SmallBusinessNewz

Are You Listening?

For anyone who has been around sales training or even just general business training you have been drilled about the importance of listening. Have you heard that since you have 2 ears and one mouth you should use them in that proportion? In other words, listen twice as much as you talk. Sage advice and I can attest to its effectiveness and I can also say that when I yap too much I screw things up. This is frank thinking after all so I’m OK with blowing the whistle on my own missteps.

Trouble With Finances?

If finances aren't your thing and you are looking into starting your own business, you might be interested in this piece of news. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced that it will offer two free online finance courses for small business owners to help them with basic finance and borrowing. The magic word there of course is "free". The fact that they are online isn't bad either. Free courses that you don't even have to leave the house for. What do you have to lose?

Are Your Trainees Ready to Take the Reigns?

New hires have to get their feet wet sometime, but what steps are you taking to ensure that they are really ready to do so before you turn them loose? This will be more of a factor in some jobs than in others. If you are going to put the hire out there with the customers, make sure they know what they are doing (at least to a reasonable extent).

Barriers to Finding the Right Employees

On Friday, I wrote about dealing with the loss of a key employee, and in a semi-related piece of news, Wells Fargo and Gallup have released results from a survey regarding small business employment. Trouble Finding Employees

Dealing with the Loss of a Key Employee

Sometimes no matter how well you treat your employees, they will still leave you. They may go for something with higher pay that you just can't match. They may move to a different state. They might quit to go back to school. They may just decide they want to do something else with their life. They may retire. They may become ill or pass away. It's not a pleasant thought, but a fact of life.Being Prepared

Course for Guerrilla Marketing During Recession

Starting a week from today, Jay Conrad Levinson AKA the Father of Guerrilla Marketing and Mitch Meyerson AKA the Founder of Guerrilla Marketing Coaching will be hosting an 8-week training course called "Guerrilla Marketing in Tough Times". If you hadn't gathered as much from the title, the course is designed to help business owners learn effective strategies to employee during times of recession.

What is Your Backup Plan? What, You Don't Have One?

Do you have older employees on the verge of retirement? If so, do you have any plans of transferring their knowledge to younger workers? According to a recent survey from NAPEO (The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations) only 28% of small business owners have such a plan.