In Step 6 of 30 Steps to Build a Better Business, adjusting your product pricing was mentioned as a possible solution for low or negative product margins. Even if you aren’t experiencing low product margins, it’s a good idea to check your pricing regularly (at least once a year), to make sure it’s in line with your particular business strategy and what the market will bear.   Make a List. Make a list of all your products and prices. If you completed Step 4 to Building a Better...

In Step 5  of 30 Steps to Build a Better Business, you documented a step-by-step version of your production process. In this step, you’ll get an idea of how much that production process costs you.  Why is this important? One word. Margins.

Do you remember that song from childhood, “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”? Oh, c’mon, you remember. For each day of the week, there was a little song and pantomime for what chore was to be done that day, like: This is the way we wash our clothes, Wash our clothes, wash our clothes This is the way we wash our clothes, So early Monday morning. In Step 5 of 30 Steps to Build a Better Business, we take a cue from that childhood song. But instead of singing about household...

I often compare a business to a living, breathing human being. Using that analogy, the infrastructure of a business is like its backbone. Without it, the business is perpetually in a slump. If your business lacks an adequate infrastructure, you’re probably constantly overwhelmed and it shows. It takes too long to respond to customer needs, to fill orders, to collect money, to understand how well your business is performing from day to day and month to month. There are some variations on...

Remember that thing you did when you first started your business? You know, that big detailed document that mapped out all the plans you had for your fledgling enterprise? Here’s a question for you…when’s the last time you looked at it?

When you work for yourself, you don’t have the huge marketing budget that a larger more established company has. Most of the time your advertising and marketing is accomplished through the in-person interactions and conversations you have while you’re out and about. Your response to the question, “So, what do you do?” is your chance to leave a lasting impression, to initiate a more in-depth conversation, and to establish some sort of rapport with the person asking. In some respects, it’s...