Referrals Will Help You Build Your Small or Home Business

Why Asking for Referrals Should Become a Way of Life

One hand washes the other in the
customer-business owner relationship

When it comes to a small or home business trying to get consumers to purchase their products, a referral from a satisfied customer is a homerun. "Blasingame's Prospect Entrée Spectrum," or BPES, is a method used to value the different approaches to getting in front of a potential customer. On this scale, cold calls to prospects rank as a 1 while a referral jumps all the way to a 10 rating. It is easy to see why referrals are so important to small businesses – here is how you can make getting referrals easy.

Ask for Referrals Time and Time Again

There is nothing wrong with asking a satisfied customer to refer your products or services to others. Chances are, depending on their experience, they were planning on telling friends and family members anyway. A great way to encourage referrals is by having referral cards available – when the new prospect brings in a card that says they were referred by an existing customer, offer a special promotion or discount to the customer who referred them as well as the new prospect.

Educate Customers

Another great way to get referrals from current customers is to educate them on how they can approach referring your business to others. This could be something as simple as providing them with an elevator pitch or even giving them a handout that will instruct the potential customer where they can go for more information. When a customer is armed with “inside” knowledge about a business, they are much more likely to share it and sell the business’s products or services to others.

Make Sure to Say Thank You

When you receive a referral, make sure to thank the customer who gave it and let them know their effort to support your business was appreciated. This should ideally be done in person when the customer returns to the store or by phone call. As mentioned earlier, you can also provide them with a special promotion or discount when they refer a friend – many small businesses do this as a means to not only bring in more business but also create a strong relationship with their current customer base.

If You Want Them, Give Them

As the old saying goes, “You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours” If you want consumers and other business owners to willingly give your business referrals it is important that you give them for others as well. This is especially true for those who work in small or home businesses – over time, you will build a network of other business owners and supporting and helping one other is key to all of your business’s success. Being willing to give a referral makes it much more likely that someone will refer you.

For small businesses, referrals are the Holy Grail! Not only are they crucial to growing your customer base and your business, they are also important to improving relationships with your customers and other business owners. Making asking for referrals a way of life may seem nagging, but when you do it right it can turn into the lifeblood of your business and your overall success.  

Do you need help building your business? Perhaps you are still looking for the right opportunity. Stacy O’Quinn has helped dozens of people start their own home business and he can help you too! To learn more about Stacy and to find out how he can help you, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of jar() via Creative Commons License

Get Your Employees on the Same Page as You

How to Effectively Share Your Business Goals with Your Employees

Communication is a key element in many aspects of the business world and is often crucial to seeing success. While being an effective, clear communicator may sound easy it is one of those aspects of being a business owner that does not come naturally to everyone. With the many different ways we can communicate with our employees these days – email, text messaging, and instant messages – it is possible for them to interpret what is being said much differently than how we meant it.

Choose the Right Communication Platform

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of platforms that can be used to communicate with employees. In order to make sure they are receiving the message correctly, it is important to use the proper platform. Every business is different, so the proper communication platform will vary from one organization to the next. In some cases, email communications – even for important information – is acceptable while smaller organizations may benefit from more face-to-face meetings to communicate.

Make Sure You Are Hearing Your Employees

Just as it is important from them to hear and comprehend your messages, it is also important for business owners to listen to what their employees have to say. Effective communication is a two-way street – when a business owner or manager is doing all the talking, many times employees will begin to tune them out and miss important information. Having an open dialogue makes employees feel empowered and will keep them on board and engaged with the business’s overall goals.

Let Employees See Your Vision

Many employees are happy to do what is asked of them, but to get them truly onboard with what the business is trying to accomplish it is important to make sure they see and understand your vision as a business owner. Make sure to effectively and clearly communicate what the business goals are and how your employees are crucial to meeting these goals and having the vision realized. This type of communication does not stop at employees – it is also important to make sure that investors and customers see and understand the business’s overall vision and goals.

Provide Organization Structure

For those business owners who have a larger operation with more employees, it is vitally important to make sure an organizational or command structure is put into place. This will help employees know who they are reporting to as well as keep the lines of communication open and uncluttered. Managers and team leaders are effective in setting and implementing goals for their specific team, showing how these goals support the business’s mission and being able to cascade relevant communications.

Make Employees Feel Empowered

Studies show that employees who feel empowered and appreciated tend to be harder workers and more dedicated to their place of business. Part of feeling empowered is knowing that your opinion matters and your ideas have the potential to initiate change. Make sure employees know and are comfortable coming to you as a business owner with their concerns or ideas – having this open communication will help to not only empower your employees but also strengthen and grow your business.

Do you need more small or home business tips? Would you like help getting your own business started? Stacy O’Quinn has helped dozens of people earn a six-figure income and you could be next! To learn more about Stacy and to find out how he can help you, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Nicolas Raymond via Creative Commons License

Is Your Small Business Ready for Tax Time?

Information You Should Know About Filing Small Business Taxes

Is your small or home business
ready for tax time?

Not everyone is a tax professional when it comes to filing for themselves and when the sometimes complicated process that goes along with filing taxes for a new business is added to the mix, it can be easy to make mistakes. Even though making mistakes is human, the IRS does not take slip-ups lightly, even if they are honest mistakes. Before filing taxes for your business this year, it is vitally important to ensure you are using and correctly filling out the right forms to stay off the IRS’s naughty list.

Know Your Small Business Type

Depending on who or what you are filing for, there are different forms that will need to be filled out. A great resource for finding the paperwork you need is the IRS website – the site also includes information on choosing the right tax preparer and exactly what forms will need to be filed for you small business. You will also need to determine what type of business you have in order to define what forms should be used. Some of these business types include partnership, corporation, sole proprietorship, or LLC.

In addition to determining your small business type, you will also have to decide whether or not the IRS will see your small business as a hobby. The best way to accomplish this is to compare your business against a number of different criteria that help separate hobbies from small businesses such as the company’s profitability margins over the last three to five fiscal years. After review, if your small business holds a “hobby” status, there may be a different form you need to complete.

Filing for Freelancers

Many freelancers make the mistake of filing their taxes as a small business. Since these professionals do not require a legal structure to do business or hold any liability they do not have to file their taxes in this manner. Since this is a common misconception among many freelancers, the best course of action is to work with a tax professional – ideally one who understands the type of work you do and industry you work in – in order to ensure your taxes are being filed correctly and for the maximum refund.

Filing for Proprietorships or Partnerships

Most small businesses are considered by the IRS to be either proprietorships or partnerships. Once your business type has been determined, the next step is to identify which tax forms need to be completed in order to file correctly. Since choosing the correct forms is often determined by the type of taxed you need to pay it is important to know and understand what business taxes the federal government levies – these include self-employment tax, excise tax, income tax, and employers tax.

There are a number of forms that will need to be completed in order to file taxes correctly as a small business, and these forms are broken down into five specific categories. These categories include general forms, general business expenses, starting and operating a new business, employee benefits, and specialized forms. All of these forms are downloadable from the IRS website, along with detailed instructions to help ensure they are completed correctly.

If you found this information useful, you may also want to follow Stacy O’Quinn on his personal blog. Stacy has helped dozens of individuals create their own work from home business and he would love to help you too! For more information about Stacy and to visit his personal blog, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Tax Credits via Creative Commons License