June 28, 2009 By Mary White
Want to start a home based business? Are you wondering what skills you have that will enable you to support yourself by working from home? If you have administrative skills, you just might be cut out to work as a virtual assistant!
Have you worked in an office providing clerical or administrative support responsibilities to executives or at the departmental level? Just as professionals in office environments need skilled assistants to handle administrative duties for them, the same is true for people who run virtual business empires.
Who Hires Virtual Assistants?
With no bricks and mortar offices to house administrative support team members, internet entrepreneurs turn to the virtual workforce to find people who have the skills they need to run their businesses. Instead of hiring a full time employee, most who own virtual businesses hire one or more virtual assistants to handle important tasks like scheduling appointments, handling publicity, bookkeeping and collections, prospecting, editing, and other functions as needed.
By hiring a professional to handle these types of tasks, business owners are able to turn their attention to performing the business operations and sales tasks that require their attention if the business is to grow. Those who understand the need to hire administrative help recognize that they’re better off paying a professional to work in their business so that they are free to work on growing their businesses.
What Will You Do as a Virtual Assistant?
Instead of being a dedicated assistant for one boss, if you choose to become a virtual assistant, you’ll be your own boss, in charge of your own virtual assisting business. You’ll decide what services you will offer and what your rate will be, and you’ll be responsible for marketing yourself to clients. You’ll be able to select what types of services you offer and how many clients you’ll work with at any given time.
Basically, you’ll become a home based business owner whose job involves providing support functions to others who are running different types of home businesses. Being a virtual assistant requires organizational ability, customer service skills, marketing savvy, and the ability to juggle tasks. Additionally, you must have in-demand skills that others are willing to pay for.
If sounds appealing to you, it may be time for you to decide if you’re ready to become self employed and take the leap to becoming a self employed virtual assistant. You’ll need to make decisions about your hourly rate, what type of assisting packages you may want to offer to clients who use your services on an ongoing basis, and start marketing your services. Before you take the leap, it’s a good time to spend some more time investigating the field and to complete a training program designed to prepare individuals for success in this field, such as the ones available from www.vatraining.com and www.vaclassroom.com.
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June 25, 2009 By Mary White
Are you thinking about selling your business? If so, there’s a good chance that you’re feeling overwhelmed and a little uncertain about how to get started? That’s how many entrepreneurs in your situation feel. John Couzens, Managing Partner with Trinity Capital Services, LLC shares his expertise with American Entrepreneurship readers in this exclusive expert interview.
Q: What factors need to be considered when deciding whether or not to sell your business?
Couzens: There are three primary factors to consider:
1. Sustainability – The ability of a business to endure and compete in the future.
• Willingness to accept new risks
• Management depth to battle increasing competition
• Personal energy to manage through the next business downturn
2. Financial independence – The ability of the sale proceeds to achieve personal financial goals. Get really clear on “your number”: the sale price you must obtain to achieve personal financial goals.
3. Business cycle timing – Valuation multiples drop sharply when the economy is down and jump back only when the economy improves. Additionally, business profits drop in recessions, and valuation multiples are based on business profits. Selling a business in a bad economy is doubly painful: lower multiples AND lower earnings. The best time to sell is when the future looks most promising.
Q: What are the common pitfalls associated with selling a business that entrepreneurs need to avoid?
Couzens:
- Failing to learn about the process of selling businesses, and what it means to commit to an exit strategy.
- Procrastinating on developing a when-to-sell decision matrix that identifies signposts for the business.
- Underestimating the discipline necessary to maintain confidentiality about exploring exit strategies.
- Selecting advisors based on personal relationships vs. on expertise in mergers and acquisitions
- Lacking emotional courage to close the deal and pick up the check. Many business owners wrap their personal identities in their companies.
Q: How can a small business owner decide if it’s a good time to sell his or her business?
Couzens: A decision matrix of priorities within a list of typical signposts will tell you if it is a good time to sell.
- Capital needed to compete
- Management depth and succession
- Economic outlook and business cycle
- Competitive landscape
- Business sustainability
- Investment diversification
- Liquidity
- Shareholder alignment
For example, a 65-year-old business owner may decide to initiate the sale process if there is a gap in management to navigate through the next downturn – and s/he doesn’t want to take on the multi-year time commitment and increased payroll to recruit, groom and develop a new management team.
Q. What are the steps in developing a transaction plan in preparation for selling a company?
Couzens:
- Get an education in the sale process and typical exit strategy alternatives (strategic buyers, financial buyers, management buyouts, recapitalizations, Employee Stock Ownership Plans).
- Get really clear on “your number.”
- Develop a decision matrix and signposts to tell you when to initiate the process.
- Assemble your team of experts.
- Run your business and do not let the sale process interfere with producing strong operating results each month. The biggest threat to a successful sale is when sellers take their eyes off the ball and the business results deteriorate.
Q: Is it a good idea to try to sell your business yourself, or is it advisable to seek outside help?
Couzens: Trying to sell your company without an advisory team is a little like expecting a dentist to install a pacemaker. Most successful sale transactions require special expertise to create a competitive market with qualified buyers on a confidential basis, and to negotiate deal terms with buyers who are professional acquirers and experts at buying businesses on the most favorable terms possible (for them).
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June 21, 2009 By Mary White
When you run a small business, there are several types of office equipment that you’re likely to need to be able to carry out your work efficiently and effectively.
3 Common Small Business Equipment Items
1. Electronic Postage Meter
If you utilize the postage service to send out a lot of mail, particularly when the items you send out are of varying sizes and weights, a postage meter can be a very convenient and cost effective addition to your office. While there is a few associated with using a posted meter, this piece of equipment often results in an overall reduction in postage costs for small business owners who choose to utilize one in their offices.
Instead of having to run out to the post office every time you run out of postage, you’ll be able to reload the meter with the exact amount of postage you want to purchase from the convenience of your office. This results in saving both time and fuel money. Additionally, you’ll be able to use the meter to put the exact amount of postage necessary on every envelope or package you send out. As an added benefit, you won’t have to deal with having leftover stamps that you have to use in combination with odd denomination stamps every time the postage rates increase when you use a postage meter.
2. Copy Machine
Depending on the volume of copies that you make, it’s likely that a copier is something that you need in your small business. Of course, there are many types of copiers in a wide price range. The more copies you make, the higher quality piece of equipment you need. If you rarely make a copy, a small all in one copier/printer/fax might be a good option for you. However, if you do a lot of printing, this will be an inefficient choice for your business. Instead, you’ll be better served by a heavier duty copier; possibly one that is networked directly to the computers that you and your employees use to do the work of your small business enterprise.
3. Binding Machine
Do you create presentation booklets frequently? If so, investing in an electric binding machine for your small business office could be a wise decision for you. When you have your own binding machine, you can quickly and easily assemble printed documents and cover pages into professional looking booklets using affordable comb binders. If you rarely create such documents, it may be best for you to outsource this type of work. However, if you need bound booklets frequently, you can save a lot of money when you have your own binding equipment in the office.
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June 14, 2009 By Mary White
As a small business owner, can you honestly say that your workplace is as safe from exposure to identity theft as possible? It’s a fact that the issue of identity theft is an increasing problem that is already quite widespread. It’s a good idea to periodically do a checkup on your business security policies and procedures to ensure that you have taken every possible step to keep your company’s data safe from identity thieves, as well as personally identifiable information that belongs to your employees and your customers.
1. Be Careful What You Throw Away
Identity thieves are skilled dumpster divers. If you or your employees throw away papers that include bank account numbers, social security numbers, and other information that can be used to perpetuate fraud, there’s a good chance that the data could end up in the hands of unscrupulous characters. Make it a firm policy to shred all waste paper that has any information that could possibly be used by people who might be looking to steal someone else’s identity.
If you only have a small quantity of this type of documentation, it will probably be feasible to handle shredding in-house, with shredders placed in strategic locations around your place of business. If your business generates a large quantity of documentation that contains protected information, it may be better for you to hire a document shredding company to take care of destroying throw away documents that may contain sensitive information.
2. Take Steps to Protect Data Stored on Company Computers
Verify that the virus protection and firewall software installed on your computer system remains current at all times. Make sure that you are using a quality virus protection program and set it up to run daily scans so that you can be as safe from computer viruses as possible. It’s also important to check for updates to your virus software and install them as soon as they become available.
It’s also a good idea to set up every desktop computer and laptop so that a password is required for login. This can help protect stored data in the event that the equipment is lost or stolen and ends up in the wrong hands. This is not a foolproof protection, of course, because skilled hackers can find their way around password protection in many cases. However, it’s certainly better than leaving computer equipment unprotected.
When your company upgrades computer equipment, it’s essential to dispose of your old equipment responsibly. Simply deleting files from your old hard drive is not sufficient to keep identity thieves from stealing your confidential data if the equipment is not properly disposed of. The only truly safe way to get rid of data from your old computer is to shred the hard drives. The same companies that provide document shredding services typically also offer hard drive recycling.
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June 11, 2009 By Mary White
When you own a small business that has employees, it’s a fact that being a coach is an essential function of your job. You can’t be an effective manager or leader without recognizing that you are responsible for fulfilling a coaching role with your employees. After all, it’s your responsibility to motivate everyone who works for your company to reach their potential, performing their job duties to the best of their ability. By performing the coaching functions of your own job, you can also accomplish your own goals of moving the company forward, toward long term profitability and success.
What is Involved in Coaching Employees?
To be an effective coach, you must first recognize that you are responsible for making certain that your employees have the training and tools necessary to perform their jobs in an effective and efficient manner. This means that part of your job is to function as a teacher. Once you teach employees how to do what it is that they need to do, you must also provide feedback – both positive and negative – so they can apply what they have learned in a positive way in the workplace. You are also responsible for providing encouragement, any remediation that might be necessary, and setting goals for employees to accomplish.
What Can Employee Coaching Accomplish?
When your employees know how to do their jobs and they have a solid understanding of what is expected of them, they are much more likely to become engaged in their jobs and committed to the organization. Employees who work for managers who truly function as coaches are able to feel comfortable that they will receive the help and guidance they need to excel in the tasks that are assigned to them, so rather than worry about how they are doing they can concentrate on continuous improvement in terms of efficiency and quality.
When is Coaching Necessary?
Business owners and other supervisors need to recognize that they can’t ever stop being coaches. While they don’t have to provide feedback to employees constantly, they must always be alert for coaching responsibilities. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to reinforce positive employee behaviors and to step in to offer assistance any time it is needed. Coaches don’t sit back and wait for employees to act for direction. They are proactive in being aware of what is going on in the workplace and providing clear and consistent feedback to team members on a regular basis. The coaching hat is one of the many hats that small business owners wear every day, and it’s not one that you can take off as long as you have employees.
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June 7, 2009 By Mary White
Is time management one of your biggest challenges? You are certainly not alone if that is the case. Many small business owners and other professionals are always looking for ways to make better use of their time. If finding a way to implement strategies for effective time management is something that appeals to you, you may find the tips and ideas presented here to be beneficial. Keep in mind that not everyone has the same time management problems. Look for tips that can have a positive impact on your own personal time management challenges.
3 Time Management Tips for Professionals
1. Get Organized – If you are disorganized, you’ll end up spending a lot of time each day looking for things, which is a complete waste of your time. Instead of wasting time searching for items, set aside a chunk of time to get organized and include time in each week’s to-do list to spend time getting re-organized. When you get in the habit of doing this, everything in your office will be in it’s proper place so you won’t find yourself wasting time searching for items that aren’t where they should be.
2. Reduce Socializing at Work – If people tend to stop by your office regularly to socialize, and you find yourself getting embroiled in lengthy conversations that keep you from taking care of your work responsibilities, you have a time management challenge caused by too much socializing. Consider rearranging your workspace so that it’s difficult for people to camp out in your workspace for long periods of time. Try placing the visitor’s chairs in your office so they aren’t right by the entrance to your office, or place stacks of books or files in the chairs. You may also want to get into the habit of standing up when people enter your office. This can be a signal to them to keep the conversation short and sweet.
3. Plan Your Work Wisely – When coming up with a plan for getting your work completed, think about what times of day or days of the week seem to work best for certain tasks. If you experience a drop in energy during the afternoon, schedule tasks that you consider mundane – such as filing or updating your computerized contact directory – for that time of day. If you are at your most energetic during the morning hours, use that time to contact prospective clients and to work on those parts of your job that require maximum creativity and energy. If the phone seems to ring endlessly on Friday afternoons, make sure that you’ve taken care of all of your deadline work for the week before then.
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May 31, 2009 By Mary White
Stress is a fact of life for small business owners just as it is for everyone. While you can’t eliminate stress from your life, there are steps you can take to minimize its negative impact and to keep it from becoming the central focus of your life. After all, how you choose to deal with stress is something you can control.
1. Maintain a Healthy Perspective
Many times, we can control stress by changing the way we look at a situation. Instead of looking at the possibilities or opportunities of an occurrence, we hyper focus on our first reaction. The problem is that our initial reaction often isn’t accurate, or doesn’t tell the complete story. Often, it’s a knee jerk reaction that comes from fear of the unknown or an unwillingness to accept a possible deviation from the way you expected things to be. When you’re feeling stressed out, try to step back and look at the situation from a different angle You just may find that the problem is actually a disguised opportunity.
2. Take a Breather When You Need It
When you feel stress starting to build up, it’s time to take a break. While this may seem counterintuitive, it’s a fact that taking a breather can help you get the perspective you need to get the anxiety you are experiencing under control. By taking a mental break from a stressful situation, even one that is brief, you can recharge yourself so that you’ll be ready to tackle the issues that are causing you to experience stress. Taking a breather doesn’t have to involve a lot of time or even physically removing yourself from the situation at hand. Just relax and take your mind off whatever is bothering you long enough to relax and unwind. Often, doing this will allow you to take your focus off the emotions associated with stress so you can start making progress toward problem resolution.
3. Make Forward Progress Toward Problem Resolution
There’s no benefit to putting off dealing with stress. That’s why maintaining perspective and allowing yourself to relax are so important. These things can enable you can get focused on resolving whatever issue is causing you to experience anxiety. This is much better than continuing to put off dealing with the stressors you are experiencing, which will only result in keeping you in a state of anxiety for a longer time. Remind yourself that the only way to truly get rid of stress related to a particular situation is to get it resolved. The sooner you focus on moving ahead and making forward progress, the faster you’ll be free from the problem you are dealing with at this point in time.
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May 26, 2009 By Mary White
Are you wondering how to best handle the challenges of running your business during uncertain economic times? Jon Gordon, best selling author of The Energy Bus, The No Complaining Rule, Training Camp shares his expertise with readers of American Small Business News in this exclusive interview.
Q. Is it natural for small business owners to feel stressed when doing business in uncertain economic times and why?
Gordon. Of course it is. At the root of all stress is fear and uncertainty is a fertile breeding ground for fear. But I would say that as an entrepreneur the future is always uncertain. Thus the same principles for success apply whether you are in a great economy or a negative economy
Q. What things can entrepreneurs do to make the best of uncertain times and stay focused on the positive?
Gordon. They can wake up every morning and ask themselves one question. “What are the three things that I need to do today to create the success I desire.” Then everyday take actions on those 3 things. Entrepreneurs also should look to history and understand that there were many businesses that thrived during past downturns and recessions. These companies and their leaders stayed positive. They had a clear vision for the future. They outworked their competition. While others were paralyzed by fear they charged forward with business as usual. They gained market share.
Q. What tips do you have for small business owners regarding how they should communicate with employees when times are tough?
Gordon. Small business owners need to communicate more than ever during uncertain times. Where there is a void negativity will fill it and during an uncertain economy it requires you to keep communicating, keep reassuring, keep sharing your positive belief and vision. You need to be a bearer of hope and fill the void with positive energy so negativity can’t breed and grow. Now more than ever you need to be with your people, not in your office. You need to hold weekly meetings. You need to let people know where they stand and where the company stands. You need to let them know where you are, where you are going, and how you are going to get there. Then you need to be a coach and a cheerleader as everyone works to realize the vision you have set forth.
Q. What suggestions do you have for small business owners who find themselves having to make the difficult decision of having to downsize staff members?
Gordon. Be honest, be transparent, be real. Have a town hall style meeting and let people ask questions and be prepared to answer them. It’s not going to be easy especially when you have to layoff good employees who care about the business, but just be truthful and give clear explanations of why the layoffs are necessary. The truth is always best and the people who are not being laid off are watching and asking if they can trust you. If you handle your downsizing correctly this will help you move forward with a loyal team and help you maintain good relationships with those who you had to layoff.
Q. What ideas do you have for entrepreneurs who are struggling to establish and maintain “work-life balance” even when the economy is tight?
Gordon: I would tell them to take time every day for themselves. Even if it’s just 10-30 minutes take a recharge break every day. Know that if you don’t have the energy you can’t share it. The best athletes take short breaks during the competition to recharge and refocus. You must do the same. Short breaks will reengage you and refocus you and will help you get more done in less time. It’s more about energy management than time management.
Q. How can reading your books be beneficial to entrepreneurs and other professionals who are struggling to cope with a difficult economic environment?
Gordon: I am told that my books help people stay positive and build winning teams. 90% of the battle is staying positive and helping your team stay positive. Leadership is a transfer of belief and by sharing your positive beliefs with your team and getting them on the bus you create a team that can win in today’s environment. So my books give people a framework and a plan to approach each day with vision, focus, purpose and positivity and this leads to the actions that generate winning teamwork and sales growth. Positive beliefs lead to powerful actions.
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May 25, 2009 By Mary White
Would you like to know more about what’s involved in working with a small business coach? Find out more about how business coaches assist their clients in exclusive expert interview with Sylvia Browder, Project Director, Business Coach, and Consultant with the Women’s Business Center, Inc., based in southern Alabama.
Q. Is it a good idea for small business owners to work with a business coach?
Browder: Yes, it’s a great idea to hire a business coach to help you overcome obstacles that can prevent you from managing and growing your business.
A few ways a small business coach can be beneficial:
- Help in brainstorming new ideas
- Gain valuable insight into what is working and what should be changed in your business
- Develop and implement a strategic action plan for your business goals
- Learn to prioritize and use your time and energy more effectively
- Follow through, be accountable and share valuable feedback
- Identify ways to build profit and sustainability
Q. Is working with a coach affordable for small business owners?
Browder: Hiring a small business coach is affordable and should be considered as part of your overall budget. Are you serious about your business? If so, then just as you hire a CPA or attorney to help you with financial and legal issues of your business, you should budget the cost of a small business coach to help you in the development and growth of your business. Most small business coaches offer a free initial coaching session with no obligation which helps you to learn more about the coach and decide if there is a good working chemistry.
Q. What should entrepreneurs expect from a business coach?
Browder: The coach’s role is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that you already have. Coaches are trained to listen, to observe, and to customize their approach to meet your needs. Coaches will elicit solutions from their clients; but a skilled coach also knows when to jump in and provide direction when you get off track.
So, determine what your needs are and make sure that your coach has some experience in helping others with similar situations or at least a detailed action plan for you to follow over a specific time frame.
Q. What’s the best way to start looking for a small business coach?
Browder: It can be a daunting task trying to find the right small business coach that fits your needs. With thousands of business coaches to choose from, here are a few tips to help you in the process:
Evaluate the Industry
Before you choose a coach, take a closer look at the industry. There is no regulatory board governing the coaching industry but there are standards in place. The International Coach Federation is the leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches. Go to coach federation.org and check out profiles of coaches.
Evaluate the Coach
Go online and Google ‘business coaches’ and even refine your search to include your geographic location. Find business coaches in your area. Check out their websites and read their bios. Check out their qualifications and credentials. Coaches, who are serious about their profession, will have invested in it. For example, I am currently enrolled at Coach University as a student working on my coaching credentials.
Coach U is the leading global provider of coach training programs. The Advanced Coaching Program™ (ACP™) meets the academic requirements for becoming an Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC) or Master Certified Coach (MCC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF).
As you network, talk to your business contacts and ask for referrals for local business coaches. Word of mouth is powerful!
Ask for a complimentary coaching session to get an idea of his/her working style. After you’ve interviewed a potential coach, ask for names and numbers of clients that they’ve worked with. Call those references and ask them questions such as:
- What was there overall experience being coached by this person?
- Did the coach help them achieve their goals?
- Would they hire this coach again?
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May 21, 2009 By Mary White
Wondering about what you can do to most effectively manage changes that sometimes take small business owners by surprise? American Small Business News readers can benefit from the tips shared by internationally recognized change expert M.J. Ryan in this exclusive expert interview. As a member of Professional Thinking Partners, Ryan specializes in coaching individuals and teams around the world. She is one of the creators of the New York Times bestselling Random Acts of Kindness series and the author of The Happiness Makeover, Trusting Yourself, Attitudes of Gratitude, AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn’t Ask For, and a number of other titles.
Q: How important is it for small business owners to expect the unexpected?
Ryan: Developing the ability to anticipate and respond quickly to change is the crucial business skill entrepreneurs need. Not only will it keep you afloat because you have increased options, but it is THE competitive advantage small has over large. We can turn on a dime, where large corporations lose time trying to turn their battleship.
What tips do you have for small business owners who are coping to deal with the uncertain economic environment?
Focus on the solution, not the problem. Because society rewards analytic thinking, we believe that identifying the cause is the answer: Why is this happening. That’s a starting point, but don’t spend too much time there. What are you going to do about where you are?
Because feeling in control is so crucial to resilience and economic challenges can leave us feeling very out of control, try asking yourself this question during the day: What am I free to choose right now?
Seek out really good advice–this is no time to be a lone ranger!
Q. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs whose natural tendencies lean toward avoiding change whenever possible?
Ryan: If innovative thinking is not your default setting, seek out allies who have it and really listen to and take their advice. Those of us who prefer stability are at a disadvantage right now. We must team with forward thinkers.
Think like a Native American. The Native Americans say that if you can’t think of seven options, your thinking is incomplete. I’m not sure there’s something magical about the number except that it allows you to generate a lot of possibilities. It’s ok if they are not all realistic, this is a brainstorming technique. What are seven new ways you can respond to what is happening?
Q: What can entrepreneurs do to keep from falling into negative patterns when faced with change?
Ryan: Don’t take it personally! What’s happening are large economic forces that have nothing to do with you or your value. When we depersonalize, we can engage more of our capacity to think because we avoid all the feelings of blame and shame that can hang us up.
Celebrate success along the way, no matter how small: a new connection, a possible lead, a small savings. Give yourself credit for moving forward in a difficult situation. At the end of the day, look at what you’ve done and celebrate whatever accomplishment you can. Celebration creates positive energy and forward momentum.
When considering options, before you say something won’t work, consider how it might work. Try it on for a while.
If you find yourself worrying all the time, set aside a 15 minute worry time, say 5pm every day. Then when your mind starts worrying at other times, tell yourself it’s not worry time and distract yourself—read a report, write an email, something that occupies your mind.
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