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4 Ways to Be More Authentically Green
Feb 7th
Business owners are often natural sales people. They love to talk about their successes – and yes, occasionally glaze over their setbacks, their shortcomings. It’s human nature, in fact.
But when it comes to green business, there are risks to downplaying your weaknesses or only trumpeting achievements:
- One, your customers will see through it.
- Two, they’ll trust you less.
- Three, they will feel less loyal.
Another problem is that there are many companies these days guilty of “greenwashing,” or plastering green leaves and vague words like “natural” and “pure” on their packaging when there’s little substance behind them. This only makes consumers more mistrustful of all green messaging. They have to look more closely to find out if it’s for real. To really make an impression on consumers anymore, a business’s environmental sustainability efforts need to feel genuine, transparent and earnest.
Here, then, are four ways to improve the authenticity of your green efforts:
1. Dig for data. Sustainability leaders are focusing more and more on tracking and analyzing data. They know how many gallons of water they’re saving each year, or how much emissions are created transporting their products from a factory in China to their U.S. distribution centers. Communicating real numbers and targets to your customers adds credibility and brings your initiatives to life.
2. Don’t overplay “green marketing.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking being green is all about image and messaging. In fact, it might be better to not think about your green efforts as marketing at all. Think about them as something you want to communicate to customers. But when it comes to actual marketing, focus on other benefits of your products – whether it’s their design or usefulness. Research shows most consumers consider eco-friendliness a secondary purchasing concern, anyway.
3. Increase transparency. Give consumers more substance about your green initiatives. Write a sustainability plan and track your annual progress. Devote a part of your web site to your green efforts, so consumers can easily find it if they’re interested.
4. Expose your challenges. As you talk about your green successes, don’t forget to discuss the challenges. Let your customers know when you miss a sustainability target – and why. Explaining the hurdles involved with reaching your goals only adds legitimacy and shows you’re truly committed to reducing your environmental footprint.
100% Natural Photo via Shutterstock
4 Ways to Be More Authentically Green
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Earn $300 A Week (or More) With Your Digital Camera
Jan 30th
Earn $300 A Week With Your Digital Camera Reveals “exactly” How You Can Earn A Regular Monthly Income With Photos That Are Currently Clogging Up Your Hard Drive.
Earn $300 A Week (or More) With Your Digital Camera
More Signs of Increased Small Business Lending
Jan 24th
We’ve been hearing about increased confidence in small business and, if you’re like me, you want to believe it - but you’re suspicious, too. How do we really know if things are getting better? How do we really know if lending is beginning to open up for small businesses? I don’t think anyone is claiming that small business loans are becoming easy to obtain, but there are good signs that we are headed in the right direction and that the availability of funds are growing for main street.
Before we talk about the “good news” let’s do a quick history lesson about how we got here. Some would say it started with the secondary mortgage market. As mortgages got closed, lenders were able to sell their mortgages on the secondary mortgage market and wall street turned them into mortgage bonds. As real estate prices increased and mortgage rates decreased and profits were flowing through wall street the “appetite” for these mortgage bonds increased. Then you join that with deteriorating underwriting criteria along with a staggering number of sub-prime loans to non-credit-worthy borrowers and we’ve got problems.
But how did this happen? It happened because the ratings agencies (Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poore’s) were giving the same grade to the pools of sub-prime mortgages as they were to the “prime” or “A-Paper” mortgages so these bad mortgages flowed through the system just like any other mortgage. As the defaults hit certain levels, the investors who shorted mortgages by buying insurance against the bad mortgages were able to cash in – this is where you Google search “who is John Paulson” or you could try “what did AIG do wrong?”
History lesson almost over – but what happens next? It’s called TARP or the Troubled Assets Relief Program. TARP is where Uncle Ben (Bernanke) drew on the lessons of The Great Depression of the 1930′s so we didn’t repeat our mistakes. The Fed actually turned a recession into The Great Depression in 1929 by letting the money supply contract very sharply which caused prices to fall and inflation to hit.
Secondly, they let the banks fail and thousands of banks actually failed. TARP was a conscious effort to let the banks recover first because if the banks fail then we all fail and we propel ourselves into a much worse economic climate. TARP was an infusion of capital into the top banks – yes, it’s 100% true that it was “unfair” to the smaller banks – in an effort to get them to continue to lend (or at least to not totally shut down their lending). Interestingly, tax payers made money on TARP but, of course, that hasn’t been talked about in the “occupy” movements.
So here we are a few years after TARP. Fortunately, The Great Recession did not become a depression.
According to CardWeb, $4.5 billion was extended to small business owners in 2009 by Citi. Then they increased that to $6 billion in 2010. Then they pledged to lend $24 billion to small business (defined by them as businesses with less than $20 million in annual revenue) over a three year period from 2011 – 2013. Citi announced last week that they are ahead of pace on their goal of lending $7.0 billion in 2011. They finished the calendar year very strong after a slow summer and ended up lending $7.9 billion in 2011 to small businesses.
I agree that there’s a lot more to be done. However, if we put mistakes of the past aside, this is one lender who is showing us progress and who intends to continue to lend at a much more generous pace than we saw in 2008 and 2009.
Lending Photo via Shutterstock
More Signs of Increased Small Business Lending
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
One Simple Secret to a More Successful Business
Jan 12th
Want to make your business more financially successful? A more diverse work force could be the key. So reports a study led by Ryerson University professor, Kristyn Scott, which found that diversity in the workplace leads to happier workers, which leads, in turn, to greater loyalty and productivity, ultimately enhancing a company’s bottom line. Scott and the study’s coauthors, Professor Joanna Heathcote of the University of Toronto at Scarborough, and Professor Jamie Gruman at the University of Guelph, reviewed about 100 studies conducted between 1991 and 2009.
The professors evaluated the studies based on six key areas where diversity gives a business an edge:
- recruitment
- creativity
- problem-solving
- flexibility
- cost savings (due to lower employee turnover)
- marketing
Defining “diversity” to include:
- ethnicity
- age
- gender
- educational background
- professional experience
The study found that overall, the more organizations embraced diversity in their culture, the more successful they became.
But in order for diversity to bring these benefits, it has to be more than superficial, the researchers caution. Scott says:
“[Some] organizations …. [show] pictures of diverse workers on their website[s] and say they have a commitment to diversity, but they’re not really going beyond what people may see as simply window dressing. Talk the diversity talk, but walk the talk.”
Small businesses have some natural disadvantages as well as advantages when it comes to diversity. The disadvantages: As a small company, your business may have a tendency to be somewhat homogenous. After all, small business owners often hire people they know or learn about through their connections, which can lead to hiring lots of clones of yourself. Second, as a small company, simply by your size your business is limited in how diverse it can be. If you only have 10 employees, you don’t have as many options to fill in the positions with diverse workers as a huge multinational corporation.
But small businesses have some important advantages, too. For one, as Scott points out, diversity needs to be authentic in order to bring business benefits. And small companies, due to their size, are more likely to be authentic in their behaviors. While big conglomerates can pay lip service to diversity while embracing a very different reality, at a small company, it’s much harder to “fake it.” In addition, the small size of your business means your team naturally interacts more closely, sharing opinions and ideas freely.
Is your business as diverse as it could be?
Diversity isn’t just about the outside – it’s about the inside as well. Even if your business is racially, culturally or gender diverse, are you creating a workplace where employees feel free to express different opinions? The more varied the experiences and outlooks your employees bring to the job, the more creative your workplace is going to be – and that can only benefit your business, financially and otherwise.
Business Diversity Photo via Shutterstock
One Simple Secret to a More Successful Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Less than a Tenth or More than Four Fifths?
Jan 3rd
Should we worry about the number of businesses that would affected by a tax increase or the amount of small business income that would be subject to the tax?
It’s an important question. The share of small businesses and the fraction of small business income hit by tax increases are usually very different numbers.
The figure below presents data from the U.S. Treasury, on the share of businesses and business income belonging to companies at different annual income levels. The data show that less than one percent of businesses generate between $5 million and $10 million in annual earnings. However, these businesses account for 20 percent of small business income.
This means, of course, that concentrating tax increases only on the highest earning businesses affects relatively few companies. However, it impacts a lot of business income. For instance, numbers from the U.S. Treasury show that a tax increase on businesses earning more than $1 million per year would affect less than 7 percent of small companies but would hit 81 percent of small business income.
Cumulative Share of Small Business Income and Number of Small Businesses by Business’s Total Income:
Source: Created from data from the Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of Treasury
Less than a Tenth or More than Four Fifths?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Drive More Traffic To Your Blog With Guest Post Secrets!
Jan 1st
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Dec 26th
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The more or less choice
Dec 26th
I think it comes down to one or the other:
How little can I get away with?
vs.
How much can I do?
Surprisingly, they both take a lot of work. The closer you get to either edge, the more it takes. That’s why most people settle for the simplest path, which is do just enough to remain unnoticed.
No one can maximize on every engagement, every project, every customer and every opportunity. The art of it, I think, is to be rigorous about where you’re prepared to overdeliver, and not get hooked on doing it for all… because then you just become another mediocrity, easily overlooked.
That means more “no.” More, “no, I can’t take that on, because to do so means not dramatically overdelivering on what I’m doing now.”
And it means more “yes.” More, “yes, I’m able to confront my fear and my competing priorities and dramatically step up my promises and my willingness to keep them.”
View full post on Seth’s Blog
An Interview with Jeanne Bliss on the Updated “I Love You More Than My Dog”
Dec 26th
The one time I uttered the words ”love” and “customer” in the same sentence I practically got laughed out of the boardroom. That was 17 years 3 months and 5 days ago and as you can tell by my razor sharp memory of the event, my ego is still smarting a bit from the experience.
So when I first read and reviewed Jeanne Bliss’ book I Love You More Than My Dog in 2009 (see my review), I have to say that I felt vindicated. Jeanne Bliss (@JeanneBliss on Twitter) outlined how some of the most beloved companies got their stellar reputations for having rabidly loyal customers. In her research, Jeanne uncovered the five basic decisions that companies made that generated this insane level of love and loyalty:
- Decide to Believe: Beloved companies trust their employees and their customers.
- Decide with Clarity of Purpose: Companies who decide to focus their operations on why they exist for the customer are rewarded with loyalty and love from their customers.
- Decide to be Real: To what degree do you “get” your customers? Companies know they can’t be real if they don’t know what it’s like to be their customer.
- Decide to be There: Beloved companies are “there” by giving their customers what they want.
- Decide to Say Sorry: It’s how a company says “I’m sorry” that makes them beloved by their customers
Introducing an Updated Release of I Love You More Than My Dog
In October of 2011, I Love You More Than My Dog was re-released in paperback and updated. So, I thought I’d follow up with Jeanne Bliss and get an update on the book and its impact on business. My interview of her follows:
How did small businesses embrace “ I Love You More Than My Dog “?
Jeanne: The small business community responded to this content very enthusiastically. My goal in writing it was for a small business owner / operator to see themselves in this book – both through the case studies and also through the challenges common to every type of business. The response and interest in pursuing these five decisions in the conversations I have had with small business owners around the world (and I love these conversations) has been what I had hoped – that these five decisions are relevant, within reach and not usually a cost decision but a direction decision. How should we decide to grow?
Which of the 5 decisions did many businesses easily adopt and why?
Jeanne: The most obvious and “easiest” of the five decisions to adopt is “Decide to be there” because this is about operational reliability, process and stability. That decision was the clearest for business owners to build a path of actions for how to be reliable. And in this world of social media, that is critical. If a customer can’t tell someone they know what they get from you and how they get it, then you don’t have the baseline for a story about the experience of your company.
The other decision that many “aha” lights have gone on for and many have importantly worked to improve in their business is “Decide to Believe.” This decision is about deciding to believe your customers by releasing many of the policies that protect a business from its customers and it’s about deciding to believe and enable belief in a company’s workforce by investing in training and development and by believing that people want to bring the best version of themselves to work. I am very encouraged that this has also been a focus area because this fundamentally is a shift for many organizations and is one of the true differences attitudinally between a “beloved” company and an “everyday” company.
Which of the 5 decisions did companies find very difficult to adopt and why?
Jeanne: Companies still struggle with “Decide with clarity of purpose.” I think that’s because most companies, especially when they are starting out have so much on their plate in the “doing” of the work, that focusing on “why” we are doing this regarding improving customers’ lives is not focused on intently. As business grows, this becomes more and more important to unite decision making across the organization. It’s hard to stop and find the time to have this clarity and make sure it doesn’t turn into a long protracted “mission statement” exercise instead of what it’s meant to be – which is an operational lens through which to guide decisions you make to run your business.
What is it that companies are most afraid of when it comes to adopting the 5 decisions of becoming beloved?
Jeanne: What has impressed me the most is that small business owners are pretty fearless! I haven’t seen fear as much as wanting to make sure that there is enough time to calibrate for making decisions in this manner and making these part of the fabric of the business.
Do companies really care about being beloved?
Jeanne: This is such a great question! The word “beloved” means that you grow and become prosperous because you are the kind of business that draws customers to you and keeps employees because they can’t imagine being a part of another mission, another organization. This word is pretty galvanizing as a commitment and is aspirational financially– what this book has proven out is that having clear direction for how you will and will not grow your business is one of the most potent arrows in the quiver of beloved companies.
But what these companies have goes beyond financial prosperity – to prosperity of the human spirit. Employees stay and become more valuable, and customers become the army that grows the business for them. Companies want this when it’s understood that this is what it means to be “beloved.”
That’s one of my great goals in writing … to try to transport the reader to these environments so they could feel how differently it was to be inside of one of these companies – and whey they earn the right to growth in good times and bad.
What are companies who DON’T adopt the philosophy of being beloved missing out on? What don’t they get?
Jeanne: There are a lot of companies who are proficient and professional. They do the work, they get it done, but the spirit is different inside of their organization. Their customers are not fiercely loyal to them. Customers shop them on price frequently because there is not an experience and an attitude wrapped around the delivery of their products and services that magnetically pulls them and keeps them there. And their employees see the work as important – but they often miss and don’t connect to the higher purpose of the organization. People come to work, they execute tasks, they go home. Customers buy products and services but aren’t out in the marketplace with the megaphone of the internet selling their company for them. Interactions are transactional – there’s no relationship, no bond. And by the way these five decisions can and are successful in both B-to-B and B-to-C businesses.
Customers at the other end of our decisions are human beings. And we all respond when a company decides to conduct itself along these five decisions. In fact what we see is that in B-B when this is more unusual, the beloved companies prosper even more.
Do you have any examples of a small business who adopted the principles you discuss in your book?
Jeanne: One of the great adopters of these five decisions is a beloved small business called Simplicity Sofas. The owner Jeff Frank is a zealot about how he will and will not guide his company toward growth – and they are adopting every one of the five decisions. In a depressed marketplace (especially for the furniture industry) their results are astounding.
What are some of the updates that you’ve included in this book?
Jeanne: With the paperback coming out this year, we had the benefit of looking back at how the companies who run their business with these five decisions have done in the financial downturn. So we embarked on redoing all of the financial research for these businesses. And the results are that they have ALL prospered during the downturn. They are above their competition even in a depressed market, some of them having had their best years during the downturn!
Why should people who have the original get an updated copy of the new book?
Jeanne: With these new updated financials inside this book - get it to prove to your people, your board and the people who manage your financials – that making these five decisions pays off. And get the paperback in volume – because with this greatly reduced price, you can use the contents to continue your transformation toward becoming “beloved.”
How do you recommend that people read and use the book?
Jeanne: Reading and absorbing content is a pretty personal thing. But here’s a few ideas/suggestions:
- For leaders – read the book all the way through to at least understand the five decisions and how they impact you. Go to the last chapter and determine how proficient you are in making the five decisions today. From there you can prioritize the order in which you’d like to make some changes. If you’d like you can send your organization through the electronic version of the audit. And if you email me, I will also send you a paper version. Info is below.
- For folks leading teams throughout the organization, we’ve found that some companies have reading groups where they read a chapter a month and then focus on each of the five decisions.
Most importantly, understand how your organization needs to customize your business to your translation of the five decisions in your operation. Do this thoughtful work with multiple cross functional groups in your organization.
Is there any supporting information such as a web site, etc?
Jeanne: There is! What I really wanted to do is provide folks with an ongoing journey for using this information to guide their business growth, so there are quite a few resources I offer at no charge on my website along with a few that have a bit of a price tag associated with them.
Here is a list of the free items you’ll find on the Customer Bliss:
- The first chapter of the book
- A ten question high level snapshot
- An Depth Online Diagnostic
- Videos: Difference between an everyday company and a “beloved” company and Impact of beloved and prosperous companies
- Culture Kick-Start: 45 Cards to Change Your Culture
- BELIEVE “In a Box”: Nurture a Culture of Belief Shared by the Beloved Companies
An Interview with Jeanne Bliss on the Updated “I Love You More Than My Dog”
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Just What We Need: More Tax Forms to File
Dec 22nd
If it’s not already enough of a headache keeping up with business expenses come tax time, small businesses that accept credit cards (both online and in brick-and-mortar locations) now have another element to add to the tax equation. It’s called the 1099K form. Aimed at addressing the fact that the IRS sometimes has trouble tracking small business’ sales income, the 1099K form will be submitted by credit card processing companies and checked against the sales income we small businesses file.
If you didn’t do at least $20,000 in credit card sales and at least 200 transactions in 2011, don’t worry; you won’t be required to file a 1099K. That’s the threshold the IRS is looking for with this new regulation.
Third-party networks like eBay, Paypal and Etsy will also be filing the documents for their sellers.
What You Need to Do
For the most part, the burden lies on the credit card and payment processing companies to file the actual document. Early in 2012, you will receive a copy of the 1099K filed by any payment company you use. It is your responsibility, however, to ensure that your sales records match what your 1099K says you sold. It’s always been essential to keep solid accounting records, but it’s even more important now.
Scott Berger, CPA and tax principal at the accounting firm Kaufman, Rossin & Co., says:
“The biggest foreseeable problem is for those businesses that accept debit cards for payment and allow for cash back. They will need to accurately keep track of the cash back provided to their customers so that it can be subtracted from their gross receipts. This way the IRS will be able to reconcile their actual sales and revenue.”
It’s also a good idea to take a look at what your credit card company says you took in for the year to make sure there were no errors on their part.
One possible issue that comes to my mind is: what if I received a loan from my mother through PayPal? Will that be considered income for my business? What about PayPal fees? Will those be removed from the equation?
Also, it’s my understanding that this $20,000-plus in transactions is across the board. So if you used a physical credit card processing machine for $10,000 in sales, then sold $5,000 on eBay and $5,000 on Etsy, you are still required to have 1099Ks from each of these third parties, as long as you completed 200 or more transactions for the year.
Just What We Need: More Tax Forms to File
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
