What do both small business owners as well as large business owners have at their disposal?

Well if these organizations have been in business any length of time they better have made a few clients happy. Many small businesses overlook the fact that they have “Raving Fans” to spread the good word about their company. Many small business owners put a tremendous amount of time, energy and money on all kinds of ads in local publications or networking groups. These are all necessary to a point but the easiest way to expand a business is to let your “Loyal Followers”, or as Ken Blanchard puts it, “Raving Fans”, act as your best sales reps...

By John Jantsch

Small business owners are an odd lot. I can say this without judgment because I am one.

Cracking the small business code is something that routinely perplexes large organizations. I see it every day, and I’ve been asked numerous times to consult on that very puzzle.

The thing is, however, a lot of small businesses want to sell to other small businesses too. Many times I find that they miss the subtleties of attracting small business even though they need look no further than their own buying habits for keys to the sale...

The Basso Business Building Program features a unique format where we work with business owners and professionals to provide them with a formula for success through focused planning, strategic goal setting, weekly consulting sessions and candid video updates of their progress.  Brian Fagan of All Boro has been working diligently with the Basso on Business team to make changes in every aspect of his professional life in order to achieve his goals. This week Brian took a new strategy when gathering information from prospective clients, taking on more of a detective role.  Asking questions when selling a job to his customers is vitally important; we worked with Brian to help him realize that rooting out all the problems and asking the right questions to get all the facts before closing the deal will leave less room for unfortunate surprises and incorrect assumptions.  

Check out the video for Brian’s candid thoughts and make sure to leave your comments and suggestions.   Make sure to tune in each week for new updates from Brian and the Basso on Business team.  

Overworked?  It may be time to recharge your batteries.

One of the biggest and most common mistakes that small business owners make is failing to delegate.   They carry the responsibility of the entire company on their shoulders, attempting to be involved in every decision at every level whether it’s customer service, marketing, sales, accounts payable while email piles up in their inbox… the list goes on.  It’s easy to get snagged up in the little stuff on a daily basis, leaving less time to concentrate on actually running the company.  Especially in these economic times, business owners are overcompensating, trying to do more with less resources.  The result of burning the candles at both ends?  Burning out.

How often do you receive advice about your business that you don’t take literally? Many of us discuss our business plans with consultants, business coaches, other local business owners, and family but it takes a special type of person to take the advice and essentially apply it to their business. At Basso on Business, we would like to highlight particular individuals who not only listened to the recommendations we presented them but took action! Our "Actions in Action” blog will quote our past featured business owners of 2010 and prove that when you act on advice and forge forward, positive change will flourish.

I recently returned from my honeymoon in Belize.  After experiencing the truly happiest day of my life, I was excited to relax and unwind from the pre-wedding stress.  Leaving my sales team wasn’t easy, but I knew I had provided them with the tools to handle everything while I was away. 

While dining out one evening, my new wife spied a beautiful handmade table runner that was being offered by a local vendor on the beach.  She went off to see it up close and get an idea of the cost.  While she was examining the piece, another local street vendor approached me holding a backpack.  He recognized immediately that we were Americans and encouraged me to have my wife negotiate for the price of table runner.  He informed me that the woman selling them would know that we were tourists and to be careful before jumping at the first price.  I thanked him and asked what was in his backpack.  I was caught off guard that by the fact that he didn’t immediately sell me his product, but he was looking out for me.  He informed me that he was selling hand carved wooden collectibles and asked if I was interested.  I shrugged slightly and said ‘thanks but no thanks...’ 

As businesses across the country slowly emerge from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a stark reality is hitting many of them.  The reality is that even though sales are rebounding and companies may even be showing positive earnings, they’re starved for cash.  What’s going on?  The problem is they’re experiencing working capital pressure.

In fact, you may find yourself in this situation.  After stretching vendors as far as you can, as orders pick up, so must inventory and accounts receivable, which increases the cash that your company has tied up in working capital.  For many companies that do not carry inventory, or have become lean managers of inventory, this pressure is solely the result of the growth in accounts receivable that comes with the uptick in sales...