Make Social Media Sell—NOW
“The ‘social media revolution’ is over-hyped nonsense. The real business opportunity is to become more relevant and meaningful to customers in ways that create sales.
Few will question the impact social media is having on people’s lives. From assisting political revolutions to simply reconnecting us with old friends, social media is touching our lives in meaningful ways every day. But with all the stories you’re hearing about the power of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Google+ and other social networks, the one question you may be asking is ‘how can my business actually make money with social media?’
Continue reading the latest from ChangeThis.com byJeff Molander
“No Shortage of Business Owners Looking to Exit…”
‘We are seeing no shortage of business owners looking to exit but potential buyers are sitting on their hands.
‘Buyers are either nervous about buying a company whose business might deteriorate as the economy stagnates or they think that if they wait longer prices might fall further.’
“16 questions for Free Agents” by Seth Godin…
If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur or a freelancer or a project manager, the most important choice you’ll make is: what to do? As in the answer to the question, “what do you [want to] do?” Read on…
What is Your Mother of a Business Worth?
It’s important to note that any two licensed appraisers or prospective investors can read key valuation factors differently. But what is true to all business valuations is the attempt to put a dollar value on a company’s future business potential.
Startup entrepreneurs and well-established business owners should have a sophisticated appreciation of how investors and ultimately business buyers will size up their company’s potential. Sometimes these factors which can influence company valuations are referred to as “business fundamentals” or “investment fundamentals.”
Here are six fundamentals that may influence the value of your business. (For full details, read the article in its entirety here).
No. 1: Revenue predictability.
No. 2: Customer list.
No. 3: High gross margin business.
No. 4: Intellectual property advantage.
No.5: Brand strength.
No. 6: Low debt load.
…an excerpt from “What’s Your Business Worth?” by Susan Schreter for the Small Business Center.
How Resilient-Ready are You for 2012?
Tom Peters recently blogged about Flourish, the latest book by Martin Seligman, founder of the Positive Psychology Movement. Their research has shown that the building of personal strengths such as courage, optimism, work ethic, honesty and perseverance all have a positive effect on peoples’ mental wellbeing. The process of building a positive mindset is not trivial or easy, as evidenced by Seligman’s work with the US Army. However, if it piques your interest, why not try Seligman’s “Three Good Things” exercise? It sounds simple, but over time its effects can be profound.
Three Good Things Exercise
Each night before you go to sleep:
1. Think of three good things that happened today.
Anything from the most mundane to the most exalted works, as long as it seems to you like a good, positive, happy thing.
2. Write them down.
3. Reflect on why they happened.
Determining the “why” of the event is the most important part of the exercise, and can open up your mind to ways you can increase the positive experiences you have. For more information: www.authentichappiness.org
Adopting the Three Good Things habit will have personal and professional benefits. For many years, Tom has been encouraging leaders to focus on TGRs (Things Gone Right) as opposed to TGWs (Things Gone Wrong). Measure TGRs! Try discussing three TGRs at every meeting in 2012. It’s a great way to discover how to make TGRs happen more often…
… an excerpt from the latest Tom Peters Times… enjoy
As featured on the Australian Businesswomens Network… Start with the End in Mind TODAY…
OK… so you’ve got through the festive season, and all went (or not).
Now it’s time to dream about the year to come, and what you want to do with your Mother of a Business. This link is as good a place as any to start… enjoy.
Good Luck!
The Promise of Entrepreneurship… is bigger always better?
We are made to believe that when it comes to business success, bigger is always better. In our super-sized, consumption-oriented culture, not even small business is exempt from the pressure to grow for growth’s sake. We fixate on top-line revenue growth and increasing numbers of employees and locations. We pepper entrepreneurs with questions such as, ‘What are your plans for expansion? What’s next? How many cities will you go to?’ instead of asking what their goals are or why they started their business in the first place. When talk about growth we focus on speed, not sustainability. When we talk about success we focus on size, not satisfaction.
So much so that entrepreneurs doubt their own success and skill if they aren’t pursuing the largest form of their business possible. We’ve talked with countless business owners who run profitable ventures, make a good living, enjoy what they do every day, and have significant impact in their industry—but who also hesitate to call themselves successful. Why? Because their companies could be bigger, or they decided not to open several more locations, or they don’t have the largest market share—even though these are not the things that they want.
We believe that it doesn’t have to be this way. There is an alternative that is both rewarding and attainable—it just requires rethinking things a bit…
Another gem from ChangeThis.com by Adelaide Lancaster
“The World Needs Female Entrepreneurs Now More Than Ever”…
Indeedy, it does!
The key point I’d like to point out in this fine article is this:
Becoming an Entrepreneur does not require
any shifts in corporate culture.
In fact, becoming a Business Owner does not require changing any societal norms at all. It does require however a distinct shift in your own internal thinking in combination with your family’s particular circumstances.
So… why not be opportunistic and bold in 2012, and become a “3%” member? (refer last post)
You can always tap into the entrepreneurial mothers group if you need support…
3% of women-owned businesses make $1million or more a year; so why are you in your Mother of a Business?
As featured on the Ruby Connection…
A little while ago, I came across this… according to recent statistics in the Wall Street Journal from the Center for Women’s Business Research in the U.S., there is only 3% of women-owned businesses with a revenue of $1million or more in The Million-Dollar Club… (and I bet that percentage is a whole lot smaller again if being the only breadwinner for the family is also taken into account).
Only 3%, is that all I hear you say?
Given that 7-figures is the turnover my Mother of a Business was doing at time of its Sale, that put me in the category of the 3%…are you kidding? How can it be that with all the businesses started by women, only 3% manage to reach 7-figures?
Why are Businesses being built if not to serve your Lifestyle, as opposed to the other way around?
Couple that with some of the more disturbing statistics from our very own Ruby Connection “Westpac Women’s Financial Health Report, September 2011”:
- Nearly half (49%) of women agreed they felt disadvantaged in terms of the amount of superannuation they were able to save as a result of having to cut back or stop work. This view was even more likely held by Gen Y (63%) and Gen X (63%).
- After having children, 64% of women reported that it had significantly affected their ability to work continuously and impacted substantially on their working career cycle
We’re not in a very good place are we? Well, the majority of us that is.
Business gives you Lifestyle to be the Mother you long to be. No question.
In fact, it’s not just about the mothering, it’s ultimately about Lifestyle and the ability to earn what you must earn, plus a whole lot more.
Come on, join the club too…
If the notion of a 7-figure business scares you right now, you may be thinking that it must mean a whole lot of work that will take you away from your family even more? WRONG! You couldn’t be further from the truth, provided you structure properly and of course, “Start with the End in Mind”.
Just financing the family holiday is not enough of an “End” to justify all the blood, sweat and tears you will invest in your business, not to mention money…
Ladies, we’ve got some serious Business Building and Professional Development work to do…To discuss any of this further and, most importantly, to do something about it, feel free to contact me.
Ho Ho Ho! the beauty of being a solo Business Owner at Christmas…
Bit of fun…
Being a one person ltd company:
- I can have a Christmas party for all employees (me);
- invite my wife or partner (but not both!)
- spend and get tax relief on it.
- there is no taxable benefit in kind as I stayed with the rules
- If I had tried to spend out any other way then I could easily be paying a marginal FBT.
- So I can take the partner out for a nice meal knowing that the tax man is effectively funding our meal (and they don’t need to know that either).
- I feel good, partner feels good. Success.
