Once you've established your business and built up clientele, it's time to focus on increasing your profit. The Direct Selling Education Foundation offers these tips for business owners:
Have a detailed plan, but be ready to adapt. Business plans can't anticipate every circumstance, so you need to be flexible and willing to adapt as necessary.
Be a creative problem solver. Think outside the box to figure out what your business is lacking.
Persevere. Don't let the roadblocks keep you from success.
Have mentors. Seek out mentors who have been successful and pick their brains for ideas you may not have thought of. Most people are happy to share their success stories with others and "pay it forward".
Stay lean with your budget. Be careful with how you spend, be aware of every aspect of cash flow and find ways to decrease spending.
Believe in yourself. If it's in your heart to succeed, you will always find the motivation to continue. It's a good idea to seek out people who can boost your self-esteem when you are facing doubt.
Can you offer any additional tips?
Be cautious of emails from marketing companies posing as legitimate credentialing organizations. The emails say that you've won their 2013 "Best of – fill in the blank" award for your industry and congratulate you for joining "such an elite group of small businesses."
You are then offered the opportunity to purchase a plaque, a crystal award or both at a cost ranging from $79.99 to $199.98. A complimentary digital award image and personalized press release are also included in the package.
The awards can be part of a widespread scheme designed to get businesses to pay for vanity awards of little or no value. They mirror offers made in the past by U.S. Commerce Association, an organization whose phony vanity awards were the subject of several BBB complaints.
Phony vanity awards prey on small businesses who are trying to make their companies stand out in their industry. The program's website tells business owners that "a select few have been able to benefit from the strategic value of business awards" and that "a business award can be an account executive's ace-in-the-hole."
BBB offers the following tips to businesses to avoid being taken by this or similar schemes:
Most awards of value to any business will come from a local business organization such as a chamber of commerce or a known, recognized trade organization for a specific industry. Award schemes often have little or no value to the business within the community in which they do business.
Most businesses are not charged to receive honors that they are awarded. If you are being charged to receive a plaque or trophy, it is likely a money-making scheme that has little to do with business performance.
Start With Trust. Always check with the BBB before doing business with a company, even if they seem to be doing you a favor. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, especially if you have to pay for the honor.
A BBB-accredited ad agency in San Antonio, TX recently discovered that bogus checks claiming to be from their company were being used in an over payment/money wiring scam. The checks looked very professional, with the company name and actual routing and account numbers.
People who answered work-at-home want ads on Craigslist were caught up in the scheme. One woman was asked to send out fake checks on behalf of the scammers and was paid by Western Union. When she noticed the Western Union payment was in someone else’s name, she called the real ad agency and asked, “Am I working for you?” The answer was “no.”
She had already sent out 200 bogus checks.
According to the ad agency, the scammers somehow intercepted a check that was sent to a client. They knew something was wrong when someone tried to cash it in another state. Scammers “washed” the check and used it as a template for numerous fake checks in the ad agency’s name.
Which brings up some important tips for businesses regarding checks:- Monitor your accounts payable. Stop payment on the check and send out another one if too much time goes by and the check appears to be “lost.”
- Use tamper resistant checks. Checks with security features make it harder for crooks who may intercept them to counterfeit or alter them.
- Keep track of check orders. Notify your check supplier and bank if you order checks that don’t arrive in a reasonable amount of time.
- Keep checks secured. Keep reserve supplies of checks, deposit slips and other banking documents locked up and limit the number of people who can access them.
- Keep your eye on the ball. Don’t leave checks or other bank records unattended while you serve customers. Someone might take them while you aren’t looking.
