5 Client Relationship Commandments

The golden goose for a self-employed individual is repeat business from existing client relationships. Securing these residual client relationships really begins on day one of your first project. Whether you are a freelance consultant, musician or expert bird caller, these five client relationship commandments will help you impress your client and secure repeat business.

1. Mind Your Manners: During a project, always mind your Ps and Qs. Acting professional at all times and using your manners may seem like an absolute no-brainer, but I am shocked at how often I run into scenarios where people make gaffes that cost them the next job.

• Don't talk over people. Make it a point to wait your turn politely and if you find yourself rambling over the top of someone’s thoughts, say “pardon me” and allow them to continue.
  
• Be on time. Do whatever it takes to be on time to all your appointments. You should always be waiting for the client, not the other way around.
  
• Be prepared. Scratch that, be overly prepared.
  
• If the client has offered to purchase lunch or dinner, don't go crazy ordering (you would be amazed at the kind of stuff I have witnessed). No extra desserts to take back to your hotel room or double appetizers just because you can’t decide. Take your cues off the client.
  
• Leave your phone in the car or buried deep in the recesses of your back pocket with the ringer shut off. Nothing is more unprofessional than a meeting being interrupted by your cell phone call or text alert.
  
• And most importantly, take the time after a project is completed to seek out those who hired you and tell them thank you.
  

2. The Client is Always Right-ish: The client obviously hired you because you had something to offer. But every client is different. Some clients will just trust you and let you do your thing. Other clients will be a bit more, shall we say, uncompromising. You should express your point of view and identify points of concern so that the client can weigh your expert advice against their own. But in the end, the client's point-of-view always win out. Even if you are convinced their choices will result in the next Titanic.

3. It Isn't About You: Everyone comes to the table with perspectives and ideas. A client is much more likely to rebook work with you if you ensure a healthy dose of collaboration and validation. Listening is a skill everyone can work to improve upon. Rarely have I ever left a meeting saying “Man that guy sure listened a lot.” Listening is critical to understanding the wishes of the client. One exercise I use to help me keep my mouth in check during meetings is to write down each thought that comes into my head as others speak. Once there is a break in the conversation, I then determine if my comment is still necessary or relevant before introducing.

If the client isn't a great communicator, make sure you seek vigilantly the client's point of view. When in doubt, ask questions and clarify. Assumptions can be the kill shot to any relationship.

4. Follow-Up, Follow-Up, Follow-Up: Let's face it; work and life are busy for everyone. As great as a project may have gone, once it ends memories get hazy. It is your job to stay top of mind with your previous clients. Send out marketing emails, drop them a call or mail them a piece of marketing collateral. Make sure you personalize anything that goes out so that your communication doesn't end up in the junk mail trash can.

5. Go the Extra Mile: Sometimes if you aren't happy about commandment #2 (the opinionated client), you can begrudgingly move forward on the client's request. Talking badly about the project or the client is never a good idea. Making predictions about how horrendous the end product will be or how wretched the production will be won’t solve anything. Put on your grown-up panties and figure out how to turn your lemons into a mojito. You never know, the client may seem like their crazy when in actuality, they are crazy like a fox. The end product may just be a wild success.

Starting a Soap Business

If you want to engage in a soap business and make your business a success then you must know where you should start.

Introduction to the Business

You want to start a soap business but you are not sure where to begin? While establishing a business is not completely hard, it does really take time as well as careful preparation in order to make it successful in the future. Starting a soap business is just the same. If you have ideas and trainings on how to make soaps then you can turn this to a profitable business. You can also get some ideas from friends or family but remember to focus your soap business on your own decision only. Start out slow, do some research, and plan your business accordingly. When you have decided on what kind of soaps you will create then start buying ingredients and supplies from reliable manufacturers.

Finding your Market

There are many different types of soap in the market today that are also good so how can yours be different? There is lots of handmade soap in the market today and each one offers the best so how can you find your niche? The best way to do this is by putting yourself in other people’s seat. Research online and track trends on soap. Study carefully your niche market so that you can analyze the potential of the products you are going to offer. Visit your nearest librarian for great tips on retail market forecasts that includes personal care. Then, test your market and get feedbacks from customers to be able to improve your business by improving your products.

Supplies and Ingredients

Compare prices, quality, and customer services of different manufacturers of supplies and ingredients you need for your products. There will be lots of manufacturers available but comparing their quality, prices, and customer service. Shop and buy only the things you are going to use for 1-2 months in your first few months. Invest on inventory programs that can help you in production planning. This will also eliminate the waste of overstocking of supplies.

Business Plan and Legalities

All your ideas must be put on paper. Write a business plan for your soap business. After you have completed it, review it carefully every 3 months to see whether your business should be redirected in some way. Then, acquire business insurance, state and city business license, trademark, and all necessary permit needed for your business. Check with your local government or small business organization on what licenses and permits are necessary for your soap business to be able to prevent any problems regarding the legalities in the future.

Small Business Advice

So many things should be considered in starting your small business. You need to decide whether you would create a sole proprietorship or partnership. In addition, you would need a business plan and a clear communication strategy to impart the right message to your customers. The most important thing is that you should identify ways to get enough funding from the beginning.

These days, every business whether big or small, would always need a website or online presence without spending too much. Definitely, you would also need a great marketing plan that will correspond with your budget. We can share with you small business free advice and tips to be successful.

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Franchisee Concept

Buying a franchise can provide you with instant customer recognition, a well-designed business model, marketing and operational support, and volume purchasing, but it can also bring you the potential for disputes with your franchisor.

The relatively high level of litigation in franchising has little to do with the people involved – in general, franchisors and franchisees are no more litigious than anyone else in business. Rather, the conflict emerges because the two parties make money in different ways.

Understanding these differences helps franchisors and franchisees avoid escalating disagreements to the level of litigation.

At its heart, franchising is a business arrangement in which one party (the franchisor) rents a business model and brand name to another party (the franchisee), who uses it to sell products or services to end users. The “rent” that the franchisee pays is usually calculated as a percentage of the his or her gross sales. That means franchisor profits increase with franchisee sales, leading franchisors to adopt policies to maximize sales at franchisee locations.

Franchisees, however, make money by generating revenues that exceed their costs. Therefore, they seek policies that maximize profits at their locations.

The policies that maximize outlet-level sales aren’t the ones that maximize outlet-level profits, causing conflict between franchisors and franchisees. A good example is the use of buy-one-get-one-free discounts, which are common in retail businesses. Done right, a buy-one-get-one-free discount will bring more customers to a retail outlet, boosting sales. That’s clearly beneficial to the franchisor whose earnings are linked to outlet-level sales.

But the discounting strategy might not boost the franchisee’s profits. If it doesn’t boost the size of the average customer purchase, the franchisee could be worse off. The buy-one-get-one-free promotion could raise the franchisee’s costs (by the amount of the free item) but not boost its revenues.

The conflict between the franchisor and franchisee is rooted in the economics of franchising, not in the two parties having “bad” attitudes. The franchisor wants the couponing strategy because it will make more money, while the franchisor doesn’t want it because it will not be made better off. If enough money is at stake, the end result could be a lawsuit between the two parties.

Disagreements over discounting strategies aren’t the only disputes driven by franchisor and franchisee goal divergence that result in litigation. A couple of years ago Burger King and its franchisees ended up in court over a disagreement about late night hours. Burger King wanted its franchisees to stay open late to sell more fast food to those seeking it at off hours.

To the franchisor, the strategy made perfect sense. If franchisees sold a few more burgers and fries to midnight diners, Burger King would bring in more royalties, which would boost its bottom line. But staying open late caused the franchisees to lose money. They had to pay employees for the additional hours even though their late-hour revenues were less than those wages.

The difference between maximizing sales and profits also leads causes franchisors and franchisees to fight about adding locations. Even when an additional location cannibalizes sales at an existing outlet, franchisors are better off because the new establishment boosts system-wide sales. But it does necessarily benefit the initial franchisee, who might have the same cost of operations, but lower sales.

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Competitive Advantage

What does your company do best? Or better yet, what can your company potentially do better than any other company? And perhaps just as important, what can it not do best?

According to Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, answers to these simple questions offer insight into your firm's purpose. And, if answered with brutal honesty, they are key to moving your company to greatness. Why? Because this is your competitive advantage.

What is Competitive Advantage?

Specifically, it is your company's unique skills and resources working to implement strategies that competitors cannot implement as effectively. Understanding your competitive advantage is critical. It is the reason you are in business. It is what you do best that draws customers to buy your product/service instead of your competitor's. Extremely successful companies deliberately make choices to be unique and different in activities that they are really, really good at and they focus all of their energy in these areas.

Sustaining Your Advantage Over the Competition

Of course once you have identified your competitive advantage(s), you're not done. It is not enough just to have an advantage over your competitors. For your business to be great, it needs to weather competitive and environmental storms. You have to be able to combat today's fierce market forces and uncertainty. In other words, your competitive advantage needs to be sustainable and able to endure the test of time for your company to be great. Why? Because most advantages can be duplicated within a period of time.

Here are the hard and cold facts: Roughly 70 percent of all new products can be duplicated within one year and 60 to 90 percent of process improvement (learning) eventually diffuses to competitors. And everyone knows competing on price is never sustainable.

What is Your Competitive Advantage?

So, what is your firm's competitive advantage? Do you have one? And if you do, are you focusing on it? Here's a quick way to check your pulse. Do any of these statements sound familiar?

• "We're better than they are. They'll never do __________ as well as we do."
• "Our competitors are too big and slow. They'll never respond quickly."
• "All we need is one big contract."
• "We'll have first-mover advantage. We'll lock our customers in before our competitors know what is happening."
• "No one knows our customer like we do."
• "My competitors are too stupid. Our team is much more innovative."
• "If the big guys buy our product, we're home free."
• "We're it. There is no one else in our market who does what we do."

Summing it up is Michael Porter, the Harvard competitive advantage guru. Mr. Porter states, "It is incredibly arrogant for a company to believe that it can deliver the same sort of product/service that its rivals do and actually do better for very long. It is extremely dangerous to bet on the incompetence of your competitors".

If any of these statements do sound familiar or if you are banking on the general incompetence of your competitors, it's time to get serious about the purpose of your company. First, assess what your company does best by looking at what you are good at and what you are not good at. Turn it into a competitive advantage by focusing your energy on these activities. Lastly, make it something that will endure by continually developing and working at it.

Putting Competitive Advantage to the Test

Now it is time to put your competitive advantage to the test. How do you know when you have developed a sustainable competitive advantage? Here are three criteria that can help evaluate if you are on the right track and keep you there:

• Customers must see a consistent difference between your product/service and those of your competitor's. This difference needs to be obvious to your customers and it must influence their purchasing decision. Example: Coke vs. Pepsi.
• Your competitive advantage must be difficult to imitate. Avoid falling into the incompetence trap. Example: IN-N-OUT Burger vs. McDonalds.
• The above two items combined must be activities that can be constantly improved, nurtured, and work at to maintain that edge over your competition. Ex: Wal-Mart vs. Kmart.

Before you put this article down, ask yourself: What is my competitive advantage? And is it sustainable? Your company depends on it.

Virtual Assistant (VA) Business

Overview of a Virtual Assistant Business:                      

The Virtual Assistant (VA) industry is growing fast and becoming a popular for those who want to run their own home business to get started - usually by doing the things they have done well in the past for prior employers. It's a business that lends itself to low startup costs and one that can be started on a part-time basis. In short, this is an area that is seen as trendy with a good deal of growth potential.

Pros of a Virtual Assistant Home Business:

• You can start your business with very limited funds.
• You can use the same skills you have used in the past for prior employers and then expand your offerings or specialize.
• The Virtual Assistant industry is growing rapidly and demand is expected to remain strong.
• Income potential is strong. Typical virtual assistants charge from about $35 to $75 per hour, depending on the type of services offered and/or the skill level of the virtual assistant.
• You have a fairly high level of control over which hours you work and how many hours you work each week.

Cons of a Virtual Assistant Home Business:

• Finding initial clients may be a challenge, as it would be with any business, but the challenge can be met by using creative marketing techniques and through networking by joining a VA group, introducing yourself and offering your sub-contracting services.
• As your business grows, it's likely that your equipment needs and expenses may also grow.
• Like any home business, you are responsible for paying your own taxes, securing your own health insurance, etc.

How To Find Customers In 4 Easy Steps

STEP 1: Zero In On Your Target Market

Finding the right customer may seem ridiculously logical. But saying it and then actually taking the time to refine who your customer really is – or should be – is a much more complex task. Take the time to understand who your target market is so you don’t waste your time finding and selling to the wrong customers.

STEP 2: Acquire a Potential Customer List

You can’t start a party without a guest list and, likewise, you can't start or run a company without accumulating a sizable list of potential customers (often referred to as sales leads). There are plenty of places where you can do this. Here are just a few:

• Personal Contacts: Your friends and family are the most likely to purchase something from you. You shouldn’t hesitate to let them know of your new venture.
• Referrals: Call upon your existing customers to refer friends and family. Offer an incentive.
• Purchase a Lead List: There are many companies out there where you can purchase mailing or contact lists based off the characteristics you identify. Do a Google search for "mailing lists" and you will find dozens of companies.
• Internet Research: This works best if you are targeting businesses for your product or service. Going online and doing local searches for businesses fitting your criteria can generate many excellent leads.
• Trades Shows or Craft Fairs: If you are a B2B-focused business, searching through other business exhibitors will generate nice results. If your business focuses on consumers (B2C), you may want to consider exhibiting. This will allow you to collect potential customer information and buyer information during the show. This is why there are so many raffles held at exhibits or gift fairs. They want to collect your information so they can market to you in the future.
• Community Networking Events: If your business focuses on B2B sales, consider joining the Better Business Bureau. This organization is chalked full of B2B networking. Additionally, look into local clubs where you can hob-nob with people who have your interests in mind (like a woodworking group).
• Social Media: Do you have social media followers on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin? These are definitely contacts you can market to about your products, coupons, sales, company updates etc.

STEP 3: Making Your First Initial Contact

Over The Phone: Use an easy flowing/conversational script to introduce your product or purpose for calling. Remember, telling isn’t selling. If you are doing all the talking, the likelihood of convincing someone they need your product or service isn't going to be high. Ask them questions! At the end of your conversation, close with a call-to-action. To get results, you have to ask the potential customer to do something. Whether it is committing to a trial period or giving you an email or physical address for additional information. Finally, if an individual says they are not interested, ask them if they know of someone who might be. You never know, you might get some additional leads.

Email: If you are sending out an email, offer some value. Give a brief explanation of who you are, provide a coupon or a free article on a relevant topic. Review the anti-spam laws, which require you to include an unsubscribe option to every contact. Here are some additional resources on email marketing.

In-Person: Whether it is via door-to-door sales or a chance encounter on an airplane, it is important to remember a few key points to affective in-person selling. First, don’t throw-up all over someone. Know your stuff and start asking them questions that will lead up to your product or service introduction. Watch them and their body language, doing so will help you modify your approach to their comfort level. Always have sales material on hand to help you in this process (collateral like samples, catalogs). Make sure and end with a call to action and a promise to follow-up.

Traditional Mail: Create the piece you plan to send, whether that is a postcard, brochure, letter etc. You may need to hire this type of work out to a creative firm. Once you have the finished piece in hand, you can either do the fulfillment (addressing and stamping) on your own or hire a fulfillment house to do it for you. If you are mailing a lot, there are both time and cost benefits to using a fulfillment house to address, stuff and stamp. A fulfillment house is able to get a bulk stamp rate, which can save up to 40% off the postage price. Definitely something to consider. However, a hand placed stamp may be less likely to look like junk mail.

STEP 4: Follow-Up and then Follow-Up Again

People are going to tell you no. Lots of them. Did you know that 80% of sales are not made on the first, second, or even third contact, but rather the fifth to twelfth contact? That may seem crazy, but it is true. Finding customers requires thick skin and a strong belief in whatever it is you are selling. Just because someone tells you “no” today doesn’t mean it will be a “no” tomorrow. Keep asking, but avoid being a nuisance.

Promotional Company Business Idea

Learning how to start a promotional company is the first step towards an exciting small business opportunity. A business-to-business (B2B) enterprise, a promotional company plans and implements publicity campaigns for grand openings, product launches, public relations campaigns, and other special events.

Promotional companies also sell custom-branded novelty items such as t-shirts, pens, and calendars. The most successful promotion company professionals are highly skilled in marketing methods that help build brand awareness and buzz. While many businesses may attempt basic promotional campaigns in-house, they typically turn to promotion specialists, like yourself, for help in larger or more complex campaigns.

How to Start a Promotional Company

Learning how to start a promotional company begins with brainstorming and self-evaluation exercises. Promotion covers a wide scope of services and product offerings. Will you focus on publicity campaigns? Will you sell company-branded promotional products? Evaluating your expertise and planning the types of services and products your company will provide gives you the necessary focus when just starting out.

As a promotional company your primary areas of focus will include:

• Meeting with clients to evaluate current promotional needs and plan event or communication campaigns
• Engaging in publicity activities, such as writing effective ad copy for press releases, and creating and purchasing newspaper, television and radio advertising
• Ensuring successful event implementation
• Designing and supplying promotional products
• Measuring the success of the promotional methods you help implement

As the owner of a promotion company, you’ll also be responsible for:

• Purchasing promotional supplies or establishing relationships with promotional product providers
• Networking within the business community to drum up leads
• Staying informed about new and unique promotional techniques
• Watching for expansion opportunities
• Keeping track of inventory
• Invoicing and payments

Starting a Promotional Company

When learning how to start a promotional company, focus on your existing skills and talents. Do you have a business or marketing background? Do you have excellent people skills? Define your strengths. If you lack promotional experience, consider taking classes. You might even consider working for another promotional company to learn the ropes (just keep in mind you may be bound to a non-compete agreement).

A successful promotional company professional has the following characteristics:

• The ability to effectively communicate with clients and understand their promotional needs
• Thorough knowledge of the target market obtained through research or experience
• The know-how not only to attract people during campaigns, but the skill to turn them into buyers
• Understanding what promotional methods work the best based on different client goals
• A vast network of promotional providers who can help you with novelty products and other promotional services

Finding customers gets easier as you build a track record of successful promotional events. Prospective clients expect results. Company executives are unlikely to pay for your services untried. Build a portfolio of events and publicity campaigns you have profitably promoted. Include client testimonials. Offer discounted services for referrals. If those first clients prove illusive, volunteer your promotional services for worthy charity or fund-raising events. Volunteering your services not only promotes your business, it makes a positive difference in your community.

Keys to Promotional Success

Success does not happen overnight. Investing time and money into learning how to start a promotional company, plotting the course your business takes, and finding your first clients is only the beginning. Keep the following keys to success in mind:

• Promote your clients’ businesses as if they were your own. In truth, each campaign or promotion you do for a client is a reflection on your business and skills as a marketing professional.
• Analyze and refine your promotional techniques. Experience will teach you what works best and what doesn’t. Focus on successful methods but don’t be afraid to try new things.
• Thoroughly research your client’s services or products. Investigate the techniques and results of past campaigns, whether you planned them or not. Get to know your client inside and out. Knowledge gives you the tools to create unique, targeted promotional campaigns that work.
• Have an organizational system in place. A promotional company business owner is under constant deadlines. Promotional events, merchandise orders, and media advertising submissions all have strict timetables. Missing a deadline can mean substantial business and monetary losses. Ensure that there is some kind of software system in place to keep track of your deadlines and client obligations.

Growing Your Promotional Company

As you move beyond learning how to start a promotional company, begin making a profit, and gain confidence in your expertise, consider expanding your services. Some expansion ideas include:

• If you currently offer services, add branded promotional products, like pens, calendars, t-shirts, and other branded novelties
• If you only offer branded products, begin offering promotional services
• If you have previously targeted specific industries as clients, reach out to other types of companies
• Promote sports or community events
• Add event-planning services

10 Home-Based Business Ideas for Moms

If you're a mom who's always wanted a work-at-home opportunity, you may have found it frustrating when searching for work from home jobs. More than one work-at-home mom wannabe has contacted me and voiced her frustrations about finding legitimate work from home job opportunities.

If you have the time and a little bit of money, these home business ideas may provide you with an alternative for trying to find a work from home job - by making your own work at home position operating your own home business.

While both men and women can and do take advantage of these home-based business opportunities, I put together this collection of ten home business idea that I felt are especially suitable for moms and moms-to-be who want to spend more time at home. If you don't see anything that spurs your interest in this list but are still searching for ideas, you'll want to browse my full collection of home business ideas.

NOTE: Neither your guide to Home Business nor About.com endorse any specific business opportunities that may be featured on this site. The businesses profiled are only intended to stimulate thinking and give readers ideas of possible businesses they might like to operate.

Licensed Day Care Center Operator

You'll need to deal with local day care licensing home business regulations, but if you can meet the requirements and this is a field you've already had experience with or were hoping to get in to, this home-based business opportunity could be the right one for you.

Making Gift Baskets

If you've got a flair for creativity, an eye for design and can work well with customers, this could be a great home-based business.

Mary Moppins Distributor or Affiliate
Mary Findley is a veteran cleaning expert and President of Mary Moppins Co. Mary’s expertise and experience led her to create a home business opportunity in distributing her line of environmentally-friendly cleaning products called the Mary Moppins Cleaning System that is steadily growing in popularity nationwide.

Pet Services Business

Moms who love animals should know there's a growing demand for pet services - everything from pet sitting while owners are on vacation to doggy day care, pet grooming, dog walking and other pet-related services. 

Scrapbooking Business

There's a market for scrapbooking because many people want a means of preserving their memories, but are just too busy to do it themselves or don't know how. My wife recently received a scrapbook from one of her daughters that was a collection of candid shots and memorabilia that were masterfully collected and displayed by her daughter and one of her daughter's friends. Needless to say, it was a very touching and treasured gift.

 

Selling Homemade Baked Goods

If you're a mom with a culinary flair here's a story to give you ideas on selling your own homemade baked goods. Yummy! In line with that, you might also consider offering your services as a personal chef - much as Giada De Laurentiis of Food Network did before she became a TV sensation. 

Image Consultant

An image consulting business could be the perfect home based business for those who have a knack for balance, color and psychological impact and a strong desire to help others achieve a positive image with their targeted audience.

Nanny Service

One nanny service I read about grew from a shoestring operation to employing 20 Nannies over a period of two years.

Independent Wine Consultant

If you're into entertaining and like to be the toast of a party, find out how becoming an independent wine consultant may be a vintage home-based business opportunity for you.

Online Home Business

In her 10 Reasons for Women to Start an Internet Business (And One Reason Not To) my guest Kathy Wilson says starting an Internet home-based business is one of the fastest and smartest ways women today can make money. 

Inspiration and Motivation for Moms

I hope you've found this list of home-based business opportunities especially for moms at least thought provoking if you're thinking of hanging out your shingle and making a go of it. And, of course, no feature article for moms would be complete without mentioning my interview with Kathy Ireland - an inspiration for millions of working moms around the globe.

Stimulating Home Business Ideas for Mom - A Woman's Perspective

Since this article was first published, I had a lot of feedback that wasn't all positive on how my home business ideas for moms seemed rather archaic, to put it nicely. Because of that, I asked Misty Cryer-Davidson to do a follow up piece from a woman's point of view.