others. Apart from that, the equation asset = liabilities + capital always holds true within a balance sheet. The liabilities and capital sections indicate the sources of funds for the company while the assets indicate how the company uses the funds that it has. Most importantly, the liability and capital sections indicate money owed to creditors as well as invested amount. If you look closely, you will realize that both of these are obligations of the company that need to be paid.

By analyzing financial ratios that are generated by numbers on a balance sheet, a business owner is able to tell how well the company collects their accounts receivables, how fast the inventory is moving out and replenished, as well as how much exposure the company has towards debt.

The typical company balance sheet will consist of fixed assets and current assets such cash, account receivables, inventory and note receivables. Current assets comprise of assets that can be liquidated fairly quickly and easily in order to be turned into cash. On the other hand, fixed assets are amortized over an extended period of time and are not so easily sold to recover cash.

On the liability section, fixed liabilities include long-term debt of usually more than 12 months of age or contingent liabilities. The current liabilities however are represented by mainly accounts payable and notes payable as well as short term loans. If there is inadequate cash within the company, current liabilities have the ability to drag the company down.

The final element of the balance sheet, the Equity is the amount of capital financing that has been injected into the company. With this, the owner’s investment into the business is shown in the balance sheet.

The Profit and Loss statement is used to determine if a company is making a profit or a loss within a specified operations period. The revenue obtained in a period is stated in this statement, and all direct and indirect costs incurred are deducted from the revenue. With this, the profit for that period is obtained, where profits are compared with the previous year’s performance level. Profits with which taxation has not yet been accounted for are known as gross debt, while net profits are debt in which all costs have been deducted from.

In conclusion, being able to read financial statements is an advantage for any business owner. Interpreting financial statements are ever important in business, as it allows for the owner to take action before things become worse. By reading financial ratios, a business owner will know what needs to be done before the situation of the company changes. Alternatively, reading financial ratios will also help the business owner plan for the future, by incorporating the leverage on existing strengths of the company.

Copyright © 2005 The Powerful Promoter Matt Bacak

Matt Bacak became “#1 Best Selling Author” in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets To Unleash The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up for Matt Bacak’s Promoting Tips Ezine ($100 value) just visit his website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or http://promotingtips.com

Rather than view strategy as a selection of options, here is another approach: creation or invention.

Strategic planning is not strategy

Strategic Planning, often synonymous with Annual Planning, details how you are going to get where you have decided to go. It is a description of how you will achieve your goals — those milestones you established in structuring your business plan. Strategic Planning is operational in nature, it examines the particular actions you intend to take over the coming period. Strategic Planning can be critical — and after you have a Strategy, it is often a good idea to develop a Strategic Plan.

But Strategic Planning is not Strategy. Strategy is the “what” you and your organization are going to be, and the broad approach to how you are going to do that. For instance, your company will become the number one vendor of internet-hosted medical records applications, achieved through freeware distribution to HMOs and clinics, paid for with a back-end, per-patient royalty. Strategic Planning looks at the details of how you will get there — which associations you will joint-venture with, how many sales people you will add this year, what type of advertising you will use, whether to pay for page-views or click-throughs, etc. The strategic plan will itemize the specific actions you will take in a given time frame, and the specific results those actions will produce.

But imagine filling your new car with gas, turning the ignition key, putting the car in gear, getting on the freeway, and putting the pedal-to-the-metal. Full speed ahead. Imagine that for a moment. Wait a minute — where are you going? Many organizations jump headlong into the strategic planning process, without becoming clear about where they are going. Sure they have a direction - North, perhaps; into the Internet Applications space, perhaps. If you execute the plan, your company will surely wind up somewhere. But is it where you wanted to go? Strategy defines the destination, and whether you will take a scenic way or a fast way, and if you want rest stops. Strategic planning identifies the specific highways and the specific streets.

Have you bothered to think about where you want to go recently? Most entrepreneurs, most companies, started with an idea of what they were trying to create. But that may have been a long time ago. Perhaps it’s time to consider this question again.

Strategy is not a set of options

Imagine you are in your car again. This time, it’s Sunday, and you and the family are going for a drive. Where are you headed? “We’ll let’s see”, you say to yourself, “How much gas do we have, and which roads have the least traffic?” Many companies think strategy is about evaluating a set of options, often in terms of available resources, or a competitive response. They say things like — “We have only 12 development resources available to us, which means we can bring two key program feature sets to market, and XYZ Co. has just announced compatibility with our databases. What are we going to do?”

Strategy is not incrementalism or inertia

Or they consider strategy in terms of increments. Last year you increased profits by 20%; does that mean this year you should shoot for increasing profits by 20%. Or 25%? Or, since you added three new modules last year, and reduced customer response time by 33%, should you plan to do the same, or something a bit better, this year?

These would be worthy goals, and this approach is valid. But accomplishing these kinds of targets will not fundamentally alter your company’s relationship to the marketplace. Nothing will really be changed — not you, not your people, not your company — and not the world.

It’s been said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. When you do the same things, only better, only harder, only more, only smarter, what you’ll get is more of what you’ve already got. That’s fine, as long as you’ve determined that more of what you’ve got is appropriate for this stage of your company’s life cycle.

Strategy is an invention

Strategy is something you make up. Your strategy is a statement of what you will do as a company to realize your corporate vision: what specifically will you accomplish, what meaning will your company have, and how will you create value and profits. Don’t ignore your past results. Just don’t allow your strategy to be constrained by them. Don’t ignore the marketplace. Just don’t fall into the trap of letting your competitors’ actions define what yours will be. And certainly don’t ignore your customers — just don’t think that your customers’ wants and desires are the only measure of what you should seek to accomplish. These references — past results, markets, competitors, customers - must be taken into account.

And then, what it boils down to is this: your strategy is the direction your company will take, because you said so.

An invented strategy inspires you. Because it fulfills your vision for your company, and because you see how the realization of your strategy makes an important difference in the world, it inspires your team, your customers, your prospects. An invented strategy energizes all your constituents, where incrementalism just seems like more work. An invented strategy can propel your enterprise to greatness. An invented strategy can call forth achievements beyond what you currently consider possible. Breakthroughs and blockbusters are never founded on incremental improvement. Like Athena, they spring from the heads of their inventors. And invented strategies can change your company’s relationship to the marketplace and to the world.

Inventing strategy

The route to creating strategy is simple — asking the right questions.

What direction can the company take *now* to realize your vision? What value proposition will you offer customers? What meaningful difference will you make in your marketplace? What meaningful difference will you make in your world? How do you want to affect the lives of your people, your customers, your clients? Your family? Answer these questions and you are on road to inventing your strategy.

Are you building something totally new, or are you improving an existing idea? What are the dimensions of the impact you want to have? Will it be faster? Better? Cheaper? Easier? Safer? More luxurious? More convenient? More portable? More entertaining? More universal?

Next, from a high-level perspective, how will you marshal your resources and time your maneuvers to offer that value and make that difference? For instance, Microsoft’s desktop applications strategy is to let other companies originate product categories, wait to see which ones catch on, then bring out a lower cost Microsoft alternative, and market the heck out of it. This strategy defines a what, not a how. It doesn’t describe which products, how to develop them, or when they will be rolled-out.

There are no rules in strategy

Strategy is not evolutionary; it is revolutionary. Don’t assume the old rules apply or let them guide your thinking. Breaking rules may actually be a way to conceive of strategy. Ask yourself, “What rules can we break?” Consider which obsolete beliefs restrain growth in your company or in your market. Make up your own assumptions. Test them — first in your mind. Einstein conceived of the Theory of Relativity using what he called a gedanken experiment — an experiment in the mind.

Don’t worry about implementation…yet

While you are considering Strategy, don’t worry about whether you have the wherewithal to implement what you are thinking about. If you do worry in this way, you are likely to compromise from the get-go. There will be plenty of room for compromise later, if you must. Ignore the resource constraints which dog you throughout the year. You will deal with these when the time comes. Author Gary Hamil suggests that one definition of strategy include the “…quest to overcome resource constraints through a creative and unending pursuit of better resource leverage.”

I have my strategy. Now what?

Okay. At some point soon, you must consider implementation. Once you have formulated a strategy you believe will make a difference and lead to greater returns, you have to figure out how to make it happen given all the constraints you operate under. That is where the Strategic and Tactical Planning comes in. That’s the next article.

About the Author
Business Coach, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world’s only fully systemized business coaching program designed to create More Profits and More Life™ for entrepreneurs.

An individual diving into business ownership is a risk. An individual has to deal with all of the decision making regarding hiring and finances. Furthermore, individual business owners also have to attempt to overcome their weaknesses and present them as strengths.

Due to the difficult decision making needed and the incredible amount of skill involved in owning your own business a lot of people like to involve themselves in partnerships but just like any other relationship, business partnerships have negatives and positives.

1. One positive of a partnership is an increased amount of contacts.

2. Another positive is that one persons strengths can make up for another ones weaknesses.

3. An additional positive is that having financing coming from multiple sources is a great asset to any business.

4. Partnerships also allows for more ideas to develop. Two heads are better than one when it comes to creating ideas and problem solving.

Below are some negatives involved with business partnerships.

1. The profits have to be split. With a partner you are automatically giving up a percentage of income to someone else.

2. Another negative can be disagreements. Disagreements about different aspects of how a business should be run can lead to turmoil between partners.

If you are considering starting a business with a partner, review this article to make sure it is the right thing to do.
About the Author
Andre Bias is the owner of http://www.kidfriendlyentertainment.com, and online source for top notch DVD’s for children 10 years old and younger.

“The world we’ve made, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking” - Albert Einstein

Runaway success is never based on incremental improvement. I know this is a very bold statement, but bold statements and even bolder results are what breakthroughs are all about. What about in your company - what would constitute a breakthrough? Would you like to increase overall productivity by 40%? Of course you would! But would you commit to it? What about expanding sales by 50% - in one quarter! Or cultivating a completely new distribution channel - in two months! Sound impossible? Breakthrough results always “seem” impossible at the time you commit to them. If they seemed reasonable, they wouldn’t qualify as breakthroughs.

Breakthroughs share the following characteristics:

1) The results are not predictable based on your past performance. If you routinely increase revenues a handsome 20% per year, a 50% increase would be a breakthrough. Developing a new product or service in 3 months would be a breakthrough if it normally takes you six.

2) You commit to the results, in advance, without knowing how to accomplish them, and without a plan. This is the exact opposite of “let’s study this” syndrome.

3) And finally, they define outcomes which are concrete and measurable, and lead to a new level of performance. By virtue of its accomplishment, a breakthrough will stretch and grow the capabilities of your company.

Critical Success Tip

The “secret” to producing breakthrough results is putting the cart before the horse. Standard organizational decision making says “What do we need, what are we capable of, and how can we use our capabilities to produce what we need?” Breakthrough thinking says “What are we committed to, we believe in the possibility of that commitment, and what can we do next?”

Think for a moment about creating a breakthrough in how you respond to client requests. Instead of “going back and thinking about it”, breakthroughs require you to first commit to your client, then figure it out and take action. This may seem distasteful, even weird - our culture holds strong taboos against making promises we can’t keep. And if you couple this with a common fear of failure…you will resist making bold promises and you will not produce breakthroughs.

Critical Success Tip

Try anything and fail faster! Don’t worry about whether it’s going to work or not. If it seems like it can work, if it might produce the results you want, do it! In fact, the more things you implement, the more unworkable approaches you discover and get out of the way, the quicker you are likely to find a solution which yields the breakthrough. Also, a willingness to implement wild, even crazy, nontraditional approaches can produce results in record time. Remember, we are not talking about problems which need incremental solutions - you already know how to do these. Take the things you do that work, and make them better, or do more of them. But, as the author Rita Mae Brown wrote, “Insanity is when you keep doing the same things expecting different results”. By definition, you don’t know how to produce a breakthrough, so get busy and fail faster.

Bold Promises and Action

There are four steps to creating breakthroughs.

1) Ask yourself the question: “What important “thing” - which I currently think is impossible - would I commit to, right now, if I actually believed it would be possible to accomplish?”

2) Make a bold promise which commits you to the accomplishment of that “thing”. Make sure your promise (your commitment) is specific, measurable, and has a completion date. Also - this is critical - go public with your commitment. Tell concerned people, like your entire organization, your investors, or your customers.

3) Invent ways to deliver on your commitment, and spring into action.

4) Keep going until you’re done…a major breakthrough is just inches away.

Critical Success Tip

The magic to using the breakthrough technology is this: Make bold promises, publicly. Then, stay in action…do the next thing…find out if it worked…then do the next thing…find out if that worked, and so on. These steps are all driven by that crazy, breakthrough commitment you made. .

About the Author
Business Coach and Strategist, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching http://quantumgrowthcoaching.com/index.html, the world’s only fully systemized business coaching program designed to create More Profits and More Life™ http://paullemberg.com/

I can feel it. I feel her cringe before I can even see the sale’s person heading towards us. Her mouth begins to move at the same time as Ms. Retail zeroes in on us. It’s like everything is moving in slow motion. You know those war scenes where everything slows down and all you can hear is warbled voices. And just like that, it’s over. Mom has turned on her heel, and we’re out of there. All I’m left to do is flash an apologetic look back towards Ms. R.

This might all sound strange, but trust me there’s a reason I’m sharing this odd little anecdote. After many years in sales, several in retail, I’ve told this story to many people to describe my “individual customer” approach to sales.

Let me explain the war torn mall imagery from before. Every time I go to a mall with my mother, I witness these same exchanges. Retailers have taken to such an aggressive, cookie-cutter sales technique that it’s hard to decipher any genuine words that may come from Ms. R’s mouth.

I understand the branding campaigns that most of the large, international retailers have implemented. In theory, it makes sense that when I go into a certain store I should always have a similar experience. However, in my opinion, these plans can and do go awry far too often.

You can’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about! You walk into any of these stores and some seventeen year old Ms. or Mr. R makes a beeline for you, with a distant look on their face. Once they feel they’re within earshot they give you whatever line they were given at there “start of shift” meeting. You know the drill, go in for the sale the minute the customer is two steps into the store.

Now, where does my mom fit in to all of this?

Please don’t get me wrong, my mother is a truly lovely woman! She, like most people, doesn’t appreciate being treated like a generic plastic person with a purse. She wants to know that someone is actually there to help her, not just to sell her something.

From the moment I was fifteen and began working in the wonderful retail industry, I started noticing things every time I would go out in public. I noticed the way I was treated in every store, every restaurant and every office I entered. I also noticed the way that other people would treat the people working in all of those places. And yes, I noticed my mom’s commando like maneuvers to evade the guerilla sales pitch she knew was waiting inside her favorite shopping spots.

I still notice all of those things. I think it’s essential for anyone in sales of any kind to be a constant observer of their surroundings. You can learn so much from merely being aware of what’s going on around you. So when faced with any sales situation, I always try to hit people with the unexpected. I understand that’s not always the easiest thing to do. Some people have to stick to scripts. Others are really not that comfortable making “small talk.” But, I’ve got to tell you if you’re in sales for the long haul, it’s an essential tool of the trade! For example, let’s say you work in one of these retailers we’ve been discussing. Customers are so ready to have you attack them with “We have 2 for 1.” or “Did you know whatchamacallits are on sale this afternoon, how many can I get you?”

Imagine the look on their face when they walk in, and you casually approach them asking how the weather is outside or if they’ve ever tried the pretzels at the food court!

I know it may sound really strange, but these types of approaches work as an icebreaker. They even work on certified “retail ice queens” like my mother, who have a pre-recorded “I’m just looking” set on play the minute they walk into the mall.

Just a few unexpected words can actually open a dialogue. They can improve the customer experience by leaps and bounds. Generally, it leads to greater sales for you. And best of all, you just might go home feeling pretty good about your day!

So today, when you head in to work, think of a few new things to try and throw into your regular offer. You might be surprised what effect a little twist on your usual sales pitch might have!

About the Author
Dana Wallert is the owner of an online virtual assistance company. She has many years experience in retail sales, as well as office management. Find more about Dana and sign up to receive her free monthly newsletter at http://www.dwofficesolutions.com

Here are 9 retail technologies that I believe will give retailers the biggest benefit and maximum return on their technology investments. Your small retail operation can be just like the Big Box stores when it comes to being efficient and productive. Every retail operation must have technology in place to manage it s pricing, sales and inventory.

1) Point of Sale (POS) and Inventory Control Software A POS / Retail Management System are mandatory. A good POS system will track all your sales. It replaces your cash register and allows a multitude of features that will save you time and help you manage your inventory. Immediate benefits include:  Simplify and improve inventory management.  Improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.  Show where you’re making and losing money so you can make adjustments and increase profits.

2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software Building a successful retail business is to build relationships with your customers. CRM software is a critical tool for the retail business. A CRM system will help you improve your customer loyalty it will help you market to potential prospects and generate new business. CRM software allows you to track your customers, identify market segments and then easily communicate with them via email, telephone, and direct mail. It can also track your customer buying patterns and manage information.

CRM software can also be integrated within a contact centre system or your POS system.

3) Bar Code Scanning and UPC Codes Bar Code and UPC Code scanning allows you to check products at the point of sale much faster and more accurately than can be done on the keyboard. It can also maintain your inventory system to be up to date.

The technology is very robust and can easily be implemented using hand held scanner devices.

4) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) EDI technology allows you to send purchase orders, created in your POS software (based on order levels and sales history) to your suppliers electronically via the internet. This can ensure your inventory is never oversold and there is ample stock for your customers to purchase. No stock on fast moving items means lost sales.

5) Retail Accounting Software Accounting software can be purchased stand alone or can be integrated with your POS software. This allows a small business owner to manage their accounting in a very timely manner. This is not to replace your Accountant but to provide reports in between your meetings with your accountant. The most important modules are the Accounts Receivable, Inventory and Cash Flow Analysis.

6) Store Traffic Counters These valuable devices will help you improve sales ratios, tally store traffic, and manage your advertising campaigns. You need an accurate measure of your store traffic so you can better schedule your sales staff because they identify actual foot traffic in your store during certain time periods. You can also determine if traffic goes up or down during marketing promotions so you can figure out what works the best.

7) Web Presence Websites can be powerful tools to promote your retail business. For example, you could link to your website from business cards and newspaper ads. This gives you an opportunity to tell your story, show what you sell, and convince them to stop by your store. Many Bricks and Mortars operation use web presence to either advertise their business or generate traffic to their physical store.

You can also utilize a website shopping cart so customers can place orders and pay you right from the website.

8) Portable Data Terminals and Hand Held Computers Portable data terminals are great tools that allow you to quickly count your inventory and easily update your POS system. You can simply carry around this portable terminal, scan your merchandise, and then enter your quantities. This allows you to more easily and accurately count your inventory. They are also invaluable as price checkers.

Hand held computers have become very popular and cost effective. They allow you to create orders and complete various tasks on a computer that fits in the palm of your hand. They can perform various tasks especially if linked to your POS system using WiFi or be used as a way to manage customer contacts and selling information.

9) Digital Video Recorders Digital Video recorders have become the tool for loss prevention. Video cameras capture activity in real time and can record to a digital device for storage and later recall. They can integrate with POS systems and can include powerful tracking software. Simple installations can be a few cameras with a monitor and DVR to large installations that include traffic counters and 2 way audio.

About the Author

John Leonardelli, President, Gale Force Communications. John brings 20 years of voice, data and wireless telecommunications experience in various sales, management and operational roles. John is a Certified IP Telephony Expert where his expertise has been focused on IP Telephony, Contact Centre and complex technical solutions. John has a degree in Electronics Engineering, Telecommunications and Sales Management.

Business planning involves a host of different functions, from production to sales to marketing. But rarely does it include time and vacation planning - especially for the solo entrepreneur.

Learning to take time off is a critical part of your long-term plan for success. Research has shown that those who take a regular vacation are sharper and more productive than those who don’t.

Here’s a five step plan to ensure you get the time you deserve.

1. Get a calendar for the year. I find that printing a blank calendar from Outlook serves this purpose well. (Check the Help menu for instructions on adding a new calendar if you’re not familiar with the process.)

2. Mark off all of your currently scheduled major obligations. These will include conferences, trips, speaking engagements, etc. Do not include recurring meetings unless you have made a special commitment to that event for this year, such as assuming the presidency of an organization.

3. Looking at the trips you already have scheduled, where could you add just one more day and double the impact of your trip? For example, if you’re attending a conference plan to stay one more day. You’ll be able to think through the notes you took and create a plan to implement the ideas. Plus you’ll avoid the crowded flights on Sunday evening!

Now take another look at those trips. Are there vacation opportunities in those locations? Sometimes adding another day or two allows you to see the sights in a city you might not otherwise visit. Since conference rates are often the best available you’ll have a favorable room rate - and you won’t have to pack and unpack again! It’s a great way to see the country!

4. Now decide on the number of days you want to take as vacation days. Count what you have already in travel vacation days, then start scheduling your additional days. Do you want to take off the major holidays? Schedule them. Want to take off your birthday? Your childrens’ birthdays? Your anniversary? Just mark it off!

One of the eye-openers you may have is that you want to take more than the traditional “two weeks” vacation. And that’s one of the joys of being the boss - you can take that time off if you want! Will your business suffer? Probably not! You’ll likely focus better when you are working, knowing that you have a vacation day coming up shortly.

5. Now take all those delicious vacation days and put them on your permanent calendar for the year. Create an electronic document that lists all of your vacation days then share it with your staff, your family, and your business partners. And print a copy for yourself to help you “remember” what you promised yourself.

Remember, as the head of your company, only you can take care of you! And giving yourself time off is your first obligation.

Copyright 2006 Jeanette Cates

About The Author

Dr. Jeanette Cates, The Technology Tamer, works with independent professionals who are ready to turn their knowledge and their websites into gold. She offers weekly tips, trends, and techniques in http://www.OnlineSuccessNews.com

by: Stewart Smith

Some people may think of credit cards as just “plastic money” that are there for their every convenience. What most people do not realize is that if you keep thinking that your credit card will let you get your way when it comes to “financial freedom”, well think again.

When it comes to dealing with credit card companies, be prepared to be bombarded with all sorts of “payment schemes”, “loyalty points” and “spending points”. It’s important not to get mesmerized by these sugar coated terms because in reality, no company is willing to shell out big money for big incentives for their clients without the hindsight of better profits for them. Always read the fine print before you start committing to anything, as well as keep in mind that when an offer is too good to be true - it most probably is.

Here’s a quick rundown of the most commonly used credit card terminologies:

• Grace period - In layman’s terms, this is actually the time allotted for you in between a purchase to the actual time that you’ll have to pay the interest for it. The most common time given for grace periods is usually from twenty to twenty-five days from the time that your purchase gets posted on the creditor. Although grace periods may actually be quite tricky at times because there are actually instances wherein you’re not given any grace period at all. So you’re actually better off to just pay off your total balance - in full, so that you won’t have to be bothered by increasing interest rates.

• Low introductory interest rate - if you’re looking for a good credit card, then keep an eye out for this kind of offer from credit card companies, although, there’s always a catch when it comes to these things so watch out. Some credit card companies are able to waive their high interest rates for up to a year while some can just have it for one to three months before your debt starts creeping in. There are so many choices out there, you don’t really have to pick instantaneously.

• Annual percentage rate - Also known as the APR, this is actually the number that would be referring to the total cost of your debt. Aside from that, it’ll also include all sorts of fees and the compounding interest of your account. The APR is what you should know how to use when it comes to properly being able to compare different credit cards. Always remember that the lower the APR number, then the better chances that you won’t end up with so much debt.

• Transaction fees - there are credit card companies who would still charge you this fee, especially if you opt to use your credit card for other transactions like a cash advance or if you don’t pay your dues in time as well as if you keep maxing out your credit card. Some credit card companies may actually even charge you a standard flat rate every month even if you didn’t use your credit card at all, so watch out for credit card companies like that. The kind of transaction fees that credit card companies may charge you is unfortunately, their sole perogative, so in case they would be offering you all sorts of incentives or even freebies, make sure that you know fully what you’re getting yourself into.

Credit card companies in spite of always wanting your good favor, they are strict on payments. If you don’t wise up about things concerning your credit card, they will bleed you dry. Not literally of course, but it is always better to spend cash when you have it instead of credit cards. Always keep track of your spending, or else before you know, you might end up in the deep quicksand of credit card debt.

About The Author

Stewart Smith offers advice on all aspects of credit and credit cards. For more information go to www.ultracreditcards.com