Are You Harming Your Business?

There are two schools of thought that have been proving right when it comes to killing business or killing a sale. I wanted to share these tips for you, as a business owner, to help my audience understand what NOT to do when it comes to business. If you follow my advice, you will grow your profit margin. So- without further delay- here are the two things that will kill your business;


1. Thinking the customer is always right.

This will kill your margins. Reducing costs, giving away freebies, comping things.... all of these practices will put you out of business. The customer isn't always right. While you want to try and smooth things over with an annoyed client, you don't want to destroy your business in the duration. Think about how to resolve a problem with value added services, not discounts or freebies.

2. Toxic employees.

This should seem obvious but toxic employees can cost you customers and turn off great employees. Bad HR practices will hurt your company. Even poorly behaved contractors can ruin your company. Avoid this problem all together by looking beyond experience and more at attitude. Remember, external customer service starts with internal customer service.

Don't let these two things ruin your company or potential growth. Know that the customer isn't always right and that your employees' bad behavior will hurt your profit margin.

Until Tuesday,

Twyla N. Garrett

Working with the Enemy....

We’ve all heard of the movie ‘Sleeping with the Enemy’, right? Well, what if you have to work with the enemy. There is always going to be someone within the office (or your company) whom you dread working with. From personality differences to professional differences, no one gets along with everyone all of the time. However, you do have to overcome differences in order to keep your job or your business. Hey, if you're the boss, you still have to work alongside people you may not like. This is a part of life.

My best advice is to gently exploit your arch enemy if kindness fails. This doesn’t mean go after him or her or their job, it simply means make it noticeable, nicely, to your boss or other employees what this person is doing wrong. If it is a client, you're going to have to help him or her realize they are wrong. This can be touchy since they are the one signing your paycheck!

For example, if the person constantly forgets to put in a proper computer code- you may want to send out an email stating “I know Tasha keeps entering “z” into the “y” spaces. Don’t worry, I had some free time to go in and correct all these mistakes as I am sure Tasha didn’t realize the error and I wanted to be a team player.”

If someone truly is becoming a rival, it has to be addressed. Sometimes a face-to-face can make it worse so polite exploitation may be the right way to go. Use your best judgment but also play fair. Don’t look for trouble unless you are pushed.

Yes, we have to learn to get along with others but there are some times when we're going to have to speak up and take charge.....

Until Monday,
Twyla N. Garrett

1 Valuable Life Lesson for Business

Someone recently asked me if I had a valuable life lesson that translated to business growth. I do! I wanted to share it on the blog today to help many people understand why I brand my company, IME, as "the company that cares."

My mantra and life lesson is to take everything personally. I hate when people say, "it's not personal, it's business." You are your business as an entrepreneur, therefore everything is personal. If you don't treat everything you do in life and business with a personal investment, what good is it? It you are personally invested in something, you tend to take it more serious. Business means money. Business means your reputation. So, why wouldn't you take it serious?

The most valuable life lesson I have that can translate to business is not taking one specific business deal personally. I had viewed a deal as not "good enough" for my standards. It was just business, not an opportunity. So, I didn't take it personally. I missed out on a great opportunity because I treated the pitch as business. Had I treated it like a personal investment, I probably would have gave it more consideration and would be reaping those rewards today.

My point here is to take everything personally and act from the heart- even in business!

Until next time,

Twyla N. Garrett

Brilliant Investment Moves

I think one of the biggest reasons businesses fail is the inability to understand numbers. Many people have great ideas, but not everyone understands finances. This is why we have business owners and then we have serial entrepreneurs. Business owners tend to own one company and they tend to struggle for the first 10 years (if they make it that far) because the financial end has a learning curve. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, own many companies because they understand numbers and are more engaged with balance sheets than the products or services they are selling. neither option is great for both the development of a company and customer service, a balance has to be struck!

So, all this said, I figured I would offer a very basic lesson in investing. You need $100 to execute this practice, but it will teach you a valuable lesson. With your $100, buy one share of a stock market Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). I suggest you Open an account with TD Ameritrade. Opt into the commission-free ETF program. Buy one share of the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT). This means you are buying into a pool of companies (about 5,000) from around the world.

Now what? Wait. You can loose money, but you can gain money. The key is to focus on the numbers and understand how commerce truly works by using your own money. Worst case scenario is you lose $100 dollars. Best case scenario, you grow that same $100 dollars and learn the balance between owning a business and investing in a company.

Until tomorrow,

Twyla Garrett

5 Ways Business Owners Can Stay Sane in 2013.

January of 2013 came and is almost gone. The New Year means new tax laws and new company policies. It can be a chaotic time for business owners.

So, what are some ways business owners can keep their sanity? Below are my top five tips for staying sane and organized in 2013.

#1 - Get a large tub to hold your 2012 files. That's right. The most obvious way to clear the clutter and keep those past files organized and accessible is to put them all in one place. Seems simple, but completing this step will help put your mind at ease and help you gear up for the New Year!

#2 - Payroll tax returns for fourth quarter and the annual Form 940 are due by Jan. 31. W2s must be mailed by Jan. 31 in order to be in compliance. Check to make sure you have current addresses for each employee. Form W3 and copies of the W2s must be mailed to the government by Feb. 28. Avoid the stress and get this done as soon as possible.

Forms 1099 must also be mailed by Jan. 31, however, don’t mail the government copies until the Feb. 28 due date. This way, if one of your independent contractors reports an error to you, you can make the changes without having to send in corrected 1099s to the government. Verify your contractor’s mailing address before mailing, and check the rules pertaining to 1099s. The basic guidelines to follow are: The recipient is unincorporated (unless an attorney) and was paid more than $600 for services rendered during the calendar year.

Waiting until the date of these deadlines will cause you worry and take your focus away from other matters that could be more important to your business.

#3 Send a Thank-You to all of your clients from 2012. It seems pretty basic but you will be surprised how far a $5.00 personalized Thank You card will go. It shows clients that they are more than just a dollar sign and reminds them that your services / products are still available. It also allows you to revisit their file when writing the card, making sure lose ends that could result in an audit are handled.

#4 Review your errors. Hey, we all make them. Take a look at your biggest errors in 2012 and decide how you can offset them from happening again. If it is a new contract, new refund policy, new proofing policy - whatever... just learn from your mistakes and you will feel more organized and confident moving forward.

#5 Review how you process new orders / clients. Ask yourself if there is something stressful about this process. If so, make a plan how to lighten the stress load and streamline the new business.

Twyla