4 Simple Strategies to Save Money When Picking Business Vendors

As you build your business plan for your small business, you will become more aware of what you require for that operation to run smoothly and successfully.

Vendors are an important part of that picture, because no business operates entirely self-sufficiently. Even if you’re at the early stages of your business planning, and thus your stock and volume requirements might be guesses on your part at this point, it’s not too early to begin working on obtaining aggressive pricing from vendors.

To that end, here are four strategies you should be doing when selecting business vendors to save your business money.

Listen for Highly Pushed Items:

When hearing a vendor’s pitch, listen to what items or services he pushes with particular gusto. Particularly if these aren’t central to the product that he is selling.

If you hear something, it’s typically the highest margin product, and one you probably want to avoid. For example, when shopping for hardware at BestBuy the salesperson will always push the extended warranty. Why, because it has a 200% margin, whereas most BestBuy electronics have margins in the single digits.

While the clear answer in this situation is to say no to the extended warranty, this same logic holds true whenever negotiating with a vendor.

Discuss Volume-Based Price Discounts Early To Discover Vendor Margin:

When discussing pricing with a vendor, whether they are a service or product provider, ask about volume discounts. Ask what pricing they could give you if you were able to purchase at volumes 10x what you think you can actually realistically need, and see if there’s a substantial discount in pricing.

The goal here, is less about trying to get a volume discount down the road (although that’s great) it’s more about discovering how much margin there is in a particular product.

For example, if they tell you that ordering at 10x the volume can get you a 40% discount, then you know that the cost of goods sold or underlying service cost is at most 59% of the retail price.

Now that you’re armed with the information that the vendor is still profitable on that individual item at a 40% discount, you can try to negotiate some of that discount for your individual purchase.

Price Compare Openly: The most obvious technique is also one of the most effective. Before selecting a vendor, find out who two of their competitors are. If you think you want to use vendor A, get a price from vendor B and C first.

Be open and tell B and C that you’re going to get three bids first and that you’re telling all three companies the same thing, that way they’ll know they need to get aggressive from the get-go. Then take the cheapest of those two quotes, and get your quote from vendor A.

If A doesn’t beat the cheapest quote, show them that quote and tell them you need them to beat it by 5%. If he doesn’t you’ve learned where the floor is in pricing, whereas if he does, you know there’s yet more margin hidden there.

No Competition? Then Compare Resellers:

How do you get comparison price quotes if you already know which vendor you want to use, or worse, if they’re the only significant vendor that provides that service or product? The answer is to look for resellers and approach them independently for quotes. Often resellers, particularly of high margin products, are given considerable latitude to package and price the product or service, and often choose to do so in dramatically different ways.

For example, the largest credit card processing company is First Data and they have some proprietary hardware that make them largely without competition when it comes to providing credit card processing for small businesses that want to offer gift cards. Thus, if that was the situation you found yourself in, you’d seemingly have to accept First Data’s pricing without being able to negotiate.

However, if you first look for resellers of First Data you’ll find that Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America are simply reselling First Data’s processing services, but via their own salespeople. Thus, you can get three different bids for the same exact service and product, and use those companies to bid against one another and give you cheaper pricing.

Aggressively shopping for better vendor pricing is one of the least sexy things that a small business owner can do. Saving 5% on a large vendor doesn’t have the same punch as making a big sale. That’s unfortunate, however, because while the sale will come and go, saving money on a large vendor will pay dividends for the life of your business.

Consequently, it’s important for every business owner to employ basic negotiation strategies to obtain better vendor pricing for their company.

3 Common Growing Pains for Small Business

t’s a great to have a goal like starting your own business. The advantages of stepping out on your own include being your own boss, controlling your employment destiny and having access to an unlimited earnings potential.

However, owning a business also comes with plenty of challenges that require big sacrifices. No one hangs up a shingle, opens the door and starts raking in the cash. There are always dues that need to be paid.

Making Sacrifices

It’s certainly possible you will put your heart in soul into starting your business only to watch it struggle and eventually fail. However, it is incumbent on you to become the king of your kingdom and do everything you can to make success the only possible option.

The most important thing any entrepreneur can do for themselves is to make sure they are ready to make the sacrifices necessary to give the business every opportunity to succeed. Among the sacrifices usually required are:

• Financial – It goes without saying there are financial risks and sacrifices required when starting a business. There are very few start-ups that don’t require some type of financial investment from the business owner. You might need to live on beans, bread and water while investing all your available capital into the business. If push comes to shove, you might even have to run up those credit cards in order to infuse much needed cash. Incurring personal debt to start a business is often part of the deal.
• Time – In the beginning and for the foreseeable future, you’re going to find yourself investing long hours pulling the pieces of the business together. It doesn’t mean you have to do it all by yourself. However, there are thousands of little important decisions that need to be made during the planning stage up until the company generates its first sale. During the day, you are shaking hands and establishing business contacts with people and companies that maintain normal business hours. During the evenings, it planning, budgeting, marketing, accounting, hiring and product development issues demanding your attention. If you have a family, you would be advised to enlist their cooperation while you are MIA. The sacrifice is theirs as well.
• Physical, Emotional, Mental – Because of the time investment and escalating stress levels, there is going to be a physical, emotional and mental toll on your mind and body. The long hours might affect your sleeping and/or eating habits. The constant stress and drive towards success will keep your emotions heightened while the details keep you mind racing. There will be no part of you being left unaffected.

The Rewards

If you make these sacrifices, endure the growing pains and succeed, the potential rewards are unlimited and are more than just about the money. Financial security is certainly one of the most important rewards. However, there are some personal rewards that are just as important. The amazing sense of accomplishment you get from succeeding will light up your life. The knowledge your family has a secure future gives you peace of mind. Also, your status within the community will give you a strong sense of belonging. It’s these kinds of rewards that make the sacrifices seem so small in the end.

Common Growing Pains for Small Business

As alluded to above, there will be growing pain you have to endure. If you can accept the fact that growing pains are part of the business building process, you will give yourself the necessary perspective to avoid getting frustrated. Here are three common growing pains small business can anticipate.

Lack of Adequate Funding – Adequate capital resources are a crucial factor when starting a business and keeping it going, especially in the early years. Most businesses fail because they simply run out of money. Cash flow issues can become a major business distraction, causing you to lose focus on the businesses’ primary goals, generating sales and creating profits. The best way to keep this from happening is through the use of management tools such as a business plan, a budget and a cash flow projection. The objective of these reports is to identify when cash is going to be needed. If you are able to anticipate cash needs in advance, you have a higher probability of finding the necessary resources and being able to prevent business shutdowns or early issues with creditors. Most lenders will require these types of financial reports prior to approving loans.

Difficulty Establishing Company Roles – New business owners have a tendency to micro-manage and try to handle everything by themselves. If the business is small enough that you can’t afford to hire employees, it is understandable you will be handling every aspect of the business. However, over-worked business owners miss important details or get so mired down in running the business, they miss developing the business. It is highly recommended you consider hiring employees as soon as the business is able to absorb the costs, even if it is done on a temporary basis. Employees should be used to handle the mundane day to day tasks, freeing you up as the owner to deal with financial, marketing and business development issues.

Misuse of Technology – Many technological advancements were made to make your life easier as a business owner. It takes time to identify the right software/hardware combination for your business. You might want to start with smaller online software packages and allow your business to grow into the larger, more sophisticated packages down the road. The secret is to identify the right balance between the technology and the related costs. If you’re not a sophisticated technology user, this is one area you should consider tapping into outside resources is order to save time and make sure you find the technology that best meets your companies needs both short-tern and long-term.

In the final analysis, there will be many days that you question whether the sacrifice is worth it; only you can make that determination. However, if you start with a solid business idea and model, believe in the end game and persevere through the tough times there are few other experiences as rewarding as starting your own business.

6 Easy Online Jobs For Teens

Online jobs for teens are on the rise and many high school students are using them to earn some much needed extra cash during the summer.

Online teen jobs are great for students who don’t have a car, want to work from home and are looking for a little flexibility. The best part is that with so many jobs available on the web, you can be sure to find something to suit your skills and experience.

Getting Started

Watch out for scams: There are lots of jobs online for teens, but unfortunately not all of them are after your best interest. Watch out for jobs that ask for personal information such as bank account details, or ones that ask for money up front. Only go for reputable companies, you can do a bit of research online to see if a company is legitimate and if anyone has experienced problems with them in the past.

Is there a minimum age? This really depends on the online teen jobs you go for. Some are for those aged 13 and up, others require parental permission if under 18. There are plenty of online jobs for teens under 18 you just need to check the registration process for a minimum age first.

Sign up to PayPal: A lot of online jobs pay out using PayPal. Under 18? No problem, you can ask your parents to sign you up for a PayPal student account. You need your parents to set it up, as they will be responsible for the account.

YouTube

There are plenty of youngsters earning big bucks on YouTube these days, giving all you young entrepreneurs a little something to aspire to. You will likely have heard of some of the big names already including ZayZay and Jojo, PewDiePie and Michelle Phan. Of course, not everyone will make it big, but there are plenty of ways you can monetize this opportunity.

As well as making money from the ad revenue, you can also get paid to endorse products. The key to becoming a YouTube entrepreneur is to find you niche and have a unique selling point. You need to create shareable content, be very persistent and don’t be afraid to experiment. At the end of the day, anyone with a good idea can become a success as long as you know how to capitalize on it.

Take Surveys

Taking online surveys is one of the most popular online jobs for teens and it’s easy to see why. It’s easy to do and the perfect place to start out. You are essentially helping companies to carry out market research and they tend to be very relaxed when it comes to age requirements.

While there are plenty of websites out there, they don’t all offer cash payments so do a bit of research beforehand to find out which websites are reputable. Since you don’t tend to earn much per survey, speed is key. Of course, you still want to be accurate with your answers, but it just means learning to skim and get through it quicker to make it worth your time.

Fiverr

Offering your services on Fiverr is an excellent way to earn an extra bit of money quickly and easily. Once you subtract all the fees, you will get around $4 for every $5 order you complete. The best thing is that you can offer pretty much any service you can think of, so you don’t need any one particular skill or talent to take part.

You can do anything from writing, to creating motion graphics, cartoons and caricatures and even creating an advertisement featuring your pet. Basically, you can offer anything you can come up with that you think could earn you some money. While base rates start at $5, there are several ways you can make more money from Fiverr.

Etsy

If you love crafting, then Etsy is the place for you. Teenagers are always finding creative ways to express themselves, so why not put it to good use? While you may need to be 18 to run your own store, you can still use sites like Etsy and eBay. There are various payment options, but you typically take payment via PayPal.

For this online job you need to be well organized and able to create a lot of merchandize, so it’s ideal for the entrepreneurial crafter. It’s relatively easy to set up and run your own shop, you just need to get your products up, including an image and a description, and then just ship them off once the order comes in.

Content Writing

There are lots of online writing jobs for teens out there, so if you like to write you will have no problem earning money online. Good writers are in high demand and there are plenty of different content types needed. This allows you the chance to be a bit pickier over the jobs you go for, so you can work on something you really enjoy.

When it comes to online jobs for teens, this is definitely on of the most popular. If you speak another language other than English, even better. The great thing about this job is that it can lead to a career in the future. You should be able to earn at least $3 for a 500 word article, but the more you do it, the better you get and the more you can earn. As well as offering your services on Fiverr, you can use websites like eLance or oDesk to find work.

Get Paid To Sites

Get Paid To sites, also known as GPT sites, are basically like online reward programs. They may not be the best place to earn a great deal of money, but they are definitely the easiest. They can involve activities such as playing video games, completing a survey, signing up to new sites, watching videos or clicking on ads.

If you were looking for serious online teen jobs, then I would probably give this one a miss. However, if you are looking for a quick and easy way to make a little extra cash, then this could be the answer. Some websites pay you in the form of gift cards and others only pay out after a certain amount, so make sure you read carefully so you don’t end up with a bad deal.

Finding great online jobs for teens might require a little bit of research, but there are plenty of opportunities out there. These types of jobs require hard work and are ideally suited to the entrepreneurial teen that can spot a good money making opportunity. Use your skills to your advantage, whether it’s writing, crafting or making videos, and you’ll be earning money in no time.

Online Marketing Basics for Small Business: Introduction to Pay-Per-Click Advertising

What is PPC?

PPC is a type of online advertising that allows you to rapidly get visitors to your business website by paying for advertisements on search engines and only when the ads are actually clicked on by users.

PPC advertisements are the ‘search results’ that display at the top of a search engine such as Google or Bing’s results and on the right-hand-side of the page when a search has been conducted. Ads are displayed when users search for a related keyword or term. Each time a person clicks on your ad or paid search result, the search engine charges you a fee – called “Cost-Per-Click” (CPC). You can be in charge of the amount you wish to budget for on these clicks by means of a bidding system. The greater amount you are willing to bid (and therefore the bigger your overall budget), the better the position your ads will have and the more traffic you will receive. Getting your ads to rank highly can also depend on the popularity of the ad and it’s click-through performance over time.

Why Should You Look At PPC For Your Business?

Essentially, it’s always worth at least considering PPC advertising, as it can bring you new business straight away at a reasonable price. As you can set your budget, it’s very low risk however your return on investment will largely depend on the success of your campaign, which can vary significantly depending on your experience. This being said, PPC is well known as being one of the most cost-effective means of online advertising, as it can be very closely measured. In addition, once you have mastered your strategy, you are able to precisely work out a return-on-investment (ROI) figure and assess this for further campaigns.

What Can You Expect From PPC?

With proper setup and implementation, you could expect to gain fresh sales enquiries within your first week of PPC. You will get an understanding of the categories that work well for your business in terms of lead conversion, and you will find areas that need to worked on through your website and other marketing channels. You will also come to an understanding of which segments are most the lucrative for your market. For example, you may see that people looking at your website from an iPad are more likely to make a purchase, so you could optimise your marketing strategy to give priority to iPad-related search traffic over desktop only traffic.

Is PPC Suited To Your Business?

PPC suits businesses with high to average sale figures, or businesses whose clients have a high customer lifecycle value. Although there are exceptions to the rule, it tends to be much harder to achieve positive ROI when the average sale figure is about $50. This is because you’re not likely to break even on the cost per lead investment, or make a significant profit on the lead once the CPC is taken into account. The same logic is applied to a business whose customers are unlikely to generate ongoing revenue and cover the cost of their acquisition.

Other PPC Pointers That Are Worth Keeping In Mind:

Generally it is best that you do not try to set up and manage your PPC account yourself. This is because the expertise of a professional will save you much more time, energy and money than if you undertook it yourself. There is a lot of intricacy involved in a successful PCC strategy, and while anyone can get a PPC account up and running, there are many ways you could actually lose money if you are unsure about what you are doing. A PPC professional has expertise in gearing the campaign in order to have a return on investment for every new lead.

PPC is an excellent place to start if you are new to the online marketing world. It’s also important to recognise the value of investing in the expertise of a professional to establish a cost-effective campaign for your small business. You will achieve the best results and ROI if you have a clear-cut strategy for segmentation, testing, and evaluation.

Avoid These 5 Management Mistakes for Small Business Success

Management skills are just as essential for small business owners as they are for corporate employees. They’re what help a small business owner successfully delegate the right tasks to the right employees, and they’re ultimately what make a successful small business grow and thrive. But too many entrepreneurs don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to management.

Are you at risk of making some of the most common small business management mistakes? They include starting a small business with no formal management training, and no clue how to delegate properly. Other common management mistakes include procrastinating on important administrative tasks, discouraging feedback and ideas from employees, and failing to develop a business strategy to keep you goal-oriented in your business pursuits. Let’s take a look at some of the most common management mistakes small business owners make.

1. Going in Blind

You may not think that you need any formal training in business or management in order to start your own business; you’re going to be the boss, after all. But that’s exactly why formal training in management is a good idea. You may not need to impress anyone to get the job, but you can still use those skills to be a better boss to your employees. Helping your workers reach their full potential through solid management skills benefits all of you. Your employees will feel happy, engaged, and fulfilled, and you’ll all enjoy greater personal and financial success as your business flourishes thanks to your management savvy.

You don’t have to take four years out of the work force to earn a BA in Management. You can earn the degree online while you continue to work at your day job and plan for your future life as an entrepreneur. If you’re already running a small business and think that you could use some more management knowledge, an online program offers you the flexibility you need.

2. Not Delegating

It’s not unusual for small business owners to fall into the trap of thinking that they need to personally run the entire business single handedly. Entrepreneurs are especially prone to feeling that none of their employees can perform a task better than they can, and it doesn’t help that they’re emotionally invested in the success of their businesses.

But you have employees for a reason, and your business won’t thrive until you’re ready to let your employees help it thrive. Hire the right people, and then learn how to delegate.

3. Putting Off Important Administrative Tasks

When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t have a boss breathing down your neck, keeping you on task to get things done. It’s easy to procrastinate on important administrative tasks, especially when they’re tasks you don’t particularly enjoy doing, like payroll.

You need to have the discipline to get these tasks out of the way in a timely fashion. Being busy is not the same as being productive. Make sure you accomplish at least two essential business-related tasks each day. Choose those tasks that only you can do – tasks that others can do should be delegated to others. It helps to put the important tasks first, before you get sucked into answering emails, updating your business’s Facebook page, or returning calls from customers.

4. Discouraging or Ignoring Employee Feedback and Ideas

You may have a lot of good ideas, but you don’t have a monopoly on good ideas. Not only do they have good ideas, but allowing your employees to contribute their ideas and feedback builds an atmosphere of trust where employees feel they have some level of control over their professional lives.

That’s important, because it means your employees will feel a deeper sense of loyalty to your organization, and that commitment will shine through in the quality of their work.

5. Not Having a Plan

If you don’t have an overarching strategy for your business, you won’t have a clear idea of where you’re going – and it’s a lot harder to get where you’re going if you don’t even know where exactly that is. Don’t get so caught up in the day-to-day minutiae that you fail to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Once you have a goal in mind, it will become a lot easier to recruit the right talent, delegate the right tasks to the right people, and make the right overall decisions.

Just because you’re a small business owner doesn’t mean you don’t need solid management skills. Those skills can mean the difference between the ultimate success or failure of your business venture. So do what you can to become a better manager, before your business takes the hit.

4 Tactics To Streamline Your Business Purchases

Every entrepreneur wants their business to be profitable. But instead of working on the real goal of their companies, most of them end up working in their companies by adopting a hands-on approach for processes and systems. When it comes to scaling, the hands-on approach doesn’t work.

What you need is a sustainable and scalable way to handle business processes. That’s because as a business owner, you can only wear so many hats; it’s a good idea to automate some of the reins so that you can focus more on the business itself.

So what measures can you take to streamline purchases? Below are some detailed tactics to help you get started:

1. Invest in efficient inventory tracking

Inventory tracking is essential to streamline procurement, avoid wastage and, in an industry like restaurant, ensure you’re geared up for busy seasons. You can invest in one of the online ordering systems that is equipped with features such as management and monitoring of sales, shipping lines and inventory.

This way, you will automate inventory as much as possible, which should give visibility to your purchase department, assist in control of inventory, improve profitability, and enhance cash flow management. Some solutions will also remove the need to cross-check inventory whenever it is updated.

2. Gain control over document workflows

One of the most time-consuming processes when it comes to making purchases is to search for paper agreements and then asking the relevant personnel to sign the documents for approval. Apps that allow departments and personnel to utilize anelectronic signature give businesses greater control over document workflows, as well as the ability to easily integrate signed and approved documents with other systems used by the company.

Some apps will also enable users to collect purchase form information easily, as well as validate data to match their needs. With options like SDKs and APIs, it would be easy to extend the functionality to existing applications and bring the data in a central location. If you’re already using SaaS, then look for a solution that can be integrated with your own-premise software.

3. Get help wherever possible

If the purchase process of your company has become too complex for you and the staff to handle, consider outsourcing some part of it. If you’ve been issuing RFQs and RFPs while making purchases, negotiating contracts with suppliers, and buying specialized goods, then it makes sense to outsource some of the process to another company.

If you can’t afford to outsource, you can take help from government-sponsored networks that help with certain business functions from sales and marketing to operations and purchases. Some nonprofit organizations may also be consulted when you need help with processes such as purchasing. Working with nonprofits and government networks also grants you the opportunity to build good business relations.

4. Use a cloud-based solution

Using a cloud-based purchase management solution enables users to access and track purchase information from any remote location quickly and easily. Because the solution is connected to a centralized server, updates to the software are only required in a single location, which saves time and the expense of installing updates across multiple systems of the company.

Streamlining purchases also becomes easier when remote purchase departments in a multinational can update entries in the cloud, removing the necessity to transfer documents and reducing the likelihood of discrepancies and delays in purchases.

What I do when I fail

I fail at things much more than you might imagine, given that I've written motivational articles and articles related to success.

I fail at all of that stuff, and it feels just as horrible for me as it does for anyone else.

I get down on myself, feel guilty, try to avoid thinking about it, would rather hide it from everyone else.

Failing at things can really suck.

And yet, I get back up and try again.

I fail at eating healthy on a regular basis, but I keep trying again. I'm not that good these days at sticking to an exercise plan, I've failed and I'm trying again, regularly.

I've made several attempts at starting a company, and scrapped it all each time because it didn't feel right. And yet, I started again, and I'm almost done now.

I fail at loving myself. But I don't give up on that.

I fail at being a good friend, a good brother, seemingly multiple times a day. But I continue to try, and sometimes I succeed.

When I try over and over again, once in a while I succeed.

So what's the secret? Well, there isn't any. You just have to keep trying.

That said, here's what I've found to work:

1. I learned a more flexible mindset.

When you are rigidly trying to stick to a plan or achieve a goal, and things don't go according to plan, then you feel like crap and things can get derailed. But if you have a more flexible mindset, and think "I might not go according to plan but that's OK because things might change," then it's not a disaster when you get off track. There's no single track that you have to stay on.

2. I came to realize that every attempt is about learning.

When you fail, that's actually really good information. Before you failed, you thought that something would work, but then real world information came in that told you it didn't work. That means you now know something you didn't know before. That's excellent. Now you can adjust your plan, figure something new out, try a new method. Keep learning.

3. I ask for help

When I'm struggling with something, I know that I can either give up, or I can figure out a better way, so I reach out to my friends, trusted family members, and I ask them. They might give me simple, obvious, why-didn't-I-see-that advice that I need, or brilliant tips, or accountability. Whatever happens, my friends and loved ones never seem to fail me.

4. I give myself a break.

If I'm struggling, sometimes my mind or body just needs a break from the discipline. So I'll take a day or two off, or a week, or even more. There's no set time that's right for every situation, so I've been learning to go by feel. For some things, I've taken a month or two off from trying to learn something.

5. I remind myself why it's important.

It's easy to give up on something, because not doing it is always easier. But giving up means you're loosing something important, like helping someone, and so if my reasons for doing something aren't just selfish, then I will renew my vigor for the struggle. This alone is often enough to get me going again, especially if I'm doing it to help someone important, like my friends.

I realize that I'm far from perfect, and that the guilty secrets I hide inside myself are no different that anyone else's. You guys are just like me, in the inside, and while we all share the commonality of failing to live up to our better nature, we also share the bond of being able to start again.

So start again.