Blog
Business Plans and Strategies”
Domain Name Jail
I’ve been having a fun couple of weeks wrestling with domains. It is really important that your domain name is similar to the name of your business. It’s so important that I advise my business plan clients to search for and register all “dot” com and “dot” ca domains that are a close match for their business type, and geographical location, in addition to the business name. Domain names cost about $10 a year, so protecting your business from “cyber-squatters” can be cheap insurance.
I follow my own advice in this area, so I have a lot of different domain names. I bought a “set” of domain names a year ago, all related to a business venture that I was working on. With all of the geographic variations, I had about 50 domains related to the new business. Like most things, you can often get a discount if you buy in bulk; and I got a screaming good deal from a different registrar than my usual one. Unfortunately, in business, cheap is not a very good adjective.
The domains were coming up for renewal, so I wanted to transfer them from the cheap registrar to my usual domain service. I started the process on July 23 and it is now a week later and I still have not yet succeeded in the move.
Step 1 – Send the domain list to my preferred supplier, asking them to initiate the transfer.
Discover that I had requested “Private” registration when I originally registered the domains.
Step 2 – Have to set up an account with the “Private” registration service.
Step 3 – “Bulk” unprivatize the domains.
Step 4 – Ask my preferred supplier to try again.
Discover that I have to unlock each of the domains before they can be transferred.
Step 5 – Unlock each of the 50 domains, one at a time.
Step 6 – Ask my preferred supplier to try again.
Discover that I cannot transfer “private” domains
Step 7 – Unprivatize each individual domain.
Step 8 – Ask my preferred supplier to try again.
Discover that all of the domains are still (again) locked.
Step 9 – Call the “discount” supplier and am told that they have a software problem and will notify me when it is fixed.
Receive notification that the software problem has been fixed.
Step 10 – repeat Step 5
Step 11 – repeat Step 7
Step 12 – repeat Step 8
Now I am waiting for it all to happen…..
Moral of the story: In business, don’t be cheap. You’ll get what you pay for.
August 6th, 2011 by barry
What is a Business Plan?
According to Wikipedia, a business plan is a formal statement of a set of goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals.
That’s not a bad definition of a business plan. Probably the first question you should ask yourself is “Do I need a Business Plan?” Here’s a quick business plan quiz that will give you a quick answer.
If you need a business plan because you want to borrow money for your business, or you want to attract equity investors, or you want to get a government grant, then your business plan is a marketing document. Obviously, a business plan designed to attract government grants will have a different slant than a business plan that needs to appeal to a banker.
If the intent of the plan is to obtain financing for your business, then the business plan’s primary purpose is to convince the reader to invest money in your business. What is going to compel them to invest their money in your business? It’s the joint themes of convincing and compelling that makes your business plan a marketing document.
May 12th, 2011 by adminThe Pow of Wow!
Sorry about the title 
It started off as “The Power of Wow“, but creative license battled better English and got control of my typing fingers.
This morning, I co-facilitated a sales and customer service training session in Vancouver that the Better Business Bureau put on for its accredited members. My co-facilitator was caught in traffic (code for “late”), so I started the session by telling the small business owners that I was presently reading a few business books. One of the books was
“Pow! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise” by Andy Nulman
so I asked the audience, when they had last surprised a customer.
I explained that customers expect you to do a great job and provide first class customer service at a reasonable price. Doing all of that gets you a passing grade…say a C. So, how do you get an A or A+ ? I used the example of a limo driver, who always gives female passengers a rose after each trip. It’s that extra “Wow, I didn’t expect that” that gets customers talking about you and spreading the word on their social network.
After some discussion, we came up with some marketing tips that almost any small business could use to generate some excitement from their customers.
Partner with a compatible business to give customers something extra.
A bathroom installer gave his customers a 50% off coupon for a local spa. (His price – minimal)
An exterminator company partnered with a cleaning service. They each referred the other and gave the customers a good discount.
A roofing company gave their re-roofed customers a landscaping cleanup. If the landscaper got a regular contract from the homeowner, there was no cost to the roofer.
Have the boss follow up by phone the day after the customer has received the product or service to find out if they rated an A+ and if not, what they had to do to make the experience an A+ experience.
Randomly, give a gift to 10% of the smaller customers, who you would not normally treat.
Marketing, like customer service is the gift that keeps on giving.
April 12th, 2011 by barryDo You Want More Revenues?
RFPs?
“Who needs them?”
“They are complicated and way too much work.”
“I don’t have the time to reply to them.”
If this sounds like you, then you really need to keep reading.
Do you bring in $1,000 per hour in sales for your business? Would you like to land a really big customer? Someone who writes cheques for over $100,000 without worrying about it? Would you like more business from a company that always pays its bills?
You owe it to yourself and to your small business to check into RFPS. The Federal, Provincial and municipal governments issue RFPs totalling billions of dollars each year. Not interested in doing work for any layer of government? How about doing work for or selling goods or equipment to your electric or water utility? Still too big? Would you want to do business with your local school or hospital?
Maybe you’re more interested in working with sporting events, like the FIFA World Women’s Cup, Canada Games, Provincial Summer games?
As you’ve probably guessed, all of these “businesses” use RFPs to get the goods and services they need. If you’re thinking that “RFPs always go to the lowest bidder”, you are wrong! In most of the thousands of RFPs that I’ve reviewed, the price is usually a fairly small component of the evaluation process, Generally, most government agencies want to know that you are an expert in your field and that you can do the job without causing any problems,
That’s why you got into business, wasn’t it? To do the job right, the first time, at a fair price. So, use RFPs to get business. We would be pleased to help you as we have helped other small businesses gain sales and profits from RFPs.
March 10th, 2011 by barryUsing Twitter For Profit
On Tuesday, I gave a seminar on “How to Increase Your Profits” to about 120 members of the Professional Golfers’ Association of BC. These are the people who help to run the “golf” business. They operate the golf courses, pro shops, golf teaching schools, driving ranges etc. Like all small businesses, they were very interested in discovering more ways to help their businesses make more money.
I was talking about the value of of using Social Media as part of their marketing mix and I asked how many of the audience used Twitter. About 10% of the people raised their hands…mainly younger audience members. I was asked if I had a Twitter account and said “Yes.” Then I was asked the name of my account and I replied “@bestbizplans”. I carried on with the seminar and thought no more about it. The next day, I discovered that over 50% of the audience with Twitter accounts had decided to follow me….That’s powerful.
The reason I asked about Twitter accounts was because golfers are an ageing demographic and most businesses need a constant inflow of customers. As a golfer, one of my biggest frustrations is that I can’t often get good tee-times. A tee-time is a highly perishable commodity. A 3:00 pm time is worth precisely zero at 3:15. At 3:00 it may be worth $60 – $100 and they are usually sold in groups of 4, so an unsold tee-time is worth $240 – $400 plus all of the add-ons. Virtually all of this lost revenue is lost profit, due to the very low variable costs. So an unsold tee-time costs the golf course between $200 and $500 in profits.
Twitter is an ideal medium for selling perishable commodities, like tee-times, restaurant table reservations, theatre tickets, seats at sporting events, concerts etc. If I got a tweet at 11:00 am from a golf course that I like to play, and it told me that they had a 2:00 pm tee-time available, I might phone a few friends and grab it…especially if it was a sunny day and I wasn’t committed that afternoon.
The probability is that I wouldn’t phone to reserve that particular time, but if the golf club had a few hundred followers, it’s almost certain that they would sell that previously unsold time. And they would get full price. WoW! the power of instant, free messaging to a receptive audience.
March 3rd, 2011 by barry