Small Business Resource » Incentives

Big Job Losses

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:11:09 +0000

The employment numbers out today from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics were simply depressing – though not surprising.

For example, based on the household survey – which often captures more entrepreneurial activity – the story is quite grim. Since the November 2007 peak, the U.S. has lost nearly 1.7 million jobs.

Meanwhile, the payroll survey points to a loss of 524,000 jobs in the last two months, and nearly 1.2 million since this past December’s peak.

The payroll survey also offers a look at the private sector jobs picture. From the December high, the private sector has lost more than 1.3 million jobs, including more than 500,000 over the past two months.

The economy certainly could use help from our nation’s capital. But things like tax rebate checks, temporary and targeted tax measures, bailouts, and more government spending will do little. Indeed, much of that could just do more damage. The economy needs permanent and substantial tax and regulatory relief that boosts the incentives for investors, entrepreneurs and businesses to take the risks necessary to build and grow the economy.

Raymond J. Keating
Chief Economist
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Rewarding Employees and Clients with Tickets to Sporting Events

admin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:21:41 +0000

Sometimes it is the little perks that encourage an employee to work harder or entice a client to choose your business over the competition. Sometimes it’s just about keeping an existing client happy or giving your employees something to work towards at the end of a long work week. Presenting tickets to a sporting event is a great way to boost morale among employees or impress that out-of-town client who happens to be coming to visit when his or her favorite team is visiting for a game. If used correctly, tickets to a sporting event can be a great incentive or even a way to ease the tension before heading into negotiations for an important business deal.

Impressing a Client

Do not Place Strings On Business-related Incentives

If you are trying to impress a client with some tickets to the baseball game this weekend, that’s fine. Just don’t imply that you expect something in return. Not only is this bad business sense, it can also be illegal and get you into a lot of trouble. Make it clear that you are offering your client or potential customer tickets as a gesture of goodwill and expect nothing in return.

Find Out What Your Clients Like

If you have a regular client that you want to impress with little perks now and then, do a little research first. Find out what sports team she likes. If she has a husband or boyfriend, consider having extra tickets available for an extra guest. A client tends to remember little personal touches like this. Make the event a little more special by making arrangements for travel to and from the game. If a client is coming in from out of town, he is likely to be staying at a hotel. Arrange for car or limo service. Consider an invitation to dinner before or after the game.

Rewarding Employee Performance

Make It Clear What an Employee Needs to Do to Earn Tickets

Tickets to a sporting event can be a major incentive for an employee to finish up that report on time. Especially if there is a big game coming up. However, you want to be fair to all employees when offering such an incentive. Avoid the appearance of favoritism. If you only have a certain number of tickets, make it clear that only the top five or ten performers for the week will be eligible this time. Consider softening the blow to the other employees by holding an office lunch or having a casual day.

Make It a Regular Incentive

It is unlikely that you are going to be giving away Super Bowl tickets to boost employee performance. Consider purchasing tickets to different games throughout the season and offering weekly office contests. This gives employees something to look forward to each week and provides an overall boost to office morale. Additional stipulations can be added, such as limiting the number of times an employee can win within a given amount of time. This gives more employees a chance to earn tickets. The last thing you want to do is create a hostile environment over something that is supposed to be fun. Clearly post any rules, stipulations or exceptions.

Author Bio:

Nancy Zimmer writes for TicketLiquidator.com, a website dedicated to helping event-goers find cheap New York Knicks tickets

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Ways to Get More Walk-in Traffic for Your Business

webkriti — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:42:04 +0000

Even if you’re in a great location with tons of foot-traffic, you may find that you have trouble getting passers-by to stop in and check out your store. And if you’re in a location that doesn’t get much traffic of any variety, you’ll be even worse off. While you could spend a ton of money putting up billboards and purchasing ads on TV and radio, there are better ways to get a buzz going so that people seek out your store. Here are just a few ways to go about increasing your walk-ins.

Hold promotional events. Everyone loves a good spectacle, so try to think of events you could hold to get your name out to the public and people coming in. You might want to get neighboring businesses to hold a block party (complete with DJ and food trucks, for example) so that costs are defrayed and everyone can benefit from increased foot traffic. Or you might go into the community to host benefits for charitableor environmental causes, which stand to improve your brand image enormously. The sky is the limit on this one.
Follow up with contacts. Most events will yield contact information for customers that are interested in learning more about your business. You may even secure contacts online through your website. But if you fail to follow up with them, offering not only information but also incentives to get them in the store, you have no one to blame but yourself for a poor turnout during business hours.
Host sales and giveaways. This is old-school, but it still works because everyone loves to save money and get stuff for free. Of course, you’ll have to do some advertising so people know what you’re up to, but you may get loyal patrons bringing in new friends as well as random people off the street coming to check you out.
Butter up the media. Free advertising isn’t easy to secure, but you can get the media to plug you in a number of ways. The easiest, of course, is by sending them samples (read: freebies) to try out and review. This works for talk-show hosts, radio personalities, and of course, bloggers. Plus, you’ll find out pretty quickly who you want to send more stuff to and which outlets are not worth the effort. From there you may be able to determine which plugs are delivering the most walk-in customers.
Use online resources. Store signs posted around town may catch the attention of a few customers here and there, but you can dramatically increase your walk-ins by using a number of resources on the worldwide web. Your website is a great way to increase exposure and reach new customers across the globe (especially if you have an online store), but in order to appeal to locals and visitors, you need to give them incentive to come in. You should set up accounts with social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare (just to name a few) and encourage visitors to your website to friend and follow you. Then offer exclusive discounts, coupons, or freebies to those who drop in and cite your social media as the reason.

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Innovative Ways To Promote Your Travel Company

webkriti — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:53:42 +0000

The internet is a huge place now, and for a business to ignore it is potential suicide. From 2005 to 2010 the amount of web pages doubled, and it’s predicted that by 2015 it will be 8 times what it is now. It can represent a huge market, far bigger than any footfall you would get to a shop, so your online presence needs to be attractive in order to convert customers. However, many markets now have become saturated, with thousands of companies vying for the same spots. This has been taken advantage of with the ever changing ‘art’ of SEO, where eventually it comes down to who has the most money and therefore can afford the most online marketing. It is also not helped by the dominance of Google, making the page 1, number 1 spot the most highly fought over and leaving the others out of the game. You therefore need to look to innovative marketing strategies in order to get noticed. Technology today is helping companies achieve this, so here are some of the most creative travel marketing schemes i’ve found. You may want to try applying some of these to your business:

- QR Codes
QR Codes are a form of barcode, except that they are square and can hold a lot more information than the standard kind. These have been used in manufacturing for part labelling for over 20 years, but have made it into general circulation as a marketing device in the past few years, as they can be scanned by simple smartphone apps. The great advantage is that they can display adverts with pictures, and are placed in odd situations to provide offers, discounts and other incentives to people who scan them. They are very cheap to produce and can be used in a wide variety of places.

- Apps
The amount of companies developing apps today has grown a massive amount, making them much cheaper than they were only a year ago. Canadian RV company CanaDream have spent the past few months making a location based iPad app that helps travellers to find local places of interest, as well as mapping campsites, stop over areas and other areas useful to RV travellers. As this is branded with the CanaDream logo and information about the dealerships, it acts as a great brand awareness tool. Even though people might not ever use CanaDream, they will know the name and there is a greatly increased chance they will recommend them to a friend.

James works for Hotelshop UK, Motorhomes, CyclingNews and many others. He is a keen writer, sportsman and traveller who loves to journey around the UK and Europe

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What Type of Employee Benefits Should a Small Business Offer?

webkriti — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 05:54:39 +0000

Most large companies offer benefits not because they are required to, but because they want to be competitive. If you know anything about health insurance then you are probably well aware of the expense of having it (especially if you’re paying for it on your own). But when it comes to health benefits offered by an employer, you must realize that the reason you pay less is because your employer is paying the lion’s share for your coverage. However, many small businesses cannot afford this added expense (they can barely afford your salary). Unfortunately, that could mean they don’t exactly have the pick of the litter when it comes to hiring. So how far should a struggling company go when offering benefits in order to keep current employees happy and attract new applicants? Here are just a few benefits that small businesses can feel good about providing.

Limited benefits. One easy way for a company to save on providing health insurance benefits is to only offer limited plans (so as to cut their own cost). Although employees will not realize the same access to health care that they might get through a large corporation, having some coverage is better than none. You might not get to choose the hospitals you can visit or the doctors you like, but at least you won’t be blowing all of your pay on medical costs.
Voluntary benefits. This is a great alternative for small businesses that allows them to add extra coverage with no additional cost (to the company). Any employee that wants to may pay more in order to enjoy more choices when it comes to their coverage. This creates further options not only for the employees (some of whom are more than happy to pay extra in order to get what they want); it also means that small companies have more incentives to help them attract quality employees.
Flexible scheduling. Although small businesses often demand a lot from their few employees (requiring them to wear multiple hats and sometimes work long hours), they have the ability to offer a lot in return, especially when it comes to flexibility. Whereas a larger company needs to mandate working hours because it’s the only real way to keep track of everyone, smaller businesses may be able to arrange for swing shifts and flexible hours simply because everyone knows everyone else and the close-knit family atmosphere means that employees will cover the gaps to help each other out.
Telecommuting. Having a portion (or all) of the staff working remotely can make life easier for everyone. For the employees, the obvious benefit is avoiding a commute and working from the comfort of home. And a small business that can allow all employees to work remotely can skirt expenses like a lease, utilities, and liability insurance. Even those that allow a portion of their staff to work from home can significantly reduce costs.
Carpool rewards. Depending on the state you live in, you may be able to arrange for government reimbursement if you have enough employees participating in a carpooling program. You should check your local laws, but it could end up being an appealing benefit to offer employees facing a long commute.

Sarah Danielson writes for Midwest HR, a Chicago corporate wellness program company. Midwest HR offers innovative HR solutions to organizations that are focused on productivity, profitability, and growth.

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How to Negotiate a Salary with a New Employee

admin — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:28:12 +0000

You have posted a position, conducted interviews and found the perfect candidate. Now this person is asking for a higher salary than what you offered. Negotiating a salary with a new employee does not need to be a dreaded task. Armed with the right tools and knowledge, you can gain the upper hand in salary negotiations.

What should you know before extending an offer?

Know your limits. Your limits may be based on the economy’s climate, the job market, salaries of similar employees, internal salary ranges and the success of your company. It helps to find out the candidate’s most recent salary and benefits. Many companies ask for salary information on the application.

When you make the offer, be clear with the candidate if the offer is not negotiable. If the the salary is not negotiable, then there may be other incentives you can offer this person. However, you need to first determine how much real and potential value the candidate has to offer.

Is the candidate worth it?

The first step in determining the value of this person is to answer a list of specific questions. How desperately does your business need this person? Is it a challenge to find someone with their skill set? Do you need to hire someone right away? Can you see this person staying with the business on a long-term basis? What is their potential for growth in this role?

If you have a pool of second-best candidates with similar profiles, then you have the upper hand. However, if the candidate has a unique skill set that is perfectly-suited to the role, then he or she may be worth it. Additionally, consider whether or not this person is already working. If this person is currently employed somewhere else, then he or she is less likely to leave their job for less than they want as an unemployed applicant is.

At the same time, you will need to balance your company’s needs with budgets and your current employees’ salaries. Offering a new employee the same salary or higher than that of current employees can create problems with morale and retention.

How do you gracefully make a counteroffer?

If you determine that the candidate is worth more than your initial offer, then you will need to make a counteroffer. Consider your budget. If you truly cannot offer a high salary per se, then perhaps you can offer an incentive such as a bonus for their first year of employment, extra vacation time, stock options, a commission on top of their base salary or reduced hours for the same pay. Before offering any of these incentives, however, research federal laws. Some nondiscrimination rules may state that offering one employee more benefits than another is illegal.

If you do have additional funds at your disposal, you can give the candidate an opportunity to prove him- or herself by offering to increase their wage in increments. For example, if he or she is asking for $1.00 more per hour, then offer him or her $0.50/hour more after six months and another $0.50/hour more after a year.

By being firm with your salary range, determining the candidate’s value and knowing what your counteroffer options are, you can negotiate new-hire salaries with confidence and professionalism.

Salary negotiotions are a pivotal part of the hiring process. A keen understanding of the economic climate, the conditions of the particular industry, and the abilities of the applicant are important considerations. Hiring is no simple task, and one must use tact in salary negotations.

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Utilizing Local Colleges for Interns and Employees

webkriti — Sat, 21 May 2011 07:22:37 +0000

There are many ways to keep the employees you already have. You can give them promotions and raises, engage in team-building exercises, and offer benefits like medical insurance, paid vacation, sick leave, and ongoing education (in the form of educational assistance or even seminars and home tutors but keep the home tuition in mind). But no matter how many incentives you give employees, eventually they will move on, leaving you with the unfortunate task of hiring someone new. Even worse, you may have all the employees you can afford without the ability to meet your business obligations. Whatever your staffing woes, local colleges could offer a solution. They can provide qualified individuals that may be interested in hiring on with your company or even participating in an internship. So if you’re thinking that you need some help, paid or otherwise, here are just a few good reasons to set up a partnership with a local college in order to expand your pool of applicants.

1. Interns are free! Is there any better reason to bring in an employee than the fact that you’ll receive their services without having to spend a dime? Of course, there is a disclaimer: they may require some hand-holding. In fact, you might be giving them their very first job, which means they’ll be a little green. They require more training and you’ll probably have to keep track of their progress (to report to their professors, at the very least). But you’ll get at least some work done without the burden of having to hire an additional paid employee (that you might not be able to afford).

2. Up-to-date knowledge and skills. Whether you take on an intern or hire someone outright, you’ll likely benefit from the fact that they have been exposed to the latest advances and newest equipment related to your field. This knowledge can not only be used to improve your business, it can also benefit your other employees, who may not have received any continuing education in several years.

3. Enthusiasm. There’s no doubt that students in their twenties are going to have a lot more chutzpah than older employees. Not only will they bring a level of excitement to the job that may be lacking in your current office environment, they will also work their butts off to prove that they deserve to be there. Many will hang on your every word, eager to please you and succeed in their new position (as well as learn whatever they can during their time with you). In short, they will bring an infectious energy and creativity to your workspace, which will likely benefit everyone.

4. Increased pool of candidates. If you’re having trouble finding qualified applicants within the community, contacting a local college could definitely solve your problem (especially if you’re willing to offer part-time hours). You may be surprised by how many individuals have more than the requisite knowledge and skills, but simply need the experience on their résumé in order to advance.

5. Give something back. This is a situation where you stand to give just as much as you’re taking. By hiring interns, you’ll offer them a chance to get something that the college can’t provide: experience. And if you decide to hire students or graduates from related programs, possibly by offering one-year contracts to select graduates, you can add value to the school since more students may be willing to attend a college that can guarantee jobs upon graduation.

How to Boost Employee Morale

webkriti — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:22:46 +0000

The truth about small businesses is that they generally operate on a much smaller budget than larger competitors, meaning that employees have to take on multiple roles (rather than filling a set position) and they often receive less in the way of rewards and other considerations for a job well done. This can often provide for a rather demoralizing work environment. However, it is your job, as their employer, to keep morale high and ensure that their efforts on behalf of your business do not go unappreciated. If you find that your employees seem to be suffering from a perpetual case of “the Mondays”, here are a few ways to help them perk up and get the overall attitude of the office back on track.

1. Praise. Most people work for money. We all have bills to pay, after all, or we wouldn’t need jobs in the first place. That said, your employees can get a crappy, time-wasting job anywhere. The reason they work for you is that they get something extra out of it. They stay because they gain a sense of pride and accomplishment from their work (you hope). But if you want them to continue to feel that way, you need to let them know that you appreciate the job they do. So make a point of publicly praising employees who exceed expectations and deliver during crunch time. This will ensure that productivity and job satisfaction both remain high.

2. Incentives. You may not have the money to give raises and bonuses every year, but you can certainly find ways to offer incentives to your employees. If, for example, you exceed sales expectations during the fiscal year, don’t just tell your workers they did a good job. Show them that your success is their success by offering cash bonuses; or if you didn’t earn that much, at least take them out for a nice meal to celebrate as a team. You may also choose to make the business “employee owned” if it gets large enough (making employees your sole stockholders) so that they have a vested interest in the success of your operation.

3. Unexpected bonuses. If you’re looking for a way to pep up the employees, think about giving one-time bonuses when they least expect it. You may want to offer them a couple of extra paid days off after completing a particularly large project. Or perhaps you can give them all gift certificates to a nice local restaurant when a big client renews their contract. The point is to make your employees feel like they’re part of the process and that they will share in any success with a tangible payoff for their hard work.

4. Team-building exercises. If the atmosphere of your office has gotten a little ho-hum and the employees are starting to wear on each other’s nerves, it may be time for a different setting. Close your doors for a day and take everyone out to a yoga retreat, the bowling alley, or a nearby park for a friendly game of softball. It will get people to loosen up and interact in a positive way, improving the general mood of the office.

5. Environmental factors. If your office is dark and gloomy, it could be putting a damper on the morale of your employees. You might be surprised by the difference you’ll see if you shell out the cash for a bright new paint job (typical office gray sucks the joy out of any room), full spectrum lighting (ditch the fluorescents for bulbs that emulate natural light), and some artistic adornments that will inspire your employees and quickly boost their morale.

Sarah Danielson writes for Air Purifiers where you can find various high end brands of air purifiers such as a Hepa air purifier and many more.

How to Market Your Day Care Business

admin — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:29:14 +0000

The day care business is one of the toughest ones to find a solid marketing plan, simply because it is usually a referral based business. Still, it is possible to market your day care business effectively if you know how to do it. Here are several marketing ideas for day care businesses that will help you build your clientele:

Word of Mouth - Many people assume that word of mouth is not a marketing plan, and for most that is true. If you know how to install the right procedures, however, word of mouth can be your biggest marketing plan. When it comes to a day care business, people talking about you in a positive light is the number one way to build business. No parent likes to put their child in a day care where they know nobody, so having a referral is huge. As such, you should market that very advantage.

The best way to do this is to build incentives. Let each and every parent know that if they bring in a referral, they will get a reward. Sometimes that might be a discount on their rate, and sometimes it might be a prize. Whatever works the best for your business. The best thing is a cash reward that can be either applied to their bill, or taken as cash. This is a huge incentive for your current customers to tout you to their friends.

Banging the street - This does not mean that you should go door to door, but it does mean that you should head out and place fliers and brochures in all the logical places – parks, museums, and restaurants in the area are a great start. Nothing is better for your marketing plan than a well placed ad or brochure.

Website – Another great marketing idea is to create a powerful and clear website touting what you have to offer. People love to e-visit any business they are considering as there is no sales pressure or discomfort. They can surf around and learn all about you and your business. Building a web presence is vital to any business and day cares are no exception. Build a solid website and keep it updated regularly.

Commercials – While television is not as popular these days, the day care industry responds very well to a local TV ad. Spend some time looking into television and radio commercials and what they might cost. Day cares can often get more than they need simply off of one single ad if it is effective and well done. Take the time to pay a professional to ensure that your business does not come off as cheap. Day cares must look professional and deliver on trust for success. Make sure your commercial exhibits those qualities clearly.

Marketing for a day care is not all that different than it would be for any other business, but it does require some attention to detail. A quick, thrown together marketing plan is not going to serve any day care well, and should not be considered. Take your time and plan your marketing campaigns logically.

Author Byline:

Rodney Southern is an editor working for EduBook. He has been in online marketing industry for a while, and loves to contribute marketing and advertising articles.

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What’s The Best Way To “Get The Word Out” About Your Small Business …. Word Of Mouth Or Social Media?

admin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 +0000

If you have a small local (niche) market, cheap local advertising is somewhat effective for the purpose of exposure. However, I’ve found that word-of-mouth exposure pays off the best.

Thus, I recommend asking your happiest (perhaps even most enthusiastic) clients to recommend your services/products to whomever they feel might be able to use them. Offer them discounts or even freebie incentives to encourage them to refer your business.

If your referral network grows, you might find your existing clients doing most of the selling of your business/products/services for you. Resulting in reduced courting time and cost of sales for you.

However, I think this only works with higher quality or lowest cost positions on the offer curve. Otherwise, your customers would have a difficult time explaining to others why they should use your business.

On using social media ……

Firstly, your focus should be on the long term rather than short term. In the short term it’s more about giving value than getting it. Building relationships and gaining trust is the first aim. Another aim is to drive people to your website, where they can gain value without spending a cent. But of course, as they experience your “expertise”, some will become more predisposed towards your products/services.

Before I describe how to use LinkedIn (LI), FaceBook (FB), and Twitter, let me say that the sooner some platform emerges that combines the functionality of all three, the better. They each have their good and bad points.

Linkedin is where you’ll probably find your most serious B2B connections. Joining groups and contributing to discussions in the “Answers” section is good way to boost awareness of your profile, and to give value. LI lets you maintain lifetime connections with former colleagues, clients and referral sources. Having said that, LI is quite static, and in some ways just sits there like a plate of cold porridge waiting for Goldilocks.

Twitter is a very open platform, and can look like utter rubbish until you work out how to find the gems among the rocks. You should have a couple of aims on Twitter. For business purposes, seek then follow folk who may share your target market, plus potential clients. Then start to converse with them, and often they’ll follow you in return. Generally try to tweet wit or wisdom, not what you had for lunch, like the airheads do. Add na URL in your tweet, sending them to your website to expereince about your business. Other folk send followers to their blog, where they receive further value.

As you identify serious contacts via Twitter, suggest to them that you connect on Linkedin.

Another aim with Twitter is purely social. Being a sole operator, based in a home office, it’s fun to participate in lighthearted conversations about topical issues, from swine flu to Somali pirates. Simple is that.

Facebook is more the place where you have friends, family and like minded colleagues. It’s a good way to maintain a sense of connection, because of its greater multimedia capabilities. However, I know some who hate the coldness of LI and migrate their Twitter contacts to FB.

Just imagine if LI had the microblogging capability of Twitter and the multimedia, interactive functions of FB, but all integrated in a way that each user could control to suit their needs. That’s what will one day emerge, I hope.

As I said, online networking is about giving value before getting it. I hope you get some value from these comments.