How to Make Your Small Business Stand Out from the Competition

Tips to Help Build Your Brand and Grow a Stand-Out Business

Small businesses are a great opportunity to live your dream and create positive experiences with customers. These types of businesses often provide niche markets with the products and services they are looking for locally in their own communities. Because of this, small business owners can take advantage of limited competition and work to create a strong brand image among their consumers. Although small business budgets are sometimes tight, there are some inexpensive yet effective ways to grow the company’s brand and business within a community and help stand out from others.

Offer Great Products and Services

One of the easiest ways to stand out from other, similar businesses is to offer superior products and services. In order to communicate this point to consumers, make sure to do research to determine what exactly makes your business’s offerings better than the others. Think of things such as quality, product longevity and customer service. Once these unique factors have been identified, make sure to work them into the business’s overall messaging so customers know what to look at when comparing organizations and give them valid reasons to choose your business over others.

Put a Face to Your Business

Too many consumers only know a business by its branding or product. Being a small business owner gives you a unique opportunity to connect with customers on a more personal level and have them know the business by your name and face or the names and faces of your employees instead of just a logo or company slogan.  Making these types of connections shows customers that the business owner and employees are passionate about what they do and truly care about their customers. Customer service of this kind is so important to consumers and will have them coming back again and again.

Build a Positive Community Around Your Brand

Building a strong community around your business and your brand is crucial for attracting new customers and continuing strong connections with current customers. This type of positive energy around the brand should be made both online and offline and often cost little to no funds to create. A great way to get started in building this community is by launching a Facebook or other free social media page. This is a great stage to interact with customers and help promote your business events within the community – these online promotions then translate to offline promotions when the event takes place and the community is invited to participate in a positive way.

 Standing out from the competition, especially in small business, is crucial to the organization’s success. By really caring about customers, offering superior products, and building a positive community around your brand, it can show potential customers why they should choose your company over others. Building a stand-out brand does not have to mean spending a lot of money on advertising and marketing – by making personal connections with customers and having them know your business by you and not your logo or slogan is a simple and cost-effective way to stand apart from other, similar businesses.

Need more tips on how to make your work at home business more successful? Stacy O'Quinn can help! To find out how, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Phil Wood Photo via Creative Commons License

Are You Preventing Your Own Success?

Overcoming Obstacles and Gaining Success

Despite what you may believe success is not just for a few lucky individuals. Success, both in business and in life, comes from determination, hard work and the belief that anyone can overcome the difficult circumstances placed in front of them.  Challenges are not always a determining factor in success but how an individual responds and overcomes them is what really drives accomplishment. It is important to remember that we are not ruled by the situations we are given and we have the ability and drive to get through them and reach our goals.

Do Not Make Excuses, Just Do It!

One of the biggest road blocks to success is an individual’s own excuses. When something seems too difficult, too ambitious or too expensive, we generally come up with a reason why we should not do it. Although steps along the road to success may seem impossible, it is important to do the things you need to or want to do without letting your own excuses get in the way. If something seems too hard, break it down into smaller steps – if something seems to expensive, start cutting back on lofty spending and saving money to make it happen.

Learn from Others

Chances are, no matter what challenge you are facing or what goal you are trying to reach, someone somewhere has already been through it.  As the old saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so, why not connect with someone who has accomplished your goal and do as they did? If you have a friend or relative who has made it through a struggle, try to work through your own in a similar way. If it has been proven to work once why not give it a try – chances are that person will be willing to help repeat their success with someone else.

Throw Self-Doubt Aside

Another huge obstacle for many people is that they believe they cannot accomplish their dreams. This kind of self-doubt will undermine any success that may be on the horizon for you. Instead of convincing yourself you cannot do something because of a lack of skills, lack of financial support or lack of intelligence have faith that anything you put your mind to can be accomplished. Success can only be accomplished if an individual believes in themselves and is determined to do what it takes – try new things, make sacrifices and keep on going - to reach their goals.  

Success is not something that people stumble upon overnight or a gift given to only special individuals. Some of the most successful individuals have worked hard and overcome many obstacles to get to where they are today and have earned those things through sweat and tears. Instead of allowing excuses and self-doubt get in the way, grab opportunity by the horns and work through any obstacles that get in the way. You will never regret doing everything you can to be successful so just do it!

Do you think you can benefit from a small business mentor to help you with your legitimate home business? Stacy O'Quinn started deep in debt but soon found a way to generate a six figure income and is now a successful businessman. Stacy has helped dozens of other small business owners realize their true potential and he would love to do the same for you. To learn more about Stacy, click here.

Connecting with Your Clients

Building Connections to Drive Success

Nowadays, running a small business is more about cultivating and building connections with customers and clients than inventing the next big product. With new advances in technology, society as a whole has lost some of the magic of open, face-to-face communication and can sometimes have small business owners communicating from behind a computer screen. Even though this makes communication easy, it is vital to remember the importance of truly connecting with others, especially in the business world.

Begin at the Social Level and Connect through Your Personal Strengths

When communicating with customers, or really anyone in the business world, there are generally four different levels of communication. The first of these levels is the social level – this is the level where every conversation begins. Conversations at the social level usually include topics such as information about the business, products and services that are offered, the weather, how the customer is doing today and other small talk. In order to build deep customer connections, it is important to briefly touch on this level and move on.

The second level of communication is connecting with others through your personal strengths – every small business owner has strengths and personal knowledge that can help push them past the first level of communication. This is an opportunity to tell the customer more about yourself, your business, your professional strengths and your passion for the business. By opening the conversation to these topics, customers get an idea of the type of person and type of business they may be purchasing from – if a small business owner uses and expresses these strengths, customers are more likely to buy in as well.

Drive Every Conversation with Intent

Great communicators do not just fall into conversations that seem to be going nowhere – these individuals have mastered the art of shaping the conversation with a customer into a specific outcome. This can be accomplished using different techniques, specifically by using the proper tone and action verbs. This combination creates intent for the conversation and moves it into a certain direction. It is important that conversations have a purpose – no small business owner wants to waste their time or the customer’s time on meaningless conversations.

Conversations Go Further with Energy and Passion

Once the intent of a conversation has been established, it is really time to strut your stuff with clients. Injecting passion and energy for the cause or business helps small business owners to share deep connections with the customers and it is this energy that helps to drive further business. When small business owners do not have these qualities, or do not express them during conversation, customers will be less convinced that they are making an investment with the right person or company. Passion is also vitally important in cultivating meaningful connections with colleagues and team members within the business.

As we have been so often told, communication is key! Having great communication skills and the ability to create connections with the people around you is a powerful tool for achievement in business and in life. By building on the levels of communication throughout a conversation it is easy to start making these connections with customers and colleagues and these connections are what will help drive success throughout the business overall.

Do you think your legitimate home business can benefit from having a small business mentor like Stacy O'Quinn? Stacy can teach you how to better connect with potential customers and more importantly, how to close the deal! For more information, click here.

Fitness Tips for Small Business Owners

Easy Ways to Stay Fit with a Busy Schedule

Small business owners would love to be more active, but when long hours in the office or store run into the evening it can be hard to fit in any exercise. This lack of movement is only exasperated by the fact that many business owners sit behind a desk most of the day which can add to health risks overall. The good news is that being a business owner means you can add flexibility into your schedule and with some planning and creativity, being more active can be easily attainable.

Start Standing at Your Desk

Simple changes in a work space can help aid in better fitness. For starters, invest in some form of a standing desk instead of consistently using a traditional, sitting desk. Standing, as opposed to sitting down, helps to increase blood flow throughout the body and especially to the brain as well as better posture and improved alertness. These changes in the body can help health overall, not to mention increased blood flow to the brain and alertness will help with efficiency and accuracy with work. 

Although professional experts suggest purchasing a retractable desk there usually is not an extra $1,000 in the business’s budget. A great alternative to purchasing a standing desk is utilizing a high cabinet or even adding a small podium to raise your existing desk. If standing for long periods of time to work seems overwhelming, start by setting a goal to stand while completing certain tasks or for set time periods throughout the day and build from there.

Change Your Seat

A more common change that helps boost overall fitness is replacing a regular desk chair with an exercise ball, also known as a yoga or stability ball. Making this easy switch can benefit health by engaging and strengthening core muscles and improving posture. For those suffering with back pain, using a stability ball for desk work has been proven to give some relief. When choosing an exercise ball for this purpose, make sure you can sit comfortably and easily reach all the necessary items on your desk.

Walk During Meetings

Instead of everyone piling into a conference room to meet, why not have walking meetings? Since small business owners usually have fewer employees than larger corporations, walking meetings are completely possible with a smaller group of colleagues. Have a conference call for the next hour? Why not take the call on the go! Using meeting time that is otherwise spent sitting in a chair or on the phone is a very easy way to fit in your daily exercise and start getting more fit.

Many small business owners do not have enough time in their days to get to the gym or go for a long run. But, owners also have the flexibility to work fitness in throughout the day when they can – items like standing desks and stability ball chairs as well as walking meetings are simple ways to improve fitness without using a large amount of time. By making simple changes to the things that are done in the office every day, business professionals can take big steps to being more fit and more healthy.

Now that we have you straightened out on fitness, let's get you started making more money! If you are interested in having a small business mentor like Stacy O'Quinn, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Joe Hoover via Creative Commons License

Finding the Right Staff to Expand Your Small Business

How to Choose the Right Employees and Help Pave the Road to Success

Congratulations –you struck out on your own and started a small business but you have managed to be successful and expand your current company. It is now time to start the sometimes dismaying process of hiring more employees to help carry the growing workload. It can be difficult for small business owners to not only find qualified candidates but also be able to retain their employment over time. It is important to ensure the right people are being hired for the job in order further the business’s success.

Stop Filling Positions

Too often hiring begins with the idea that positions need to be filled. Secretary, vice president, and account manager are titles and business owners are quick to fill a specific role. A better way to begin is to determine if the business needs more support–look at the entire workload, evaluate the culture and gauge current employee’s stress levels. Once it has been announced that the company is hiring, take interest in how a candidate’s personality, work ethic and skill set fit into the business’s culture.

Use a Hiring Window

Business owners will usually jump to hire the first “qualified” candidate that applies for an open position but hiring this way short hands the business on finding the best possible candidate. Set a time frame in which to conduct interviews and, instead of hiring the first candidate that meets the requirements, use the entire window to interview as many individuals as possible. Only make a final decision when the window has passed – doing this gives you more options and more time to make a great choice.

Have Candidates Demonstrate Their Skills

Business owners usually read a list of skills off the candidate’s resume. Although this is a simple way to understand and evaluate an individual’s skill level, it can also be effective to have the interviewee demonstrate those skills. This allows business owners to see first-hand what the candidate can do and better evaluate their skill set. Although putting a candidate on the spot in this way may be uncomfortable, there is nothing unprofessional or unfair in asking them to do so.

Probation Periods are Important

Hiring a candidate should never be the end of the process – many business owners forget the importance of a probation period. During this time, the individual should meet the rest of the staff and begin working. Once this period has passed, review their performance and discuss whether the business is a good fit for them as well as them being a good fit for the business. There is nothing wrong with discovering an individual and a position are not a match and interviewing other candidates.

When it comes to expanding a business, having the right talent on board to help the company be successful it vitally important. By implementing these hiring techniques, business owners can find the right candidates for their company and ensure continued success down the road. By leaving options open and understanding that candidates are not simply bodies within a position, business owners can choose the best possible people for their team and relieve some of the stress of finding new talent.

Would you like more help getting your small business organized? Stacy O'Quinn serves as a small business mentor to dozens of business owners and he can help you too! For more information about Stacy, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of bpsusf via Creative Commons License

Is Your Small Business “Green”?

Tips to Help Your Business Go Green

In today’s business market, “going green” is something that many companies are taking into consideration – the buzz around renewable resources and becoming environmentally friendly reaches not only business owners but also consumers. In recent years, discussing and implementing green business practices, products, and services has become expected and something that consumers look for when they consider a company. Although solar panels on the office roof may not be in your budget, there are some things that can be done to help the business “go green” without breaking the bank.

Stop Using Disposables

On average, an office worker uses up to 500 disposable cups within one year – it has even been estimated that office workers go through enough disposable products such as plates, cups, and silverware every year to circle the Earth 300 times! A great way to combat this and take small steps toward green business is by purchasing reusable kitchen items for the office. Although this has a much larger cost up front, it will significantly cut down on the amount of garbage being created in the office. Also, purchasing reusable items can help the business save money over time by not having to purchase disposables periodically throughout the year.

Use Virtual Meetings to Reduce Travel

Traveling for meetings or visiting clients can use a lot of resources and fumes from vehicles that can be harmful for the environment. Instead of hopping in the car to meet with colleagues, using virtual meeting tools can help to reduce fuel consumption, saving you money and doing less damage to the environment. Even though virtual meeting tools can be expensive, there are a number of low-cost and even free meeting tools available to businesses online. If you are concerned about sharing documents or not having face-to-face interaction, a number of these conferencing tools allow clients to video chat, share documents, and use a simulated white board during their meetings.

Use Paper Wisely to Save Energy

Although using paper in the office does not have a direct effect on the environment, the way this valuable resource is produced and shipped definitely does. Paper manufacturers consume a huge amount of energy when harvesting and shipping trees, processing them into paper and shipping the product out to different retailers. In order to make the most out the paper you have on hand and cut down on energy consumption overall, make sure to only print documents when it is absolutely necessary and try to print double-sided copies whenever possible. Not only will reducing paper consumption help the environment, it will also help cut down on office supply costs for the business.

More often than not, going green within a business not only has a huge impact on the environment but also a positive impact on the productivity and efficiency within the business. By using reusable products, cutting down on paper usage and utilizing virtual meeting tools businesses can easily and inexpensively take steps to become more environmentally friendly. An added bonus of implementing these tips is that they can also help the business save money over time, which is just one more reason for you to consider making your small business “green”.

Do you need more help with your small business? Stacy O'Quinn would love to serve as your small business mentor. For more information on how Stacy can help you, click here.

*Picture Courtesy of epSos.de via Creative Commons License