Minimizing Waste

Remember back in elementary school when you learned about the three Rs, recycle, reduce, reuse?  You might have even learned a cute little song to go along with it.  Now, it’s time to dig up those old memories and skills that you learned as a child and apply them to your business.  They can help you to improve your business, save the environment and save money.

Recycle

• Start a company-wide recycling program
• Encourage employees to recycle bottles and cans (turn them in for money)
• Take old electronics to stores that offer “electronics recycling” programs.

Reduce

• Avoid using paper whenever possible (send emails, make phone calls, etc.)
• Purchase energy efficient light bulbs
• Encourage walking and/or riding bikes to work for employees that live close enough and carpooling for employees that live further

Reuse

• Repair broken equipment and/or furniture
• Find new uses for old items

The Chaning Face of Small Business

Yesterday, we posted a blog outlining must-have electronic devices.  As technology advances, however, some items that small business owners used to find essential are becoming or have already become obsolete.  Take a look at some of the items that small business owners are getting rid of, that at one point, they couldn’t live without.

Cash Register

“Thanks to a host of new applications, businesses can process credit cards without using dedicated wireless devices or clunky terminals, which can cost anywhere from $200 to $2,000. All you need is your cell phone,” as stated in the inc.com article, “Say Goodbye to the Cash Register.”

Desktop Computer

Desktop computers used to be a staple in any small business, but now they are being replaced by laptops, iPads and even smartphones.

Land Line

With plans that offer unlimited nationwide calling and internet access for less than $100, land lines are becoming less and less necessary for small business owners as well as the general public.

Technological Devices for Small Business Owners

It’s important for small business owners to keep up with technology.  Some electronic devices are designed specifically for small business owners, while others are designed for the general public, but can still be very beneficial for entrepreneurs, helping them to run and improve their businesses.  Use the following list to determine which devices you may need for your business.

1.       iPad

“All of the built-in apps on iPad were designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen and advanced capabilities of iPad. And they work in any orientation. So you can do things with these apps that you can’t do on any other device,” (apple.com).

2.       Smart Phone

“A smartphone is a mobile phone that offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a basic ‘feature phone’.  While some feature phones are able to run simple applications based on generic platforms such as Java ME or BREW, a smartphone allows the user to install and run much more advanced applications based on a specific platform,” (Wikipedia.com).

3.       Navigation System

“An automotive navigation system is a satellite navigation system designed for use in automobiles. It typically uses a GPS navigation device to acquire position data to locate the user on a road in the unit’s map database,” (wikipedia.com).

4.       Laptop

“A laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on a person’s lap while in use,” (Wikipedia.com).

New Small Business Facts

As a business owner, it’s always a good idea to stay abreast on small business facts and statistics.  This information is not just enlightening and entertaining, it can be used to help you improve your small business as well.  That said, a recent survey conducted by Forbes Insight and Key Bank’s Key4Woman, brings some interesting facts to light.

In this survey, 320 women business owners were surveyed to see how they are coming out of the recession and to gauge their attitudes toward customer service.  Here’s what was discovered:

• 80 percent of respondents said they have never tried a frequent buyer program.
• 77 percent said they have never tried a rewards program.
• 49 percent said they don’t keep track of customers’ purchase activity and volume, which could be used to reward regular customers and suggest appropriate products/services.
• Only a third of respondents produce a customer newsletter and/or e-newsletter.
• More than 60 percent said that they don’t track social media to find out what they’re customers are saying about them.
• 24 percent of the women said they weren’t using any type of social media to engage with them.
• 25 percent said they didn’t have a website.

Based on this information many women small business owners may be able to benefit from getting more involved in social media to engage customers. 

The following blog posts offer information on building up your social media presence.

Using Social Media for Your Business

A New Way to Use Social Media

Social Media Changes and how they Can Affect Your Business

Benefits of Accepting Credit Cards

We know that small business owners who process at least $3,500 in monthly credit card sales may qualify to receive a merchant cash advance.  These funds can be used without restrictions and are repaid through a flexible repayment method, in which a small percentage of daily credit card sales is automatically deducted and put toward the repayment of the merchant cash advance.  To top it off, they can be renewed every three to four months.  But according to allbusiness.com, the possibility of qualifying for a merchant cash advance of up to $500,000 is not the only benefit of accepting credit cards.  “…businesses that accept plastic are one step closer to getting some relief from swipe fees,” wrote allbusiness.com staff.

If you accept credit cards, you know that there are fees for doing so, but due to a recent Senate vote of 64-33, these fees may soon be decreasing.  “The amendment seeks to rein in transaction fees for debit cards issued by banks (excluding small financial institutions) by bringing them under the control of the Federal Reserve; the Fed would be given a mandate to make fees ‘reasonable and proportionate,’” (allbusiness.com).

This will very likely come as a relief to small business owners, as according to the article, consumers have increased their usage of both credit cards and debit cards, while issuers have drastically increased the fees that merchants must pay per swipe.

These lowered fees may even make the merchant cash advance an even more appealing method of business financing for small business owners.

Get Inside Your Employees’ Heads

Small business owners always want to know what their employees are thinking, but some don’t know how to get them to talk, or to speak truthfully.

Knowing how your employees feel about their jobs can help you to develop programs, policies and procedures that they respect and appreciate and can even help to retain your employees longer.

Tips

Allow employees to speak/write anonymously

Use employee satisfaction surveys

Try focus groups

What to Ask

What do you like about your job?

What do you least like about your job?

What do you hope to do or achieve in the next 5 years?

What do you see as the problems in the company?

What do you see as the positive areas in the company?

Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

Thebetterboss.com advises employers to ask their employees the following questions:

Passing the Baton

You may not be ready to pass your small business on to your children just yet, but you can use your business to teach them valuable skills and to help them to develop characteristics that might catapult them into business ownership one day.  Even if your child does not become an entrepreneur, the characteristics that they learn from you can be valuable in life, regardless of the career path they chose. 

You may not realize it, but your children are watching you all the time, perceiving and internalizing the way you handle certain situations, as well as the way you interact with customers, partners and even employees, every day.  “…most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action,” as written by Albert Bandura, in his social learning theory.  Therefore, it is important to model behavior that you’d want your children to imitate, even in business.

So the next time you come across an iffy business proposition, an employee makes a mistake, or a customer rubs you the wrong way, think twice about the little eyes that may be watching you, before you react.

Resources for Young Entrepreneurs

http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/

http://www.sba.gov/services/specialaudiences/youngentrepreneurs/index.html