Some day-to-day work issues can turn into big headaches for small
businesses.  For example, not having enough help during a busy
season or new promotion can hurt production, sales and customer
relations in the fulfillment of orders and customer service.

A quick glance at the following stats reported by the US. Small
Business Administration, shows that small businesses are not
small potatoes in today’s economy. In fact, the number of small
businesses multiplied by the number of large problems equals the
need for a lot of solutions.

Small firms*:

 · Total approximately 23 million in the United States, with
   roughly 75 percent of the firms having no employees.

 · Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.

 · Employ half of all private sector employees.

 · Pay 44.3 percent of the total U.S. private payroll.

 · Generate 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually.

 · Create more than 50 percent of non-farm, private
   gross-domestic product (GDP).

 · Are employers of 39 percent of high tech workers (such as
   scientists, engineers, and computer workers).

 · Made up 97 percent of all identified exporters and produced 
   29 percent of the known export value in FY 2001.


How can small business handle big issues? OhioHelp.net, an
Ohio-based company that helps businesses worldwide with their
marketing, public relations and freelance writing services,
shared 12 tips based on their own client projects.

1. Need help? Find some great subcontractors & cyber-helpers.
Post for help on your favorite forums and freelance biding sites
like  Elance.

2. Need enhanced product / service lines? Offer larger pricing
packages or specials for larger businesses and clients who have
worked with you previously. And offer introductory pricing and
smaller packages to new clients and smaller businesses.

3. Have a guarantee? Forget worrying about “Guarantees” and offer
payment due AFTERWARDS with no-cost trials- -so clients can have
the product and make sure it meets their needs. (Only risk small
portions of the project at a time, though. But it works great for
everyone.)

4. Need more business? Keep marketing- offline, especially. Work
with associations in your industry.

5. Need help collecting? Keep ongoing collection efforts going
with a list and don’t be afraid to offer deals. Anyone can get
into a bind once in awhile. And helpful efforts are appreciated.
Offering multiple payment options help, too. Be able to accept
credit cards by fax or phone using a system like ProfitAuto
http://presssuccess.com/AutoPilot with pricing packages for all
levels of business.

6. Money flow problems? Pay helpers, media ad billings and
suppliers FIRST. Period. Also let clients know that you pay your
helpers promptly (like every Friday).

7. Are you keeping up with the competition? Keep educating
yourself and your helpers. For example,inexpensive company
subscriptions to an ebookwholesaler
http://presssuccess.com/wholesale
and the jvAlert Perpetual Learning Series
http://www.jvAlert.com/LearningSeries.aspx?id=1805 help to catch
up with the latest scoop about what works and what doesn’t work
from top-level marketers & industry leaders.

8. Do you have ongoing campaigns? Send a direct mail campaign one
month, then call them the next. Continue with a monthly or
bimonthly postcard newsletter with calls in between. Keep in
touch regularly.

9. Need to jumpstart new business, maybe B2B? Submit an executive
resume via ResumeRabbit and ResumeZapper, both listed here:
http://movingaheadcommunications.com/partners.html . In the
resume, include an active link to get the updated version 24/7.
More than a year later, local & non-local companies will still
seek you out with proposals.

10. Are you trying new product and service lines? Don’t be afraid
to test and try new things. Place small classified ads & really
listen to what the people want when they call in. Stay
competitive.

11. Are your goals too high? Don’t try jumping the gun on
increasing income too rapidly. If your income is very small to
start with, you may get away with doubling it from one month to
the next. But for higher figures, higher $$ can mean increased
expenses, work load, deadlines, workers coordinating,
communications, stress, technical issues, etc…Instead of a shaky
foundation, grow slow and learn to gradually handle more in a
professional, fun, growing environment. An average, solid growth
figure is much closer to 20% than it is 100%.

12. Are you keeping track? Keep progress logs similar to this
listing so that you have a history of issues you’re working on.
They say, “History repeats itself” so write out your positive
results.


* Sources: U.S. Bureau of the Census; Advocacy-funded research by
Joel Popkin and Company (Research Summary #211); U.S. Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey;
U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration.