Skip to content

Used Burton Sale


Used

No items matching your keywords were found.

Staying Alive and Thriving - Maximizing Opportunities for Small Business Owners

Copyright (c) 2009 Audrey Burton

Survival for very small businesses can be very challenging in a recession. We don't have the resources to ride out the storm if we experience a dramatic downturn.

What we do have is the ability to make changes quickly, which bigger businesses cannot do. We are not burdened with a huge payroll and big vendor contracts - we can add new services as easily as setting up a new page on our websites and announcing it at our networking meetings.

The recession will end as they always do - history tells us that. And believe it or not, but in part, the entire world depends on small businesses staying viable in the U.S. We have a responsibility to stay in business! Collectively, we make a huge financial contribution in many ways. We also set an excellent example for the next generation.

However, staying alive is easier said than done, right?

If you have a business that caters to the middle class that is not an essential every-day product, you need to constantly evaluate what you offer and your price point. Because consumer confidence is low right now, people are afraid to spend their money. If your sales are already trending down, you need to be very strategic and agile to stay alive.

We are experiencing a necessary correction. Some segments of the marketplace went a little crazy spending money they had not yet earned, and were given credit they should not have been given. Too many of these people have become unable to pay their bills, which has caused our current situation.

Small businesses will be affected by this in both positive and negative ways. I predict that there will be permanent, positive changes that will come out of this, but like all growth, there will be growing pains. If we pay attention, we can individually minimize these and come out ahead.

Here's what I mean. If you sell new cars, you should have realized many months ago that you were going to experience dramatic, maybe even traumatic, losses. At that time, you should have started studying other ways to apply your expertise. For example, if people in your community are not buying new cars, how are they getting to work every day? Most of them are probably driving their old cars.

Many of these old cars either need extensions on their warranties, or they need maintenance and repairs, or the owners want to jazz up their rides. By creating and executing a marketing plan to offer these products and services, you can stay alive until the economy recovers. Then you can sell your new cars again and continue making more income from the products, warranties and service. In addition, realistically, some of your competition will not make it, putting you in position to really increase your revenues.

Let's look at a more difficult scenario. If you offer a service like massage, fitness coaching or hair/skincare, you might see a reduction in sales as your prospective clients hold onto their paychecks. What can you do?

Evaluate all of your skills, your past and current clients, your competition and trends. What is the complete current story? Keep asking that question and looking at the information. What else can you offer? If you have any other skills you can use, put them to work. Is there a way to add a product or service that is more essential to your target market?

Offer promotions packaging your offerings in unique ways at great prices to differentiate your business from your competitors. Market yourself in unique ways.

If you are at risk of losing your business or having to give up and get a j-o-b, your short-term goal is to stay alive until the recession turns around. Cash flow is your top priority. How can you get people in the door?

A "loss leader" is a product or service you offer to get people in the door, even though you may lose money on that specific product. For example, if your grocery store offers a dozen eggs for 75 cents, they may lose money on that specific item, but anyone who comes in the store to get that fabulous deal will probably also purchase milk, bread and apples while they are there, and the store makes a profit.

What can you offer at an unbelievable deal to get old and/or new customers in the door? NOTE: Put an expiration date on all offers to create a sense of urgency. This way you can offer a different promotion every week or month.

Remember, if you can stay alive and thrive in tough times, you will be poised for greatness when the economy comes back! Keep reminding yourself that cash flow is your first priority, work hard and use your imagination.

About the Author

Now you need to close every possible sale. Improve your sales skills; claim your copy of Audrey Burton's popular FREE Special Report, "Closing the Sale is Not Complicated!" at =>
http://www.TigressCoaching.com .

Is Your Marketing Making You Miserable?

Copyright (c) 2009 Audrey Burton Do you enjoy marketing your business? For start-up businesses, it is common to spend 85 percent of your time marketing. So, if you spend 5 hours per week actually servicing your clients, and you realistically work about 50 hours per week, you should be spending 38 hours per week marketing. That's a lot of time for marketing! That's about 160 hours per month. If you really don't like your marketing, then having your own business can get to be a big drag very quickly. What can you do about it? First, identify and evaluate all of your marketing activities, then prioritize them in order of 'fun.' There are probably a lot of marketing activities you actually enjoy, and you don't even realize they are marketing. Here are some examples: 1. Attending networking events
2. Studying your competitors online
3. Creating content for your website
4. Building relationships with potential strategic alliances - otherwise known as having coffee
5. Sales meetings Of course, there are many, many more marketing activities you could be doing, and some of them are not as much fun. Also, your idea of fun is probably different than mine, but you get the point. Anyone who has ever had any kind of job knows that there are always parts of it that you don't like, and so it is with owning a business. However, there should also always be parts that are terrific, or you should do something else. After identifying the fun level of the marketing actions you use to get clients, do another analysis. Which ones work the best to get you clients? Take a look at the activities you don't really like, but that bring you clients. Figure out why you don't like them. If it is because you are uncomfortable doing them, like networking, you can learn to do them better. When your confidence level increases, so will your success and your enjoyment. You have certainly heard that people fear public speaking, and that is a big part of networking. If you can increase your confidence, you will have a leg up on your competition! Do you fear 'closing the sale'? Does this fear take all the fun out of the sales meeting for you? This is particularly a problem for women. It is not as difficult as you think it is! Most of the close is actually done throughout the meeting, as you make sure you are the right person for their needs. When you get to the end, ask this question, "How would you like to move forward?" Then, be quiet and wait for an answer. Brilliant, right? This is not the fix for everything, but it helps. Study sales experts and practice and soon you will really enjoy the sales meetings, whether the prospect says yes or no! In the sales meeting, have the goal be to solve their problems and you will have a lot more fun. If you really do not enjoy much of anything about your marketing, look around at what else you could be doing. There is no rule that says you can only do the same things your competitors do. See what other professionals in other types of businesses do to get clients and see what fits your industry, your personality and your target market. Life is short. Have fun or do something else.

About the Author

Want to feel more comfortable in your sales meetings? Claim your copy of Audrey Burton's popular FREE Special Report, "Closing the Sale is Not Complicated!" at =>
http://www.TigressCoaching.com .



Be Sociable, Share!


Top Searches Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,