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Team Member ExpectationsTeam member expectations describe the behaviors and actionsnecessary to be productive team membe...
03/12/2021

Team Member Expectations
Team member expectations describe the behaviors and actions
necessary to be productive team members.
! Work safely and do not put yourself or others at risk.
! Do not produce/accept sub-standard work ñ ìGood EnoughÖisnítî.
! Respect other employees (including temporary employees) and leaders
by being courteous and sensitive to others concerns and needs.
! Be on time and show up for work every day.
! Follow the company/cell policies and procedures.
! Share your ideas for improvements and help implement them.
! Be willing to try new things.
! Be willing to help each other. Eliminate ìItís not my jobî attitude.
! Help train other people on job practices.
! Be flexible on job assignments.
! Be willing to learn new jobs and rotate to keep job skills current.
! Be willing to work overtime to meet customer needs.
! Communicate issues/changes to other shifts. Work together and donít
compete.
! Follow the 5S system and participate in the agreed upon process.
! Fill out paperwork completely and keep required data.
! Inventory Control is everyoneís job.
! Live up to promises for people inside our plant as well as our end customer.
! Help others when necessary and ask for help when needed.
! Support group/team decisions.
! Help set and be willing to do what is necessary to reach the goals,
contributing to the best of your ability.
! Be open to constructive feedback ñ donít be negative or defensive.
! Use facts to give feedback to avoid anger and confusion.
! Be accountable for your actions; donít ìpass the buck.î
! Enjoy your work and celebrate your successes.
! Be self-motivated and work with minimal supervision

1. Reduce supply expenses.Save money on office supplies by contacting vendors to let them know you’re price shopping. Lo...
02/12/2021

1. Reduce supply expenses.
Save money on office supplies by contacting vendors to let them know you’re price shopping. Look outside your pool of traditional vendors. Large discount suppliers like BJ's, Amazon or Wal-Mart can often beat traditional office supply vendor prices.

2. Cut production costs.
As a business owner, you're always looking for ways to cut material costs, and optimize your resources. Here are a few suggestions:

Try selling leftover cardboard, paper and metal instead of sending it to the recycling center. Also, consider ways to use your waste to create another product.

Make sure you're getting the most out of your production real estate. Centralize or consolidate the space necessary for production. Lease unused space to another business or individual—it can be as small as an office or as big as a warehouse space.

Track and measure the operational efficiency of your business, in order to adjust and optimize the use of available resources. Set performance parameters that reflect your efficiency goals and offer incentives when those goals are met.

3. Lower financial expenditures.
Look at your insurance policies and financial accounts for places to save money.

Save money on insurance by comparing providers for the most competitive rate; then ask your current lender or insurance provider to match that rate.

Consolidate insurance policies or bank accounts if possible.

Evaluate insurance policies to make sure you're not over-insured or duplicating coverage.

Don’t take on unnecessary debt. Do a thorough cost-benefit analysis and future forecasting when considering business expansion. Consider the opportunity costs and the effect of debt payments on cash flow. Excess debt affects company rating, interest rates and the ability to borrow in the future.

4. Modernize your marketing efforts.
Of course, you don't want to eliminate paid advertising that is working; however, it can be worthwhile to take a look at some cheaper alternatives.

Build your customer e-mail list and implement a referral program. A recommendation from a current customer is far more likely to result in a sale than traditional marketing.

Network more, advertise less. Clients are more likely to hire a business with a face they recognize.

Cut marketing costs by doing more in-house.

Increase social media use and reduce traditional marketing.

5. Use efficient time strategies.
Optimizing productivity effectively lowers your cost of doing business. Remember, wasted time equals wasted dollars.

Minimize distractions and limit access to time wasters. Use apps like Focus Booster or Rescue Time to help employees focus and concentrate to stay on task.

Utilize software such as Paymo and Toggl to track employee time usage, time spent on different types of work activities or projects and billable hours.

Set expectations for a reasonable amount of time to complete certain types of activities or tasks. Offer incentives for meeting or exceeding those expectations.

Schedule business activities and encourage employees to adhere to the daily or weekly schedule.

Schedule a predetermined block of time for meetings. Make it clear that you expect participants to be on time, to stick closely to the agenda and to wrap up at the appointed time.

6. Harness virtual technology.
Reduce business costs by operating in a virtual manner whenever possible.

Virtual meetings help minimize travel expenses and virtual offices can eliminate the need for physical space. While we certainly don't want to eliminate personal contact altogether, save it for the instances when it's most beneficial.

Technologies such as Google docs (soon to be Google Drive) or Basecamp centralize company documents and product collaboration as an alternative to paper documents and meetings.

7. Narrow your focus.
As a small business owner, I find narrowing my business focus to be one of the most effective strategies to improving my bottom line. By limiting the types of services I offer and projects I accept, I am more productive and produce higher-quality work.

Another way to narrow your business focus is to subcontract. Rather than turn away business, maximize your capacity by subcontracting pieces whenever possible. More projects equal more revenue, while subcontracting equals lower expenses. The result is a better bottom line.

8. Make the most of your space.
Analyze your current use of physical space. Overflowing storage, too many supplies, piles of paper files and inefficient placement of furniture and equipment are common space wasters.

Consolidate or centralize the different functions or departments of your business. Use space for dual purposes. A meeting room that doubles as a break room or a storage room that holds copy and fax machines for example. The opportunities will vary depending upon the nature of your business.

9. Maximize your employees' skills.
Assess the current usage of employee experience and skills. Give responsibilities to the employees with the most skill and efficiency in those areas. Don’t use expert sales people for word processing or “numbers” people for design functions. It's often necessary for one person to be responsible for a variety of tasks, but consider exchanging some of those tasks with another individual who shows greater efficiency.

10. Focus on quality.
Quality sells whether in the form of products or services. Satisfied customers increase sales through referrals and repeat purchases. Higher quality and a solid reputation allows you to charge higher prices, which equals higher revenue and a healthier bottom line.

What is a marketing strategy? Definition and examplesA marketing strategy is all of a company’s marketing goals and obje...
01/12/2021

What is a marketing strategy? Definition and examples
A marketing strategy is all of a company’s marketing goals and objectives combined into a single comprehensive plan. Business executives draw a successful marketing strategy from market research. They also focus on the right product mix so that they can get the most profit.

Put simply; a marketing strategy is a strategy designed to promote a good or service and make a profit. In this context, the word ‘good‘ means the same as ‘product.’

A good marketing strategy helps companies identify their best customers. It also helps them understand consumers’ needs. With a good strategy, it is possible to implement the most effective marketing methods. A good real estate marketing plan, for example, requires extensive community engagement and personal networking.

SERP Co digital marketing & seo has the following definition of the term:

“An company’s strategy that includes every one of its marketing goals . It is a comprehensive marketing approach.”

To broaden your knowledge and widen the range of strategies you could implement, you should learn about CPA marketing, digital marketing, word of mouth marketing, and relationship marketing.

Marketing strategy is long-term
Stewart Dunlop, founder at LinkBuilder.io, says that marketing strategies are long-term, forward-looking approaches to planning. Their fundamental goal is to achieve a competitive advantage.

When a company has an edge over a rival or rivals in the provision of a product or service, it has a competitive advantage. Mercedes, for example, has a competitive advantage over other luxury car-makers because its vehicles maintain their value.

Mercedes did not obtain this competitive advantage overnight or because it was lucky. It was part of the company’s long-term strategy. Specifically, part of its marketing strategy.

What is Marketing Management – Definition: Provided by Institute of Marketing Management and Philip KotlerTraditionally,...
29/11/2021

What is Marketing Management – Definition: Provided by Institute of Marketing Management and Philip Kotler
Traditionally, markets were viewed as a place for exchange of goods and services between sellers and buyers to the mutual benefit of both. Today, marketing is exchange of values between the seller and the buyer. Value implies worth related to the goods and services being exchanged. The buyer will be ready to pay for the goods if they have some value for him.

Marketing is the business function that controls the level and composition of demand in the market. It deals with creating and maintaining demand for goods and services of the organization.

Marketing management is “planning, organising, controlling and implementing of marketing programmes, policies, strategies and tactics designed to create and satisfy the demand for the firms’ product offerings or services as a means of generating an acceptable profit.”

As a small business owner, you probably have a general idea of who makes up your customer base, but vague ideas aren’t e...
28/11/2021

As a small business owner, you probably have a general idea of who makes up your customer base, but vague ideas aren’t enough in today’s competitive marketplace. Without delving into the demographic details, you’re basically marketing to everyone and anyone, and this “strategy” could mean wasting your advertising spend and missing opportunities to increase sales.

Choose the Right Target Market for Your Small Business
The Difference Between a Target Audience and a Target Market
Think of it this way: your target market is the group of people who could benefit from your product or service. The target audience are the people you’re selling to.
Take this video’s example of selling children’s books. The target market is kids aged 4 to 10, but the target audience branches out to include parents and grandparents of young children, elementary schools, school teachers, and libraries.
Target marketing aims to connect with a group of consumers most likely to purchase what you have to offer based on demographics, past buying history, and other data.

The Paradox of Narrowing Your Target Market
If you send your spouse out to the grocery store to simply buy food, he or she might come back with loads of bags filled with things you don’t need or won’t eat. This is obviously a waste of time and money. But if you send your spouse with a specific list of ingredients, he or she will come back with the right groceries. No time or money will have been wasted, and you, the cook, will be able to do your job efficiently.
Being specific is also relevant in marketing. Many new business owners or entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that their product or service is great for everybody, but that’s just not so. Not to mention that marketing to senior citizens versus Millennials, for example, can change what language you use (how many grandparents know the term “on fleek”?), where you advertise, and how you position your product.
Defining your target market will allow you to concentrate your resources on the group or groups of people that are most likely to buy from you.

Gather Your Target Market Information
The first step is to gather data. You won’t be able to accurately choose the right market for your product without some basic research. Here’s how to get started:

Look at Your Site’s Analytics
Using Google Analytics, you’ll easily be able to discover your site visitors’ age group and gender, what other websites they came from, which keywords they typed into search engines to find you, and how much time they spent on your web pages.

Interview Customers
The easiest way to find out more about your target market, is to simply ask your customers about themselves. Do this in person, on the phone, through email, or via surveys and polls on your social media sites. If you have forms on your website, make sure to use specific mandatory fields such as age or company size or job title.

Ask Your Sales Reps
You can also discover a lot of this information from your sales team. Which leads are they closing deals with? What kinds of questions do they hear most often from potential customers?

Look at Your Competition
Take a look at your competitors’ websites, social media posts, and ads. Who are they targeting? And, just as importantly, who are they not targeting (that you could)?

Develop Buyer Personas
Now that you’ve gathered the data, you can get even more clarity on your target market by creating 3 to 5 “buyer personas” for your small business. A buyer persona is simply a description of your ideal customer in as much relevant detail as possible, such as:

age
gender
marital status
children
income
occupation
geographic location
hobbies
goals
challenges
how your product or service can help
Use these criteria to create at least three profiles of your target customers. For example, if you own a baby clothing store, then your demographic profile might be married women between 25 and 40 years of age who are pregnant. If you are a luxury store, your target customer’s income level will be higher. If you’re a brick-and-mortar store, the geographic location might be within ten miles of your store.

Characteristics of a business leaderThough different leadership styles can be used at different times in a business, som...
27/11/2021

Characteristics of a business leader
Though different leadership styles can be used at different times in a business, some character traits are important for all leaders:

self-awareness – understanding your own strengths and weaknesses
decisiveness – the ability to make decisions quickly
fairness – treating others with equity
enthusiasm – motivating a team with a positive attitude
integrity – earning the respect of your team
knowledge – keeping abreast of the relevant facts, figures and trends
creativity and imagination – coming up with new and innovative ideas or promoting a workplace that does
endurance – persevering when things go wrong.
Remember, it is just as important to be able to spot these abilities in others as it is to have them yourself. You should assess the skills your staff already possess and how you may be able to draw on them and support them to build relevant skills.

There are also characteristics that any successful leader will avoid, such as:

poor communication—leads to misunderstandings, errors and poor tone
reluctance to delegate—leads to resentment and inefficiencies
favouritism among staff—leads to resentment.
Learn more about skills for running a business.

The difference between managers and leaders
Management and leadership complement each other, but they are separate roles. A leader inspires, motivates and encourages people to achieve visionary goals. A manager deals with the actual operation of a business.

Typical managerial tasks include:

ensuring products and services reach clients in the way they expect - a manager needs a good understanding of customer service
evaluating business operations and all legal requirements
ensuring all work health and safety responsibilities are met
planning budgets and arranging suitable training for staff.
Each business will include both leaders and managers, and they can sometimes be the same person. A leader can only inspire a team to success if there is a management structure in place to ensure tasks are carried out. Likewise, a leader who wants to be effective must be careful that they are not spending too much time managing and not enough time leading.

Develop a sales strategyIn order to boost sales, you’ll need a solid sales strategy, or plan, highlighting milestones yo...
26/11/2021

Develop a sales strategy
In order to boost sales, you’ll need a solid sales strategy, or plan, highlighting milestones you need to hit to increase your sales. This strategy is the set of actions you plan to carry out to promote the sale of your product or service. Your plan should be based on the specific needs of your customers.

A plan for increasing sales is the cornerstone of every successful business. After developing your strategy and putting it into motion, you can look at your sales numbers and adjust your approach if sales are not increasing. Use the steps below to better gauge the needs of your customers, how you plan to sell to them and ways the competition is succeeding or failing at reaching them as well.

The 4 Ps of sales strategy
There are four key elements that contribute to your sales strategy and improve your business. Consider each of these factors to capture a better picture of your business and increase sales.

Product – Evaluate all aspects of your product, service or store, including brand name, packaging and production costs. In which areas are you meeting the mark, and in which areas could you improve?
Price – Consider where you stand on price in comparison to your competitors and adjust your pricing if necessary to stay competitive. You should also determine what payment types you will receive; whether cash, credit, debit or check; and how those compare with your competitors. Continue reading for more on how to price your product.
Place – Determine the best location for your business and how you will distribute your products to appeal to your customers, as well as where you place your products in your location.
Promotion – Plan how to promote your products. Although having a great product is important, how well you attract customers is just as important.
Smart ways to increase sales
Once you have a strategy in place, you can begin to turn your plan into action with targeted methods for increasing the sales of your product. Here are just a few of the tactics you can use to meet your goal.

Focus on one goal at a time
When exploring ways to increase your sales, it’s helpful to focus on one specific, achievable goal at a time. Your goal should align with your business plan and include monthly milestones to help you achieve it. To keep it measurable, you may want to target a dollar amount, number of products sold or another measurement, such as increasing sales through specific promotions on your website or offering discount coupons.

Know your customers
Your customers are important to your business. Ultimately, you should be selling a product or service that meets their unique needs and engaging them with those needs in mind. It can be useful to talk to your customers, listen to their thoughts and concerns, understand their needs and wants and adapt your business approach accordingly. Remember that treating your customers well can make them loyal to your business. After all, if you have a good relationship with them, they will be more likely to come back or to talk to others and tell them about your business.

Building interest in your business
When you speak to a customer about your product, service or store, whether with marketing materials or in person, tell them what it can do for them. Once they’re aware of these “product benefits,” they’ll be more interested in learning about the features of the product.

The AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is a guide that serves to communicate easily and effectively the benefits of a product or service. You can use this guide to help you sell the benefits of your business.

1. Attract attention – You can attract your customers’ attention with marketing tactics, appealing product branding and packaging, or optimizing product placement.

2. Maintain interest – Maintain customers’ interest by communicating the benefits of your product. Your product information should be clearly labeled or communicated and easy to understand.

3. Create desire – Next, you will need to persuade your customers that they want to own this product or use this service. Focus on how the product will help them by selling the benefits instead of the features.

4. Take action – Once your consumers express interest, ensure that they buy the product or service or place an order by making it easy to make the purchase. Your customer service and point of sale system can help increase sales.

Create a marketing plan
Marketing is everything you do to make customers aware of your business through different promotional efforts. Whether you have a small shop or are selling a product or service online, there are several simple ways you can attract new customers and increase your sales, including:

Social media – Develop a social media community to build relationships with your customers. You can also utilize paid social media advertising to promote your business and any deals you may be offering. Depending on your audience and business type, you could create a presence on social media using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
Email marketing – Create a customer email list and send out emails or newsletters with special deals, new product announcements and any other news that would benefit them.
Web presence – Depending on where you’re doing business, having a presence on the web is key for reaching your target audience and attracting new customers. Create a website for your business and ensure that you’re listed on business review sites and mobile mapping software.
Advertising – Paid advertising is another way to promote your business, and can include ads on social media, radio stations, newspapers, magazines and websites or in print.
Events – Host events for your business or participate in events in your community to promote your product and raise awareness for your business. Consider hiring a public relations consultant to help promote your company and events you are participating; this will help you generate media coverage and boost sales.
Price your product right
Product pricing is an essential factor in determining the success of your business as one element of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion). There are multiple elements you should be considering if you are unsure if you should be lowering or raising the price of your product.

Understand your customers – Depending on your industry, your customers may have price expectations related to your product. It’s important to note what your customers are willing to pay and factor that into the price.
Do your research – Product pricing requires research to determine what your competitors are charging and how that should impact your pricing. You will need to stay competitive with other businesses while still ensuring that you’re not pricing your product too low.
Focus on profit – Another approach is to set a revenue target and factor in the costs of production, staff time, marketing and selling your product to ensure you cover all of your costs. It can sometimes be easier to work backwards from where you want to end up, and then evaluate what actions are needed to get you there.
Know the market – Many market factors can impact the price of your product, including economic stability, product trends and other external indicators. It’s wise to keep an eye on the market and stay ahead of any volatility so that you can make any necessary adjustments for your inventory and customer needs. These volatilities could include a change in the price of labor or input materials, or a dip in the price of one of your staple goods.
There are various pricing methods that can help you attract customers and boost sales. A few pricing strategies include:

Cost-plus pricing – Calculate your costs and add a markup.
Competitive pricing – Set a price based on what the competition charges.
Loss leader – Sell your product at a competitively low price to attract customers who may buy other, more profitable products.
Odd value pricing – Sell products for $.99 instead of $1.00. Some customers view odd value prices as being more attractive.
Price skimming – Set a high price and lower it as the market changes.
Pe*******on pricing – Set a lower price to enter a competitive market and raise it later.
Offer discounts
No matter your budget or industry, offering an array of discounts can be a great way to attract customers and make more sales. A few of the many ways you can offer discounts include:

Offer special deals – There are many deals you can offer, including markdowns, two-for-the-price-of-one sales, buy-one-get-one-free offers or free gifts.
Bundle your products – You can package multiple products together for a single price to offer customers convenience and added value.
Distribute coupons – Coupons could come in the form of email coupons, coupon offers or exclusive invitations.
Reduce overhead costs
Another method for increasing your profits is to focus on your management costs. Streamlining your overhead costs and stabilizing your cash flow can make a huge impact on your end profit. You might be surprised by how much you can cut back on day-to-day costs, which could add up significantly over time.

Business has shaped the world in pursuit of profit and growth with an apparent disregard for consequences, other than fi...
25/11/2021

Business has shaped the world in pursuit of profit and growth with an apparent disregard for consequences, other than financial ones. The process of value creation has been extraordinarily successful in creating wealth through satisfying consumers’ needs and wants. The world’s fortune is at a historical peak: its economy has never been so highly valued. So, by some measures, the model can be considered a success. But at what cost?

It is increasingly evident that the focus on profitability has led to the neglect of two other dimensions: the environment and the fabric of society. We are rapidly losing species and natural areas. Income inequality is rising, with the latest figures showing a historic high. The world is getting richer, but its wealth is not properly redistributed.

The UN millennium goals were successful at lifting more than a billion people out of extreme poverty, and have been succeeded by the sustainable development goals, which provide us with a framework for building a better world. But, while such goal setting remains a successful mechanism, there is more to do.

A sole focus on short term gains will not drive the change we need. We must think in the longer term. This is particularly important in a one planet system. Where will growth come from when planetary boundaries have been reached?

Nobody likes business any more. The profit motive, once a desirable incentive to wealth creation, is now seen as something evil, and a source of injustice and inequality. There is a need to change the model, an imperative to reassess the purpose of business, not just to satisfy shareholders and accountants but also to work in tune with all relevant stakeholders.

The successful company is no longer one that just makes money. A financial return is a necessary condition, but it is not sufficient. Dividends will keep shareholders happy but what about other stakeholders?

We have to remember that a company is not just a balance sheet. It is also customers, local and global communities and society – and the natural environment, the world in which we live. These long neglected factors must be carefully considered.

So, there is a need for change. True sustainability will only be assured if there is a proper investment return in the three dimensions of business: financial, social and environmental.

This intuitive finding has long been around, but few companies have been able to implement it. Financial markets focus exclusively on financial reporting. If all that matters is immediate profitability how can one justify investing in long term projects? In a family-owned enterprise, trans-generational value creation may come naturally. But this is difficult to replicate in a publicly quoted company where the voice of owners is only answered in term of dividends.

Companies and their performance should be evaluated in terms of their net contribution to society, giving back at least as much as they take. There are many ways in which they can do this. Training employees, promoting ethical values, integrating ethnic minorities and ensuring fair pay for all are only a few of the obvious activities which need to be recognised and valued. In environmental terms, reducing ecological footprints and better managing consumption and the natural resources cycle could work as useful metrics, among many others.

None of this is rocket science, but it is usually met with stock answers such as “we cannot afford it” or “shareholders would not approve, as it has an impact on the margin”. I would argue that we cannot afford not to make the change if we care about people and planet as well as profit.

These transformational changes will not take place without the emergence of a new generation of leaders able to change the current management paradigm. Under such enlightened stewardship, companies will again be able to thrive in the dual and common interest of humanity and the planet and evolve a more appropriate response to the current world challenges.

The new technology tsunami, currently underway, could provide an opportunity for a successful reboot. Its disruption to the existing business model must be harnessed for good. If instead it is just seen as a new opportunity for business as usual the situation will become even worse. Company management should be rewarded along the lines of people, planet and profit.

This would encourage companies to repair part of the damages sustained to the global commons since the beginning of the industrial age two centuries ago – and to develop a stable growth engine which will produce the necessary return on investment without, literally, costing, the earth. Let us look towards the corporate sector as a part of the solution and no longer as the problem.

Today, as in the past, growing wealth and prosperity is needed for a properly functioning system where humans can live sustainably and in harmony with nature. Providing this could be the new purpose for business – especially if we truly realise that it is not the way you spend money that matters but the way you make it.

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