Preventing Theft from Your Small Business

How to Protect Information in Your Home Office

Almost every company, especially those who work in the retail industry, are concerned about theft. When we think of this topic it generally revolves around individuals outside the company taking things that are valuable or important to the organization. But the statistics surrounding employee theft are staggering – almost 75% of employees have admitted to stealing from their employer and over 30% of all company bankruptcies are caused by employee theft. Small business owners should also be concerned about theft from within their business, especially if they are working from a home office.

Do Thorough Background Investigations on Applicants

When looking to hire an employee to work in a home office, it is usually most important for small business owners to find someone who they feel comfortable having in their home. While a gut reaction is usually a pretty good indication, it is also important to do thorough background investigations on anyone you are considering bringing aboard. Gender, educational level and economic background as well as past criminal records can all be indicators of whether or not someone is likely to consider stealing from the business. It is important to remember, however, that pre-employment background check laws vary so make sure to be abreast of the most recent rules on the subject.

Pay Attention to Employee Dispositions

Even if an applicant has passed the background check process with flying colors, it is also important to observe how they act when they begin working for you. Employees who are unhappy with their job, the company they work for or their boss are generally more likely to steal from the company as an act of revenge. Pay attention to warning signs such as a drastic change in behavior, being overly territorial of working space or working long hours when the business owner is not around. Additionally, keep a close eye on important documents such as financial records – if something goes missing or an unexplained charge arises make sure to investigate the situation fully.

Make Fraud Protection a Culture

Hiding concerns about theft and fraud will make employees feel as though they can steal from the organization easily. Make sure to express concerns about these topics and breed a culture of vigilantly protecting against it. When new employees are hired, make sure to fully communicate what is considered theft and what the consequences for these actions are. If employees who are prone to stealing know you are on the lookout they may be less likely to commit the crime. It is also important to make employees feel comfortable and confident about reporting suspicious behavior – employee tips are usually the best way to catch fraudulent actions before they get out of hand.

Theft and fraud are serious crimes against a company, and they are more impactful and distressing when they come from an employee. Making sure to screen applicants before hiring, explaining the company’s policy on theft and keeping a close eye out for strange behavior are all effective ways to help reduce or eliminate the threat of these crimes happening within your business. While it is not productive to be suspicious of every employee that walks through the door it is vitally important to protect your business and your livelihood from those individuals who wish to hurt it.

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Using the Right Colors for Your Small Business Marketing

Using the Psychology of Colors for Effective Marketing

Color has been long known to have a powerful impact on how we think and feel not to mention it is also a profound contributor to how we behave and make decisions every day. Great business owners and marketing gurus have been utilizing the power of color for years to evoke certain emotions and reactions from their consumers. When over 90% of buyers purchase a product based on its appearance and over 80% claim they purchase products based on color it is no surprise that color choices can be a powerful tool when effectively marketing a small business.

Major Brands Use Color to Boost Sales

Many big name companies use color psychology as part of their marketing campaigns. Two corporations that use this tactic very well are Starbucks and McDonald’s. Starbucks’ branding includes green in a lot of their marketing and branding – this color is used to promote a correlation between their brand image and relaxation. McDonald’s uses colors that have the opposite effect – their bright red and yellow color scheme evokes feelings of energy and urgency while also appealing to the visual pallets of younger consumers. These colors promote speed and quick customer turnover to help boost sales.

Which Colors Influence Consumers in Which Ways?

Although there are many different shades of all major colors, the general feelings they evoke in consumers are the same. Greens, like those used by Starbucks, are associated with relaxation and harmony, as well as promoting tranquility, health, power, money and nature. Blues often evoke similar feelings as green – peacefulness, tranquility and relaxation – but is also a color that generally appeals to men and helps to promote feelings of security, reliability and productivity. Purple also falls into the cool color category and can have consumers experiencing feelings of respect, wisdom and royalty.

Warmer colors, such as yellow, orange and red, will have the opposite effect on consumers as those they feel with cooler colors. Red grabs consumers’ attention and promotes a sense of urgency and need – this is why red tag sales are so effective for retail markets. Orange and yellow evoke much of the same emotions and feelings in consumers. These colors are optimistic and cheerful but can also trigger feelings of caution and anxiety depending on their application. While these colors are used as cautionary road signs, they can also be used to attract compulsive buyers into a store in a positive way.

How to Properly Use Color Psychology in Marketing

While there is a color to evoke any feeling a business is looking for, slapping that color all over your marketing will not make the impact that is expected. When incorporating color into a branding design, make sure to use contrasting colors where possible to reduce strain on the eyes – if your branding is hard for consumers to look at, it will not promote the feelings and buying power the business desires. Additionally, use contrast to move the consumer’s eye to the product or message you want them to focus on. Colors are powerful and using them properly can help boost any business’s image.

Do you have a home business and need more advice on how you can become more successful? Did you know Stacy O'Quinn started deep in debt and turned his home business into a six figure income? Learn more...

*Photo Courtesy of Incase via Creative Commons License

Rebranding to Revive Your Small Business

How to Orchestrate a Successful Rebranding

When organizations have been in business for a number of years, they can often see a decline in sales and exposure. Although their original branding and messaging was effective in years past, it is possible that the brand has become common-place or dare we say, “boring.” Many business owners shutter at the thought of rebranding the business – the amount of work and the possibility of failure have them resisting this move as much as possible. But when a rebrand is done correctly it can be a great tool for reinvigorating a business and its brand. Here are some tips to successfully rebranding your business.

Maintain Your Brand’s Original Mission

While rebranding is a great way to reinvent a business, it is also important to keep the core values intact. The overall goal of rebranding is not to change the company’s brand or image but more generally to strengthen and reinforce what already exists. Rebranding may include a new color scheme, new logo and even a new company slogan, but the message to consumers should generally remain the same in order to keep the business’s integrity in check. Consumers are attracted to things that are new and exciting but also appreciate a business who sticks to what they believe in both on day one and day 100.

Make Sure to Focus on Your Audience

Many businesses that have been around for a while usually have a strong customer base. Although rebranding can be a great way to attract new customers it is also important to focus on those consumers who have helped to keep the business going. By understanding the audience, it is much easier to present an attractive and clear message that consumers will connect with. It is also important to focus on a specific audience to make sure the message is reaching the right people. Too often business’s try to market to everyone possible – unfortunately this often means they are really marketing to no one.

Connect with Consumers

While rebranding is often a lot of internal work, this is also an opportunity to connect with consumers. A new brand is something that a business communicates to its audience, but have you ever thought of allowing consumers to get involved in the process? This process offers companies a unique opportunity to give their customers a voice, communicate with them instead of to them. When customers feel as though their thoughts and opinions matter, they are more likely to be brand ambassadors for the business and spread the message word-of-mouth through social media and other channels.

When businesses reach a point of stagnation in their organization, rebranding may be a great option to revive the brand and the company. While making changes can be scary, it is also an opportunity to reinvent the business’s image and, more importantly, reconnect with customers. By making sure to stick to core values and focus on the target market, rebranding can help business reach a whole new level of success. Not to mention, involving customers in the process can help make better connections overall.

Are you looking for legitimate home business opportunities that will provide you with the financial freedom you always wanted? Then you need to talk to Stacy O'Quinn! For more information on how Stacy can help you, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Dean Meyers via Creative Commons License

Do Not Focus on what is Already Gone

How Living in the Past Can Affect Your Business Present

When it comes to owning a business, many individuals focus on not losing the organization they have built. Business owners are concerned about losing sales, losing business partners, and losing their entire business, sometimes so much so that they are not focusing their energy in the right direction. Too often individuals fight hard to try and save things that are already lost – this mentality often creates detriment to the business overall and causes even further loses down the line. The simple reality is that many individuals are placing their focus in the wrong place because they are afraid of losing what they have.

Practice the “Law of Focus”

Dani Johnson, a self-made entrepreneur, talks about the “Law of Focus” in one of her recent blog posts. This principle states that what you focus on becomes what you are good at or what goals you will attain. If a business owner is constantly focusing and worrying about losing clients, losing money or losing their business, chances are the amount of effort put into this negative thought process will make these fears a reality. Instead, individuals should be focusing on the clients they will gain, the money they will make and how their business will grow into the future. Positive in means positive out.

Miss Johnson also notes that a business owner cannot focus on both the positive and negative aspects of a business at the same time, just as they cannot look in two directions at the same time. This will bring many individuals to a crossroads in their thought process – they either need to start focusing on their confidence and accomplishments or continue to focus on their worries and doubts. The right road is obvious – focusing on the positive aspects of the business will lead to more positive accomplishments. Instead of over thinking about the20 people who say ‘no’ focus on the one who says ‘yes.’

Celebrate the Success You are Producing

Too many business owners get caught up in the mistakes they have made over the years and constantly think about what would be different if they had made an alternate choice. But, the important thing to remember is that every choice that was made throughout the past has lead you in some way to where you are now. It is important to allow those negative thoughts to go by the wayside and instead celebrate the great choices and accomplishments that have been produced. Trying to figure out why something went wrong is much more difficult than acknowledging and celebrating when something goes right.

Just like living in the past in your personal life is a bad choice, so is living in your business past. Positive thinking is powerful – when energy is focused in the right areas, such as growth and continued success that is what a business owner can expect to see. Conversely, when the focus is placed on fears of loss, bad decisions and other negative points it is likely that this trend will continue to repeat itself over and over again. Living in your business past can be costly both to the business and to yourself – it is time to start focusing on the things that are going right and celebrating the accomplishments along the way!

Dani Johnson has helped Stacy O'Quinn focus on what is important in both life and business. Today, Stacy has a work at home business that generates a six figure income every year. Stacy would like to teach you what he learned from Dani so you can enjoy that very same success. For more information or to learn more about Stacy, click here.

Integrating Leadership and Management Skills for a Successful Small Business

Why it is Important for Business Owners to be Good Leaders

Small business owners are asked to make important decisions about their organization every day – over time, these individuals learn how to focus their attention on what is important to their business and have learned to prioritize their time properly. Many times, business owners leave managing day to day tasks and employees to other individuals so they can focus on larger, overall goals. Although this is a common practice, it is important for individuals to also recognize how management skill sets fit into the overall operation of an organization.

Do Not Lose Sight of Day to Day Operations

Leaders sometimes get overly caught up in the big picture of the business – meeting sales goals, marketing campaigns and other efforts can sometimes overshadow the important day to day operations that make a business run. Sometimes, the oversight of these operations is so great that leaders set goal, policies and even create new products are services that are not realistic to what the business can actually do. Because of this, it is important to have some involvement in what managers and employees are doing every day to ensure that the overall business goals align with the actual capabilities of the business.

Managers Also Need to Broaden their Scope

Conversely, those in charge of managing day to day operations often ignore the big picture of the business in order to focus on the tasks at hand. In order to make sure the business is growing and operating as expected as well as meeting the goals set by leadership, it is important for managers to take a step back from the everyday to-do list and take a look at these larger business goals. This does not mean that managers should focus on yearly goals, however, managers can better manage their time by making sure they address quarterly goals one at a time and make sure they are on track to meet them.

Leaders and Managers are Mentors

As important as it is to make sure the business is running efficiently and the goals are being met, it is also important to pay close attention to employee needs. Leaders and managers act as mentors for their employees and it is important to make sure you are addressing their aspirations and goals within the organization. Making employees feel important and cared for is vitally important to the business overall – happy, motivated employees tend to do better work. Additionally, managers and leaders who support employees’ goals and aspirations generally see less associate turnover and stronger loyalty.

Leaders and managers play an important role within a business – whether they are different people or one in the same. It is important to take a look at the big picture and set business goals while also paying close attention to how the business works and runs day to day. Finding a balance between leadership and management is crucial in running an effective business, and just as important is making sure that employees are given the opportunity to advance and grow within the organization. By taking all of these perspectives into consideration, a business owner can help to create a run a successful business.

Do you need help getting your home business back on track? Then you can benefit from the help of Stacy O'Quinn! Stacy learned how to create a six figure income using Dani Johnson training, and he would love to teach you everything he has learned. For information about Stacy, click here.