When You Think You Know Your
Small Business
Like the Back of Your Hand,
It's Time for a HEADS UP!!
Business is about PEOPLE!! Owning a business is about bringing what YOU'VE got to the table, telling people about about it in some compelling way and getting them to buy it. This is where we talk to real people about doing real business. This is where the next generation of businesses that hold our world together will be born.
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Fire the Chief Bottle Washer!!!
I come from years and years in the small business end of the restaurant industry, where owners tout the title, “Chef, Owner and Chief Bottle Washer.”
I think that following in my own tradition I decided that it was time for me to don the illustrious title, when I opened, fist a private catering company, then a larger, full-service catering company, to a full.-service restaurant. I am sure I schmoosched (Pennsylvania Dutch for smoshed, smashed, crammed, etc) 20 years of work life into about eight years.
Sure, I have a notch in my hat, memories and a short following, but not much else to show from it. As busy as my business was, I should have been able to sell it at a decent profit.
Well…I actually took away a great deal of knowledge. Let’s put them into a list:
I went into the business by myself. Even Frank Sinatra that “Did it My Way,” had the Rat Pack. While partnership is like a marriage, going at it alone is quite like riding a tandem bike from the back seat by yourself.
I wanted to have the best food at the lowest price! Yeah!! The Wal-Mart of the Restaurant Industry. I won’t say any more about that analogy at all. J I will say, though, it was key to offer a great product, but more important to charge appropriately.
I didn’t know myself! What? Even though I had a great skill as a chef (I say that only for presentation sake! J that did not make me a great restaurant owner. I am a great strategist – I come up with innovative systems, strategies and processes. That doesn’t make me an ACCOUNTANT!! My friend, Walter Akana, at Threshold Consulting talks about identifying strengths in his recent blog post.
I didn’t identify the resources around me that would have helped to fill some of the holes in the business, such as an ACCOUNTANT!!
I decided to save some money and be the “Chef, Owner and Chief Bottle Washer!” Well…I guess that leaves customer relations, customer service, marketing, accounting, etc. out the window.
It all comes down to this. Think about it…when you are planning your business, plan it for success. This means that you need to plan for staff, resources, key personnel, etc. You can't do it all alone. Even if you only have advisors.
At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we
are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in
helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me,
Rick Meekins, a call
at 678-697-2315, or email me at
rmeekins@aepiphanni.com.
Labels: Business Development Strategies, Business Startup, Strategic Partnerships
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Okay...my site has LOTS of traffic...now SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!
The short and sweet of it…WEBSITE CONVERSION. Yep…that is what we are looking at and talking about when you want to actually make some money off of the website you’ve spent so much money on to do everything in the world but fry eggs. Or, for that matter, for the one-page site that you are using to promote whatever product or service you are selling, reselling or just want people to know about. It’s what makes people click the, “Pay Now” button on your site.
How do you find out about your conversion rates? Well, it is as simple as looking at the amount of unique traffic (using your website as your home page will get you a BUNCH of views, but only counts as one unique visitor!) versus the number of sales you’ve gotten from that traffic. Okay…simplify, they always tell me…if you get 500 new visitors to your site over the course of a week, and only 10 of them purchase, you might want to look at a website conversion strategy.
A website conversion strategy is one where you will look at different parts of your website, your business, your advertising (where you advertise and to whom) and your keywords – basically, how people are finding you, and when they do, what are they looking for and looking at on your site. Of course, this takes TIME!, and time is a resource that is always in short supply. None the lest, to get the best return on the money you’ve put out for your website, you might want to make this part of your marketing strategy.
Next question: Where do I find more about this phenomenon? Well, get educated on it first…check out Google. They have a website optimizer within their AdWords product. Also, do your internet search, but look before you leap! Like anything else, there are business out their who are simply parasites that will leach dollars out of your company for little to no return.
At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we
are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in
helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me,
Rick Meekins, a call
at 678-697-2315, or email me at
rmeekins@aepiphanni.com.
Labels: Business Development Strategies, Internet Marketing, Website Conversion Strategies
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What the HECK is VISION, and How Much Will it COST Me?
What the Heck is a Vision, and How Much Will it Cost Me?
Your vision talks about where you want to go, or what you want your company to be when it grows up. It is the answer to that question people ask, “What do you do?” It is the foresight that your company needs to stay on course.
Your vision is a key component to helping you make decisions about your business – where you want it to go and what opportunities you take advantage of. If you look at your vision in terms of the “light at the end of the tunnel” – your vision is that light that you are trying to get to – it is where you are trying to get to.
Establishing the vision for your company is something that doesn’t necessarily happen over night. For our company, it started with a personal mission statement –
To serve, daily, those pursuing their paths in pursuit of authenticity, wisdom, integrity, character and growth, resulting in a God-filled life and a peaceful spirit.
Then the Company Mission Statement
“Aepiphanni exists to define, leverage and exploit business entities’ core competencies to develop perpetuating, wealth building organizations for the purpose of empowering communicates and extending the Kingdom.
Lastly, we developed our vision statement , which embodies the mission statement and provides us with direction to reach this ultimate plateau:
“To server entrepreneurs, small business owners and their businesses with the most inclusive and personalized small business products and services to grow their present business and to chart their course to long-term success to support economic development and empower communities.”
Notice how this not only speaks to our mission, but answers the question: How will you do it?
Have you thought about your company’s mission statement? How about your personal mission statement? Do you know where your business is going, and what it will look like when it gets there?
A couple of resources include Laurie Beth Jones’s “The Path”, and Michael Q. Pink’s “Vision” series.
At Aepiphanni Business Solutions, we
are dedicated to serving the needs of small business owners. We specialize in
helping you develop strategies for your organization, and are committed to your success. If you have further questions about creating your strategy or developing your vision, please give me,
Rick Meekins, a call
at 678-697-2315, or email me at
rmeekins@aepiphanni.com.
Labels: Business Development Strategies, Business Growth Strategies, Business Startup
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