SBA Basics: 504 Loans

Recently Becky asked me to help with some information about US Small Business Administration (SBA) programs. Here are a few basics everyone needs to know; first, SBA does not do direct lending except for disaster assistance. They also do not have grant funding.

What do they do? They offer a guarantee to a lender that helps small businesses qualify for longer term, better interest and they give the lender a degree of comfort on an otherwise risky loan. If your credit is horrible and the project or business idea you are trying to fund is not viable, this program won't help you.

Here, just released from SBA is an excerpt from their latest BankNotes newsletter on the 504 Loan program.

Certified Development Companies can help small business qualify for SBA loans

Growing businesses are often unable to qualify for traditional financing because of the difficulty of coming up with a down payment of 30 percent or more. When a conventional loan is not possible, a 504 loan may be the answer. The SBA 504 Loan Program gives small business owners the following advantages: generally a lower down payment; below- market, fixed rate financing, which avoids the uncertainties or future market fluctuations; and a longer repayment term that brings debt service in line with the cash flow generated by the asset.


Virtually all types of for-profit small businesses are eligible for this program. Loans cannot be made to investment companies, or businesses engaged in speculation or investment in rental real estate.

The loans are for acquiring long-term fixed assets, such as land, build­ings, machinery and equipment. Loans can also be used for building, modernizing, renovating or restoring facilities or purchasing long-term machinery and equipment


The SBA’s 504 lending intermediaries, Certified Development Companies (CDCs),serve your community to finance business expansion needs through the 504. CDCs are nonprofit corporations set up to contribute eco­nomic development in their local communities. CDCs work with the SBA and private sector lenders in a public-private partnership to provide financing to small businesses.

The maximum SBA debenture is: $1.5 million for regular 504 loans meet­ing the job creation criteria or a community development goal; $2.0 million for loans meeting certain public policy goals; $4.0 for manufacturing loans.

Information on all SBA programs can be found on their web site at www.sba.gov

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Naming Your Business

I recently found Ben Means Business, a great blog on small business topics. Ben found me through Twitter and I want to share his blog with you. http://www.ben-means-business.com

His most recent article had some helpful hints on choosing a name for a new business. He started with three questions; Is it descriptive?; Is it memorable?; Is it timeless? His examples are real world and will make you think about that most important step in start up; What's My Name!

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May 1 talk to your neighbors

On Thursday May 1, Barbara K. Baker proposes we revive some real world connecting. Get out and chat with a neighbor.

Maybe even deliver a little May Day basket. Do you remember those little baskets of flowers you would leave on a neighbor's door? Just exactly the kind of thing that used to be a hallmark of small towns, now nearly gone.

Even as we build stronger connections in the online world, we are losing connections in our own physical community. Share some social love with your real world neighbors.

Care to help promote? Twitter it. Change your Facebook or BrightKite status. Blog it. Utterz it. Take a picture and share it in Barbara's May Day Flickr group.

Remember: it’s all about visiting with a neighbor. You're from a small town. You can do that.

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Read and Comment Day

Chris Brogan declared a Read and Comment Day, to get out and comment on others' blogs. Here are the interesting finds I thought I'd share with you.

I left my first comment today with @rickmahn, because I love his happiness series, and we're going to meet at SOBCon! http://rickmahn.com/

Interested in travel and tourism industry? Here's THE technology blog on T&T: Travel and Tourism Technology Trends

My third find - global communication tips even if you "can't" learn languages at Location Independent Living.

Finally, I loved finding Preserving Small Towns! (Quite a bit of the local politics, but with some interesting discussion on smart growth.) I found that link at Small Towns.

Next: May Day is Go Chat with a Neighbor Day

On May 1, Barbara K. Baker proposes we revive some real world commenting. Get out and chat with a neighbor. Maybe even make and deliver a little May Day basket. (That's a basket of flowers left for a neighbor. Example here: http://tinyurl.com/5un54d) Share some social love with your real world neighbors.


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Delegating without freaking out your clients

Getting past the point of being a one-person, do-it-all, no-rest-for-the-weary business means helping customers to work with your employees or subcontractors, as well as you. But if every client thinks you need to do every thing, how do you keep them from freaking out when you delegate their work?

This problem is common in reputation industries as diverse as design, consulting, hair styling and professional hunting. Clients feel attached to the person whose name is on the firm and insist on personal service. But that only works for so long, until you have more clients than hours in the day.

Can you just not tell clients that you subcontract? I say no. To not be up front about this could feel like dishonest, or at least misleading, behavior to a client.

Why they can't live without you

First, it helps to understand how this happens. It's part of how that customer was thinking long before they ever called you. Everything you put out into the world starts the process of relationship building. Each piece of information from you adds a layer to the image they have of you and their decision making process.

When they read your blog, follow your tweets, check your about page, see your business card, meet you at a conference, or talk to other clients, it feels like they are building a relationship with you.

You haven't necessarily met or talked at this point, but your future client is building a relationship with you in their mind. That's a required and important part of how people make decisions.

I'm betting that right now, everything you are putting out is leading to them building that mental relationship directly with you.

How you can change it

How can you acclimate clients to your delegating?

1. Let them know you delegate
Starting now, make a conscious effort to mention your helpers, whether they are employees or subcontractors. Talk about team efforts, or how your associate did outstanding work for a client.

Evaluate your About page. If you work with a group of people regularly, should you feature them? Look at your card. Is it just you?

This takes a fundamental shift in thinking for some of us.

2. Let them know you still care and supervise
Reader Bob Sawyer shared his technique for doing this:

As for clients not wanting to work with your subcontractors, I have one of those. I explained it this way to them: "I'm not a god. I can only manage a finite number of tasks, and at this point, I have subcontractors assisting. I will personally oversee the work they perform and ensure that it meets your standards."

How do you ease clients into the idea of delegation? Any great tips to share?

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Two ways to build your small biz website yourself nearly for free

Not every small business can afford to hire someone to create or maintain a website. So let's go over some relatively easy do-it-yourself ways to build your site, kind of two by two. It just so happens that these are all free, or nearly so.

2 Free Website Builders

High up on the cool factor is Roxer. It's all click and drag, and easy to use. Very Web 2.0. They will let you use your own domain name, like allensretail.com.

Less "wow" but still very easy and polished is Google Pages. One neat feature is that it will automatically make a version of your pages optimized for mobile phone browsers. It will not let you use your own domain name.

To make up for that, I'll offer a bonus tool: Microsoft Office Live Small Business. One of our rural friends, Shady Hill Farm, uses this tool for their websites. A domain name is included for free your first year, but there is a small annual fee to renew it.

2 Blogging Tools

This is my favorite way to build your own do-it-yourself website!
A blog is just a special website made up of stories or articles, kind of like a newsletter. It also gives customers and readers a chance to comment on stories, building conversations. The two blog services I like are Blogger and WordPress. Both offer a platform for your own blog, and both will let you use your own domain name. The platform includes all the behind the scenes software that does the work. That lets you focus on writing stories, which works about like writing an email. Feeling brave? A blog can also include audio or video clips, not just text.

This is what I use for my liquor store's website. It provides all the basic contact info, plus I can update it with new product announcements, articles about wines, and drink recipes. You probably already teach customers about your product every day, so you could easily add that info to a blog and share it with your new potential customers.

2 Social Networks Ready to Go

Remember Yahoo! Groups and a dozen other similar group sites? Here are two new ways to do something similar for your fans and community, but in a more business like way.

Ning lets you build a complete social network, with profiles, forums, and everything else. Check out the Small Town group, part of The Society for Word of Mouth at Ning, for an example.

Google Sites are designed for group work online, and offer a bit more collaboration, though a bit less social.

2 Business Site Profiles

If you fill in your business information, your user profile on services like JumpUp or LinkedIn can serve as a website. They are designed for business, so these profiles give you room to include your contact information such as phone and email, details about your line of business, even hours or directions. You want customers to find your profile, so also check the privacy settings to make your profile public. Don't worry about people mis-using your email or phone number. The truth is that it rarely happens. If you feel more comfortable, use a secondary phone number and email address.

2 Important Tips

1. Get your own domain. Go to any registrar, and you'll probably pay less than $15 a year for your own domain name, like beckymccray.com. (Sometimes, it's way less than $15.) Then forward that domain name to the page you've created. The way you do this varies with each provider, and a few website tools (like FreeWebs) charge a fee for allowing you to use that domain name.

Two registrars: GoDaddy (which I use) and Network Solutions (which has agreed to sponsor one of our publications).

2. Be find-able. To make sure that customers searching for you can find you, you need to make sure search engines can find your page. Two techniques: keywords and links. Include the right keywords in all of your online presence. Your keywords are your name, your business name, your line of work or brands you carry, and your hometown or service area. Think of the words a customer would be thinking right before they search for a business or solution like yours. Then find other local websites to link to you, and link back to them. Submit your site to a few online directories for your industry for some additional links.

To Summarize

This was all a very basic two by two approach to free web presence tools. I tried to keep it basic, because that's my point. Keep it Simple.

Plenty more examples, techniques, and ideas can apply to creating your online presence. I'd love it if you would share your stories and links in the comments.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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The Brag Basket includes an assignment

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects.

Tony Katz explained why this matters:

It's ok to have success, it's ok to have great things happen in your life and it is ok to talk about those things. Embrace the good things that happen and the work that it took to get the good things to happen. Then, focus on more good things, and make them happen. The vision is only achieved through the action.

Last week, we had a flood of wonderful brags, compliments, and comments! What will you put in the Brag Basket this week?

You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

Special assignment for Monday

And here's your friendly assignment for Monday, from Chris Brogan:

I hereby officially declare Monday, April 28th “Read and Comment” day. Instead of your typical post (or as well as), get out there and comment on some blogs. Contribute to their conversations. Find some good stuff and add to it.

And then report back. Deal?

And we'll keep the Brag Basket open Monday to hear your reports, OK?

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Common Small Biz Mistakes - Blaming the customer

Common small business mistakes have become a regular series here. Today, a couple of examples of blaming the customer.

1. I called the local paper to have an ad pulled. The gal said OK. But it ran again the next day. I called back. The response was, "You didn't call soon enough yesterday." But I knew that she was wrong.


2. I tried to get my liquor sales rep to help me arrange an extra delivery for an item I didn't receive. He said to me, "It's your own fault not getting it ordered correctly." And I knew that he was right.

What do these two examples have in common? Blaming the customer. In one case, it was true, and in one case it wasn't. It didn't matter. In both cases, I was more unhappy after being blamed. That's just human nature. No one likes to be blamed.

Solution

Make a neutral statement or even take the blame on yourself, but don't ever blame the customer, even if it's true.

You may suggest actions that will prevent problems in the future, or explain the procedure the customer.

And just a reminder. Who is your customer? Anyone whose actions affect your results.
Customers, vendors, bankers, employees, and government officials are all customers. Treat them with the same level of respect. (Credit Steve Yastrow for the definition of a customer.)


Do you have examples?
Together, we are going to try to help each other out of these most common, deadly mistakes. You can use real world examples, real small businesses. Write it up, take a picture, or shoot a short video. Take care not to embarrass the offenders! Key point: include suggestions on how to do it right!

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POV: A major decision point

All small businesses run into decision points. These are the things that can keep you up at night! Twitter friend Shama Hyder, of After the Launch, has come to one of these, and "tweeted":

After The Launch has hit a MAJOR decision point: To work IN the business or to work ON the business. Do we hire? Who do we hire?

Shama agreed to tackle some really tough questions about this critical moment for the Small Biz 100, to hopefully help other entrepreneurs face their own decision points.


What made you realize that you are at a decision point? One particular event, or more creeping realization?

I think it was when I realized we were getting more clients by the day. It gets to a point where you don’t know if you should focus on client work or new client acquisition. That’s how I realized we had to make some major decisions to make. We either grow or stagnate.

How do you balance working ON the business, while still managing to get the IN the business work done? Or, how do you carve out time for working ON the business?

In all honesty, this is what I am working on now. It’s hard. This is why I am considering hiring more help! I love working on the business and in the business, but I can’t do it all. That’s a huge realization.

Have you decided what position to hire? How did you decide?

I’d like to hire someone who is well versed in internet marketing and PR. Someone who can handle client accounts with ease. We have no problem getting new business, and being a marketing company, I am glad we can walk our talk. However, we need to continue to deliver great results to our clients-old and new. In that sense, I need someone who can pick up the ball and get in the game.

How are you fitting this with your long term goals?

I am still ironing this out….= )

What's the best piece of advice you can give to other entrepreneurs running into a similar decision point?

Just this morning an expert entrepreneur and mentor gave me this piece of advice: A small business’ life blood is cash flow. That should always be your top priority. Cash flow is what allows you to grow. We hurt ourselves initially by really undercharging. We signed up clients for long term agreements at foolish prices. This is a silly mistake, but I hope others can learn from it. We are now correcting this. = )

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New here? Take the Guided Tour.

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Say NO gracefully

Part of being a successful entrepreneur is saying "no."

Small businesses are constantly hit with offers from potential suppliers, hopeful partners, and even potential customers. Then there are the constant requests for free help, volunteer work, donations, and even jobs. You can't possibly do it all. Let's face it. Being in business means saying "no" a lot.

There are positives to saying no.

What could possibly be positive about telling someone no?

• It keeps you focused on your business. It's your business, and your butt on the line. Learn to say no.
  
  
• It frees up that person to move on to their next prospect. What, you didn't realize they have a next prospect? Yeah, it's true, and you probably aren't the first on their list. So say no so they can move on.
  
  
• It lets you focus on projects that are core to your business or your heart. If you said yes to every single thing, you couldn't do any of them well.
  
  
• It makes you realize that you have a target market. If you can't say no to clients or projects that are a bad fit, you'll end up scattering your efforts all over.
  
  
• It keeps you in business. If you said yes to every donation request, you would go broke. It's hard to say no to the kids' Easter Egg hunt, but you might need to.

Twitterer Elaine Helm said it this way, "Saying no is good for you. And for those on the receiving end."

So when you say no, remember that. You are helping yourself and them by knowing what is right for you and what isn't.

Finding the words

Here are three steps to find the right words to say no gracefully.

1. Acknowledge the importance of the request.
2. Turn them down.
3. Optional: offer an alternative.

Chris Brogan asked Twitter for some help finding the right words to say no, nicely. GeekMommy gave good examples acknowledging the request.

• "Thank you! But I'm sorry I'll have to turn you down... I just can't work it out right now."
  
  
• "It would be a pleasure to work with you at some point, but I'm over-committed as it is right now. I'm sorry I'll have to say no."
  
  
• "Wow, thank you for the offer. I'm flattered, I just can't fit it in right now."

I added this way of acknowledging the request, a variation of one I read somewhere.

• "I'm glad that you asked. It's an important project, and I'm glad you're doing it. I won't be able to join, but wish you the best."

Jon Swanson came up with some good ways to offer alternatives.

• Give them a short burst of your time.
  "I can give you 15 minutes to help you figure out how you can not need me."

• Offer them an alternative prospect.
  "I'm sorry, I wish I could do that as well as _______. Wait. Maybe she's available. May I check?"

Harveymilk had a suggestion for when a request surprises you.

• "interim 'no'= 'let me get back to you'. Often gives you the time to get to an appropriate no."

What other ways can you add to offer alternatives when saying no?

And, just a moment of honesty here. We all struggle with this. Every single one of us. It's tough to tell people no. Here's the end of our Twitter exchange on saying no.

• chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - very nice response.
• BeckyMcCray @chrisbrogan Now I just need to use it more. :)
• chrisbrogan @BeckyMcCray - oh, we don't follow OUR OWN advice. That's silly.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Business school for bloggers and entrepreneurs

If a blog is part (or all) of your business strategy, go to SOBCon '08.

If you want your blog to become part of your business strategy, join me at SOBCon.

If your blog is an important part of your life, relationships, and/or business, ... get thee to SOBCon.

Less than two weeks away! May 2, 3, and 4, 2008, Chicago

What is SOBCon?

OK, it's partly Liz Strauss's doing. She started calling people Successful Outstanding Bloggers. SOBs. Including us Okies. We're SOBs, and proud of it.

When Liz's many readers, followers, and friends decided to get together, of course it was called SOBCon.

And when Liz and Terry Starbucker and others plan the 2008 SOBCon program to be a curriculum on business, you get business school for bloggers.

What's in it for me?

All the fun and socializing of other techie or blogger conferences.

A well-crafted program, designed to teach and involve.

Carefully selected presenters, speaking on their passion and specialty.

Participation in a mastermind group, working together on your plans.

At the end of the weekend, a completed action plan.

Deep networking with a core group of amazing people, like you.

Yes, YOU

Wouldn't you benefit from knowing more about the business and planning of blogging, whether you blog for business or fun, love or money?

Liz explains more in this video, taken by the awesome Jason Falls at SXSW.

OK, How do I register?

Go straight to SOBevent.com and sign up.

Still not sure? Email me, and I'll tell you why I'm going.


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Can you be self employed AND on Social Security?

A reader arrived at Small Biz Survival with this search query:
"I want to start a home business, but I'm on Social Security. Can I still be self employed?"

This sounds like a good addition to the Small Biz 100 and tax question for Maesz! Here's the answer:
-----
Yes... but

If she is not "full retirement age," too much net self-employment income may trigger some recapture of her Social Security benefits.

How much is too much? It is different each calendar year due to indexing. On the Social Security website (and page 2) there is a good discussion of this issue--complete with examples.

If she has reached "full retirement age," she can earn as much as she wants without any adjustment of her Social Security benefits.

HOWEVER, she is in any instance, responsible for self-employment tax and income tax on her earnings from self-employment.
-----

Thank you, Maesz!

If you have a small business question, leave us a comment.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Resource: Sparkplugging and a rebranding story

Our friend Wendy Piersall is now CEO of Sparkplugging :: Thinking Big in the New Work at Home Generation. Sparkplugging is a complete rebranding of eMoms at Home. The new brand makes it clear that her site and network of blogs are focused on entrepreneurial content.

Wendy's eMoms at Home started as her personal blog, and over the past year, developed into an independent business including a blog network. As her business changed over time, she realized that the eMoms brand was holding her back.

At SXSW, Wendy and I both stayed with Sheila Scarborough. When we found time to talk, I was surprised by how much eMoms at Home was about entrepreneurship. Hey, we're all about entrepreneurship, but I didn't realize that she was, also. And I'm not the only one too myopic to see past the name. Time and again, Wendy found herself explaining how the name didn't say it all about eMoms.

Wendy got brave, and launched a complete rebranding of her business. Darren Rowse outlined more of the story of how that worked in this interview at ProBlogger.

What entrepreneurial resources can you find at Sparkplugging? An expanding network of blogs in small business and lifestyle channels. New blogs are launching each week at the same time as the rebranding. Articles at Sparkplugging cover the full range of small business, work at home, entrepreneurial, and work life balance issues.

Congratulations, Wendy, on the tough business decisions you've been through in the past month. Here's to continued future success, with brand new spark.

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Small Biz 100 reaches 10

Our Small Biz 100 series, designed to give you 100 useful hands-on business basics posts, has reached 10 posts.

And I have two requests of you.

1. What other small business topics do you want to see me cover? Put them in the comments. With 30 articles in process, I'm no where near out of ideas, but do want this series to respond to your needs.

And

2. If you are writing or considering writing a series like our Small Biz 100, I'd love to hear from you over at my personal blog, Out Standing in My Field.

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You're a small biz superhero, so enter the contest

Our friend Michelle Riggen-Ransom sent me an email about a nifty small business contest:

I wanted to let you know about our Small Business Super Hero contest that we're running in honor of National Small Business Week next week. We're inviting small business owners to tell us, in 200 words or less, what makes their business super. We've got some cool prizes including a jetBlue gift card, super hero DVDs, free BatchBook accounts etc., plus we'll be publishing winning entries on our blog. I'd love for your readers to enter!

More information is on our contest site. Feel free to send me any questions - I'm up in (rural!) Vermont this weekend but will be checking in between petting baby lambs and chicks.

I'm thinkin' that being a small town business would make a compelling angle in a 200 word entry! Plus, you can submit a photo, so there's another way to stand out from the crowd. Deadline is April 27, 2008.

Photo of me and Michelle at SXSW by Shashi B's Flickr.

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Tony explains the Brag Basket

New friend from SXSW, Tony Katz, president and founder of Aweli.com, left some comments in our brag basket that explain why we do it, better than we ever have explained it before.

Ok, here's my brag. I'm thrilled to know other people who understand the importance of being proud of what you do and the good things that hard work brings.

I never understood why people are embarrassed or, possibly, ashamed when good things happen to them. From getting a new camera (congrats Becky) to having your business hit its stride (congrats Pistachio).

It's ok to have success, it's ok to have great things happen in your life and it is ok to talk about those things. Embrace the good things that happen and the work that it took to get the good things to happen. Then, focus on more good things, and make them happen. The vision is only achieved through the action.

Keep up the great work, Becky.


Tony Katz

Tony followed up via Twitter.

...I can't tell you how much that phrase means and how much I believe in it....

...when I think of the time wasted in my life by self sabotage...thinking I didn't deserve or wasn't worthy of success....

..such a waste..when I made the change, everything changed..when I decided that my thoughts required action, everything changed

...thus...The Vision Is Only Achieved Through The Action...and that's the one to quote me on..glad you liked my comment overall

That's why we are here, every week. Open for your brags, comments, and giving you a chance to celebrate with friends. Yes, you can brag on others, but we applaud twice as much when you gather your strength and brag on yourself. Just put it in the comments on this post.

So, go ahead. Brag.

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Small Biz Survival: Small town advantages

Running a small business is tough enough. But if you're running a small business in a small town, there's a secret you need to know... it's more fun than being in the big city!

You don't believe me? Well here's the top 5 small town advantages ...
1. You don't need GPS Navigation
2. Out network is smaller, but we care about you and your business
3. No “rush hour” - only “rush moment”
4. Random encounters are good for business
5. People are helpful

If you recognized your small town in that list, then join us for more articles, tools, resources and more fun at Small Biz Survival, The Small Town, Small Business Resource

Cast: Becky McCray, Laurie Reyes, Jeanne Cole, Glenna Mae Hendricks, Jodell Durkee.
Music by Frenz, from Pod Safe Audio.

Mobile post sent by BeckyMcCray using Utterz. Replies.

Feedback?

We can refine this now through May 2, 2008, so I would love your feedback! All I ask is you find something positive to say, along with suggestions, ideas, and criticisms. :)

UPDATE: Thanks for all your feedback! The contest is closed, and we got lots of positive comments. We didn't win the prize, but we certainly had fun! Thanks for your support!

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When you fail to let customers know

Common small business mistakes have become a regular series here! This week, we've got another local example you can learn from.

The pizza place is closed??!

Tried to call for pizza the other day, but the phone just rang and rang. Not too unusual for them. I decided to run down and just pick up a pizza. Then I figured it out. They're closed! One side of the sign announced a closing date the day before, and the other said reopening in mid summer. Was I the only one who didn't know? No, the next three people I told were also surprised. Now that is an example of how not to keep your customers in the know.

Keep your customers informed

Here are my top suggestions on letting customers know.

1. Get a customer perspective. Realize that your customers may love you, but they don't live and breathe your business. You have to tell them, repeatedly, before they may get the message.
2. Use multiple media. For the pizza place, an ad in the paper, a banner on site, the sign going up more than a day or two before, flyers on pizza boxes, etc., would all have been appropriate ways to get the word out. Get creative.
   
3. Don't overlook the low-tech. A simple answering machine set to announce would have saved me and many other customers a fruitless trip to the pizza joint.
   
4. Repeat your message, repeat your message, repeat your message. Seriously.
   

Do you have examples?
You can use real world examples, real small businesses. Write it up, take a picture, or shoot a short video. Take care not to embarrass the offenders. Key point: include suggestions on how to do it right.



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10 ways out of a crunch without hiring employees

As your business starts to take off, you'll hit a time when you have more work than you can do, but not so much that you are ready (or can afford) to hire an employee. How can you handle the crunch? Here are ten ways to delegate some of the work, without hiring any employees.

1. Family

Seems like every small business starts with this, but it can get you out of a crunch. Your spouse is probably your biggest supporter. I know that you already asked for him or her to take on extra stuff around the house, not to mention three jobs in the business, but if this is serious, it's serious. Set a time limit, and reevaluate these extra duties again soon. This is the one relationship you can't afford to mess up.

If you have children, you probably also have some tasks appropriate to their age. Look around at your extended family. Brothers, sisters, parents, cousins. Got any young computer wizards in the family? Who could pitch in for a short time? Make sure you are clear about what, if any, payment they can expect. And do set that time limit. You aren't looking to borrow them indefinitely.

2. Subcontractors

Unless your clients absolutely insist on you personally doing every bit of a job, look to your network of potential subcontractors. Let them know what payment terms from the client will be, and move entire jobs or parts of jobs off to other professionals.

If you think clients wouldn't like it, or you just don't know whether your clients would approve, ask them. Start with the most reasonable, friendly clients. Ask them permission to move a specific task or job to a carefully selected sub. If the client refuses, reassure them that you'll stick with the job personally for now. And start training your clients to work with you and your associates in the future.

(I'm working on a follow-up post on how to get clients to accept working with your associates and subs. I'll link here when I get it finished.)

3. Local professionals

OK, if it's crunch time, let go of your basic bookkeeping. Drop the idea of handling your own design, photocopying, computer maintenance or anything else you can get done locally. Think for a moment about the local professionals you already work with, like your accountant, office supply store, or computer repair pro. Ask them to take on a bigger role for you. See what other services they can provide or recommend a provider, to get tasks off your plate. (Yes, I know you are a nerd that likes to work on your own stuff, but get over it. You don't get paid to track down driver conflicts or a camera that won't mount as a drive.)

Once you are through the crunch, reevaluate these tasks. Is there a reason to take them back on yourself? Probably not!

4. Virtual assistants

You already know that virtual assistants can make a difference in your work. The problem is that if you are already in a crunch situation, you may not be able to invest the cash in paying a new assistant, or you may not be able to dedicate time to effectively delegating to a new VA. The way to use a new VA effectively in a crunch is to focus on delegating tasks that require very little training to get going. Start with travel arrangements, basic research, typing or editing.

5. Friends

When you are really crunched, it's time to find out who your friends really are. All of us hesitate to ask friends to help, but you'd be surprised how eager folks are.

When I broke my leg in 2006, several good friends stepped up and helped in my businesses. I know these folks would do the same thing right now if I called and said, "I really need help" whether I had any injury or not. What's more, if any one of them called me today, I would jump at the chance to help them out. That's friendship.

6. Delivery and pickup

Don't even consider driving errands around town at a time like this. Find out who does pickup and delivery, and use them. Can't find a vendor that delivers? Well, have you got a teen driver in the extended family? Bribe them with gas money to do the driving for you.

7. Household help

Working from home can multiply a tight work situation, especially if you are already leaning on your spouse for more help with the business. Call in some reinforcements for cleaning or babysitting. It doesn't take too long to get someone started in those roles. Take the kids to day care (outside your home) for some additional time. Of course, these choices take money, but it may be less cash outlay than trying to hire in your business. And, by the way, this may be the easiest place to bring in some family help, to get you more time to focus on business.

8. Drop it.

Seriously. Drop some things. If you can't do it, and you can't delegate it, can you drop it? Ask yourself, "what will happen if I don't do this?" Think through the consequences, and decide if you can live with that answer.

9. Delay it.

Well, if you can't drop it, can you postpone it? Some tasks are feasible to put off for a month or two, if you can see that you'll work your way out of the crunch. You might be able to stack up entering expense receipts, put off upgrades, or hold on to regular maintenance. Use this approach with caution. Make sure you aren't turning a crunch into an excuse for a bad habit.

Looking over your list of projects, decide which clients you can call to talk about delaying their work. You never know; they may be just as glad to put off a project because of a delay or issue on their end. You won't know until you ask.

10. Learn from it.

If you are going through hell, keep going. Start now with making notes of what tasks you plan to delegate in the future and how you'll accomplish that. Begin the savings account for paying an assistant, subcontractors, or service providers. It's easy to say, "I won't let this happen again." But if you are not setting the solution in motion, you are asking for a repeat.


How do you deal with crunch times in your business?

UPDATE: 11. Voice Mail

Seriously. Send all your calls to voice mail during designated times. You don't realize how much time the phone is eating up, until you block out time away from it.

I had thought of this one, but forgot to put it in! What other ideas do you have?

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Two guest posts to share

Two friends offered me a chance to reach out to new people this week, so I have a couple of guest posts to tell you about.

New Friend Grant D. Griffiths did a guest post for us this month, and he graciously offered me a guest post at his Home Office Warrior. Seemed like a good chance to talk about When Failure Can Do More For You than Success.

Twitter Friend Mike Gunderloy liked my interview of Chel Pixie and invited me to guest post at GigaOm's Web Worker Daily. I asked Can You Be a Web Worker From a Small Town?

Thank you, Grant and Mike!

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Draw the line between free and paid

Many newly independent small business people make the mistake of giving away too much of their services for free. Many seasoned professionals run into the same issue, like Drew McLellan giving away the milk.

I was at lunch with a peer and friend the other day, telling her a story about how a mutual acquaintance had called me out of the blue to ask for some marketing counsel, which of course I gave her. My lunch companion said, "I hope you charged her." Gulp.

Andy Sernovitz suggests you give away more. In the comment section under Drew's article, he said:

Give it away big time. Blog it, share it, speak, write, whatever.

You ideas are your selling tools. Give enough away and real clients will pay for even more.

I give away 100 books/month ($25 each), blog everything, speak for free. And the more I do, the more work I get.

We want to share our knowledge freely. That's why we blog, answer questions, talk to others, and do everything we can to share. But we also need to make a living. On the other hand, the more we give away, the more we indirectly market our services. But how do we ever make any money if we never figure out how to charge for our work?

How do we know where to draw the line between giving away free ideas, and signing up more paid clients?

Liz Strauss has it figured out, and you do, too, even if you don't know it yet. Liz created A Personal Model for Business Life.

What I realized is that in my personal life I already draw lines around circles of who I can do things for. Bet you do something like it too.

So here’s how I extended my personal groups into business groups. Now I know who gets how much for free.

1. Some people are casual friends and acquaintances. When they come to town or when I go to theirs, I make an effort to meet with them. I’ll point these folks to where they can find the information they need.
   
   
2. Some people are friends. When they come to town or I go to theirs I do my best to meet with them. I’ll help these folks when I can, especially when it’s something I can do easily.
   
   
3. Some people are close friends. When they come to town or I go to theirs, I make time for them. These people will get my help and my time unless pressing projects must be a priority.
   
   
4. Some people are lifelong friends and family. When they have a need I’ll fly to them anywhere on the planet. They’re most likely to get my help and my time for free. We value each other deeply.

Now that I see I already have a working system, it’s easy to decide who gets how much for free. When people I hardly know ask me to do their homework now, I simply say, “I can tell you where you’ll find what you need.” If they push for me to help them, I say, “If you’d like me to do that for you, we’ll need a more formal arrangement to cover my time. I charge $XXX/hour for that sort of work.”

I can’t believe the difference it’s made. How silly of me that I didn’t make this connection before. I wouldn’t fly around the world for just anyone. So what made me think I should give everyone my work for free?

So simple. So straightforward. It incorporates a couple of special factors.

1. You don't have to turn into "that guy" who charges for every phone call, every second.
2. You get to be a giver. You can write, speak, blog, share, talk, and give away your ideas, without ever reducing the value of your paid services.

Workable?

[Special thanks to Liz Strauss for giving special permission to quote such a huge chunk of her article.]

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Broadband access is too important for bad copywriting

Winner of the most deceptive headline of the week award is Cherry Creek News for this gem:

SCHWARTZ BRINGS BROADBAND TO RURAL COLORADO

The actual story? A bill passed one step of the legislative process. Several big steps to go. So that is hardly bringing it, right? And what does the bill actually propose? Mapping. It directs a state official to map the regions underserved by broadband. I must say that I'm underwhelmed, compared to the definite headline.

I haven't ranted on broadband nearly enough lately. Here's what better rural broadband could mean:

• Local business competing globally
  
• Entrepreneurs innovating new technologies
• Local professionals connecting to training, resources, conferences
  
• Web workers from all over moving (back) to small towns
  
• Students learning from the full range of available media
• Communities tying together into regional information alliances

While the US has improved on average in e-business readiness, according to the 2008 rankings, the rural-urban divide persists.

The IBM/Economist analysts came up with some guiding principles, intended for helping developing countries, but equally applicable to US states and regional development groups:

• Let the market build it... Competitive telecoms and Internet service markets are more efficient than governments in building networks and finding affordable price points for consumers. Policymakers should allow market forces to determine the course of the digital economy, and must resist the urge to steer its ICT industry into technology-specific directions.
• ... but step in when needed. Governments must, at the same time, ensure that investment finds its way to society's digital have-nots. Rural and poor communities, for example, tend to be left behind if service providers follow a purely market-driven course.
• Lead by example. In poorer countries, governments should strive to be an early adopter of digital practices that other organizations and individuals can emulate. They can also create demand for technology and digitally enabled services, both through their own direct purchases and through the creation of additional channels for procurement, tax filing and other operations.
• Don't do it all. Governments must champion digital development, fund their own ICT infrastructure, regulate lightly and encourage others to adopt — a complex juggling act. But they must also be as unobtrusive as possible if digital business is to thrive. For one thing, they should remain staunchly technology-neutral in their procurement and licensing practices.
• Keep at it. As this year's rankings show, it is precariously easy to fall back on more strategic digital objectives, and thus lose some of the ground gained in building networks and communities. The world of e-readiness is a place with ever-shifting targets, where policy and practices must be reviewed and refreshed frequently in order to meet the aspirations of the communities that governments serve.

So despite the exaggeration in news headlines, we have a long way to go.

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Three recommendations

Our long time Friend Zane Safrit is writing about small business in a new location. His insights on health care, failure, success, word of mouth marketing, and more are now at Zane Safrit. Update your feed reader!

New friend G.L. Hoffman has a terrific article on small towns and the loss of design, in Design and the WalMarting of America.

Used to be, the local small town retailer, whether a clothing store, gift shop, furniture store, or whatever, was owned by someone with real passion for their store. They lived, breathed and slept clothes, gifts or furniture. They knew their stuff.

What they had was DESIGN. Sure, more of their stuff was made in America, but the distinguishing ingredient was the inherent design and quality sense of the store owner. That is what you buying. You went to the gift shop and got a wedding gift, chances were very good, no matter the price point, that it was of good quality and had been designed well. If it wasn’t, the passionate store owner would not inventory it. So, all of us got used to having quality items naturally in our personal and work spaces.

Read the whole article at What Would Dad Say.

Third, a real world friend now working up to being a techie Laurie Reyes has made her first blog adventure. She'd love to have some comments and tips!


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Ask your small biz questions

eMoms at Home is launching a new blog, Ask the Business Coach Q&A. Today, Wendy Piersall said on Twitter that your questions are welcome, at admin @ emomsathome dot com. We'll update that address as the blog gets launched. eMoms is also undergoing a major re-branding, so watch for details!

If you deal with any sort of printed materials, now is the time to get your questions in to Jennifer Navarette for her Print Media 100.

For questions on accessibility, employing a person with a disability, or making accommodations, ask Glenda Watson Hyatt, author of I'll Do It Myself.

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Give someone a pat on the back in the brag basket

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects.

Last week, we had a flood of wonderful brags, compliments, and comments! What will you put in the Brag Basket this week?

You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the week, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Common Small Biz Mistakes - Losing your logo

When you have a logo or design created, ask for and keep a high resolution copy of the original artwork.

That's the advice from small town sign maker Wayne LaMunyon. He says it's the number one complaint of sign and banner makers everywhere. Small business owners get a logo or a business card with a design, then later they want a banner or a big sign. Way too often, they didn't keep a copy of the original artwork, and Wayne has to rebuild the logo from their tiny business card copy. For a fee, of course.

So, do yourself and your sign maker a favor. Keep several high resolution copies of your logo or design, digital or hard copy.

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The best channel to communicate with customers

The best channel to communicate with customers is ... the one the customer chooses.

OK, you can stop reading right there, if you'll take that sentence to heart. But for this installment of the Small Biz 100, I'm going to tell you a true story, as well as how to do this right.

My husband emailed five or six product questions to a small business. The email reply was this, and this is the entire reply:

Please call [phone number] and I will be able to answer your questions.

Ouch! You can bet your customer had a good reason for picking this particular method to reach you, and you just stomped all over it.

• If Joe wanted to call, he would have called. Why ignore the customer's preference?
  
• If the customer is deaf or hard of hearing, why turn this into an issue?
  
• If the customer has trouble speaking, why make it harder for them?
  

In this case, the customer would simply prefer to email, rather than call. But now he's looking for a different place to buy.

How do you make sure that you are using the right channels for your customers?

1. Offer many communication methods

Offer people as many ways to communicate with you as you can.

• Text message
• Email
• Online form
• Blog comments
  
• Telephone
• Skype
  
• Fax
• Mail
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flickr
• SecondLife
  
• Voice and video message widgets
  
• You can add other tools in the comments, since you'll remember ones I missed.
  

Of course, not every business needs all of these. My liquor store uses phone, email, blog comments, Facebook, and mail. I'll add new tools as it seems reasonable and discard those that don't help customers reach us. You may use more, or less. Let us know in the comments.

Try to list as many of your open channels as possible on your website, printed materials, social network profiles, etc. Make it easy for people to quickly find the tool they prefer to talk to you.

2. Set notifications to come via your preferred channel

Almost all social networks allow you to choose from different notification methods, including text message, email, or RSS. So rather than bounce all over checking messages at each different network all day, set up the system to come to you.

3. Respond in the same channel as the customer

This is the key. Answer customers in the same way as they reach out to you. If Facebook sent you a text because a customer sent a message, go back to Facebook to answer.

Don't tell callers to check the website. Don't ask emailers to call in. Don't require online forms be printed out and mailed or faxed! (No, really, I actually still see this done!)

4. Be considerate if you change methods in mid-conversation

Sometimes, you will be better able to serve the customer if you can switch channels. But do it in two steps:

1. Answer as much as you can in the customer's channel of choice.
2. Then ask permission to switch to the better channel by explaining why it helps.
   

How do you converse with your customers?

Share in the comments.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

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Hiring your first assistant

For this installment of the Small Biz 100, Liz Strauss shares some insights on hiring an assistant, virtual or local.



Where can a small business person find an assistant locally?

Liz suggests looking in the local university, college, or even high school and technical education. You can also work with temp agencies, or any of the tools Chel mentioned in How to work with a Virtual Assistant.

What characteristics should you look for?

"Ego strength, problem solving, and curiosity," Liz said. "Anything else can be taught."

Look for a person who is wanting to develop, to become what you are, Liz said. They can start out by taking just the first round of tasks, like initial research, and can develop more skills to work at a higher level.

How do you get started?

"When I first started, I asked the person to come in for two hours a week. That held me accountable to find two hours of work for that person to do. Believe me, I always found more."

How can you justify the expense?

"The principle is that people with the highest level skills should be doing the highest level work. You, as CEO of a Fortune 100 Corp, making coffee might be nice, but you're a VERY EXPENSIVE coffee maker. Let's say the main work you do is worth $100/hour. If you can pay someone to write your bills $20/hour for 3 hours and you stick to what only you can do, you're not spending money, you're making it so that you can earn $240 more in those three hours. "

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New here? Take the Guided Tour.

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How to work with a Virtual Assistant

For small town small business people, virtual assistants could be one of the best kept secret tools. A good VA can take some of the administrative load off of your shoulders, and make your business more successful. As a bonus, VA's can work from anywhere, so I see them as an emerging class of small town entrepreneurs. For this installment of the Small Biz 100, I interviewed former small town gal and current virtual assistant Michelle Wolverton, aka Chel Pixie, on how to work successfully with a VA.


Tell me about the services you provide. I know you do some things that I'm sure most don't.
I provide a wide range, so wide that sometimes it's hard to really narrow down the services that someone might need from me. Obviously anything that I can do virtually, which includes managing contacts (especially after conferences when you come home with all those business cards), making appointments and arranging for service that one might need in the normal course of business and/or personal, and I manage social networking sites for some clients.

The unique thing about me is that I can switch from installing and configuring Wordpress to writing a legal document to creating databases for musicians to market their music. These all came about because I'm a geek, have been trained as a legal assistant and got some experience working as an intern for Matthew Ebel.

What surprises clients or what don't they know?

Some clients are surprised at the depth of services I'm willing to handle, some are surprised to find out that x tool will work great for a task they need completed. I really think the biggest thing that they don't realize is what to delegate and how. It really is a big task to sit down and look at the things you're dealing with and say, oh okay, I can hand this over, but now I need to find the time to do that. It has to be a priority, and I think it surprises clients to know how difficult it is to get started. Once they start, it seems to get easier to think, "now that's something that I can give to the VA and it'll save me time".

How do people find a VA? How do they make a good match?

I've connected with clients via Ning, LinkedIN, Twitter, email, phone, Skype, and WOM. I think the first step is knowing that you CAN have a virtual assistant. Most corporations and companies look inside the box for someone that can be in office doing those same tasks for 8 hours a day. My clients tend to understand they can have someone do this work for them and not BE there. It can be hard to find someone that fits to bring into your home office.

I'm sure that some people utilitize Craigslist.org, job boards and other service, but I'm guessing that the majority of people find VAs through online networking services or WOM.

Trials are the key. Sometimes I hit it off with clients instantly, sometimes we don't, it really takes an effort on both sides of the fence to make the relationship cement. If the client is having difficulty knowing what they need me to manage or what they can have me manage, then it's a lot harder on both of us to find a good place to start. If you're going to take on a VA, be prepared to know what you can delegate. Ask yourself, "can I let go of this task and let someone else handle it for me?" If the answer is yes, just let go of it. It'll make your life easier. That's my purpose.

What makes it work? How do you manage across the distance?

To put it simply, it's the acceptance of telecommuting plus the tools to collaborate online. Tools like Google Documents and Calendars, Skype, Plaxo, oovoo, Todoist, de.lici.ous, Basecamp, Backpack, etc. have changed our way of thinking about how we communicate with our co-workers and business partners. For myself, that includes almost always being connected.

Companies like The Advance Guard, crayon, and Abraham Harrison are starting out as digital offices and they are doing it successfully. What absolutely has to be present is lines of communication between co-workers and even between clients.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New here? Take the Guided Tour.

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Good People Brag

Each Friday, I open the brag basket as a fun place to brag or promote yourself and your projects.

Last week, Kim bragged on the awesome PhillyMac. Anna was proud to be returning to school, and Angela bragged on Mike Sansone and the Support a Local Teacher project. What will you put in the Brag Basket this week? Maybe Gary V's Good People Day GPD08?

You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! You don't need special permission or anything. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the week, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Hook customers with your compelling offer

Our Friend Susan Reynolds has a terrific story of a marketing success you can learn from. It's so good, I'm including it in our Small Biz 100, so you can develop your compelling offer that gets you more of the right customers.

A Fish Story
First the fish story. Susan taught children's art lessons, starting with five students. She grew that into a hundred students without spending a dime on advertising. She did it by developing a compelling offer.

She started by figuring out who made the decisions on her product, aka Moms. She needed something that would make them take action by calling Susan, sending a check, or enrolling their kids.

Then she looked for something that would have some lasting value, something that would hang around. So she created a 30 minute demo that students and parents both participated in, free, "How to Draw a Fish."

Kids had fun; parents had fun; kids helped parents draw better fishes; fishes went home to go up on the refrigerator door; better more elaborate fish got drawn at home; and fish got talked about at soccer practice, baseball practice, ballet practice. Fish were a good thing.

Now, how to convert those leads into paying customers? She sent each kid home with two registration forms and a 10% discount for their first series of lessons. Another discount for early sign ups, and maybe more importantly, another discount for referrals. Wisely, she also kept the first paid series short, just 6 weeks, to keep commitments easy for customers.

Your compelling offer

I can't summarize any better than Susan did:

What's the magic combination of something that is of value to your audience, stays with them as a reminder, and doesn't deplete your supply of valuable commodities: time, money, effort.

You also have new tools Susan couldn't use in 1985. Through your blog, your social networks, memes, and more, you have terrific ways to spread your ideas.

How to Make Your Own

Make it compelling:

• Valuable
  
• Stays with them
  
• Starts discussions
  
• Fun
  
• Low cost or free to you and the customer
  

Make the follow up offer even better:

• Include a discount
• Keep the paid commitment short
• Hook it together with the freebie
  

More examples
1. My liquor store has pretty strict rules to follow. But we still do occasional tasting events. We can't give out discount coupons, but we do always give free tasting notes and wine lists, and our advice is always free. Anything featured at a tasting is displayed on the counter and on our blog, for easy follow up.

2. Chris Van Patten builds websites in WordPress, and wants to reach more small businesses. He could offer a free 30 minute coaching session on monitoring your online presence with Google Alerts to small businesses in his local area or region. Add a good follow up or referral offer for inexpensive web design, and there's a compelling offer.

3. Laura Allen helps people build 15 Second Pitches. She offers a free online tool to walk you through the 4 step process. Hooking people into being paying clients is tougher. So she might start offering a short affordable follow up course, like "Now, Polish Your Pitch," to catch more of those folks. By hooking her existing online training as an immediate follow-up, she might get better results!

You
What's your compelling offer? Share it!
Stuck for a great offer? Tell us about it, and we'll brainstorm in the comments.

This article is part of the Small Biz 100, a series of 100 practical hands-on posts for small business people and solo entrepreneurs, whether in a small town, the big city, or in between. If you have questions you'd like us to address in this series, leave a comment or send us an email at becky@smallbizsurvival.com. This is a community project!

Get the whole series by subscribing to Small Biz Survival. New here? Take the Guided Tour.

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