Archive for September 29, 2011

The three biggest barriers to small business success, and what you can do to break through

admin / September 29, 2011 / No comments

Have you ever wondered why some people achieve small business success while others find themselves sitting on the sidewalk waving flags as the parade passes by?

Unfortunately, there are many external reasons why people fail.  But the good news is that most can be simply remedied through external solutions.  For instance, if your business lacks cash then you may need to seek creative financing methods.  

Or if lack of time is holding you back, then perhaps a few time-management courses are in order, or maybe it will take hiring an assistant.  The first step in breaking down external barriers is identifying them.  Then you can craft solutions that work best for you.  Once you remove those external barriers, success is simply a matter of time and perseverance.

On the other hand, internal barriers are a little more difficult to identify and to overcome – which is why it’s the topic of our discussion today.  

I have found that the biggest barriers to success are the internal ones we place on ourselves  that we dredge up from the deep, shadowy recesses of our minds.  In particular, these three are especially nasty:

Barrier #1:  Fear

Hands-down, fear is the biggest barrier to small business success.  Fear has kept countless millions of people from achieving their dreams – cowering in the corner afraid to venture outside the safe.  Some of these people fear failure; others fear success.  Some fear change, some fear sameness.  There are as many fears as there are people.  But one thing is for certain, all fears can be paralyzing if we allow hem to get a foothold in our thoughts and actions.

The best way to overcome fear is through cultivating courage.  

-    Start being deliberately courageous in the decisions you make regarding growth, risk, and day-to-day operations.  The more you practice courage the more courageous you will become.

-    Resolve to never again “take the easy road.”  Have a clear understanding of your beliefs and core values, so when situations come up, you know where you stand.  

-    Accept personal responsibility for the decisions you make, and encourage those around you to do the same.

-    Make sure the people you hire and promote are also courageous people.  Surround yourself with fearless people you’ll discover what a powerhouse organization you can become.

Courage can conquer fear and help speed us on our way to small business success.

Barrier #2:  Lack of Vision

Unfortunately, many small businesses are so focused on the day-to-day business of keeping the doors open  that they neglect this incredibly important  aspect.

Vision.

Vision is what defines who you are as a company, your core values, and your future aspirations.  It truly is your “reason for being.”  

Additionally, having a clear, strong vision motivates, inspires, and empowers your employees.  A vision that starts at the top and threads through the organization is an excellent loyalty and retention tool because employees like being part of a company that knows where it’s going and how to get there.  Remember, too, that your employees – more than anyone else – will be the driving forces behind your vision.  They will be the ones to bring your vision to fruition.  

If you don’t have a vision for your company, it’s time to develop one.  After all, if you don’t know where you want to go, how can you expect to get there?

Barrier #3:  Lack of Faith

I’ve heard it said by many wise people that you can only achieve that which you believe.  

Do you believe you can achieve your dreams of success?  Do you really believe it?  If not…why not!

If we don’t believe in ourselves and our ability to achieve, then success will always be just beyond our reach.  If you don’t have faith in yourself and your dreams, how can you expect anyone else to believe in you?

Truth is, some people lack faith because they are afraid to hope too much, fearing that they will be disappointed.  I say don’t just hope…expect!  Expect good things to happen! Have faith that you success is imminent!  

Let me tell you something:  wide-eyed optimism will take you and your company a heck of a lot further than always viewing life through the eyes of Eeyore.  

Believe in yourself.  Believe you can achieve…and you will.

On your road to success, don’t let barriers – either external or internal – detour you or stand in your way to realizing your dreams and  goals.  Face them down and get on with it.

© Copyright 2009, BusinessBurrito.  All rights reserved.

Category: small business / Tags: , ,

Free Beauty Salon Business Plan Tips

admin / September 29, 2011 / No comments

Here and there on the web you will find business plan samples and templates advertised as free for your beauty salon business plan. Generally, working off of such a “free” business plan is no shortcut towards creating a successful plan and here is why:

Customization Needed

For any template or sample plan there is a need to customize the plan to your specific business. This can be a much longer process if you are starting from a lower quality template or sample plan. You are more likely to find a better quality plan by paying for it, even if it is only $50-100.

Additional Guidance

Generally, the creators of a free plan will not have an organization behind them able to give additional consulting and recommendations on how to craft your beauty salon’s plan. Getting help like this is very important for all small business owners. It can prevent you from choosing the wrong strategy or opening in a location without a large enough customer market for your salon. A business plan consultant can help answer these types of questions if you are unable to, but you cannot get that kind of help for free.

Reputation, Not Price

When choosing a sample or template plan to work off of, you should consider the reputation and credentials of the creator of the plan first, before the price that is being charged. A free plan can potentially hurt your chances of success if it shows you an incorrect business plan model. If you use a plan with basic mistakes in its format, style, or content to show funders, you will generally not get a second chance. They will not want to work with someone whose plan is not clear, concise and convincing, regardless of whether it is because of the entrepreneur’s own ideas or the business plan template they used.

Category: business plan / Tags: , ,

Choosing an Online Printer to Print Business Cards

admin / September 29, 2011 / No comments

In recent years many online UK business card printing companies have popped up giving you the customer plenty of choice. Most specialise in printing business cards and other similar products like printing leaflets, flyers, compliment slips etc. This article focuses on business cards.

The assumption is that ultimately you as a consumer are looking to purchase professional quality business cards for a reasonable cost. Costs obviously vary from printer to printer but in general the costs are less than high street business cards printing costs. To differentiate between online printers and to make a judgement about what you are getting for your money, you have to look at the overall service provided by the online printer. In assessing the overall service it is important to consider the following five key points.

1)  Business Card Design

Many online printers usually give you two options:

Option one is where you choose from a variety of template business card designs which you can then tailor to your needs. Obviously you are looking for a printer that has a rich variety of business card template designs including blank business card templates which can be modified from ground up. You also need a powerful and easy to use business cards online design tool, which will allow you to design a business card to meet your exacting requirements.

Option two is where you design business cards using your own software and you can submit this design to the printer. Many printers will put restrictions on what you can submit in terms of file types, quality etc.  Essentially you as the customer need to be quite well versed in printing jargon to make sure you can use the printer. Most people are novices to printing.

But there are a few printers who will treat the customer like a novice and provide added knowledge value without charging any extra. As an example they will accept any file type you submit without restrictions and help to create a design that is suitable to be printed and also check the quality of any files submitted in terms of resolution (dpi).

Dpi (dots per inch) or resolution refers to the sharpness of your design. It does not matter how good the printers are, if your business cards design is not sharp enough then the printed card will not appear crisp and clear. Ideally for the best result, you are looking at having a design of at least 300dpi when created in actual printing size.

2)  Business Card Paper Thickness and Options

Thickness (gsm) of the business card is reference to its weight. Anything over 300gsm normally will give the feel of a quality business card. Most printers provide a range of between 270 to 400 gsm. Sometimes a card may feel stiffer but it is not necessarily thicker. The common paper types are matt, silk, gloss and recycled, again all of these give a pretty reasonable end result. 

A common option is a laminated business card. This adds to the thickness and durability of the card giving a superb feel. Don’t confuse lamination with thick encapsulation. Lamination is a thin film of coating on the card, and you will not even know that the card has been laminated by visual inspection. Again some vendors may charge a lot extra for lamination.

3)  Gimmicks

Many vendors offer free business cards. There is no such thing. You will be charged for the postage and packing, and the quicker you need the cards, the more you will be charged. In addition for the reduced cost there will be restrictions on the free business card designs you can use, you may not be allowed to submit your own design, and you may also be required to put the logo of the printing company on the back of your printed business card which markets the printing company.

Instead of going for the free business cards, choose an online vendor who does cheap business card printing. The price will roughly be the same for either option but with the cheap business cards option, you may not be required to place the logo of the printer on the back of your card – much more professional business cards.  Besides why do free marketing for the printer when there is no free business card printing.

4)  Quality of Printing

Most online business card printers will have pretty much professional printing equipment and do full colour printing (CMYK) that will give an overall quality print finish. The printing falls into two categories of lithographic printing or digital printing. The words lithographic or digital are simply references to the technology of the printing machines and the printing processes used to print the cards. Lithographic printing is an older method of printing and gives a very clear and crisp result. Digital printing is a newer method and depending on the quality of digital printers used, the results may vary. The best digital printers produce a printed quality as crisp and clear as the best lithographic printers, and better results than some of the older lithographic printers.

Again the quality of print does depend on the quality of business cards design – artwork as mentioned earlier.

5)  Colour

One pitfall of dealing with online printers is that because of low prices they rarely provide a printed business card proof. Some printers will provide you with an email proof of design which you can use to establish the overall look and feel of the card design which for most customers is sufficient. But for customers who do have very specific colour requirements’ working online does have its shortcomings and it can never replace a printed proof for the purposes of colour matching. The following gives a brief explanation why.

If you want a very close colour match between colours on the business card designs you see on the computer monitor and the printed business cards speak to the printer. Depending on the type of monitor you use and the colours involved, there could be a huge difference between how the colour looks on the monitor (RGB MODE) and how the printed colour (CMYK MODE) looks when printed from the printer or when printed using your home of office printer. Also the type of paper used affects how the printed colours look.

One reason this happens is quite simply because of the physics of the situation. Monitor colours (RGB: Red-Green-Blue) appear more brighter because the colours are reflected, whereas the same printed CMYK colours would appear duller because the colours are absorbed on the paper which is also why using different types of paper which absorb colour differently can affect how the printed colour looks.

If you want very close matches the best way to proceed is to send a paper copy of the card with colours on it to the printer. The printer can then try to find the closest matching CMYK colour. If the printer can’t find an appropriate CMYK colour code, he may recommend using another printing set of colours called Pantone (Spot) colours. Pantone colour printing is normally more expensive than CMYK colour printing, but the accuracy to colour match is also better. The printer will also factor the business card material in the decision process.

Category: business cards / Tags: , ,