Small Business General Help

Small Business Employee Retention Tips

Small business employee retention is a critical factor in any small business. We spend literally thousands of dollars investing in an employee so it is very important to keep efficient, productive employees. Thousands of dollars you say? but we don’t have a training program that costs big bucks? Sure we have an induction manual for new employees but this didn’t cost allot!

Yes, there are quantifiable costs involved when taking on a new employee, such as advertising, employment contract costs and employment agency costs. But there are also costs that are not as easily calculated. How about the time taken to find a new employee, the fact that it takes time for new employees to come up to speed with your business. Do you have repeat customers? It takes time and effort to build a relationship which keeps those customers coming back. This is especially true for hairdressers and also restaurants and cafes with a local base. New employees generally take longer to do tasks meaning not as much gets done in the short term.

When an employee leaves then allot of knowledge of your business leaves with them. They have learnt just how Mrs Jones likes her coffee, how often to rotate stock to stop spoilage, the way to turn the key in the door in the morning, how to use the point of sales system, how to notice a shoplifter, know what sells & what dosen’t, is proficient in the machinery that is used in your business, has in depth knowlegde of your market, gives great advice to customers, make good decisions based on what they have learned from you over time. The list goes on and on so it makes sense to try and keep good employees.

But how to keep them. Well cash is not the number 1 reason why employees leave, mostly they feel undervalued & not appreciated. So here are some small business employee retentiontips that do not cost the earth from an article by Micheal C.Bush

Micheal has tips for small business employee retention

Michael C. Bush is president and founder of 8 Factors, an action-oriented framework that has been taught over a decade and utilized by thousands of successful entrepreneurs

Go the extra mile to keep talent. For those who cannot afford to give raises or bonuses to keep talented employees, many may find that caring can be just as or even more valuable. Personalized gifts such as salon certificates, movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, sports tickets and treats can go a long way when it comes to keeping your staff happy. It is important to pay attention and find out what each individual employee values so the gifts are received with true enthusiasm; Becky might not like the salon certificate but love tickets to a Warrior’s game. Not all things stop at the buck.

Have you had any success with small appreciation type benefits that has helped with your small business employee retention? Any ideas that you would like to add?

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Small Business – Marketing Pricing Strategy

With pressure on rising costs some small businesses are looking at increasing prices in order to stay viable. But is this prudent when consumers are constantly being bombarded with sales and special pricing on nearly every possible item they wish to purchase . If there are no more ways to cut costs, and in fact they are increasing, there are only two options left. Increase prices or increase volumes sold Having said that, there is no guarantee that either of these options will have the desired effect of increasing the bottom line.

Looking firstly at increasing sales volume, forgetting that there may not be a demand what other issues are there? Well, more stock is required, possibly more sales staff, more holding room for stock, more advertising to bring in customers the list goes on. This in turn puts pressure on cashflow. How is this all to be paid for when cash is already tight.

This then makes the alternative of inceasing prices attractive. But how to do this without upsetting customers? The following extract of an article in Entrepreneur.com reveals a strategy for increasing prices

Many businesses blame higher overhead, including steeper manufacturing costs and employee wages, for their planned price hikes. For example, Chris Zane, owner of Zane’s Cycles, a bike shop in Branford, Conn., expects to raise prices between 6 percent and 7 percent in 2012, because of higher labor costs at manufacturing facilities in China.

But he says customers will likely complain because they don’t buy bikes very often and remember when his prices were lower. “‘Now I have to spend $500 plus to get something similar?’ is a common objection we hear and have to overcome,” he says.

Zane, who has raised prices numerous times in recent years, is upfront with his customers. “Gas prices, airline tickets, as well as bikes, have gone up over the past few years, and when we discuss that, it seems to sink in,” he says. To cushion the impact of the price hike, he promises top-notch customer service–lifetime free service, a lifetime parts warranty and 90-day price protection. If a customer makes a purchase at Zane’s Cycles and then finds the same item elsewhere at a lower price within 90 days, Zane’s will refund the difference, plus an additional 10 percent of the price difference.

So Zanes approach is to increase prices, but with a twist. He has something to offer customers in return including full service and a price guarantee. This is a slick strategy, is it one you can use?

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