Small Business Secrets

Introduction

• Welcome

1. Finding Your Most Valuable Customers

• Discovering your most valuable customers
• Increasing business with MVCs

2. Setting Fees and Prices

• Setting prices for services and products
• Knowing when to raise or lower prices

3. Solving Problems

• Identifying areas for improvement
• Solving problems with the SAM Cycle

4. Working with Family and Friends

• Establishing guidelines with family and friends
• Managing family and friends

5. Creating a Business Plan

• Exploring the elements of a simple plan
• Reviewing and using a single-page business plan

6. Starting a Hobby Business

• Considering the leap from passion to business
• Making the transition to full-time business owner

7. Discovering Your Most Valuable Service or Product

• Finding your most valuable service or product
• Dropping your least valuable service or product

8. Bootstrapping Your Business

• Launching a business with little or no money
• Operating on a shoestring budget

9. Creating Culture

• Determining your company vision
• Building company values

10. Getting Organized

• Managing your time
• Tracking expenses and receipts

11. Marketing with Social Media

• Deciding on your channels
• Crafting a multi-platform message

12. Business Entities and Compensation

• Business Entities and Compensation
• Determining your pay as owner

13. Small Business Accounting

• Understanding small business accounting
• Reading a financial report (P&L and Balance Sheet)

14. Finding Your Marketing Message

• Refining your message
• Testing and tracking performance

15. Documenting Business Systems

• Leveraging documentation to increase efficiency
• Creating single-page documentation

16. Balancing Work and Life

• Focusing both at home and at work
• Rewarding yourself along the way

17. Increasing Sales in Your Business

• Understanding the role of sales in small business success
• Developing your sales system

18. Testing Whether You Have an Idea or a Business

• Separating ideas from viable business opportunities
• Testing your business concept

19. Hiring Service Providers

• Finding the right tasks to outsource
• Selecting and hiring vendors

20. Hiring Employees

• Crafting a job and pay range
• Interviewing candidates

21. Motivating Employees

• Discovering what truly motivates people
• Developing people and paths

22. Seeking Capital

• Crafting your pitch
• Finding funding opportunities

23. Working With Difficult Customers

• Working through complaints
• Helping customers who aren't right for your business

24. Letting Employees Go

• Determining when to part ways
• Making a smooth transition

25. Generating New Sales Leads

• Generating sales leads offline
• Generating sales leads online

26. Maintaining Focus as a Business Owner

• Staying productive each day
• Avoiding opportunity traps

27. Thinking Like An Entrepreneur

• Adopting an attitude of abundance
• Getting rich your own way

28. Dealing with Competition in Business

• Viewing your competitors productively
• Making the most of business competition

29. Avoiding Blind Spots

• Using the entrepreneur's mirror
• Getting guidance outside of your business

30. Creating a Customer Experience

• Seeing your business through your customer's eyes
• Using the five senses to create an experience

31. Networking for Small Business

• Understanding the power of networking
• Making the most of networking opportunities

32. Building Accountability into your Small Business Culture

• Understanding the basics of accountability in small business
• Correcting employees when needed

33. Dealing with Business Failures

• Embracing the challenge of entrepreneurship
• Moving past business failures

34. Improving Sales Systems

• Working with scripts to improve sales
• Utilizing best practices to close more deals

35. Giving Back

• Understanding why charitable causes are critical for business
• Determining which cause is right for your business

36. Setting Goals for Small Business

• Simplifying the goal-setting process
• Measuring your success

37. Channeling Your Motivation

• Why you deserve success
• Maintaining confidence as a business owner

38. Building a Small Business Exit Strategy

• The importance of an exit strategy
• Exit strategy options

39. Building Customer Loyalty

• The role of customer loyalty
• Building a customer loyalty strategy

40. Building Employee Loyalty

• Understanding the role of employee loyalty
• Building an Employee Loyalty Strategy

41. Structuring a Small Business

• Building a basic organization chart
• Avoiding common small-business-structure mistakes

42. Branding Your Small Business

• Crafting your company story
• Getting publicity with the authority ladder

43. Dispelling Big-Business Illusions

• Filtering the big-business perspective
• Competing with big businesses

44. Understanding if Entrepreneurship Is Right for You

• Avoiding common pitfalls of entrepreneurship
• Assessing your entrepreneurial readiness

45. Managing Remote Employees

• Understanding the costs and benefits of a remote workforce
• Leading from a distance

46. Crowdfunding Your Business

• Understanding crowdfunding
• Using best crowdfunding practices

47. Cultivating Entrepreneurial Curiosity

• Asking yourself powerful questions
• Enlisting employees and customers in innovation

48. Growing into a Mature Business

• Considering future leadership needs
• Putting it all together