“I’m starting a social media consulting business – I want to sell my services to other businesses.  Can you give me some clear selling strategies that I should use?”

Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer – what do you think they need to know about you and your company to buy from you?  There are usually three things your potential customers need to know whether you’re selling social media services or ballpoint pens:

1. How is this going to help my business? (What’s In It For Me?)
2. Why should I buy from you? (Credibility)
3. Prove it. (Facts)

If you can give that information to your customer – with gusto – you’ll close the sale.

More proven selling tactics for small business

In addition to the three points of knowledge above, here are a few other proven tactics in successful sales and marketing:

1. Customers buy from people they like.
2. Customers buy from people who understand their needs.
3. Customers like to buy “remarkable” products and services, not ordinary.
4. Customers want to know what makes you “remarkable” – so tell them.
5. Customers like to be heard – so listen.
6. Customers will have objections – learn to respectfully respond to every objection.

Bottom line in sales and marketing?  Know your target market, understand their needs, be remarkable, deliver remarkable, each and every time.  You’ll be a winner.

It sounds like the holy grail of employment options. Whether you’re working from home one or two days a week or self-employed with a home based business, working from the house sounds appealing for most people. Think about it. There’s no commute, you’ll save time and gas money, you don’t need to get dressed up, you can get the laundry done – what’s not to love?

Check out a few tips about working from home to help you decide if it works for you, and make the most of it.

Set some office hours. Just like you show up for work at the same time every day and leave at the same time every day, plan to do this when you work from home. Of course one of the bonuses of working from home is that these office hours are more flexible, but if you don’t plan to work, it won’t get done.

Likewise if you don’t plan an end time, you may keep working until you have everything done. The catch for most entrepreneurs is that the to-do list will keep on growing. Making time for family, friends and creative pursuits is important for yourself, which makes it important for your business too.

Leave your personal life in the living room and your work life in the office space. Keeping your work life and personal life separate is tricky when you work from home. Setting some physical boundaries for different activities can help.

Think about communication. How will you communicate for your business?  Email, telephone and online communication like Skype can make it possible for you to work nearly anywhere, but there is no substitute for face to face communication. Make a point to get out of your house and talk to people for work whenever you can. This will help you avoid pouncing on your significant other when they come home from work in an effort to connect with a live human being. Trust me – they’ll appreciate it if you take a walk over to the coffee shop and chat up the barista sometime before the end of the work day!

Setting up a strategy to manage your tasks, time, and communication will help you with a smooth transition into working from home, along with boosting your productivity. Like anything in business, plan for success!

Have you got any tips for working from home? We’d love to hear them!

At GoForth Institute, we’re strong proponents of entrepreneurship education in developing countries. It’s a great way to help people create sustainable growth in their communities.

For this reason, we were excited to come across a blog post on Babson College’s site, talking about The US-Saudi Women’s Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, their partnership with The Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College, Dar Al Hekma College, and ICF International. In this one-year program, young women from Saudi Arabia were taught all the skills they need to become social entrepreneurs. They learned about social entrepreneurship, developing leadership skills and how to create business plans. They then launched their business ideas with the support of the program.

Watch the video on Babson College’s blog for more info on this great initiative to support women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia.

In GoForth Institute’s August newsletter, we examine the role of entrepreneurs in developing countries and what obstacles they must overcome. Entrepreneurs are vital to ensuring the sustainable success of their communities. However, in developing countries, they must contend with lack of access to funding, lack of small business education and lack of supportive infrastructure. But it’s not all doom and gloom! In our newsletter, we talk about how entrepreneurs in developing countries can make their particular environment work for their businesses rather than against.

We also highlight Peru’s Manchay Alto farming community:

Founded in 2004, the Foundation builds sustainable communities in developing countries through Life Resource Centres. According to the Foundation’s website, these centres “serve the communities by providing training and opportunities in economic infrastructure, health, education, and financial services in the region.”

One such Life Resource Centre is currently underway in the community of Manchay in Peru. Approximately 190,000 people live in this semi-rural community and 42% of them live in poverty. Over half of the homes in the Manchay community are built from wood and reed, with dirt floors. None of the homes have running water, sewage systems or electricity. The centre is training local farmers in entrepreneurship programs, helping them to diversify their product and improve lives in their communities.

Join us in the August newsletter and read about how the Manchay farmers are using small business skills to create sustainable, positive change in their communities!

When it comes to customer relationship management – or CRM – you need to be organized and on the ball. In this day and age, we turn to technology solutions more often to help us in our businesses. At GoForth Institute, we love technology, but can’t stress enough how important it is to plan first, implement technology second. And not just any technology – the right technology for your needs.

A few years ago, Computerworld published a great article about choosing the right CRM software for your small business. The article asked small business owners exactly why we use the CRM software we do – is it because your business has always used it? Did you get a discount from a salesperson? Is it the one your competitors use? Ask these questions about any other system or process your business has and you can see why they aren’t necessarily the best reasons for making a small business decision.

So – how do you choose the right CRM software for your small business? All software is not created equal. The article stresses the importance of finding CRM software that works for your business, not making your business work for your software. Take the time to understand what exactly your small business needs out of customer relationship management software. Do you need email newsletter dissemination? Does it need to be web-based? Are sales reports necessary? Once you’ve narrowed down your choices to one or two, take advantage of trial periods to test out your software. And we recommend walking away if there is no trial period available – investing in your business should always be done with as much information as possible.

The Computerworld article has a list of great questions to ask CRM software vendors – titled “Grilling Your CRM Vendor” (figuratively, not literally).  Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the article. These are valuable answers to have in choosing the right customer relationship management software for your business. Knowledge is power. Happy hunting!

This month’s topic might be more of an obvious reminder, but following this tip can save you plenty of time, stress and money in the long run. Keeping up with your paperwork, specifically your financial records and statements, on a monthly basis (or more often if you have a high volume of transactions) will provide plenty of perks including:

• A clear picture of your business’ financial health;
• Greater awareness of spending, which can help you control and lower operating expenses;
• Less time and worry when you have to file income tax and GST remittance;
• Being prepared for an audit, if ever the situation arises;
• Improving your odds of securing capital, such as a loan for growing your business, by being able to clearly outline your company’s past performance; and
• The ability to identify sales trends based time of year, marketing expenditures and so on.

Have we convinced you yet? We hope so. Understanding your business’ financial health can make you far more competitive and profitable.

What if I haven’t been keeping these records up to now?

Catching up can be a daunting task, so unless there’s a pressing need, it’s easier to break the job down into bite-sized pieces. Update your current month, along with the earliest month for which records have not been kept up. For example, if you started your business last January, then right around now you should do January’s records along with July’s. Next month, do February’s records along with August. This strategy will allow you to keep up with your current record keeping and catch up at the same time.

A note about business receipts

Keep your receipts and file them in an envelope labelled with the month in which they occurred. If the receipt isn’t obvious, or you’re worried about it fading (say perhaps when you leave it on the dash of your truck for two weeks, you crazy entrepreneur, you!), make a little note on the back about what it was for and what job you billed it to if that applies to your business.

If record-keeping becomes too much

Recognize when it’s time to bring on someone else. If record keeping is consistently put on the back burner so you can handle the immediate needs of your business, or if you struggle to understand how it works, find a bookkeeper. They need not be an employee. Independent contractors are a great way to manage jobs like this. Don’t feel bad about it – the key is that the job is done well and on time. No one is a specialist at everything, so play to your strengths and find someone who can help you counter your weaknesses. If you aren’t in a position to hire someone else, there are plenty of software programs that can help you out providing a layout, streamlining data and saving time for you.

Financial record keeping for your small business can be intimidating, but breaking it down into small pieces and staying up to date will save you time, money and stress. That’s something we all can benefit from!

Entrepreneurs know that starting a business is only one part of the equation. Sometimes you have to earn money too! Negotiations often go hand-in-hand with sales, but not all small business owners are natural-born negotiators. Here are seven of the commonly-accepted top negotiation skills for entrepreneurs:

Planning skills

Negotiating a sale means being prepared. Understand the needs and wants of the company you’re negotiating with. Know the deliverables you can produce and why they’re great. Prioritize. Decide on the lowest possible deal you’re willing to accept.

Ability to think clearly under stress

Negotiating can be tough and you may feel frustrated with the way things go, but don’t lose your temper or your patience! Being prepared before you enter negotiations will help you fortify your position and give you a wealth of knowledge, plans and alternatives you can use at a moment’s notice.

Organizational skills

How confident would you be in a potential business partner or supplier if they showed up to a meeting late? Or had their notes covered in layers of Post-Its? Or spent 10 minutes scouring their smartphones for an email you asked about? Like planning, strong organizational skills do more than just give you a strong foundation in negotiation – they make you look good!

Verbal ability

You don’t need to have a team of speechwriters on hand, but a certain amount of verbal ability is critical for small business negotiations. This means that you should be able to speak confidently about your business, your products or services and why you feel you will be a good fit with your potential client. You also must be prepared to answer questions relevant to the negotiation.

Product knowledge

Small business owners in sales negotiations need a clear understanding of their deliverables and the value these items will bring to the client. It’s important to show your confidence in the value you’re providing and have examples of your experience ready to refer to. Know your products like the back of your hand!

Personal integrity

Remember that, even if you don’t make this sale, your reputation is on the line. Product knowledge is critical, but so are your attitude and actions. Remember that you are also there to sell, so make your potential clients eager to do business with you, not suspicious or offended. Listen carefully to the client, be patient, and don’t forget to have a little fun!

Ability to perceive and exploit power

This last negotiation skill isn’t quite as cutthroat as it sounds. Basically, entrepreneurs who are good negotiators are able to strike that balance between getting what they want and giving away the farm. When negotiating, don’t give information away without getting something in return. Be sure to reciprocate with additional questions after providing a response. Use your instincts and intuition to suss out the situation in the room. Should you walk away, or do both parties have a chance at getting something out of the deal?

At GoForth Institute, we are firm believers in entrepreneurial education. So it will come as no surprise when we say: Negotiating is a learned skill. Practice makes perfect. Take every opportunity you can to learn about small business negotiation. If you know an entrepreneur who’s a great negotiator, ask for tips or – even better – ask to tag along!

At GoForth Institute, we love talking about family businesses. After all, about 80% of all firms in Canada are family-owned. Family-owned businesses are also responsible for 50 – 70% of Canada’s GDP annually. That just goes to show how viable family businesses are in today’s entrepreneurial climate!

When you think of family-run business, do you picture the stereotypical “Mom and Pop operation,” with kids working weekends and evenings? Yes, many of Canada’s family-run small businesses are like this. But we wanted to share the story of a more prominent Canadian family-run business. Take some inspiration from the Molson family.

Molson Canada, the oldest brewery in North America, is a family-run business

Even if you’re a teetotaler, you’re probably familiar with Molson. Did you know that Molson Canada is the nation’s second-oldest business?

This family-run business was founded in Montreal in 1786, by John Molson. This original Molson arrived in Montreal just four years earlier from England. He wasn’t the only British expat in town, either, and he knew that his countrymen would be thirsty for good beer.

Molson’s beer was a hit right away. His entrepreneurial vision allowed him to craft a beer that was appreciated by workers and the upper class alike. Soon enough, his customer base was growing faster than he could produce beer.

It also did not take long before Molson became, as many entrepreneurs are, stretched too thin with other business commitments. His three sons began to take on a larger role within the family business.

Today, members of the Molson family are still in charge of the business, though they have since diversified a bit so that non-family members can play key roles. It is this balance between “insiders” and “outsiders” that can help a family-run business move forward on a strong, healthy foundation. A drawback of family-run small businesses is the same as one of its perks: You get to work with your family. Giving yourself a little breathing room is always a good idea!

A family-run business that gives back to its community

The Molson family were not just known for their beer, however. Their entrepreneurial spirit shone through in other areas of the community as well. Among other things, the family was responsible for Montreal’s first library, the creation of what became the Bank of Montreal, the new Montreal General Hospital and was behind the creation of Canada’s first railway.

Lessons to be learned from the Molson family

Of course, we don’t expect your family-run small business to become the behemoth that Molson Canada is. We do think, though, that any family business can learn a thing or two from the Molsons. This family-run business found a niche in the marketplace, played an active role in the community and – most importantly – struck the right balance to stay together both as a family and as business partners.

In GoForth’s July newsletter, we focused on the inspiring stories of young entrepreneurs. So we were excited to see a tweet from Babson College today, linking to an article entitled “Why Young Entrepreneurs Fail.”

The title is a bit heavy-handed, but don’t be discouraged! At GoForth, we love people who are honest about the fact that entrepreneurship is challenging as well as rewarding. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

One of the biggest mistakes young entrepreneurs make is neglecting their revenue model. Today there are so many businesses that haven’t figured out how to monetize themselves yet. To me, the word monetize is redundant in business. If you don’t have a business model, you aren’t really in business–it’s just a hobby.

Here’s the full article on the challenges faced by young entrepreneurs. It’s a well-balanced look at young entrepreneurship and the things that must be kept in mind when starting a small business.

This month at GoForth Institute, we’re highlighting the passion, innovation and indomitable spirit of young entrepreneurs.

Famous businesses started by young entrepreneurs

Some of the world’s most famous companies weren’t created in a boardroom by a committee of seasoned professionals. Here are a few businesses that you probably know which were started by entrepreneurs under the age of 35:

• IKEA
• Facebook
• Apple Computer
• Google
• Mrs. Fields
• Motown Records

What great things can young entrepreneurs do?

Young people possess endless energy and great ideas. These qualities, coupled with their ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, make them natural leaders in tomorrow’s small business climate. According to the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, “Seventy-once percent of small business owners will retire within 10 years, with 41% retiring within the next five years.” Looks like tomorrow’s small business leaders are arriving just in time!

At GoForth Institute, we believe strongly in the importance of small business education and supporting entrepreneurs of all ages. Read our July newsletter for fascinating stories and facts about youth entrepreneurship – the future of small business in Canada is here!