Social media and business

When people stumble upon a well-crafted, attractive, and informative web site they are hard pressed to determine if the site belongs to a billion dollar company or a startup. The Internet has become a great leveler not only through web-sites but through the use of social media.

It was not long ago that a small business with a limited budget was fortunate to reach a few thousand, or perhaps just a few hundred prospects. Savvy business owners now can reach thousands, if not millions, of prospects at little or no cost through strategic use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs and the myriad of other social networks. In fact, companies big and small who do not adapt to social media risk losing business and miss out on tremendous opportunities.

Check out these links for ideas on increasing your business through social networking:

• Using YouTube to Promote Your Business – Business Week
• Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn – Guy Kawasaki
• 12 Ways to Use Facebook Professionally - Web Work Daily
• 16 Examples of Huge Brands Using Twitter For Business – Search Engine Journal

Share with us ways in which you are increasing business using social media.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Alternative financing sources

On July 20 my post dealt with the credit squeeze being felt by small businesses. Check out this Wall Street Journal article, by Diana Ransom,  listing five alternative sources for small business funding.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Buy Local

I’ve previously written about the local economic benefits of buying from locally owned business establishments. I’ve also encouraged people to check out the Council Of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) I Buy Neo program which provides incentives to buy locally.

Kim Crow, in today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer, introduced me to another national program called the 350 project which suggests that you stop into your favourite three locally owned stores, and that you spend no less than $50 per month at locally owned and operated businesses.

In her column Kim says that if half of the 1.3 million people employed in North East Ohio were to spend $50 a month with local businesses, our communities would benefit from about $22.1 million each year! Quite frankly, I can’t imagine anyone not spending at least $50 a month at local businesses. My wife and I do our grocery shopping exclusively at Heinens, a locally owned and run chain of food stores and I regularly make purchases at local Ingersoll Hardware – in addition to other local retail stores and private restaurants.

What are you doing to support your independent locally owned establishments?

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Diversification

Yesterday a tree company was removing a tree from a home several blocks away. This in itself was not remarkable as I live in a heavily treed area. What struck me was the name of the company: “Tom’s tree and crane service”. Now most tree service companies have, as a necessary tool of the trade, cranes. And the tall cranes can be used for more than lowering large limbs to the ground. But I’ve never before seen a tree service that so overtly marketed their crane capabilities!

This is diversification. So many business owners are wringing their hands and trying to figure out how to better market and sell their existing goods and services to a shrinking market. They could do well to “think outside of the box” and find innovative and unique ways of leveraging their capabilities into new markets.

Let me know how you have diversified.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Small businesses still feeling credit squeeze

In May Advanta suddenly announced it was shutting down one million business credit cards, leaving tens of thousands of small businesses without a credit lifeline. Now business lender CIT’s financial condition is deteriorating giving further angst to small businesses that rely on credit lines to meet payroll and carry them through valleys of lean times. Even SBA loans, which logic should indicate would increase as a result of the stimulus package, are decreasing.

Small businesses, it seems, are still being squeezed from all side. It is increasingly important to hang onto cash, and to find alternative financing funding: Getting paid by credit card rather than waiting 60 days or more for payment brings in instant cash – but at a cost of 2 to 3 percent. If businesses must extend credit, accounts receivable Factors can also provide instant cash at a cost of 3 percent and more. Leasing equipment can improve cash flow. Hungry vendors may be willing to extend more favorable terms. Customers in dire need of products may be willing to front money for inventory and manufacturing. Innovation in financing is key – as small business just can’t rely on traditional credit. Consider what you can do to conserve cash and find innovative ways of financing.

Share with me unique thing you have done to finance your business.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

300 Mile Commute

Some folks work from a virtual office in their homes to avoid a commute. Others spend a couple of hours a day dodging rush-hour traffic. Here’s a story about a business owner who makes a 300 mile commute – in his private plane!

Will limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Home business-friendly community

A huge number of home-based businesses are technically running afoul of the law, as many municipalities have ordinances effectively prohibiting businesses operating out of residences. The ordinances are usually not enforced unless a neigbor registers a complaint. Fortunately some towns are accepting the reality that a significant portion of the population has an office at home or is running a business from home.

Naperville, Illinois, brought together the Chamber of Commerce, the Naperville Homeowners Confederation, and others to draft an ordinance that should be a model to other cities. In effect it states that, subject to specific numbers relating to traffic, etc, a home business is welcome if it can’t be seen, smelled, or heard by the neighbors.

See an article in the Naperville Sun.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Health Insurance Costs Sickens Small Businesses

It was not all that long ago that a company could offer employer-paid health insurance as a competitive benefit. Two decades ago as a business owner I would not have considered not providing 100% employer-paid premium health insurance. It was not only competitive, but the right thing to do.

Medical costs, and insurance premiums, have escallated to the point that few businesses can afford the full expense of health insurance so are either not offering it at all or are putting much of the burden on the shoulders of the workers.

There is no question in my mind that we need significant health-care reform in the United States. Health care must be made available to every single person and no one should have to declare bankruptcy due to the costs of a major illness. But let’s not burden small businesses with picking up the tab. A recent news report said that under the proposed health care reform small businesses who hire minimum-wage employees would effectively double the minimum wage due to health insurance premiums.

See this Wall Street Journal article for a report on health care and small businesses.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Communication

Friday my wife underwent minor surgery at Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland. I wished her well at 6:00 AM as she was wheeled into pre-op and saw her again at 11:30 as she was released from recovery. The 5 1/2 hour wait could have been excruciating had it not been for the excellent communication provided by the surgical suite. The waiting room is equipped with a monitor showing the status of each patient so I knew exactly when she went from pre-op (9:00 AM) into surgery and surgery to recovery. In addition I got one verbal update via phone, and the doctor gave me a full in-person report at the conclusion of the successful surgery.

Many businesses could learn from the communication processes in place at this hospital. How often I have contracted to have a job done but have been totally in the dark as to the status of the job or when it would be completed. Wouldn’t it be great for a business to have a web site customers could log into at any time to learn the exact status of their jobs – supplemental, of course, to verbal updates? What a competitive advantage these companies would have as they improve customer satisfaction.

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com

Congressional web site

Government is an ever-growing part of every business. There are constantly new regulations regarding taxation, environment, employment, safety, and so much more. Congress seems to have a constant stream of bills and pending legislation which can potentially impact small businesses, so it is incumbent upon business owners to be aware of bills in order to express opinions to representatives and senators and to prepare for the ramifications of enacted legislation.

I was just made aware of the Thomas (after Thomas Jefferson) site of the Library of Congress that provides up-to-the-minute legislative information. To test it I did a search on “Free choice act” which listed bills before the house and senate relating to the “Employee Free Choice Act of 2009″. Digging further one is able to read the entire text of the bills, see congressional action, and related information. What a great wealth of data. Check out the site at http://thomas.loc.gov/

Will Limkemann
www.siqualtd.com