small business

Small Business – Trust gives a competitive advantage

Building up business trust in my small business is something I have never thought

Trust gives a competitive advantage in small businesses

about in any depth. Building a relationship with my customers has been a priority, but I have never narrowed the focus down to building business trust. That is until now. In a press release ( yes there is valuable content in some PR) for Valens Point LLC Debra Mendes has this to say:

Small Business trust gives a competitive advantage

“Business owners are better equipped to build trust once they see tangible steps that can be taken to do so” says David C. Smith, Managing Partner at Valens Point. “Establishing trust objectives as part of your business strategy can have a profound affect on all aspects of your business and accelerate growth. Trust is paramount in getting and keeping customers, and recruiting and retaining staff, for example. Developing trust impacts the growth, sustainability and profitability of your business – all important factors in creating a sellable business.” [Read more…]

Small Business Help – how to calculate charge out rates, don’t undersell your time

How to calculate charge out rates is one of the most important things to get correct for any small business owner in service industries. That is plumbers, electricians, computer servicing and consulting, even dentists, accountants

Charge out rates - do not undersell your time

and lawyers. Charge too much and you may lose sales, too little and you will not make a living. So it can be a balancing act but when it boils down to it, is there any point of being in business if you are not making enough. It’s quite easy to undervalue yourself and/or your employees and it can require courage to stand up and say ‘no I am worth more’.

Here is a very simplistic guide for working out a minimum rate it ignores profit from any goods you might sell, so has limited usefulness but then aim here is to get you thinking! [Read more…]