Posted by Stephanie on May 6, 2009 in
Small Business Management 
I just got back from a local seminar on small business management and leadership. The seminar took place during lunch, so the speaker didn’t have a lot of time to cover his points, but he did review the basics of success for a small business. He was an inspirational speaker, and even after the talk was over the small crowd of attendees still buzzed with excitement.
How Do Small Business Owners Get Help?
Most of the people hung out after lunch for an informal networking meeting. I dropped in on multiple conversations, and the most common thread among all the conversations was lack of resources. In other words, most of these small business owners knew what they needed to do, but didn’t know how to go about doing these tasks.
For instance, almost everyone at the meeting knew that they needed to identify, locate, and reach out to their “target audience,” but a lot of them had no idea how to go about doing this. Plus, a lot of them were too busy with daily operations to spend much time on this kind of high-level strategy. Still, people were asking each other, “Where do I get this kind of information? How do I find my target audience?”
If you are wondering the same thing about your small business, then it’s time to SCORE!
SCORE for Small Businesses
Check out SCORE, which is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and is dedicated to helping small businesses. SCORE is staffed by 11,200 volunteers, most of whom are working and retired executives and business owners who donate time and expertise as business counselors.
Here’s a really cool resource on SCORE to help you locate the info and stuff you need for your small business:
The Score Quick Biz Assessment
This test asks you 15 questions about you and your business. For instance, it asks how you spend the majority of your time, whether you know your target audience, and how well you understand the financial aspects of your business. At the end of the test, an entire page of recommendations pops up.
If the test identified that you didn’t know your target market well, it makes recommendations, including how to identify your market by age, income, occupation, location, and education. The recommendations also include sources of demographic information, along with books and online resources that teach you how to find and reach your target market.
As a bonus, it’s all free. Co-sponsored by E-Myth Worldwide, Michael Gerber’s company, the test is a real eye-opener. It also offers you access to a number of small business resources you might not have known about.
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Tags: SCORE, small business owners, small business resources
Solve Business Woes with the Entrepreneur Pill
Is your small business struggling in this recession economy? No problem. Very soon you will be able to pop a pill and rewire your brain so you think like the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. Imagine popping a pill and suddenly having Robert Kiyosaki or Guy Kawasaki in your brain. You’ll think like a business guru-no joke! Cambridge University scientists have announced that there may someday be an “entrepreneur pill” that will help people replicate the brain chemistry of the most successful small business owners. Would that be better business through chemistry?
Unfortunately the entrepreneur pill isn’t available quite yet. The bad news is that small business owners need it more than ever. Shrinking profits and dwindling customer traffic have many small business owners pulling their hair out. Luckily, they can take steps to gain a fresh perspective on their business, even if they can’t yet directly access the brain chemistry of small business guru.
If your small business is struggling, here are five ways you get a fresh perspective on your small business.
1. Give Your Business a Makeover
To give your small business a makeover you need new ideas and help from some experts. While you may not be able to afford the pricey consultants who do makeovers on major corporations, you can benefit from their advice without paying a dime. Check out Small Business Makeover section on the CNNMoney website. There you’ll find makeover case studies on all kinds of small businesses from carpet-sellers to bath-and-body stores. If you’re offering your products or services online, you’ll be delighted with their Website Makeover section.
2. Get Your Burning Questions Answered
If you want to get a direct answer to the burning questions you have about your small business, you can always submit it to the CNNMoney directly through their “Find Business Answers” form. There is no guarantee that your question will be selected to be answered, but there’s definitely no harm in trying. As a bonus, it still doesn’t cost you’re a dime. CNNMoney usually puts this form at the bottom of its articles. To locate one of these articles just Google for CNNMoney + “find business answers.” There is a form at the bottom of this page.
3. Access Online Training from the SBA
The Small Business Administration has recently begun offering a number of online courses on “Surviving in a Down Economy.” The new courses include:
- Strategic Marketing: How to Win Customers in a Slowing Economy
- Down-Shifting in a Slowing Economy: Business Planning Guide
- Raise new capital / Refinance exisiting debt - How to Prepare a Loan Package
- Diversify with federal contracts - Business Opportunities: A Guide to Winning Federal Contracts
4. Look for a Geographic Cure
If you run a bricks-and-mortar business maybe you’re not located in the right place. To locate your business at the right place at the right time, check out the top 100 places to live and launch a small business by Fortune Small Business. These include the 7 tax-free havens for business (Wyoming, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Washington, New Hampshire and Tennessee) plus the six best towns where technology thrives (Bellevue, Portland, Boise, Blacksburg, Bethlehem, and Folsom). The list is nearly endless and may help you decide if it’s time to move your small business because the grass is greener on the other side of the state line.
5. SCORE Big
SCORE is a non-profit group of 11,200 retired executives who mentor small business owners across the country for free. According to their website, “SCORE offers free and confidential advice to small businesses: face-to-face counseling, online counseling, online workshops and more.” You can post your questions to their website and get an answer, usually within 48 hours. Best of all, SCORE is an unlimited resource. You can ask as many questions as you want plus access their huge library of small business resources.
So what’s the bottom line for small business owners? While you may occasionally feel hopeless you are definitely not helpless. This list is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the inexpensive resources at your disposable to keep your small business afloat. So until that entrepreneur pill hits the market, get going and get help.
Have you been using any other small business resources that have proven very successful for you? Do tell!
Photo credit: Pills
Tags: business makeover, recession, SBA online training, SCORE, small business
