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Management and Strategy

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February - 2012 Invest Equally in People, Process, and Technology

Most investments made to improve a business fall into one of three categories: people, process, or technology improvements. But alone, each of these categories of investments can provide disappointing returns…

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Finance

February - 2012 Build a Business Nest Egg

When I started my machine shop 20 years ago, learn to “sit on cash’ was advice I frequently received. This counsel proved to be invaluable when the recession hit in 2008, creating a favorable environment for purchasing used equipment…

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Operations

February - 2012 Take Advantage of Time-saving Technology

When we sell a POS (Point of Sale) system to a restaurant, we need to get a signed contract. In the past, our salesperson would drop off the contract for the business owner to review. Often the restaurant was preparing to open, so the place would be a madhouse. They might not have a fax available, and usually had little time to go through the documents carefully…

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A Tax-Free Life Insurance Loan
Here’s a strategy for taking money out of the business while deferring income tax. Using a life insurance policy paid for by the business – with a cash residual value that grows by as much as you want to extract from the company – a bank will allow you to borrow against the residual value of the policy. The borrowed money incurs a small interest rate, but you won’t be taxed on the loan.

By : Ruth Jill, Headingly Sport Shop LTD, Headingly, MB

 

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Making Manuals More Meaningful
While updating our employee manual, we asked every employee to contribute to the manual by telling us what they like most about working at our company. It was a great exercise on many levels – finding out what employees like, letting them share their experiences with new employees and having them be a part of our ongoing development.

By : Tony DiDonato, The Millennium Group Computing, Lakewood, CO

 

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Money Well Spent
Sales people often feel like they are worth more than a company is willing to pay. Great sales people are good negotiators, so if they aren’t negotiating with you, they won’t negotiate with your customers well either. Even so, make sure you have a realistic view of what sales people make, and that your sales compensation plan is designed to incent for the results you are looking for. Also, never cap a sales person’s earning potential. Your top sales person may make more than you do, but that is okay if they are outperforming your expectations.

By : Dean Branson, Midwest Agency, O'Fallon, MO

 

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Keeping in Touch with Clients and Prospects
Regularly communicating with your customers and prospects is important to keep your company “top of mind.” There are several ways to do this, either in print (a newsletter, letter, direct mail postcard or catalog, etc.) or electronically (email newsletter or via social media channels). If you are doing a printed newsletter, ask yourself (or your clients/prospects) if doing both a printed version and email version is necessary and/or worthwhile. Sometimes just a simple email update is all that is necessary. Either way, the keys are relevance and consistency. Make sure that what you communicate to your clients and prospects is important to them, and communicate it in a consistent format so they can quickly extract the information they need and move on.

By : Paul Provost, 6P Marketing Inc., Winnipeg, MB

 

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind
When I’m out of my office, work continues to get done without me. That means that even when I’m in the office, work can get done without me. I’ve learned to distance myself – literally in an office that reduces my visibility – so I can move away from involvement with day to day work.

By : Kevin Cirincione, County Energy Controls, East Quogue, NY

 

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