Investing in Employees

Employees are often times an underappreciated aspect of a business. If employers would invest in their employees then many of the businesses would save money in the long run. It cost a lot of money to go through the hiring process and then train the new employee to do the job they need to do. However, if a business would give the employees good benefits, a flexible work schedule, and make them feel needed and appreciated it would make employees want to give back more to the business. Employees may invest back into the business with their time, effort, and loyalty. Therefore causing a rise in production, better customer service, and a healthier work environment.

Creating a Logo or Slogan

When creating a logo and slogan for a business, design something that is catchy and easily remembered. When your product or service is desired by customers your logo or slogan needs to be the first one they think of. Colors and design can also influence what potential customers think or see when they look at a business card or sign. It is said that red, black and white has the most influence on catching a customers attention. Keep all aspects of design in consideration when creating what may be the only opportunity for business a potential customer gives you.

Franchising Ideas

Owning a business is desired by people all around the world. However, many do not have business ideas or the funds it may take to invest into starting it. Franchising is something many turn to, as it is not a bad idea. Below is a link to many franchising ideas. Once you click on the link you can choose the amount of money that you are willing to invest, it is possible to invest less than $10,000, and it will give a list of businesses that are available for franchising and the information of the business. Many people have made their financial success through franchising. It is not necessary to come up with a big business idea. You can simply make money by helping someone else be successful in their business.

https://www.franchiseopportunities.com/find-a-franchise/results/industry/all-industries/state/all-states/investment/10000

Grand Opening Debate

A new Wal-Mart is set to have their grand opening November 11, 2015 in a town near me. As my family and I drove by and saw their chosen grand opening date a debate seemed to form when I ask their opinion on whether or not they think Wal-Mart should open on Veteran's day. One side stated that Veteran's day should be honored as many jobs and schools honor those who serve our country and Wal-Mart should have chosen another day to support their grand opening. This opinion believes that Wal-Mart may not pull their desired crowd because it could be offensive to our veterans and customers with the same opinion.  The other view point said many people do not celebrate or consider Veteran's Day an actual holiday and Wal-Mart is using it as a business tactic since many people will be off work and it could pull a larger crowd to attend their grand-opening and buy their products.
My question is, do customers really care about businesses being ethical or moral or do they care about the convenience of a store being open? Many stores are open and run big sales on Thanksgiving causing many workers to miss out on spending time with their family. With the large crowd that appear for these savings one could assume that customers only really care about convenience and saving money.

Many entrepreneurial businesses thrive one season and struggle the next. For most horse industry jobs, such as giving riding lessons, work depends on the weather. This more or less makes my job a seasonal job because one season the weather will be great and everyone will want to ride and the next minute the weather will not be suitable and it is harder to get people to come to lessons. As the owner of a seasonable job it is my job to create as much business as possible during that off season. During my research on how to handle these situations, I found a great article giving tips on how to survive the off season. Below is the link of a fellow entrepreneur, Sarah Pierce, blog post giving insight to running a seasonal job.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/195680

Many times a business will overlook a "minor" problem and instead focus on bigger obligations. However, often times they are losing business because of this minor aspect because their customers are noticing. For example, my family and I have chose to not stop at many restaurants or stores because of unclean bathrooms or strange parking arrangements. Even though the food may be amazing or the store may have excellent customer service we still chose not to go and do business there because of lack of convenience. A business needs to not only focus on bigger problems but also look at details of the every day routine and ensure that customers are getting the convenience they desire. A lot of times the lack of attention to detail costs the restaurant or store business that they would have had otherwise.

Many organizations make many mistakes when running a business because of their pricing techniques. In my opinion, Chick-fil-a is a prime example of how businesses should handle these type of situations. For example, they are one of the more expensive fast food chains but they always have plenty of customers each time I visit. This is because they have found something that customers value more than a "dollar menu".  Chick-fil-a has invested in training their employees to provide great customer service. Each time a customer shows gratitude for the service they are given, an employee quickly responds with "my pleasure". This makes the customers feel appreciated and taken care of and even though they may pay a little more for a chicken sandwich they are happy to spend the money and invest in the business.
If businesses will focus more on attracting and keeping customers by making them feel like they are really appreciated and valued, customers will enjoy their experience and want to keep returning. But if a business neglects this aspect and instead focuses on lower prices then they will lose customers when the business is forced to raise prices.

With any job it can be difficult to balance work and family or me time. But as a business owner, as most of us plan to be, it can be near impossible to find the perfect balance between the two. It is my personal goal to create a productive work environment along with a healthy family life. I do not want to say I sacrificed optimizing my career because I was not dedicated, nor do I want to look back and see that I missed my children growing up or missed memories with my spouse because I was so involved with work. I hope to proudly state one day that I was able to balance the two to the best of my ability. In researching this topic, I found an article written by Jessica N. Ernst that gave me hope for achieving my goal. As a wife, mother of two, freelance copywriter, editor, and small business owner she has discovered tips in order to find this happy medium. I found these tips to be beneficial and well worth the challenge and the effort to do them. Attached below is a link to her blog and article explaining these five tips that aided her in balancing two important aspects in her life.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jessica-n-ernst/5-tips-for-balancing-family-and-business_b_7566096.html

As we run our business, we will be faced with the need to market our product. Did you know that the color(s) you choose will play a vital role in your marketing success? In fact, each color has a psychological explanation and meaning behind it and can cause a positive influence or a negative influence in the mind of your potential clients and customers. In other words, a choice as simple as picking the color of the font or sign used to market your product, holds the power to make or break your success. That simple choice may no longer seem so simple anymore. In the link below is a list of all of the psychological meanings of colors and how to combine colors in order to reach success. In my opinion, we as entrepreneurs need to be very aware of this fun fact and learn how to properly align colors to improve our chances of success.

https://precisionintermedia.com/color

As entrepreneurs we are known for taking risks. Sometimes the risk can be just what is needed to be successful. However, some risks may cause major mistakes for our business. I think it is vitally important to observe and learn from the choices of both successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs that have made major mistakes. Therefore, I found the blog of Jayson Demers, Founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, to be very interesting. In his blog he covers the nine common mistakes made by entrepreneurs. In his blog he also references a quote from a book by Eric Ries that says “I have learned from both my own successes and failures and those of many others that it’s the boring stuff that matters the most. Startup success is not a consequence of good genes or being in the right place at the right time. Startup success can be engineered by following the right process, which means it can be learned, which means it can be taught.”

Here is the link to his blog if you would like to read about the nine common mistakes made by entrepreneurs: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245344

A business idea, no matter how great it may be, will not reach its full potential if it is not in the right location projected toward the right group of people. For example, I am wanting to create an equestrian program and start a business by giving riding lessons. My fiancé and I have found many great houses and farms to buy in different remote areas, but my business will have a better chance of success if we are located closer to schools. I have researched other equestrian programs and found that the ones located closer to schools attracted more business because parents did not have to drive as far and it was a competitive, educational,  and/or therapeutic after school activity that kids love. Therefore, I have discovered the group I want to attract and I am working toward finding the perfect location to promote success.
I have also noticed that many great businesses in Cullman went out of business even though they had great ideas because they were not in a location that attracted the right group of people. Through my research and observations, my greatest advice when starting a business is: 1) Figure out what group of people will be the most interested in your product. 2) Find the location that will attract your projected group the most.

In any business it is only a matter of time before you are faced with difficult or trying customers.  Confucius once said "Be sincere and true to your word, serious and careful in your actions; and you’ll get along.” This can be applied to many areas in a business, but it can also be effective when dealing with a customer who are presenting a challenge. I found a lot of helpful tips in the link below on how to deal with customers who make a situation hard to take control of.  I feel that everyone will benefit from this link because it provides steps to follow in difficult situations, and as entrepreneurs and business owners it is only a matter of time before we will be presented with these challenges.

http://www.cedmag.com/article-detail.cfm?id=10926256

One key point that is most needed when starting a business is marketing and exposing the business. However, marketing can be expensive and a new business may not be able to afford this needed exposure. So how does a business need to overcome this problem? Here is a link giving tips on how to cheaply yet effectively market a new business or product. I found these tips to be helpful and creative and I plan on putting some of these to use when I start my personal business.    http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230984

This particular picture will most likely not cause any harm to those involved; but, it is important for businesses to use correct grammar and punctuation while marketing their product. In this case, there is humor in their lack of punctuation. However, as the saying goes in the analogy "Let's eat Grandpa!" and "Let's eat, Grandpa!" a comma could save a life. The use of correct punctuation and grammar could save the business from problems and/or confusion from their consumers. Which, in turn, keeps the customer happy and returning and interests new customers as well. In my opinion, businesses should be more aware of grammatical errors while creating ads and marketing their products.