2-1-2 Small Business Sense

Information is power and as a business person you need it, all you can get. When flying aircraft in the military, they often take their aircraft to 110%, past the normal operating limits of the aircraft, they call this going to military power, and if you are in a jam, you need all you can get. If you have ever driven a fast car or fast motorcycle, you might liken this to going into redline, squeezing that extra umph out of the engine.

In business sometimes you must pull out all the stops as well, especially in times of crisis or uncertainty. This is one reason why you should have the very best reference books on your personal business bookshelf. Now then, let me recommend a few books that you might like to think about. These are reference books on my shelf:

1. “Small Business Management & Entrepreneurship” by Curtis Tate, James Cox, Frank Hoy, Vida Scarpello and W. Woodrow Stewart – 1992. There are 35 additional authors of the books case studies. The case studies are very serious in their analysis.

2. “The Handbook of Business Problem Solving” by Kenneth J. Albert, editor in chief – 1980. There are about 60 authors of this book. This book covers nearly every single aspect of Corporate Business problem solving.

3. “The SOHO Desk Reference – A Practical A to Z Guide for the Entrepreneur” by Peter H. Engel, editor 1997. There are four main editors, 7 main writers, 7 researchers and 5 advisors who put together this (SOHO) small office – home office desk reference book.

If you have these books in your library along with let’s say “The Portable MBA” reference book, I seriously doubt if you will ever have a problem finding an answer to the questions that you seek, whether you are an executive or middle manager of a corporation, a business student, a small business person or a perpetual entrepreneur.

By: Lance Winslow

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A number of questions are asked by clients either before purchasing or after downloading the accounting software. Many of these questions and the answers are the same the most typical of which are produced here.

Why is the monthly profit and loss account not updating from the sales and purchases entered.

Updating the profit and loss account in the financial accounts file is automated. If the financial accounts file is not updating automatically the links from the sales accounting spreadsheet and or the purchase accounting spreadsheet are not working. This may be because the file names have been changed which breaks the links between the files.

The most common reason is the way the files were originally saved when initially downloaded from the website by opening the files first before saving them. When a file is opened first before saving the computer stores that file in a temporary internet folder and changes the links to temporary links within that temporary folder.

When that file is then saved it is those temporary links which are being saved and not the original links. Those temporary links would not be recognised by the other files which form the link structure. The solution is to delete the files and save the files again direct to your accounts folder without opening them first thereby preserving the original links.

Accounting entries on sales and purchases appear on the profit and loss account but do not appear on the list of expenses on the self employed tax return.

The self employed tax return required to be completed in the UK is dependent upon the sales turnover. Small business with total sales income exceeding 64,000 pounds for the financial year ending 5 April 2008 are required to complete the full self employed tax return while businesses with a turnover under 64,000 pounds may complete the short version of the self employed tax return.. Coincidentally the threshold is the same as the vat threshold.

In addition if the sales income is less than 30,000 pounds then it is not necessary to complete all the individual expense classifications. The excel formulae within the financial accounts file automatically fill in the short or full tax return and only fill in the detailed expense classifications if required to do so.

Does the package produce my quarterly vat returns when a vat flat rate scheme is being operated.

The user guide contains notes on how to enter the value added tax flat rate percentage on the sales bookkeeping spreadsheet. The bookkeeping single entry of the flat rate vat percentage on the sales sheet updates throughout the package including the subsequent months on the sales sheet and also each month on the purchases bookkeeping spreadsheet automatically calculating value added tax at the flat rate percentage and expenses value added tax paid on purchases at the zero vat rate producing a quarterly vat return.

Does the self employed accounting software package produce a balance sheet.

Producing a balance sheet is optional for self employed small business and not an essential requirement of completing the self employed tax return. The self employed package is based upon single entry bookkeeping and does not produce a balance sheet which requires double entry bookkeeping while the limited company package does produce a balance sheet as it is a legal requirement for a limited liability company.

As the self employed accounting software includes sales and purchase spreadsheets and also cash and bank spreadsheets it is possible to manually produce a balance sheet if required but the accounting software does not produce it automatically.

Do I purchase a new software package each financial year or can the accounting software be updated for more than one year accounts.

As the accounting software and payroll packages include the current financial year tax rules that enable the financial packages to automate the production of that years tax returns then each year has new tax rules embedded and being on excel rather than an accounting database then it is necessary to purchase a new accounting or payroll package each year.

By: Terry Cartwright

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How examples of good Customer Service lead to exceptional service

The number one rule to remember in running a successful business is to develop a culture of providing exceptional customer service or you will over time struggle in a competitive market. The best process to find out how service is to learn can be provided is to learn from both your own experiences and other peoples examples.

Earning a reputation for excellence

To help your business obtain a reputation for providing excellent customer service there are a number of essential trade secrets that need to be followed. One scheme many businesses use these days is to arrange brain storming sessions during staff meetings and training programmes to discuss the type of service delivered by other successful companies. By discussing examples with staff it helps your own organization to deliver quality superior customer service. Also by recognizing the positive contribution staff make for the business morale and team spirit is boosted. This can be done through bonus or incentive payment schemes or introducing for example a ’salesman of the month’ award.

The following are some questions that may identify whether your business is providing just basic or excellent examples of good customer service.

Background knowledge. Is the employee trained to know the core business and can effectively supply the customer’s with what they require?

Image. Is the employee friendly and project a good image and manner to the customer?

Difficult customers. Does the employee deal with difficult customers with courtesy and respect?

Helpfulness. Is the employee helpful and ensures customer requirements are met?

Going the extra mile. Does the employee regularly exceed standards by going the extra mile to provide outstanding customer service?

8 Examples of Good Customer Service

Friendly staff
Ensure employees who are hired to deal with customers on a daily basis especially at first point-of-contact or in reception areas have a friendly, positive and helpful personality. Employees should have a good knowledge of the business. Engaging employees who already have customer service credentials is an advantage as it indicates they already have the skills and a commitment to customer service.

Appreciating employees
A happy employee will feel valued and provide customers with good service. A salary that offers staff discounts and other incentives will appeal to employees and indicates the company cares about them. Providing opportunities for staff development through training programmes encourages and motivates staff.

Modern technology
Customers can become annoyed and frustrated when put on hold and left waiting by automated phone systems. The overuse of this type of technology can sometimes be counter productive and cause losses to the business bottom line.

Customer issues
Complaints need to be dealt with swiftly. By delaying dealing with customer issues can lead to your business losing a valued customer. By sorting problems out can unlock the door to sales and help your business gain an edge over the competition..

Improving service
Always treat your customers with respect and courtesy. When dealing with issues find out as much as you can about the problem as it could help you to refine and improve existing services.

Thanking the customer
Always thank your customers for dealing with your business. Most customers’ appreciate being valued and will remember the helpful service your business provided that will result in customer loyalty and repeat business.

Going the extra mile
Some customer’s may be in a hurry so ensure they are dealt with promptly as it could be the difference between selling and not selling a product. Consumers appreciate businesses going the extra mile by taking care of their needs and can result in repeat business.

Customer feedback
Look at canvassing your customer’s through online satisfaction surveys to determine whether your existing services are working. By asking customer’s for feedback about your business you will be able to measure and improve your internal systems and services.

By: Brandon Walker

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Caffeinated Content

So you have taken the plunge, and embarked on the painful, yet rewarding journey of starting you own business. With so many books on small business management, and advisors offering help, what do you do? As always the answer is never straightforward, but here is my humble contribution, to these vexing small business management questions.

Managing a business, is an exceedingly difficult exercise, as all small business people, only discover, after having established the business. For the most part, business management is a balancing act.

Allow me to expound on this balancing act. If a plumber quits his normal job, to go into self-employment he will be an expert in his chosen field, and remain confident that the money will roll in. Later on, he runs into cash flow problems, customers shortages etc. He then comes to the sobering realization, that business is not the bed of roses he thought it would be.

A small business owner concentrates at what he is good at, i.e. computer services, building, carpentry etc. But any business, no matter, how big or small needs an admin department, and an operations/production department. No matter how good you are at what you do, if you lack certain skills and competencies in administration, you business will constitute part of the 75 to 80% small business failure stats.

You might create a workshop for you product and services, but do you have a proper administration department? Businesses collapse due to a lack of proper administration.
Here the balancing act comes in. Divide time equally between your administration and operations duties, as a small business owner.

Many new business owners cannot grasp the fact that an inadequate administration department leads to eventual business failure. This compels me to provide numerous examples to my clients.
Here are some to ponder on:

Tags: Humble Contribution, Management Questions, Proper Administration