My company’s business phone system has what I would call, the absolute most annoying hold message ever produced. My boss, the owner of the company, is a really nice guy. Unfortunately, he is a really nice guy with a very pronounced speech impediment. One day he decided that instead of the traditional hold music, he would play a repeating digital loop of him announcing our weekly specials. We are a very busy company. In fact, most days find our sales reps on the phone from the time we get in until the time we leave. As you might guess, with such a high volume of calls, many people are left on hold.

When our customers finally reach a sales rep, I would estimate that about thirty to forty percent of them do an impersonation of my boss… no kidding. The other sixty or seventy percent usually compliment us on the “funny voice” doing our ads. I’ve had a few who were offended by it, thinking we were trying to make fun of those with speech impediments. The thing is, almost everybody has something to say about the hold ads. I even had one customer complete an extensive order while doing his version of “the voice”. Since our boss is a really great guy, my coworkers and I are less than amused on one hand, yet highly entertained on the other. My only problem is that while most of my colleagues are spread out over a huge office, my cubical is right next to the boss’. I have to keep a straight face during some fairly good impressions.

I miss the hold music.

Business Phone Blues is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

If you have a business merchant account you will not have to chase down outstanding debt. The cost is not that high and you don’t have to buy traditional credit card processing equipment. Now they have what is called a lab terminal, which allows you to use your web browser to manage the transactions. The systems are completely secure and most business merchant account providers team up with larger companies that offer great advantages.

Costco’s Business Merchant Account
One of the biggest secrets we learned about business merchant accounts is that Costco provides a fantastic deal on credit card processing through Nova Systems. It’s such a great deal it can actually pay for your entire Costco membership. Here are some particulars:
All of the monthly statement and gateway fees are waived – savings of $25 – $50 per month
Very competitive discount rates on Visa and MasterCard.
You can add on processing for American Express and Discover – you will find that even though American Express transaction fees are higher, it is a very popular card with small businesses.
The charges billed are transferred quickly and directly into your business bank account – this is a lot faster than doing your billing or invoicing once a week or so.

Paypal

Paypal is a popular alternative to traditional business merchant accounts. Paypal is very easy to set up and the set up is free. There are restrictions though on what you can do and how you can withdraw your money. The largest drawback is the negative connotation of being an ebay related service where people sell garage sale stuff as a hobby.

The Bottom Line on Business Merchant Accounts

Business merchant accounts will help you get paid faster. There are fees involved but the customer convenience and no hassle approach to receiving your money make it worthwhile. There are different business merchant accounts available so do your homework and choose the one that makes the best sense for you.

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Business Merchant Account – Get One is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

Plotting your course in a business journal lets you see opportunities with ease and clarity. It’s hard to see what is right in front of us but when you revisit what you did a week or a month ago, your perspective on the situation is often different enough that you can analyze the situation much more effectively.

Business Journal Tips

Use a good old fashioned paper and pencil business journal as opposed to an electronic or online version. It’s easy and it’s accessible everywhere.
Take five minutes before you go to bed every night and write down three or four sentences and bullet points about what you feel you accomplished that day.

On the back page of your business journal start a business idea log or brainstorm list that addresses two questions: ideas for getting leads and clients and ideas on how to increase service revenue.

By recording this type of information every day you will have a permanent record of what you thought about doing, what you have done, and how successful your ideas were. Your business journal will show you where you have been and it will help you determine where you should do.

The Bottom Line on Business Journals

A business journal allows you to efficiently organize your ideas and record both what you have tried and things you are thinking about trying but haven’t quite put on the planning radar screen. At the front of your business journal you’ll write three or four sentences every day on what happened to help your business grow and in the back you’ll put ideas on where to find more leads and clients and get more services revenue. By using your business journal on a daily basis you will create a powerful tool that helps you get the right perspecive and helps you both operate and grow your business.

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Business Journals – A Strong Business Planning Tool is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

Step 1. Find a Business for sale at BusiMarket.com site for businesses for sale and commercial property for sale on the market. As soon as a property is found, make any necessary contacts to sellers.

Step 2. Get Purchase and Sale AgreementGet the sale agreement from Brokers, attorneys, or Escrow companies.

Step 3. Find a LenderFind a Loan Officer that will take care of your financing needs.

Step 4. Prepare Required Documents – Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Business or Commercial Property,
- Personal Financial Statement provided by the lender,
- Income tax returns from both buyer and seller from the last three years
- an up-to-date income statement,
- Resume from the buyer,
- Lease Agreement(if applies),
- Assignment for Lease (if applies),

Step 5. Finally, wait for the loan approval (usually takes 2-4 weeks)

Since the financing process can be different on type of business, location, and buyer’s situation. The information above is for information only and BusiMarket.com does not guarantee accuracy of information.

Business Financing Guide (Simple) is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

It is important to understand these administrative expenses. When you are preparing your budget and pro forma statements you need to be aware of the options that impact each of these business expenses.

The first business expense to look at is payroll. Your business needs to be able to pay you. This business expense may be regular or infrequent but it needs to be budgeted for.

Next is business expenses related to telecommunications. These are items like cell phones, business phone lines, and Internet access.

Insurance is an important business expense in the administrative category. Here you need to consider business insurance, general liability insurance, casualty insurance and health insurance.

Health insurance is a huge business expense. Our recommendation when budgeting for this is: If you have a spouse that has health insurance try to stay on their policy. If COBRA is an option for you, try to arrange that. This is a very costly business expense so do your homework carefully.

Bank fees are a business expense that many people don’t even think about. You should realize though that banks charge a fee to open a business account and the monthly fees are typically higher than for personal accounts.

A related expense is the fees charged by the credit card companies. These add up to huge business expenses as they typically charge at least two or three percent on each transaction. And many small-business owners absolutely love American Express, which usually charges even higher percentage fees.

Another large business expense item is professional fees. These are the fees you pay to your accountant and/or attorney to advise you on different stages of your business as well as other benefits.
Other common business expenses in the administrative category include:
Travel and Entertainment
Office Supplies
Vehicle Expense

The Bottom Line on Business Expenses

You need to understand and research every business expense when you begin the process of budgeting. The business expenses related to administration often get overlooked as they are not the obvious sales related expenses. This business expense category accounts for a large portion of your overall expenses so it is worth examining closely.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Business Expenses – Track Your Admin Expenses is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

Setting a health and safety program in place will reduce costs. Having a program will reduce accidents and will lead to lower company worker’s comp premiums; further business insurance companies prefer their customers to have health and safety programs. These insurance companies might even discount the premium if a program can be proved to exist. The average cost of an accident is $68,000. Direct costs in accidents such as worker’s comp and fines levied can close a business. Indirect costs such as low morale of employees, legal fees, and retraining can be as costly if not more.

A working program will:
1) Improve employee morale – Shows care in their well being
2) Reduce revenue loses – Fewer accidents keeps all employees at work
3) Give a boost to the customer – Makes sure business is operating optimally

Small businesses that have a voluntary health and safety program in place have fifty percent less accidents and reported insurance claims than that of their counterparts according to OHSA stats. Most small businesses fall below the legal requirements for having a formal health and safety program in place due to number of employees on staff. Sixty eight percent of reported accidents are in the service industry which shows even businesses such as retail establishments are not free of accidents.

A health and safety program can be started by writing a health and safety policy; this is simply values that a company wishes to convey in its work processes. Secondly, is how communication between all employees and owners will function. And lastly, put procedures in place to ensure safe practices.

To find unseen hazards and unsafe practices, an audit needs to take place. Take a hard look at the workplace and record all factors that may lead to injury. These hazards might be dangerous chemicals or as simple as a letter opener. Identifying these hazards will lead to procedures to controlling them. Controls such as “Don’t run with scissors in your hands” are effective. Write all procedures in a manual.

Implementing these health and safety procedures will be done with behavioral change. Some programs become weak and non effective because of:
1) No definition of safety practices – No written processes
2) No teamwork – Safety is communication from the top to bottom and vice versa. A well written plan will describe what roles everyone plays in safety policies.
3) No effective goals – The “accident free days” poster will come as a result of sound safety processes.
4) Wrong incentives – Money as a reward does not work well. Health and safety should be fun and worth employees effort. The right incentive plan can be cost effective and have obtainable goals. Incentive plans can include movie passes or simply “free coffee on the boss.” The insurance industry reports for a dollar spent on health and safety yields four to six dollars in savings.

Once all of the hard work of developing and implementing the health and safety program is done, set aside some time each month to review the workplace. Record what is found; this is a good practice to see dangerous trends that might occur such as a fire exit constantly being blocked. On the quarters of the year post a meeting with employees. These meetings are a great way to get vital feed-back from employees and keep them involved. At least once a year, do an audit to make sure your health and safety program is current with present business operations.

Business Cost Savings Through Safety is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

First, You have to determining your investment. Usually minimum down payment made by the buyer is 30% of the purchase price. For example, if the business purchase price is $100,000 and loan amount is $70,000 (70%), then the buyer’s down payment needs to be $30,000 (30%). Other possible expenses are inventories, supplies, escrow fee, license and permit fees, franchise transfer fee (if applies), etc.

And then you have to set criteria of desired business. Which includes location of business, type of business, price range of business, desired income of business.

After you decide your investment amount and criteria of business, you will need to find a right business that fit your needs. You can search business through online business listing service site like www.BusiMarket.com Business For Sale, local newspapers, or through local business brokers or real estate agents.

If you find a business that you want to purchase, you will need to evaluate the business through current owner’s income information and your projected income for short term and long term.
And then you need to make decision to purchase business or not. If the business is right for you, you need to write a very descriptive and detailed contract (Purchase and Sale Agreement).

When you are writing an offer, you have to make sure the contract includes the followings: Your offering price, Initial deposit amount, financing terms, closing date. Other terms and conditions that can be added to the contract is buyer’s loan approval, lease and lease approval from landlord, buyer to obtain all necessary licenses and permits, franchisor’s approval of ownership transfer, the buyer’s Satisfaction of books and records, closing cost allocation, buyer training session, business equipment and fixtures in good working condition, inventories and supplies amount, seller’s agreement not to compete, etc.

After you finish writing an offer, you need to present your offer to seller. Negotiate the price, terms, and conditions and settle with final price and terms and condition.

Now you will need to allocate the purchase price of business that you are buying. After you done purchase price allocation, you will need to apply for loan, license and permits.

and then you will need to obtain a lease or sublease. You will need to make sure you obtain the lease or get an approval of lease assignment before close of escrow no matter what happened.

And then on or the day before the closing date, you will need to review the equipment list that is provided at the time of the acceptance of the Purchase and Sale agreement and buy inventories and supplies. And then you can do the closing on the closing date.

Business Buying Guide – Detail is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

Considering the fact that the majority of customers will reach you over the phone, it is paramount to be able to not only handle call volume during peak times, but also to provide your customers service representatives with the features they need to do their job well. Business phone systems should be capable of not only putting your customers in touch with you, but also offer routing flexibility, voicemail and forwarding options for the administrative side of your company. Often, the difference maker for catalog retailers is not the products they sell, but the service behind those products. People who want to buy will have questions regarding an item that a simple picture and brief description will not answer. Most companies have service reps who take orders and product specialists who are familiar with the inventory.

It is essential for the product specialists to have access to a phone system that will accurately and easily allow them to receive and transfer calls between departments. After the initial contact by the sales representatives, the most common transfer of waiting customers will be to product specialists and hopefully back to the sales reps. A customer who is dropped accidentally during this transfer is likely to not call back. Additionally, customers who are made to hold for extended periods of time without an automated message thanking them for their patience are a primary example of lost revenue that could be curtailed by the proper business phone system. All in all, a well thought out business phone system is an integral necessity for any company, but it is especially important for catalog retailers.

Business Basics for Catalog Retailers is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

There are almost as many bulk vending distributors as there are products that you can sell. These distributors have different models of bulk candy machines. Some of them are single machines, but you can get combo machines where you sell three different products in one machine. The reason they are called bulk vending machines is that they can hold a lot of candy or other products, which means you don’t have to restock them as often.

Usually bulk candy machines dispense a handful of small candy. Although the candy doesn’t last very long, it is a thrill for small children to put in a quarter and receive the candy. They will often want to spend more than one quarter in the bulk vending machines because they are amazed at how it works. You will most likely see these machines where parents take small children, even though adults like the candy from the vending machines too.

Bulk vending distributors will be able to supply you with large quantities of candy for your vending machine business. The candy usually comes in 30 pound bags, so you have enough candy to refill the vending machines several times. The cost of the bulk candy is about $50 a box, which means that you will have a high rate of profit when you sell them all. The bulk vending machines of this nature are not expensive either and you can save money on your investment if you look for used bulk candy machines.

Bulk vending machines are perfect for people who want to start their own small business as a second source of income. You won’t have to service them very often, so using bulk candy machines won’t take up a lot of your time. There are very few parts that can break on these vending machines because the main components are the turning knob and the coin receptacle. When you add in the fact that they do not require electricity, business owners can easily make money on your investment when they allow you to place bulk vending machines at their place of business.

Bulk Vending Machines – The Most Popular Ones With Vendors And Customers is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com

Build that website and perfect your online presence.

The Internet is one place where, compared to print and other forms of electronic media, the playing field is relatively level. A website filled with loads of great content will be loved by the search engines like Google and Yahoo!, and because of that, customers that may not even know where you are can find you and buy online. If you own a retail store, start an e-store. If you own a restaurant or a service-related business, offer a gift certificate or printable coupon. Starting a mailing list on your website with the latest news, events and special offers is a great way to get (and keep) loyal, regular customers. The options are endless, and best of all, content is the Internet king, not slick, flashy, repetitive advertising. If you aren’t comfortable with all things Internet, there are many companies that are, and can help you with web design, web hosting, search engine optimization, and web marketing.

Join (or start) a co-op or business association.

“Strength in Numbers” is more than a catchy phrase, it is becoming a necessity in our current business climate. Trade organizations can purchase products together to get better rates and buys, they can advertise together with direct mail coupons and newsletters (another big money saver), and they carry more political clout by appointing representatives to call on state legislatures or even Congress in order to promote legislation favorable to small independent businesses. If your area doesn’t have a trade organization, or does but you feel it doesn’t meet your needs, start one! The National Federation of Independent Business is a great resource with representatives in all fifty states and Washington D.C.

Don’t mimic Corporate America

Advertising is not cheap, because the prices that the large corporations are willing to pay for it have priced it out of the reach of most small businesses. This is not necessarily a bad thing; let them have all of the cold, impersonal, beat you over the head repetitive advertising! People only care about this on Super Bowl Sunday anyway! Always go for the personal touch. If you own a restaurant or retail store, introduce yourself. Let them know you appreciate them coming by, and you can’t wait to see them again. Always offer coupons or incentives, and be as unique, creative and memorable as you possibly can. Remember that “word of mouth” advertising is so great you can’t put a price tag on it. Put yourself in the customers shoes, and stay there! Don’t ever do what you want; do what they want. Don’t just market your business, market yourself. It leaves an impression, and with the sorry state of customer service today in most (chain) businesses, people won’t forget it!

Remember, you are an independent business because you wanted to do something new or different, so promote yourself accordingly. Here’s to you “breaking the chains” and becoming successful with your chosen endeavor.

Breaking the Chains! is a post from: Business Blog | Lilamitre-arte.com