Size Doesn’t Matter… In Innovation

March 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We tend to think of some of the biggest companies in the world as being the most innovative. That doesn’t have to be the case. Small businesses are changing industries with big ideas. Don’t ever think that you can’t change the world because your business isn’t big enough. Here are a few ways to inspire innovation in even the smallest companies.

1. Be Different On Purpose

If everyone in your industry seems to be doing things the same way, find a different way to do it. You will find new opportunities that wouldn’t have presented themselves otherwise and new problems to solve before anyone else can.

2. Embrace Change

Consumers love new and exciting ideas but as business owners, they terrify us. We have already found something that works and it could be extremely costly to change it now. Try to think about every change being an opportunity and create a culture that embraces change as often as it can happen.

3. Listen to Your Customers

Don’t ever assume your customers are happy just because they are still buying from you. Find out how happy they really are and then find out what would make them even more happy. Solving their problems is the first step to your next great idea.

4. Offer A Unique Service

You don’t have to invent something new to be innovative, you can offer something no one else is offering. Offer a service that satisfies your customers needs outside of just your main offer. Give your customers a unique experience and you’ll be innovative by any standard.

5. Get Your Idea Moving

Don’t sit on your idea. Get behind it and push! Push it out in front of your customers and the world. Do this before your competitors think of the same think and make their move before you.

Don’t ever let the size of your company prevent you from being innovative, the world could always use more great ideas.  What small companies would you consider innovative? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: How to Be More Innovative, Innovation For Small Businesses, Innovation Tips, Problem Solving Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Acknowledging The Best Ways To Fail

January 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I usually like to think of myself as an optimist but I think knowing what to look out for and what not to do is almost as important as knowing what to do. Here are 5 things that will most likely result in failure, and though I encourage everyone to embrace failure and lear from it, I think that it still pays to avoid it whenever possible.

1. Assume that something can’t be too easy – If its an opportunity that requires little effort it will most likely yield little reward.

2. Go against the grain blindfolded – It’s great if you want to do things differently but you need a plan.  Don’t try to reinvent the wheel just because you want to, reinvent it because the blockhead who made the first prototype used an oval.

3. Bank on your social media networks – Just because you have 1000 friends on Facebook doesn’t mean you have 1000 customers.  Your personal connections will probably want little to do with any kind of business promotion you start to push on them.

4. Assume that your idea is different – Someone has had the same idea as you before so don’t bank on that for success.  The way you execute your idea is what will help you succeed.

5. Confuse advice and knowledge – There is a big difference between what someone thinks you should do and what someone knows you should do.  Make sure you are taking the time to identify one or the other before you act on it.

Read More about why the right kind of failure isn’t always a bad thing.

What would you say usually leads to disaster? Share with the world in the comment box below. For more conversation, connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: How To Fail, office chair experts, office furniture experts, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Luke’s Wings

December 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I can’t think of a more worthy cause than helping to send a loved one to be with a wounded warrior, no matter what time of year it is. Want to give an entire family an awesome Christmas present? How about helping Luke’s Wings fly a wounded warrior home? God bless our troops who sacrifice so much… and may God bless those who support them at this special time of year. Good luck and get well to all our soldiers.

 

 

Help spread the word about Luke’s Wings on Twitter

Tell your friends and family about Luke’s Wings on Facebook.

 

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Are Your Company Meetings A Waste Of Time?

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tims is money and that has never been more true. We can’t afford to watch our time slip away under the curtain of false productivity, which is what usually happens in company meetings.  It starts with a  bit of small talk from one person and then when you combine that with a bit of small talk from everyone else leads to a lot of talk, and none of it being very productive. If you are like me, the very thought of the usual meeting makes you cringe.  Here are a few things you might be doing wrong in your meetings.

► Workers leave meetings without specific tasks and deadlines for completing them.

► Discussions during meetings don’t lead to decisions.

► Brainstorms become complaint sessions versus idea-generating machines.

► The meeting rehashes but doesn’t advance prior meetings’ accomplishments (what Petz calls a “déjà meeting”).

► Meetings force attendance from nonessential employees (“over-invitation syndrome,” in Petz-speak).

Fortunately, taming bad meeting habits isn’t difficult—if you pay attention to a few basics.

Click here to find out how to fix these problems.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and  Twitter or share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Filed Under: Meetings Tagged With: , , , , , ,

5 and 1/2 Secrets To Successful Leadership

October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”  Unfortunately, becoming a “Great Leader” isn’t that easy. Leadership tends to be the last thing that entrepreneurs consider for their startup. Even though it may be the most important. Here are 5.5 secrets to successful leadership.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and  Twitter for more useful information.

1.Assemble Your Dream Team – You won’t be able to do it all on your own.  Find people who are passionate about what they do and who are dedicated to the success of the business as much as they are dedicated to their own success.

2. Overcommunicate – A lack of communication can tear a business apart while there are really no negative consequences for being too clear. Don’t ever expect your employees to be able to read your mind. Paint a clear picture of what you want and what you really need.

3. To Assume… – We all know how the saying goes. Don’t ever assume that your team is on exactly the same page as you. Plan to update them on a regular basis to make sure that no one is falling being or jumping ship all together.

4. Don’t Be Fake – Let people know when you are genuinely impressed or disappointed. If you can be yourself, your employees will be more comfortable being themselves, and that’s who you really hired.

5. Identify Your Obstacles – You need to identify your challenges ahead of time so they don’t sneak up on you like the legendary iceberg and sink your unsinkable ship. Seeing these obstacles looming in the distance allows for you to plan for the needed adjustments or precautions.

5.5. Build Your Culture- This is only half of a tip because it tends to happen naturally, the biggest challenge you have is directing it to be the culture you want for your business. Set an example and be clear about what flies and what doesn’t in your company.

Read More.

 

Filed Under: Business Tips, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

7 Ways To Be More Efficient

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is always room for more efficiency right?  Who doesn’t want to get more done in less time?  Here are a few tips that I have found useful and effective.

1. Skip The Meetings – Meetings are a good way to get sidetracked and waste time.  If you can handle it in real time, do it.  If not, go into the meeting with a specific goal and a time-frame to achieve it.

2. Follow The Two-Pizza Rule – Having a team is all about promoting the collaboration aspect. As your team starts to grow you can split it into smaller groups.  Try to keep your groups small enough so that you can feed them with two pizzas.

3. Pick Up Your Phone – Keep the communication open so that nothing important has to wait and you can always keep people up to speed. You can get a lot more out of a conversation through the phone than you can by e-mail.

4. Organize Your Interruptions – As contradictory as that may sound, you can do it and it helps. Figure out what needs your immediate attention, what you need to be thinking about and what you need to know at the end of each day and use it to prepare for the next one.

5. Always Be Interviewing – The best way to be more productive is to have a good group of people doing what they’re best at. Talent is an investment that always pays back.  if you meet someone and you wouldn’t want them working for a competitor, you should probably hire them.

6. Use Your E-mail for Documentation – Keep folders of all the documents you might need.  If you forget something you can instantly access it on your phone. You can also keep track and refer to previous statements in the ongoing conversations.

7. Shorten Your Mental Deadlines – Set high expectations for yourself and try to stick to them.  Putting a little healthy pressure on yourself can help you focus and get more done in less time.

 

What productivity secrets do you have? Share in the comment box below. Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and  Twitter.

Filed Under: How To Be More Efficient, How To Be More Productive Tagged With: , , , , ,

Giving Your Customers More Than They Bargained For

September 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What do you do to offer your customer’s a better experience?  If you aren’t doing anything extra, you might want to rethink your strategy.  The customer experience is one of the strongest tools you have when it comes to building your brand and building brand loyalty.  Customers come back to your business because they enjoy being there, not just because of the product you offer.  Think about it, if they really wanted to, a customer could get everything they needed online.  They don’t, partially because most people like to get out of the house and partially because of the experiences they have. Maybe it’s time you put some more time and effort in to your Customer Experience Management.

What business gives you a great experience?  Share your thoughts in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Customer Experience, Making Happy Customers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Is It Time To Change Your Strategy?

September 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You never want to give up before your plan has really had a chance to spring in to action. But, there is such a thing as waiting too long for a strategy that might not pan out. So how do you know when it’s time to switch gears?  There a few very extreme situations that are actually becoming more common, one of which was described and explained in this article from Inc Magazine.

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Dear Norm,
Our small business provides government agencies and consulting firms with specialized computer models that simulate flooding. Sales have been very slow this year, and one of my partners thinks we should make the software available as a free download to anybody who wants it. That’s what our main competitor does, and a lot of people use its product even though it’s not as good as ours. My partner’s theory is that by getting our software into more hands, we would be able to sell more support subscriptions. My fear is that we would succeed only in losing a lot of revenue at the worst possible moment for our company. It would be one thing if price was the main reason we aren’t selling more software. But, in fact, price plays a small role in a customer’s buying decision. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what we should do.

—Reinaldo G.

Click Here for the expert response.

 

Filed Under: Changing Your Business Strategy, office chair experts, office furniture experts, Opportunity, Running a Business, The Economy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

10 Solutions For Your Productivity Problems

September 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are sitting if your office reading this right now, chances are you could probably be more productive. According to a recent survey done by Salary.com the average employee admits to wasting about 2 hours of their 8 hour workday, and that’s not including lunch or breaks. Instead of living a jumbled mix of work/life it is better to separate the two, so here are a few tips to help make that a little easier.

Beware Multitasking

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Truth is, we’d all be more productive if we checked e-mail only a few times a day rather than every time we notice we have a new message.  No reasonable person on this planet is going to be upset if they have to wait an hour before they get a response.

Tame Your In-box

Technology is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. If you can quickly reply to an e-mail, do it!  If it is going to take a considerable amount of thought and time mark it and save it for later when you have the necessary resources available.

Clear Your Mind

You don’t need to sit in the lotus position and chant, but you should take a few minutes, several times a day, to calm and clear your mind. Walking around the block or just stepping away from your computer screen can help you stay much more mentally fresh and focused.

Read More Here.

Filed Under: How To Be More Productive, office chair experts, office furniture experts Tagged With: , , , , ,

High Tech Marketing Brilliance

September 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Technology is moving as fast as word of mouth and it’s not slowing down any time soon.  You may feel overwhelmed and confused and not know which way is up, but there is good news.  All of this new technology can be used to your advantage. I found a great article from Inc. Magazine that explains the different ways all of technology is being used for marketing.

Facial Recognition
Giving away free product is a great way to build your brand, right?

Unilever, the company that makes things like Lipton soup and Suave shampoo also makes ice cream and figured it would use some of it to get customers to smile—literally. It worked with the high-tech marketing company SapientNitro in Londonto make a vending machine called “Share Happy” that uses facial recognition to give people ice cream bars for smiling.

Full Article

What new technology have you seen being used in marketing?  Share with the world in the comment box below. For more conversation, connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: office chair experts, office furniture experts, Technology and Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,
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