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Monday, September 27, 2010
Essential Business Networking Techniques
Improve your business networking techniques and grow your business by expanding your contacts and building relationships with other people. Here you will find lots of networking information, great tips, essential tools and key networking advice to help you get the most out of networking and generate new business.
It’s a fact – 70% on average of new business is gained through referrals or relationship marketing, and not only that it is one of the most cost-effective ways of building your business.
You may already have spent considerable time, effort and money on other marketing methods such as advertising or direct mailing with little or no return. Or perhaps you have tried cold-calling with little to show for your efforts leaving you feeling demoralized and no further forward.
It’s a fact – 70% on average of new business is gained through referrals or relationship marketing, and not only that it is one of the most cost-effective ways of building your business.
You may already have spent considerable time, effort and money on other marketing methods such as advertising or direct mailing with little or no return. Or perhaps you have tried cold-calling with little to show for your efforts leaving you feeling demoralized and no further forward.
Types of Business Organizations
Sole proprietors are unincorporated businesses. They are also called independent contractors, consultants, or freelancers. There are no forms you need to fill out to start this type of business. The only thing you need to do is report your business income and expenses on your Form 1040 Schedule C. This is the easiest form of business to set up, and the easiest to dissolve. (An LLC with only a single shareholder, a so-called single-member LLC, is taxed as a sole proprietor on a Schedule C.)
Corporations are incorporated businesses. Every form of business besides the sole proprietor is considered a separate entity, and this often provides a measure of legal and financial protection for the shareholders. The shareholders of corporations have limited liability protection, and corporations have full discretion over the amount of profits they can distribute or retain. Corporations are presumed to be for-profit entities, and as such they can have an unlimited number of years with losses. Corporations must have at least one shareholder.
Partnerships are unincorporated businesses. Like corporations, partnerships are separate entities from the shareholders. Unlike corporations, partnerships must have at lease one General Partner who assumes unlimited liability for the business. Partnerships must have at least two shareholders. Partnerships distribute all profits and losses to their shareholders without regard for any profits retained by the business for cash flow purposes. (LLCs are taxed as partnerships, unless they choose to be taxed as corporations.)
S-Corporations have features similar to a partnership. An S-corporation must have at least one shareholder, and cannot have more than 100 shareholders. If any shareholder provides services to the business, the S-Corp must pay that shareholder a reasonable salary. This salary is a separate payment from distributions of profits or losses.
Trusts are usually formed upon the death of an individual and are designed to provide continuity of the investments and business activities of the deceased individual. We will not discuss trusts further.
Nonprofits are corporations formed for a charitable, civic, or artistic purpose. Nonprofits are generally exempt from federal and state taxation on their income, and so they are often called "exempt organizations." Nonprofits have substantial responsibilities for reporting their activities, income, and assets to ensure that they are in compliance with federal and state laws governing charities. For additional information on starting, managing, and developing a not-for-profit organization, see the About.com Guide to Nonprofits.
Corporations are incorporated businesses. Every form of business besides the sole proprietor is considered a separate entity, and this often provides a measure of legal and financial protection for the shareholders. The shareholders of corporations have limited liability protection, and corporations have full discretion over the amount of profits they can distribute or retain. Corporations are presumed to be for-profit entities, and as such they can have an unlimited number of years with losses. Corporations must have at least one shareholder.
Partnerships are unincorporated businesses. Like corporations, partnerships are separate entities from the shareholders. Unlike corporations, partnerships must have at lease one General Partner who assumes unlimited liability for the business. Partnerships must have at least two shareholders. Partnerships distribute all profits and losses to their shareholders without regard for any profits retained by the business for cash flow purposes. (LLCs are taxed as partnerships, unless they choose to be taxed as corporations.)
S-Corporations have features similar to a partnership. An S-corporation must have at least one shareholder, and cannot have more than 100 shareholders. If any shareholder provides services to the business, the S-Corp must pay that shareholder a reasonable salary. This salary is a separate payment from distributions of profits or losses.
Trusts are usually formed upon the death of an individual and are designed to provide continuity of the investments and business activities of the deceased individual. We will not discuss trusts further.
Nonprofits are corporations formed for a charitable, civic, or artistic purpose. Nonprofits are generally exempt from federal and state taxation on their income, and so they are often called "exempt organizations." Nonprofits have substantial responsibilities for reporting their activities, income, and assets to ensure that they are in compliance with federal and state laws governing charities. For additional information on starting, managing, and developing a not-for-profit organization, see the About.com Guide to Nonprofits.
Choosing a Successor for who business
That's not unusual. Many business owners hit a point at which they just feel overwhelmed.
There can be a variety of reasons for wanting out.
Maybe you are too hands-on and hate to delegate, and the business is growing to the point where the workload is just killing you.
Maybe you are simply working way too hard for too little money.
On the other hand, maybe business is doing so well that you feel you finally have earned and deserve a break.
Whatever your reason for wanting a change, it's OK to feel good about your decision to get out.
Changing leadership every so often is a good thing for most businesses. New leaders bring in fresh perspective, fresh ideas and fresh energy.
So who should replace you? That's a tough decision. The best way to find your replacement is to list out potential candidates and evaluate each of them on attributes that are important to you.
Build a spreadsheet with these attributes in the rows and then create a column for each succession candidate. For each attribute (i.e. row), rank each succession candidate on a scale of one to five with five being high and one being low.
Here are some sample succession candidate evaluation criteria that you might consider using:
Do you trust them?
What's their relevant experience?
What's their level of commitment to the firm?
Do they have an effective management style?
How good are their communications skills?
Will they run the business profitably?
Do they show signs of creativity that might help to grow the business?
Are guts and ambition part of their makeup?
How well do their values align with your values?
What's their education?
How well-connected are they?
Once you've filled in your spreadsheet, add up the numbers for each candidate. The total for each candidate is your assessment of how capable he or she would be as a successor. The candidate with the most points may be the best person for the job.
There can be a variety of reasons for wanting out.
Maybe you are too hands-on and hate to delegate, and the business is growing to the point where the workload is just killing you.
Maybe you are simply working way too hard for too little money.
On the other hand, maybe business is doing so well that you feel you finally have earned and deserve a break.
Whatever your reason for wanting a change, it's OK to feel good about your decision to get out.
Changing leadership every so often is a good thing for most businesses. New leaders bring in fresh perspective, fresh ideas and fresh energy.
So who should replace you? That's a tough decision. The best way to find your replacement is to list out potential candidates and evaluate each of them on attributes that are important to you.
Build a spreadsheet with these attributes in the rows and then create a column for each succession candidate. For each attribute (i.e. row), rank each succession candidate on a scale of one to five with five being high and one being low.
Here are some sample succession candidate evaluation criteria that you might consider using:
Do you trust them?
What's their relevant experience?
What's their level of commitment to the firm?
Do they have an effective management style?
How good are their communications skills?
Will they run the business profitably?
Do they show signs of creativity that might help to grow the business?
Are guts and ambition part of their makeup?
How well do their values align with your values?
What's their education?
How well-connected are they?
Once you've filled in your spreadsheet, add up the numbers for each candidate. The total for each candidate is your assessment of how capable he or she would be as a successor. The candidate with the most points may be the best person for the job.
Achieve Entrepreneur Success with Optimism
There may be times when you question your ability to succeed and whether or not you're cut out to be an entrepreneur at all. One essential thing for you to do to achieve entrepreneur success is to remain optimistic. Achieving entrepreneur success with optimism is a technique and way of life for many thriving business people.
Celebrate The Good
One key point to achieving success with optimism is to make it a point to celebrate every good thing that happens in your business and in your life for that matter. Whether it be a day where you met your sales quota or one where all your customers were satisfied, this will help you to see that things aren't as bleak as they sometimes may seem. By celebrating the good, you get yourself in a frame of mind that positive things are possible and do happen. This will put you in a mode of expectancy. It's a proven fact that people tend to receive from the universe what they expect to receive. Celebrating the good helps to raise your level of expectations for good things to continue to happen.
Connect With Positive People
Align yourself with others who are optimistic. The old saying of "birds of a feather flock together" is true. If you want to have a more positive outlook on life, you need to surround yourself with others that have the same outlook. Stay away from individuals who believe they are the victims of what's happening to them as opposed to those who believe that they control their own destiny.
Get Advice From Successful People
You should never take advice from someone you wouldn't want to trade places with. Get advice from successful people who are experiencing prosperity in their businesses and personal lives. These type of people usually love sharing how they got to where they are and giving you tips on how to do the same.
Celebrate The Good
One key point to achieving success with optimism is to make it a point to celebrate every good thing that happens in your business and in your life for that matter. Whether it be a day where you met your sales quota or one where all your customers were satisfied, this will help you to see that things aren't as bleak as they sometimes may seem. By celebrating the good, you get yourself in a frame of mind that positive things are possible and do happen. This will put you in a mode of expectancy. It's a proven fact that people tend to receive from the universe what they expect to receive. Celebrating the good helps to raise your level of expectations for good things to continue to happen.
Connect With Positive People
Align yourself with others who are optimistic. The old saying of "birds of a feather flock together" is true. If you want to have a more positive outlook on life, you need to surround yourself with others that have the same outlook. Stay away from individuals who believe they are the victims of what's happening to them as opposed to those who believe that they control their own destiny.
Get Advice From Successful People
You should never take advice from someone you wouldn't want to trade places with. Get advice from successful people who are experiencing prosperity in their businesses and personal lives. These type of people usually love sharing how they got to where they are and giving you tips on how to do the same.
The Sport of Business
From coaching to team-building, it seems like the best way to run a business these days is to manage it like a sports franchise. But are sports metaphors really a helpful way to think about your small business?
Although the comparison between sports and small business has its limitations, there are certain aspects of owning a small business that are analogous to managing a sports team.
After all, small businesses and sports teams are both comprised of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. As your company's "head coach", it's your job to make sure the team is equipped to achieve that goal. Here's how to do it:
Create a Game Plan
Good coaches know the importance of going into the game with a game plan. The same is true for good business owners, only your game plan is your strategy for achieving your company's goals.
Like every game plan, your business strategy should describe each team member's role and team members should be encouraged to understand how each person fits into the overall scheme of the business.
Also, your strategy should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in the marketplace if and when they occur.
Recruit Quality Players
Winning teams consist of winning players. Your ability to achieve your goals in business will be limited by your ability to attract and hire quality employees.
In the same way that coaches scout and recruit talented players, you need to routinely seek out the best and the brightest for your company. Ironically, a good place to begin your search is the same place professional sports franchises go to recruit new talent - college campuses.
Often, small businesses can offer college graduates opportunities that can't be found in blue chip competitors.
Play to Win
Winning teams play to win. Likewise, winning businesses play to succeed - to achieve their strategic goals, and realize steady trends of growth and profit.
As the business' owner, it falls on your shoulders to set a winning tone for your employees. If you approach your goals with a "can-do" attitude, your employees will display a similar attitude and will go the extra mile for the sake of the team.
Focus on Fundamentals
When a coach tells his players to focus on fundamentals, he is reminding them to maintain proficiency in the bread-and-butter skills that are vital to the sport. Similarly, your company's fundamentals are your core proficiencies, the products and services your company is known for in the marketplace.
Although the comparison between sports and small business has its limitations, there are certain aspects of owning a small business that are analogous to managing a sports team.
After all, small businesses and sports teams are both comprised of individuals working together to achieve a common goal. As your company's "head coach", it's your job to make sure the team is equipped to achieve that goal. Here's how to do it:
Create a Game Plan
Good coaches know the importance of going into the game with a game plan. The same is true for good business owners, only your game plan is your strategy for achieving your company's goals.
Like every game plan, your business strategy should describe each team member's role and team members should be encouraged to understand how each person fits into the overall scheme of the business.
Also, your strategy should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in the marketplace if and when they occur.
Recruit Quality Players
Winning teams consist of winning players. Your ability to achieve your goals in business will be limited by your ability to attract and hire quality employees.
In the same way that coaches scout and recruit talented players, you need to routinely seek out the best and the brightest for your company. Ironically, a good place to begin your search is the same place professional sports franchises go to recruit new talent - college campuses.
Often, small businesses can offer college graduates opportunities that can't be found in blue chip competitors.
Play to Win
Winning teams play to win. Likewise, winning businesses play to succeed - to achieve their strategic goals, and realize steady trends of growth and profit.
As the business' owner, it falls on your shoulders to set a winning tone for your employees. If you approach your goals with a "can-do" attitude, your employees will display a similar attitude and will go the extra mile for the sake of the team.
Focus on Fundamentals
When a coach tells his players to focus on fundamentals, he is reminding them to maintain proficiency in the bread-and-butter skills that are vital to the sport. Similarly, your company's fundamentals are your core proficiencies, the products and services your company is known for in the marketplace.
Managing Team Dynamics in who business
To get started in business initially takes a lot of courage, mental toughness, perseverance, drive, ambition, a lot of which have nothing to do with other people. However to keep a business growing and thriving means you have to keep the people who are working in the company growing, thriving, and working well together, and that requires a whole new set of skills.
There are a few things you must make sure to do in order to have a company that is successful in working together:
Have relationships throughout the organization
One of the most important things you need to do as a leader of your organization is to build relationships with as many people as possible. Of course use the 80/20 rule for this as it is virtually impossible to have a great relationship with your entire team. Try and "invest" 80% of your time in 20% of the people who are producing 80% of the results, but make sure to "spend" time with everyone so they all feel valued. This helps to always keep you in the know and helps you to start to figure out the types of strengths you have in different parts of your team. You also get to know the truth of what is really going on when you go to the lower ranks of your team and build relationships. Sometimes the people directly under you can be misleading in their communication with you about what is going on beneath them. Having good relationships with the people below them will help reduce the risk of a cancer spreading before you catch it.
Edify the right example
Make sure you are consistent in your praise and recognition of others. Never praise someone just to praise them. There has to be a valid reason for edification of anyone in your team and that reason needs to be clear, communicated, and understood by everyone. Edification that is not justified will create disunity and the eventual breakdown in camaraderie. If you praise people who are not doing anything just so they can feel better about themselves you will frustrate the leaders and the producers in the organization. On the other hand if you only praise the leaders and producers you will demoralize the people who might not be producing as of yet.
Understand personality differences
Difference in personalities is a big reason why most people in teams do not get along. As a leader it is important you appreciate the differences in personality that the people in your team have. You can't treat every employee the same way. Each person is motivated by something different, connects differently, talks differently, etc. Just like every child is different even though they come from the same sets of parents, every employee is different even if they work for the same company. Most companies are less like well-oiled machines and more like dysfunctional families if you take a closer look. If you keep that in mind you will always have an environment where every type of person feels they have a voice and that will always facilitate growth.
Chukwuma Asala is an international student from Nigeria who is studying to earn an MBA from the State University of New York in Albany. He has analyzed more than 20 industry case studies throughout his education thus far, and hopes to bring some of his business knowledge to Gaebler.com.
There are a few things you must make sure to do in order to have a company that is successful in working together:
Have relationships throughout the organization
One of the most important things you need to do as a leader of your organization is to build relationships with as many people as possible. Of course use the 80/20 rule for this as it is virtually impossible to have a great relationship with your entire team. Try and "invest" 80% of your time in 20% of the people who are producing 80% of the results, but make sure to "spend" time with everyone so they all feel valued. This helps to always keep you in the know and helps you to start to figure out the types of strengths you have in different parts of your team. You also get to know the truth of what is really going on when you go to the lower ranks of your team and build relationships. Sometimes the people directly under you can be misleading in their communication with you about what is going on beneath them. Having good relationships with the people below them will help reduce the risk of a cancer spreading before you catch it.
Edify the right example
Make sure you are consistent in your praise and recognition of others. Never praise someone just to praise them. There has to be a valid reason for edification of anyone in your team and that reason needs to be clear, communicated, and understood by everyone. Edification that is not justified will create disunity and the eventual breakdown in camaraderie. If you praise people who are not doing anything just so they can feel better about themselves you will frustrate the leaders and the producers in the organization. On the other hand if you only praise the leaders and producers you will demoralize the people who might not be producing as of yet.
Understand personality differences
Difference in personalities is a big reason why most people in teams do not get along. As a leader it is important you appreciate the differences in personality that the people in your team have. You can't treat every employee the same way. Each person is motivated by something different, connects differently, talks differently, etc. Just like every child is different even though they come from the same sets of parents, every employee is different even if they work for the same company. Most companies are less like well-oiled machines and more like dysfunctional families if you take a closer look. If you keep that in mind you will always have an environment where every type of person feels they have a voice and that will always facilitate growth.
Chukwuma Asala is an international student from Nigeria who is studying to earn an MBA from the State University of New York in Albany. He has analyzed more than 20 industry case studies throughout his education thus far, and hopes to bring some of his business knowledge to Gaebler.com.
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