| These articles are provided by RAN ONE* to help you grow your business.
10 Mistakes That Can Cost You Your Business - Even the smartest small business owner can do dumb things now and then. Unfortunately, some mistakes can kill a company.
Absenteeism - There's More to it Than Meets the Eye - Team members may stay away due to uncaring supervisors or unsatisfactory working conditions. There are a number of ways to address the problem to improve morale and the efficienty of the workplace.
 A Good Team Plays by the Rules - Whether it's written or unwritten, there is a contract of employment between you and every member of your team. Some elements of it are legal such as those dealing with employee rights and your obligations as a business owner, while others are culture or workplace related. These all become the rules of your workplace - "the way we do things here."
Activate Your Core Competencies - A core competency is something that a company does well compared to others in its field; it's an edge that can be used in marketing to offset competitors' strengths. All successful businesses know their core competencies and conduct their business around them.
Audit Your Approach to Customer Service - The focus of every business today, from corner shops to IT multinationals, is on providing customer service. The driving theory says that keeping customers happy is the key to customer retention; and customer retention is the key to profitability.
Avoid the Me-too Trap - In the competitive business world of today a successful model is quickly emulated. No sooner does a company develop a ground-breaking product that captures a significant share of an existing market, or better still, opens up a new market, than imitators start launching similar products to cash in on the originator's achievement.
Conduct a Customer Satisfaction Survey - In these customer-focused times we often hear of how important it is to know more about our customers. One of the best ways to do this is to conduct a customer satisfaction survey, but it has to be done the right way to get the information you need.
Cut the Cost of Just About Anything - Expenses are a headache for everyone in business. Costs keep rising, whether it's buying a ream of paper for the photocopier or a spot at the tradeshow. Some costs are fixed and just have to be accepted, but many business expenses can be reduced with a little effort and some common sense.
Develop a Profitable Pricing Policy - An organization's pricing policy can make a significant contribution to its success. Charging the right amount for goods and services means setting a price that makes them competitive within their market and at the same time allows them to generate sufficient revenue to cover their production costs and make a profit. Here are the issues you should be considering.
Do Your Market Research by Telephone - Every business needs to know what's going on around it. Information about competitors' prices, new products coming out, customer attitudes and even emerging trends in the marketplace, can be useful to know. Much of this essential information can be easily collected by just using your phone.
Getting Everyone to Pull in the Same Direction - We frequently talk about "the team" in our businesses when we're really just talking about the group of people who work there. A team is a lot more than just a collection of employees; it's people who actively work together to achieve the business' vision and goals.
Helping Team Members Lift Their Performance - Business owners often encounter performance problems among their team members. This can create quite a dilemma where you are uncertain what the real issue is.
How do Your Customers Treat You? - Many organizations invest heavily in expensive market research to assess customer satisfaction while ignoring a gold mine of customer information that's already available from their business records. There's a wealth of customer feedback right in front of their eyes about market trends, product problems and consumer preferences.
Is Your Website Due for a Tune-up? - Many small businesses now have their own website. They've become a common feature of the marketing landscape. But all too frequently they are designed, set up - and forgotten.
Know the Personal Risks in Your Business - Many events can put a business out of business and it's the responsibility of owners and managers to anticipate and plan for such events as far as possible. You've probably insured your business for the most obvious risks - storms, fires and theft for example; but what happens if you lose one of the key people that keep your business going?
Personal Marketing - Every meeting with another business owner can be turned into an opportunity to market your business in a way that costs you nothing. Here are some ways of using personal marketing.
Take Control of Your Day - There's always a challenge to finding enough time to work on the business while keeping up with the demands of working in the business, and to deal with the new issues that always seem to be surfacing.
There's More to Promotion Than Just Advertising- Most businesses spend money on advertising themselves, and some of it is well-spent. A lot of it however, is wasted, and it's pretty hard to identify just which part of your advertising expenditure has simply disappeared out the window to little or no effect.
When the Big Store Moves in up the Street - Even a well established small retailer can feel threatened by a large discount store moving into the neighborhood. It only gets worse if a niche single product specialist that sells one of your best moving items arrives also.
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