8 ways to make millions in businessbusiness.8x8.com/rs/8x8/images/bizlaunch_how_to_wp.pdf · 8 ways...

White PaPer8 Ways to Make Millions in Business

8 Ways to Make Millions in Business By Roger Pierce, BizLaunch Co-Founder

a Free how-to Guide for Small Business

In association with 8x8, Inc.

Contents

review & renew: always Cover the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Review your business annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Understand the “why” behind your results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Renew your business plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

tap into technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Know what technology can do for you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Know your technology options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Master your Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Take a look at your brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Current customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Prospecting for new customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

embrace Social Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Social media tools and how to use them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

always be Selling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Sales strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Sales tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Sales channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Manage your Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Cash flow counts! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Get the money in your bank account fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Improve profit margins by controlling expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Manage Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

S .M .A .R .T . Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Know your time management issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Tips to manage your time effectively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Learn from the Success of Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Traits of successful entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Do what successful entrepreneurs do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

about the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

about 8x8, inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

3


Review your business annually

Every year your accountant pulls together

your year-end numbers . You get to see:

•Your profit/loss position

•What products or services sold best

•When the sales were made

•The length of the sales cycle

•What sales were most profitable

This data is rich with information that can

help you review and renew your business .

Understand the “why” behind your results

When you see your financial results, take

a bit of time to understand the “why”

behind them .

Were the results due to:

•A one-time opportunity or challenge in

the marketplace?

•A new market trend for your business

to address?

•New competition or a change in the

competition’s business strategy?

•Technology changing people’s

purchasing methods?

• Internal issues that need correcting?

Renew your business plan

If you don’t yet have a business plan, you

should . Write a business plan to achieve

your vision . If you have one, you don’t have

to rewrite it, but review it and make the

changes required to ensure that you’re

prepared for the coming year .

The analysis you did of your results

from last year will help you do a SWOT

(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,

and Threats) analysis for the coming year .

Take an hour to consider the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats you

have for the next 12 months . With a solid

understanding of these, you can update

your plan .

Adjust your business plan where it is

affected by your SWOT analysis paying

particular attention to:

•Your vision

•Your brand and its position in the

marketplace

•Sales and marketing

•Financial projections

•Operations and lowering costs

Review & Renew: Always Cover the Basics

As a small business owner, you need to constantly work on sales,

marketing and customer service. You need to watch your financial

position and optimize operations. There are many demands on your

time yet it’s also important to pull yourself out of the daily details

and review the basics on a monthly and quarterly basis. On an annual

basis, you should take an even closer look at the big picture.

4


•VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

offers full telephone comunications

services over the internet and delivers a

significant cost savings over traditional

phone services . Plus you get more

advanced features like larger companies .

– Local number porting with VoIP lets

you have a local number and presence

anywhere .

– Voice mail-to-email lets you receive

voice mail messages via email

automatically .

•Virtual Meetings – employees and

customers can meet on the web .

– Use the conference bridge provided

by your VoIP service provider .

•Free software – Pixlr or Picnik for image

editing; Google docs, OpenOffice or

AbiWord for word processing; WordPress

and Bebo for blogs . There is free

software for just about anything .

Master your Marketing Simply put, marketing is building awareness

with customers and motivating them to buy .

Accomplish those two things and you’ll be a

master marketer .

Take a look at your brand

Start by thinking in terms of your ideal

customer . Does your brand still work for

them? Identify the values, quality, price

point and social position you want your

brand to represent . Your brand shouldn’t

change often but sometimes a small

tweak can make a big difference . Tweak if

necessary, then decide on your marketing

strategy and develop it into a marketing

plan .

Tap into TechnologyUsing technology effectively lowers the

cost of sales, marketing, operations and

more . You can save money in just about

every aspect of your business . Keep up with

the latest trends and you can even lower

the cost of your technology .

Know what technology can do for you

Looking at your business plan, consider how

your business will run in the next year and

how technology can help you:

•Streamline sales

• Lower your cost of marketing

• Improve communications

• Lower communications costs

• Lower transportation costs

• Improve office efficiencies

• Increase the value of your assets

•Provide insight into your operations and

customers

Know your technology options

•Cloud computing, by definition, is using

online services rather than buying

software for your computer(s) .

– Virtual Office Systems let you

coordinate documents like a larger

company .

– Basecamp is a web-based project

collaboration tool .

– Central Desktop lets staff and

customers collaborate, communicate

and share files .

– Time to Note tracks communications

with customers and suppliers .

– Remember The Milk reminds you of

important tasks via Twitter, SMS,

iPhone, etc .

– Ta-da Lists allows you to make lists

for yourself or to share with others .

› Know it

Making money and strategically saving money both improve your bottom line.

› Know it

Technology helps you coordinate and streamline your business for success.

5


•Free samples – let your product speak

for itself but ensure that it is only given

to high quality prospects .

•Advertising – magazines, newspapers,

and online advertising are expensive, so

target carefully .

•Referrals – getting new customers

through existing customers is the most

effective and efficient way to build your

business .

Embrace Social Media Like traditional marketing tools, social

media can be used to deliver information

to a targeted group . Unlike traditional

marketing tools, it has a farther reach and

encourages discussion . Traditional media

is one-way communication whereas social

media is two-way communication . It’s about

engagement .

When social media discussions take place,

the word spreads . If the word is good,

your business will benefit . If it is bad, your

business can suffer . It’s important to be part

of the conversation so that you can help

grow the good and address the bad .

Social media tools and how to use them

Facebook

Facebook is great for connecting with

consumers . You can have a Facebook page,

a Facebook Fan Page and a Facebook

Group . According to comScore, nearly ten

percent of users’ total online time is spent

on Facebook . If Facebook is where your

customers spend the majority of their time

on the Web, then that’s where you should

be investing your time and marketing

dollars as well .

Current customers

Keeping customers is less expensive than

finding new ones . You know who they

are, how to reach them and when they

buy . Don’t forget your existing customers

when developing your marketing plan .

Reach current customers via a newsletter

(electronic or hard copy) or your website and

provide them with value-added information

such as:

•Product and service updates

•Free offers or specials

• Industry news and events

•Reprints of valuable articles and recent

research

•Case studies that show new ways

customers are successfully using your

offering

Prospecting for new customers

Growing your business requires new

customers . Market to them efficiently with:

•Website – having a website is as

fundamental as having a phone . The

cost of hosting is negligible . Ensure that

the design reflects your brand and your

marketplace . Keep it up to date .

•Networking – it takes some time but

the financial cost is very low . Make sure

that you are networking with the right

people and go to the same groups often

so that you become known as stable

and reliable .

•Public relations – hire a publicist or

spend some of your own time on a few

highly-targeted media outlets .

•Trade shows – though expensive, they

can be very effective in reaching quality

prospects .

› Know it

Your brand tells customers to trust you. Handle it with care.

› Know it

Social media conversations about your business will happen. It’s important to be part of them.

6


Groupon

These services take word of mouth viral .

Companies put forward special offers that

will only be valid if a specified number of

people purchase the offer within a specified

period of time . This encourages those who

want to buy the offer to email their friends,

tweet it, like it, or digg it so that enough

people buy . Essentially, your customers are

marketing for you .

Always be SellingA business can’t survive without sales . It is

the lifeblood of every profitable business

and must be a priority in everything you do .

There are essentially four ways to improve

sales results . You can:

•Attract new customers

• Increase how much each customer

purchases

•Encourage customers to purchase from

you more frequently

•Keep your customers happy and loyal

Notice that three of the four ways to

increase sales focus on current customers .

Sales strategies

These sales strategies are useful for both

current and prospective customers .

•Customer service: keep in contact and

respond to customers’ needs promptly .

•Cross-sell: educate customers about

other products you offer .

•Up-sell: when the time is right,

encourage your customer to upgrade .

•Volume discounts: offer discounts

on bulk purchases or long-term

agreements .

Twitter

Twitter is good for connecting with

consumers and other businesses . You sign

up and follow people of interest to you to

see what they say . People follow you and,

if you tweet something interesting, they

will re-tweet what you said so that their

followers would then see it . They may then

follow you and your network and influence

grows . More and more people have the

chance to hear about you .

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is primarily for business-to-

business networking . You set up an account,

find people you know and ask to add them

to your network . Join groups and invite

people to connect . It all grows your network

and contacts for business purposes .

News Feeds

Give your customers the opportunity to

subscribe to your latest events, special

offers and more from your website . With a

news feed, they will receive this information

via email or on their desktop .

Blogs

Blogs can stand separately on the net

or can be part of your website . They are

informal opportunities to communicate your

message . Your readers can comment on

your information .

Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit...

These are social media bookmarking

sites . They are free places where you can

promote your web pages and blog posts .

As more people indicate that they like your

submissions, more people will see them .

› Know it

There are free places where you can promote your web pages.

› Know it

It is estimated that it costs up to five times more to find a new customer than to keep a current customer happy.

7


•Manufacturer’s sales rep

•Sales agent

•Wholesale

Manage your NumbersBusiness success all comes down to dollars

and cents . Work with your accountant and

bookkeeper throughout the year to stay

in tune with your financial picture . Monitor

your bank account carefully for any unusual

activity and know where you stand every

month when compared to the projections in

your business plan .

Cash flow counts!

A business can exist for a while without

being profitable, but it can’t exist at all

without cash flow . To be able to spend

the money necessary for success, you

need money coming in, whether it’s from

investors, loans or sales .

To improve your cash flow:

•Make more sales

•Collect on sales promptly

•Keep expenses down

•Control when you pay your expenses

•Know when your cash flow might be

down and plan for it

•Sell off under-used assets

Develop a cash flow forecast based on

anticipated sales and expenses to identify

and plan for any gaps in cash flow that

could endanger your company .

•Targeting: understand who your best

customers are and why they buy from

you; then target your sales efforts to

attract more of them .

•Referrals: ask for referrals from happy

customers .

•Networking: connect online and face-to-

face with quality prospects .

•Cross-promotions: collaborate with

suppliers that sell to similar markets to

expand your sales reach .

•Samples: offer samples to introduce

your product, then follow up and close

the deal .

•Special offers: develop special offers for

both new and existing customers .

Sales tactics

•Develop and maintain a quality

database .

•Schedule regular contact with

customers .

•Contact customers before they should

be ready to reorder .

•Stay top of mind with your customer

with added-value information .

Sales channels

The right sales channel for your company

will depend on your product/service and

your client . Are you selling to the end users?

Is it a consumer? Is it another business?

Here are the most common options:

•Online sales

•Telephone sales

•Retail store front

•Broker

•Distributor

› Know it

Keep in touch with customers and prospects by staying top of mind with valuable information in Newsletters and emails.

› Know it

Develop a cash flow forecast so you know when your cash flow might be down and plan for it.

8


•Think twice before you acquire an asset

to make sure that it will contribute to

your bottom line .

•Consider leasing over buying – it spreads

the cost of the expense over the life of

an asset’s use .

Manage YourselfAll small business owners struggle with too

many priorities and too little time . Be clear

on what you want from your business and

develop goals to get you there .

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Setting effective goals requires a bit of

thought . They should be written down

and they should be S .M .A .R .T .: specific,

measurable, attainable, relevant and time-

specific . To make them even smartER, they

should be evaluated and reviewed regularly .

Know your time management issues

Before developing the right time

management plan for you needs, it’s helpful

to identify your time management issues .

Do you have time management problems

due to:

•Difficulty making a decision or

constantly changing your mind?

•Avoiding certain tasks such as cold

calling or accounting?

•Spending too much time on personal

calls or chit-chatting rather than getting

to the point in a conversation?

•Unexpected meetings or people

dropping by your office?

•Underestimating the time a task

will take?

•Not delegating tasks?

•Being disorganized?

•Micro-managing employees?

Get the money in your bank account fast

Some small business owners find it difficult

to collect on accounts . Put those concerns

aside; it is an important part of running any

successful company . These tips will make it

easier .

•Accept credit cards . They may charge

a commission but getting the money

in sooner can be worth it . You might

also be able to build the cost of the

credit card commission into your price

structure .

•Offer a discount for those who pay

upfront in cash .

•Require a deposit before work on a job

has begun .

• Invoice promptly on completion of a sale .

•Require cash on delivery .

•Offer a discount if they pay on time .

•Check on a customer’s credit rating

before accepting the sale .

•Collect on overdue accounts promptly .

Improve profit margins by controlling expenses

•Compare prices and terms before making

a purchase .

•Negotiate for a 60 day payment term (if

possible) to slow cash going out .

•Be loyal to reliable suppliers, but if their

prices are out of line, ask them to bring

them in control .

• If you must pay up front, pay by credit

card to defer the payment by 30 days .

•Control and limit your employee

expense cards .

› Know it

Cash flow is like oxygen. It comes in, it goes out and you won’t survive long without it.

› Know it

Accepting credit cards can help you get your money sooner with less hassle.

9


•Vision – work in the present while aiming

for the future

•A positive outlook

•Confidence

•Passion

•Discipline

•Organizational skills

•Perseverance

Do what successful entrepreneurs do

Building a successful small business doesn’t

happen overnight . Entrepreneurs work hard .

•Network strategically because who you

know counts .

•Share your ambition with others .

Verbalizing makes it real and by sharing

it you’ll uncover opportunities .

•Know that you can’t do everything or

know everything, look for and accept

help .

•Be a student of success . Keep learning .

Take seminars, read business books, etc .

•Ensure that your financial foundation

is solid .

•Focus on cash flow almost as much as

profits .

•Accept only the best from yourself and

your suppliers .

•Know your customers and your

employees . Stay connected and support

those who count .

•Know your strengths and put your

energy into what you do well .

•Delegate your weaknesses .

•Schedule and plan carefully .

•Set reasonable goals .

•Surround yourself with supporters .

If you take the time to learn how you spend

your time, you will also learn how to use the

time you have more effectively .

Tips to manage your time effectively

•Develop practical, precise and

achievable “To Do” lists .

• Identify what is important and what is

urgent . Do the things that are both first,

and what is simply important second .

•On your “To Do” list, keep track of what

others have promised you as well as

what you have promised them .

•Develop “To Do” lists for departments as

well as yourself .

•Plan your week in advance .

• Invite people to meetings electronically

to avoid long discussions about

availability . Schedule as few meetings

as possible and keep them as short as

possible .

• Learn to say no and don’t make promises

you can’t keep .

•Delegate all tasks possible .

•Plan for time to catch up on items

undone .

•Turn off your phone and email to stay

focused .

Learn from the Success of OthersLearn from the success of those around

you . Be curious . Why is the restaurant

you’re eating at successful? What made

you choose that supplier? Break down

successful companies to learn what makes

them so – then apply what you can to your

own business .

Traits of successful entrepreneurs

Whether they come to you naturally or you

have to work at them, here are some traits

to cultivate for success:

› Know it

Success is a matter of how you rise to your challenges.

› Know it

You can only spend a dollar and use an hour once. Use both wisely.


NASDAQ: EGHT www.8x8.com

© 2010. The 8x8, Inc. logo is a registered trademark of 8x8, Inc. 8x8, Inc. is a publicly traded company.

About the AuthorRoger Pierce is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success . BizLaunch co-founders Andrew

Patricio and Roger Pierce came together in 2003 to begin sharing their “been there, done that” knowledge

and experience gleaned from launching 22 small businesses . They formed the company to pursue one simple

mission: To help new entrepreneurs succeed through education and training .

BizLaunch has advised over 20,000 new entrepreneurs worldwide, employs a growing number of head office

staff and works with over 40 regional BizLaunch Small Business Trainers located in cities across

the country .

About 8x8, Inc.In business, it pays to have connections you can rely on . At 8x8, we’re focused on delivering business communications solutions that are

outrageously affordable, amazingly easy to use and incredibly advanced . From business phone service to web conferencing, managed hosting

to unified communications, we’ve got innovative technology that just works better .

8x8 offers complete business phone systems that delivers affordable, feature-rich phone service right over your Internet connection . More

than 20,000 businesses have chosen 8x8 as their connection for better business communications . Find out more at www .8x8 .com .

http://www.8x8.com

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