Tips for Business Growth on a Shoestring Budget

You may be from the “you have to have money to make money” school of thought, and in some respects, this is true. Obviously the more you can put into your business, the faster the business growth will occur. But does this mean people with no money can’t start a business and succeed? Certainly not! And history is full of examples of people who have done just that.

If you are a self employed entrepreneur or SOHO, chances are you don’t have the type of business that attracts financial backers or entails teams of employees or contractors working for you. It’s just you and your wallet and the sweat of your own brow. That’s okay. You can work with that and still achieve business growth.

Your main challenge is likely to be sales and marketing. Maybe you hate networking and don’t have much time to spend going out to meet potential clients. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable in those situations, or maybe you have some other life challenges that makes it difficult to get out and attend networking events. That’s okay. There is more than one way to market your business, and for the financially challenged, ways that cost very little.

These ideas won’t suit every business type, but think outside the box and ask yourself how you could adapt the ideas to suit your line of work. For starters, do you have a corporate client or contact? Leave some business cards with them and ask them if they’d mind mentioning your company to their contacts/clients. You can also leave your business cards on the counters of other local businesses, such as the local vet. Be creative!

Is your business the type that you can invite some clients together in one place, perhaps offering them a free seminar or an informational meet and greet occasion? If so, do it and encourage them to bring a friend. If your business is “virtual” – suggest an e-group situation in which they can openly share and discuss issues relevant to their business and again, allow them to invite friends. In this way you introduce your business to potential customers, while servicing existing clients.
Ask your existing clients or contacts for referrals. Encourage their participation by offering them something in exchange, like an incentive scheme. This could be discounts for your products or services, free samples, or gift vouchers. If you don’t like to ask outright, design a “Referral Form” and include it with your invoices, but don’t send it with the first invoice! Prove yourself first. Ask them if they have any leads for you to follow up, and to really make this an offer they can’t refuse, suggest you may be able to put business their way too, using the same methods.
Affiliate yourself with other companies/entrepreneurs who can put business your way in exchange for you offering referrals for them. A kind of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours situation. Even appropriate links on websites can be useful, but make sure you are linking to a professional site to safeguard your reputation.
Whether or not you have a referral program, when you do get a new client from a referral, always thank the referrer. Send a thank you note and a small token of your appreciation – it might be a gift voucher or even a lottery ticket. If you haven’t got a referral program in place, whenever you gain a new client from a referral, remember to send a thank you and a small gift to the “referrer” – even a lottery ticket! They won’t mind sending you referrals!
Consider joint ventures. For example, if you are a hair dresser, find a beauty salon or other related business who would be willing to market you to their customers in exchange for you marketing their business to yours. You can offer each others clients special deals and prices that only your and their clientele can get. Find ways to add value to each other’s customers and you will both benefit.

Use the press. Align yourself with a local charity dear to your heart and the next time you do something that benefits them, invite the local journalists or send a press release yourself to your local papers.

Use social media. It may not be the promised answer to everyone’s marketing prayers but at the very least it gets your company name out there and known!

There are as many strategies for promoting business growth as there are types of business. Think outside the box, keep your eyes open for opportunities, experiment and be creative!

5 Rules to Boost Business Growth

Owning your own small business should be financially rewarding as well as provide the personal satisfaction derived from wearing the captain’s hat and steering your own ship. And in an ideal world, boosting business growth should be as easy as choosing which photocopier to purchase. The reality, however, is usually the opposite for many small business owners.

If you are a small business owner searching for ways to boost your business growth, here are five simple, yet effective, rules that will help put you on the starting line, facing in the right direction:

1. Be “in business”
Unsuccessful small businesses, especially SOHO’s and network marketers, often don’t think of themselves as business owners. Some don’t even have the business basics like a dedicated phone line, fax machine, business name, domain name, letterhead, business cards, brochures, merchant status to accept credit cards, contact management software, etc. How can you expect people to do business with you if you aren’t really in business? You must commit 100%. You are either in business or you are not. There is no grey area. Well, there is… that’s where you find people who are dabbling at being in business and failing. There is a huge difference between a hobby and a legitimate business. Once you make that commitment you must have a business plan. These are not inflexible and will change as your business needs change.

2. Know your products and services
Have you ever tried to buy something from someone who couldn’t answer your questions about their product or service? Hardly confidence inspiring, is it? Your customers expect you to be an expert about whatever it is you are selling. If you don’t know everything there is to know about it, who would? How can you compare what you offer to your competitors, to stay ahead and remain competitive? Customers want to know facts and figures and they want all the features and benefits explained to them in terms they can understand. That’s where you come in. If you don’t deliver, they will take their business somewhere else where they have more confidence, and this applies whether you are selling widgets or services.

3. Fear of Marketing
You won’t experience business growth if you sit back waiting for customers to materialize and come to you. You have to not only let your potential customers know you exist and how to contact you, you also have to tell them how they can benefit and how your product/service will solve their problems. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your product or service is, it just won’t sell itself.

4. Fear of Selling
Many small business owners have stories of used car salespeople swimming around in their heads and they equate sales with being deceitful or pushy. Well, unfortunately, there are people in the world like that, but you don’t have to be one. In fact, you will taste success more quickly and easily if you are NOT like that.

You need to communicate the features and benefits of your product or service without exaggeration or dishonesty. You must develop strong inner beliefs that support serving others, sharing your products/services, secure in the knowledge that you are doing them a favor, being in business and bringing them great products and services. Coming from a place of trying to push people into buying will only push people away. People hate to be manipulated and they can spot a phony a mile away. Wanting to sincerely serve others will attract people. Think “serve”, not “sell”.

5. You Don’t Fully Believe in Yourself
When you doubt yourself and your ability to be successful, you set in motion circumstances that will hold you back and stop you from achieving business growth. You will hold back from investing in your business and spending money on areas vital to your business success. And if you don’t truly believe in your products or services, this will reflect in your sales and marketing (or rather, lack of) and rather than attract customers, you will make them doubtful and go elsewhere. Surely, you have been to a business where even the atmosphere screams the owner isn’t really all that interested? You must be interested and believe you will be successful… because it influences how others see you.

Challenge your beliefs. What is really behind your fears and doubts? Are these truly your stories or have you allowed other people’s doubts to infiltrate your better judgment? Yes some businesses are facing challenging times right now, but there are also businesses who are thriving, and yet others who are coasting along comfortably.

Ever heard of Dream, Believe, Achieve? When you believe the dream can be real, nothing will stop you.

Sharing My Secret…

I’ve written a lot about a lot of products and services over the years and today I want to share a tip about a service I’ve been using for many years — a company that allows you to share products you have created. I say they are the best kept secret in my business and they are responsible for all my custom products!

I don’t have an affiliate deal with them. I just am sitting at my desk today thinking, “Where would my business be without them?” and I am feeeeeeeeeeling grateful.

What I love about this company, Vervante (http://www.vervante.com/) is how easy they are to work with and how quickly they make my products ready for distribution, send out my products and handle any problems customers may run into.

Prior to using Vervante I was spending my valuable time duplicating CD’s and DVD’s or having to pay virtual assistants to do this task. Then someone had to go to the post office and ship things out. Having Vervante not only gives a professional look and consistent look to all my products it gives me full service support, helps me establish my branding, and takes a load off my mind as every order is automatically fulfilled by them as they come into my shopping cart!

Here’s another reason I recommend Vervante (http://www.vervante.com/ ) … they also print all my products on demand! I don’t have to pre-pay or sit on huge inventory. I teach all my clients and coaching students and business owners that the only way to publish these days is using on-demand publishing and distribution for their books, CDs, DVDs, training and coaching programs, and information products. Vervante allows you to share your products with the world by having high quality products at super competitive prices.

In fact the company takes great pride not only in producing high quality products it also has helped hundreds of my clients see their dream of being published come true.

You can contact them here: customerservice@vervante.com or sales@vervante.com and although there is no affiliate relationship please tell them I referred you so they will know how much I value their services.

If you have any questions about Vervante, just post them in the comments below. Or, if you have suggestions about other services, please share them.

How to Hire the Right Attorney

Many of you need to have an attorney for your business. Unfortunately, the way that most people search for one doesn’t really do the service justice. A lot of people look in the phone book or online. In my experience, you can’t really make a valid decision to hire someone as important as an attorney in that way.

What I recommend you do is go for referrals. Go off of personal referrals, business referrals of other people who have used attorneys that they’re pleased with. You may also get referrals from your local or state chamber of commerce, and if you belong to any organizations or associations with your particular industry, that’s another good place to get referrals.

And finally, if you belong to any networking groups, I would ask the other business owners for folks they’re satisfied with. When choosing an attorney, choose someone whose personality also matches the kind of person that you want to work with. Hope those tips are helpful.

How to Deal with Burnout as an Entrepreneur

Unfortunately, as an entrepreneur, at some point you may face burnout. I mean, quite frankly, that’s what happens. It’s just normal.

First of all, don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just something normal and natural that a business owner goes through.

What can you do to prevent burnout? Set some small goals is a great idea. Set these goals, even if it’s a tiny objective of getting a few things done. Spend some time visioning, really juicing yourself up and amping yourself up about what you got excited about in your business to begin with. Go out and reward yourself. Reward yourself for things that you’ve done in your business that you’re proud of and happy about.

And finally, spend some time with your customers. They’ll remind you of how valuable your business is to them. Accept the fact that burnout is normal. You’re human. We all go through this, and we just need to re-light the fire and get our inspiration back. Don’t panic, burnout is something that you can rekindle.

My Event: Disciplines of Thriving Entrepreneurs

I would like to personally invite you to attend an event I am holding on February 25th. All monies collected are going to a great cause.

I want you at this event, and I want you to bring at least one other person with you! I promise, commit and guarantee they will receive huge value as will you.

All proceeds are going to support a young girl suffering from RSD. Danielle is 17 and before she bumped the outside of her knee, she was an amazing young entrepreneur with a gift for helping children with ADHD and Autism using her horses. She is a beautiful human being with so much love and compassion for others. She has been affected by RSD for 1 1/2 years. She has been on a crazy nightmare in Rhode Island. Danielle was hospitalized, paced in leather restraints, her room stripped of all belongings and a guard placed at her door because she was in severe pain.

This is a video of the pain the hospital made her stay in for 10 days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rUoRsDjyI

Here is the link to Danielle’s website where her mother posted the blog about it. http://tinyurl.com/daniellesblog

Having suffered from RSD myself from an injury I received a few years ago, I hate to think of the pain that a child suffers from each day with this disease. All proceeds from this event will go to Danielle to help her get the medical care she needs.

This event is titled: Disciplines of Thriving Entrepreneurs

This event is perfect for you! You can be a fledgling entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, my event will help you understand what differentiates the 5% of successful entrepreneurs from the 95% that fail!

What makes some entrepreneurs more successful than others?
What disciplines do they do that let them achieve a breakthrough and take their business to the next level?
What does it mean to be a thriving entrepreneur?

To me a thriving entrepreneur is one who has penetrated or overcome an obstacle – in this case overwhelming odds of failure! – and has achieved a sudden advance or a notable success in his or her business. Do you want to be a thriving entrepreneur? Do you want your colleagues, friends and family members to be as well?

YOU have to attend this because it is critical to your success.

I want you to share this day with a fellow business owner or entreprenuer!

Attend the Disciplines of Thriving Entrepreneurs and I promise to share insights on how you can achieve a super successful business. This is happening on Friday February 25, 2011, 10:00-5:00pm – venue is Plymouth Meeting, PA.

And I’m giving you a special deal!!

To learn more and to register, click here

http://www.terrilevine.com/event/

A Successful Business Needs Passion

So many people want to start their own business, but question what business to start. The right way of going about it is to understand what you are passionate about. What’s your passion? Your passion is the thing that never goes away, that burning thing that sort of gnaws at you all the time, that you know in your heart is what you’re meant to be doing and what you want to be doing.

All too often, many business owners, instead, align with a business where they believe they can make money, and that’s a sure way to fail. It’s a sure way to be bored and to be uninspired. But when you realize what your true passion is, then you will be so motivated and excited in business, that that special spark will keep you going.

I can teach you how to grow your business. I can’t teach you innately to be passionate. Make sure that the business you’re in is something that you really desire to be doing.

How to Hire a Start Up Team

When you are starting your business and hiring your start up team, I have a motto. That motto is “hire right the first time.” It takes too much time, energy and money if you don’t hire right the first time. You want to find the right people so you can create a lot of momentum to get your business off the ground quickly.

Some of the things that you need to consider are that the people you hire for start up need to enjoy the start up process. They must be willing to learn and grow. Also, they must have a start up personality, because start ups are different. And lastly, they must be “doers”, people who don’t have to be told what to do, people who jump in, are really creative thinkers and helps and contributes to the team. And finally, every single person on the team for a new start up needs to be focused on marketing and bringing in customers. Without customers and clients, your start up will not succeed.

To Hire an Independent Contractor or Employee?

Are you thinking about hiring and not sure if you should hire an employee or an independent contractor? There are definitely some pros and cons to consider. An independent contractor is going to cost you less overhead. No health benefits, no insurance or anything like that, and they’re available to you on sort of a work on demand basis.

On the other hand, a benefit of having an employee is that they’re more loyal. They tend to be able to serve multiple roles and improve your workflow. An employee, however, comes with the cons of added responsibility, overhead, and management.

One of the other things I like about an independent contractor is that you use them as you need them, but a con of that is that you don’t know what your fixed rates are and you don’t have much control over them. So think about the pros and the cons before you make a decision, and also make sure that you understand the IRS laws about who qualifies as an independent contractor versus employee.

The Pros and Cons of Working From Home

Let me be really clear with you. While a lot of people want to work from home, not everyone is cut out to work from home. You really need to be sure that you’re the kind of person that won’t get distracted by the tasks at home. People who have children or partners that interrupt, or people that have elder care happening in the home are not good candidates for working from home. In other words, when you work from home it’s the same as going into the office that happens to be at home. You should not be running around doing laundry and turning on the TV and taking frequent snack breaks. Before you choose to work at home, please thoroughly think about whether or not you have the kind of personality that functions well in this capacity and that won’t miss the social life from an office.