General Business

Maintaining inventory might just seem like an annoyance you tend to as supplies run low or customers order something obscure. But effective inventory management isn’t just a matter of knowing what’s in stock. It’s knowing what you have, why you have it and how long you’ll probably hold on to it.

To help you streamline the inventory management process and save money without sacrificing your customer experience, try following these guidelines for optimizing inventory management.

Track Inventory and Sales Daily. If you haven’t yet started taking thorough records, now is the time to start. All of your transactions must include some record of what inventory was required to complete the transaction. This may sound very easy for a retail storefront, but for, say, a restaurant where one transaction requires a few primary components and many others in small amounts, it can get difficult. (more…)

By Cindy Bates, Microsoft

This past spring I had the pleasure of participating in an event in Los Angeles put on by the SBA and White House Urban Economic Forum. The forum is a series of national events designed to connect small business owners and entrepreneurs to local and national resources and offers opportunities for networking with local and national small business officials.

Participants offered insights on critical issues in the local small business sector and discussed the policies and programs that fuel the creation of private-sector jobs and the next generation of entrepreneurs. They also identified resources available to help the SMB community grow and thrive.

Coming from a family of small business owners, I am passionate about entrepreneurship and know firsthand how thrilling, but also challenging, it can be to start and maintain a successful business. Knowing that every business owner is eager to learn about available help, here are a few of the business development programs and resources mentioned during the forum that you may find helpful for your own business: (more…)

By Jack Garson

(On The Edge from The Legal Edge, SmartCEO Magazine)

In today’s world, more so than in decades past, business is not a “build it and they will come” affair. To create and maintain a profitable business, you need a competitive edge. Your competitive advantage can both drive more business your way and critically protect you against copycats. It can also take a variety of forms. The keys are distinguishing your business from others, fending off imitators and then keeping that edge fresh.

What Works for Your Business

Every company is different. So the competitive advantage that works in one might not work at all for another company. Even in the same industry, your edge may vary. One drycleaner might be the cheapest, another might clean your shirt in an hour and a third might be that rare one that doesn’t smash my buttons (wouldn’t that be something!). (more…)

How do I build an organization? What does that organization look like?

The first step to defining an organization is to build yourself a model. You need to have an idea of what you want your organization to look like. Define what departments you think you need. Meaning you need to have a good understanding of what hat are needed in your organization.

Then decide which hats you are going to wear and which hats you will have your team wear. In the corporate world that’s known as delegation. The temptation is to think you can do everything yourself and this assumption can get you into trouble. It’s critical to understand the hats you’re going to wear and what hats your team will wear. Delegation is a key leadership skill and building the right team with the right skill sets and then delegating the responsibility appropriately is, like I said, critical to success. (more…)