TheMiddleShelf | Tips, Advice, Musings for Your Business, Career, Life

Revitalize Your Business With The Help Of The Web

May 13th, 2010

Maria Helm

So you’ve come up with a hot product and a great business model. However, like many small businesses, the recession has left you with less than stellar sales results. And when sales are down, more often than not, profits are too.

So what are the keys to revitalize your business? How do you stand out from the competition? Here some are ideas:

1. Quality is job number one. For a perfect turnkey experience, focus on customer service even prior to the sale by understanding their problem/need, providing solution, and articulating your core difference. Keep your customers satisfied at all times and turn them into partners. Happy customers are retained customers.

2. Utilize YouTube. Think visually. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a narrated video is

Home Sweet Office?

April 29th, 2010

Maria Helm

Many small businesses start in the owner’s home as a way to save money. There’s a lot of advantages for businesses to go virtual and work from home. Going virtual keeps your overhead costs low. But not all businesses are meant to operate from homes.

A friend of mine owns a gift basket business and wades through gift basket inventory in her home. Her living room floor is covered with inventory, from dog treats to sports jerseys to bags of cellophane wrapping and ribbons. Her closets are filled with the actual baskets in every shape, color and size. It’s a sign you need to move when you just move each pile from one side of the room to the other.

As the business grows in sales and/or numbers of employees, it becomes time to ditch the PJs or sweats and move away from the spare bedroom or dining room table and into bona fide office. When to know it’s time?

Tips and Tricks To Help You Network

April 22nd, 2010

Maria Helm

One factor in business success is networking – meeting people and building relationships. For some, it is a skill that may take effort. Here are some tips to help you connect:

1. Set a goal to increase your list of important business connections. Once you’ve compiled your list, reach out to each of them.

2. Share something personal and seek a common interest. When it’s not just about numbers and the bottom line, clients will be able to personally identify with you. Rooting for the same sports team or volunteering at the same charity makes you relevant.

3. Scrap the memorized pitch in favor of more natural conversation.

4. Resist the urge to be a one-upper. It ruins communication.

5. An open-ended question is better than one requiring only a yes or no answer.

6. Know your audience. Once you know what a person wants, is interested in and responds to, you’ll be better equipped to deliver that.

The 5 Goals of a Project Manager

April 15th, 2010

Jason Westland

As a Project Manager, you need to manage people, money, suppliers, equipment—the list is never ending. The trick is to be focused. Set yourself 5 personal goals to achieve. If you can meet these simple goals for each project, then you will achieve total success. So read on, to learn…

The 5 Goals of a Project Manager

These goals are generic to all industries and all types of projects. Regardless of your level of experience in project management, set these 5 goals for every project you manage.

Goal 1: To finish on time

This is the oldest but trickiest goal in the book. It’s the most difficult because the requirements often change during the project and the schedule was probably optimistic in the first place.

To succeed, you need to manage your scope very carefully. Implement a change control process so that any changes to the scope are properly managed.

Always keep your plan up to date, recording actual vs. planned progress. Identify any deviations from plan and fix them quickly.

Goal 2: To finish under budget

To make sure that your project costs don’t spiral, you need to set a project budget at the start to compare against. Include in this budget, all of the types of project costs that will accrue, whether they are to do with people, equipment, suppliers or materials. Then work out how much each task in your plan is going to cost to complete and track any deviations from this plan.