All business owners need to be aware of their break-even point — that is, the number of units they need to sell in order to cover their operating costs. Once you’ve reached your break-even point, it’s time to celebrate: your business is no longer in the red, and you...

Some small business owners find themselves in the difficult position of running a business that appears to be profitable, but still having no money in the bank. It's an important situation to address. After all, a lack of adequate cash flow is one of the main causes...

When it comes to the overall success of your business, one of the most important decisions you'll face is how to price for the work you do. Charge too much and you could scare away potential customers. Charge too little and you could run yourself out of business....

If your small business operates on a tight budget you might be tempted to eliminate costs that you think aren't necessary. Often small business owners choose to go without business insurance as a way of saving money, but doing so can be incredibly costly in the long...

A s long as you provide excellent value – people will flock to your business and pay handsomely for the privilege.

Business owners often make the mistake of thinking that price is the main issue in the mind of their prospects or customers. But what they’re missing is this: if everyone is viewed by the prospect as ‘the same’ – i.e. companies don’t take the time or effort to differentiate themselves from others and add considerable value – the only way the prospect can choose is based on price.

Working with the guy who shows up at 9.15am with the remainder of last night’s party on his breath is fun for no one. Nor is dealing with the undecider who takes days to produce a one-page report.

The economy continues to struggle, now is NOT the time to panic. In fact, if you follow our proven strategies, you can use the recession in your favour and capitalise on the weaknesses of your competitors. What may surprise you is that numerous studies dating back to 1923 (Ronald S. Vaile—Harvard Business Review) and continuing through to 2001 (notably by Malik PIMS ) have shown that in times of recession those companies that maintain or even increase marketing spend, prosper most.

We often get asked about what records you should keep, in what format, and how long you should keep them for. So here’s a quick guide to record-keeping for your business. What to Keep
It is probably better to ask “what should I throw away?” The short answer is nothing. It is best practice to keep almost everything. From an expense perspective, you need to keep adequate records that prove that the expenses you have claimed were real, recorded correctly, and justifiably incurred in the process or pursuit of earning taxable revenue. For the first two parts, an invoice or receipt is usually sufficient. Additional notes are a good idea to help with the third. Who did you meet with? Why? What was the outcome? Common areas for the challenge here are entertainment, travel, and obscure training (that yoga retreat is only going to be deductible if you are a yoga instructor).

A Manufacturing Bill of Materials (MBOM) is like a recipe that provides all of the parts and assembly details of a product. Like a recipe, the more accurate and definitive the details, the better the finished product.
Every type and quantity of part and raw material will be listed, as well as every process, assembly and sub-assembly direction. The MBOM includes details on which parts are Off-the-Shelf (OTS) or Made-to Specification (MTS) and even lists what items or processes are needed for packaging and what equipment is used for assembly. If it is used in or for the manufacturing of the product, it will be included somewhere in the MBOM.

If you’ve been exposed to any of our own media pieces (ads, letters, etc.) you’ll have noticed a high level of ‘personalisation’ in all of them. There’s a big reason for this…

Adding any kind of ‘personalisation’ increases response significantly.

Why? Because the recipient of your media piece gets the impression that you sent it to them – personally, rather than to 5,000 other people. Plus it helps your media piece stand out from the crowd, automatically giving it more attention.

IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

Are you worried about paying your terminal tax bill on 7 April?

We understand how terminal tax can sometimes put pressure on your business’ cash flow. Even more so, if it’s worked out that you also owe Inland Revenue (IRD) for interest and late payment
penalties on the unsettled liability. And, if you add into
the mix that looming provisional tax payment due on 7 May (the final installment for the 2015 year)… well, it can add up to a few sleepless nights, right?

IMPORTANT: This post is specific to New Zealand. If you are not a New Zealand business/taxpayer then it is probably not applicable to you.

Minimum wage
The minimum wage will increase to $14.75 per hour. Training and starting-out minimum wages will increase to $11.80 per hour
Child support
The amount of child support some parents pay or receive may change. Inland Revenue’s new formula for calculating child support now includes both parents’ incomes and circumstances, and recognises a wider range of care.

The stats, for once, don’t lie… Digital marketing giant eMarketer estimates that social media platforms boast over 1.73 billion users worldwide. A number that’s expected to climb to 2.55 billion by the year 2017. What’s more, according to a recent Nielson study, 46% of consumers turn to social media to help with purchasing decisions. This means that your prospects are most certainly out there, and they’re relying on the social aspect of the web more and more to help them decide who to do business with. So how can you tap into this incredible opportunity to gain more leads for your own business? Let’s take a look.

Last month I gave you an overview of how to create a successful Google AdWords campaign. This month I want to give you a masterclass on creating your Google AdWords ads.

Over the years, I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of pounds and dollars on AdWords. Right now we spend several thousand pounds every month on our AdWords campaigns.

February was the month of ‘LOVE’ so I thought I’d open this month’s issue by focusing on your customers, clients or patients. More importantly, why we need to make them feel ‘LOVED’! (it was timely while I was preparing!) On average, and for a variety of reasons, most businesses will lose between 10% and 20% of their existing customers each and every year. Customers come and go. It’s simply a fact of life. Some of the reasons for customer attrition are unavoidable but others are in complete control of the business. Interestingly, according to a recent survey by the Sales and Marketing Executives International, customers stop buying for the following reasons:

Recently I was asked ‘what is the best piece of advice you would give to a business owner for staying inspired?’. I could list stacks of ideas that would cover all the usual things like, getting a mentor, reading good books, going to conferences etc etc. But the truth is that business owners are incredibly busy and often to do these things comes at the cost of stopping something more important to fit it in.

The thing that has been the number one regular source of inspiration for me in my business life has been listening to great Podcasts.

One of the things we like to explore with clients is an area of their business that rarely gets much attention—but IS ALWAYS CLOSELY SCRUTINIZED BY CUSTOMERS — and that’s the buying process. In other words… how can you make it EASIER for customers to buy from you?
In their excellent book “WAYMISH: Why Are You Making It So Hard For Me To Give You My Money?” authors Ray Considine and Ted Cohn identify several areas where businesses actually make it more difficult than easy to deal with them. And like virtually everything else we recommend to clients and other business owners, it’s very easy to put this right.
Now, before we look more closely at this, I strongly advise you to walk through your own buying process.
Doing this will immediately identify ‘sticking points’ in your sales process that you’ve so far probably taken for granted.
So here are the four main elements of WAYMISH that you need to focus on to make doing business as easy as possible for your customers…

Plain language in business is a global move. It’s seen as a human right, given legislation, and supported by case law. Some judges have dismissed accurate contracts in favour of Joe Public in breach, saying that the onus is on businesses to make rules clear if they want them followed. This essentially ends loopholes built on complexity, with one judge calling them “deliberately misleading”.
Human-speak
Apart from good old fashioned honesty, plain language is decent. Founded on cognitive science, it addresses lower education, English as a second language, dyslexia, time pressures, and other tricky issues. Busy executives and Government Ministers alike cry out “less is more”. No-one has the energy to wade through what’s known as ‘ego-speak’ and simple words can literally halve the size of documents.

Without question, Google AdWords is one of the best marketing tools to use for your business.

Since it really is one of the strategies you should be using, I’ll use the time we have this month to give you a general overview of how to get results, and in a later issue I’ll do an advanced session on it.

But remember, before launching an AdWords campaign (or any other, for that matter), your website must be ‘FIT FOR PURPOSE’. In other words, it must already churn out enquiries for you—otherwise AdWords won’t work. Yes, it will generate you a ton more traffic, but traffic that doesn’t convert is pointless and a complete waste of money.

In June we travelled to the USA (New York City) to meet with our North American members.
I’m constantly on the lookout for business ideas, things that can be transferred to our business and that of our subscribers and members. So
wherever I visit, I always take time to read the press, watch the news and keep my eyes wide-open for any business that does things differently. (As an aside, this is something I urge you to do as well.)
There was one significant thing I came across, which can have a big impact on your business. Let me explain…