Blair Stover

Small Business and Entrepreneurship

3 Types of People You Should Hire

Jan 15

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

There are certain mindsets found in people that every company should consider hiring. These are the types of people who have proven to successfully and consistently introduce new products and services. Furthermore, these are the sort of employees who tend to work well in teams and support co-workers. Additionally, creativity and industry changing ideas tend to be launched by this kind of employee.

Firstly, look for a challenging coach who can be a mentor. Hold out for the employee who will challenge co-workers when their best foot is not forward. Yet, also look for someone who will be willing to assist in the improvement. Your company needs that person who will see the potential in other workers when they feel they are out of ideas and get employees to believe in themselves. Having such a person on your team will encourage others to take the chances they may not have. This is a person who sees opportunity in failure and keeps the train moving.

Nextly, you will want to hold out for the entrepreneur. This type of person enjoys resolving tough challenges. This is where the best creations are born. Where some may perceive tribulations, the entrepreneur views opportunity. A person in this mindset feels power over the outcome of their choices. They feel in control of their destiny.

Finally, you will want to search for your opposite. Create a balance for your company. If your company is full of creativity, you will not fall short in the creative department, but you may be lacking in the ‘get-it-done’ type of employee. Without a balance, things may not get done. Find the employee who will keep you in balance.

Keep the diversity in your company. Hold out for the inspiring and the best so that your company can reach its potential.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Tips on Becoming a Better Negotiator

Dec 28

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

Negotiation is an art form that is a skill individuals can learn to use to their advantage in both home and work life, if they know where to begin and where they want to be. One of the best ways to turn a negotiation to your advantage is to be the first one to toss out an idea or a figure or what you’d like the ultimate outcome to be.

Studies show that the one who makes the first offer sets the anchor for the negotiations – the starting point – and then the compromise in the negotiations will begin. Once you’ve set the anchor for the negotiations, stand back and let the other party mull it over. This is your time to be quiet and in many cases because we have so much riding on the outcome, it is hard to simply sit back and wait.

Resist the urge to fill the silence with chatter while the other party is considering your offer. Once you do speak again, make certain your questions are open-ended. See if you can meet in the middle and come to a point that is agreeable for both of you.

Don’t ever begin a negotiation before you know exactly what you want. If you don’t know the ultimate outcome you’re looking to achieve it’s possible you’ll be talked into a different position or not achieve the goal you sought.

If you can avoid it, you don’t want to have to make concessions. If the person you’re negotiating with asks you to lower your prices or cut the services which you’re providing, you need to ask for something in return to make it appear you’re not giving in, but making a decision that is in your best interests. Negotiation is an art form that, with practice, you can excel at.

Tags: ,

Tips for Coaching Employees to Success

Nov 15

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

Successful, happy employees are more productive for their employers and that’s why employers should work with them to guide their employees toward success. Coaching employees means more than sitting down with them for an annual job review and going over a few items for improvement. Coaching an employee to success means taking steps all year long to help them be more successful and productive.
English: emperform

Image via Wikipedia

 

The first way to begin a coaching relationship is to have an open meeting with the employee and see if they are open to being coached and have a dialogue on what you can offer them and what they’re looking for. The coaching relationship should offer benefits for both of you. Bear in mind that coaching is build on a foundation of trust and respect and that it must be mutual.

 

Buy in to a coaching arrangement is crucial. If the employee simply isn’t interested enough in his or her career to want to be coached, you’re spinning your wheels in trying to work toward a coaching relationship. If coaching the employee toward better performance is crucial to his or her keeping his job, make that arrangement known up front.

 

Work with him on what performance issues are being addressed, how it will be addressed and what the ultimate outcome of the coaching will be. Set an agreed upon time for reviews of the coaching and performance metrics. If the two of you don’t have measurable outcomes you won’t know whether the relationship is working.

 

Feedback is crucial to the coaching relationship. Make certain the employee knows he is able to have an open discussion with you on how he feels the relationship is working out – it needs to be a two way working relationship in order to make it beneficial.
Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , ,

How to Attract Local Customers

Oct 21

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

If you’re a business owner with a storefront-type business you will want to do your best to attract customers to drop in and shop, right? If you understand your customers you will probably know how to lure them into your store. But if you find that your store front is empty, perhaps you can find a new way to draw in customers and make your business more attractive.

Online advertising with a vibrant website that offers sales or your social media platform on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, or even the Yellow Pages or newspaper advertising can reach a wide range of people. In order for your marketing to be effective you first need to know the demographics of your customers and the way they shop and look for business with whom to interact.

If your clientele is older, newspapers, television or radio advertising may be the best; for the younger generation, you will want to catch them where they live – online and in social media platforms. If your store is a “destination site” such as a coffee shop or gift shop or vehicle repair shop, consider using FourSquare or Facebook Places to reward customers for frequent visits. Also, consider offering a money-off coupon or a buy one get one, as an incentive to have them check in. To be a savvy business owner means you need to know where your customers “shop” before they set foot in your store.

Another way to interact with your clients is to collect names and addresses or email addresses and send them an e-newsletter. Also, consider sending postcards to your clients at times of the year they aren’t expecting one – Thanksgiving, Labor Day, etc.

To thrive in today’s economy, it is all about getting customers in the door, and once you get them there, keeping them there and making certain they are interested in the goods and services that you have to offer.

Tags: , ,

Downsizing Mistakes to Avoid

Sep 12

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

If you’re one of the many business owners that have had to face the hardship of letting employees go as a way to remain viable during the recent economic downturn, you know it is not an easy task to undertake. When it comes down to the task of downsizing, there are steps you can take to make it easier for everyone involved. The need to tighten belts, control your company’s expenses and remain viable may be inevitable and layoffs may be part of that new reality.

While there are reasons for downsizing that range from wanting to grow your business (which may mean cutting staff so you can direct company funds in another direction) to taking the company in a new direction, it is a difficult time for both employer and employee. We offer a few steps to take to make it a bit less traumatic for both parties.

Cutting entire departments or stopping production of particular lines of your operation may not be the way to go. Unless you are 100% certain you will never be reopening a division, you may want to consider halving the workforce. Put a realistic plan in place for downsizing and while it may seem easier to cut an entire department across the board, your business may suffer.

Don’t make unrealistic promises to your staff. You will certainly hope that the economy will turn around and that you will be able to rehire your staff but the fact is it may not happen. Growth and bouncing back from the recession could be a long process and you don’t want to give your employees false hope. Bottom line, you may find that when you downsize, your company may be better able to operate once you’ve shifted the work around to the remaining staff.

SAN DIEGO, CA - FEBRUARY 5: Job searchers in...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Keep your employees in the loop. Believe us, your employees are talking around the water cooler and they see the writing on the wall. Quell gossip and offer your employees the truth and let them voice their fears. Again, don’t offer false hope but then that doesn’t mean you have to be all doom and gloom – be straightforward and honest.

Layoffs are not easy, but you need to handle them with care and hand your employees their “pink slip” face-to-face. Too many business owners have been known to offer their employees a lay off notice via email. This is not the time for hands-off communication. Remember, your remaining employees want to know that you care even though you are unable to keep them on board. Also, if you’re letting your employees go make certain the cost cuts aren’t being used in other areas of the company. If you lay off employees and then upper management goes on an all expense paid Hawaiian work retreat, it is not sending a good message.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , ,

Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Partnerships

Aug 17

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

The island of Manhattan, from which the term i...

Image via Wikipedia

Creating a business is an exhilarating venture that might also be overpowering. Some of the pressures that come along with starting a business could be alleviated by sharing the business with a partner.

Sharing accountability with a business partner may provide a little relief. Part of the work load and management can be taken on by a partner. Moreover, start-up costs or initial investment are shared, along with business expenses and risks. On the other hand, as expenses are shared, profits are too. In a partnership, partners are jointly, as well as individually liable for the other’s decisions, business actions and debts. With a

minimum of two partners, equity could sooner be seen over debt. A written partnership agreement is advised and should be signed by all partners.

Partnerships are simple to form and searching for a partner with harmonizing skills can be to the advantage of the business. In the midst of two minds instead of one, ideas are better and more scrupulously thought through. Nevertheless, unification with a partner additionally means business decisions are mutual. Beginning a new business could be emotional and for this reason some friendships do not outlive a partnership.

Different types of partnerships exist, for example Limited Partnerships, General Partnerships, and Limited Liability Partnerships. Equal rights to the business and responsibilities are given when two or more partners join in sharing General Partnerships. Limited Partnerships involve a partner which invests in the business although does not take part in management decisions of the business. This type of partner obtains a pre-determined quantity of the profit. A Limited Liability Partnership, otherwise known as an LLP, is an association where partners each take an active part in daily business decisions. A Limited Liability Partnership limits the total to which each partner may be held liable, presenting the partners some type of protection.

Various options exist when considering the kind of business partner one might want to take on. Items to think over are the sum of liability one is willing to risk, the initial investment or start-up available and the amount of management activity anticipated by each partner. Moreover, it is of consequence to partner with a person compatible to oneself.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tags: , , , , , ,

How to Interview Long Distance Job Candidates

Jul 22

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

Interviewing job candidates, in general, can be difficult. As Monster.com states in their own article on interviewing candidates, there are several points you want to gauge for in a potential new employee, including self-awareness, and desire for the position. Doing this in any format other than a personal interview has challenges. Long distance interviewing is not new, but has in fact been around as long as there have been telephones. Video interviewing is rather new, and actually not very common even given the universal usage of computers. In any case, telephone and video interviewing techniques require a different skill set on the part of the employer. There are three main things to keep in mind when conducting such an interview.

One, do your homework. Just because this encounter is not in person does not release you from your obligation to prepare carefully. Have your questions ready for the interviewee, and if at all possible do a rehearsal with someone before actually “meeting” the candidate on the telephone or onscreen. Question and answer repartee is different when you are not in the same room with the other person. For one thing, you might not be able to notice facial expressions or pick up those low-frequency voice tones, which carry important meaning. Work on the timing of your questions, making sure to allow the candidate to answer fully before moving to the next item.

Two, be familiar with any technical hardware that you will be using, such as video phones, chat software, or voice relay systems. These might be bundled with your computer’s software, but if you have never used them, then you should definitely spend time getting to know your way around the technical side of things.

Finally, remember that you are conducting a job interview, even though you might be sitting in your den or near the pool. Try to keep it formal, to some extent at least. This will convey a sense of professionalism which will emanate from your voice and attitude. When interviewees do not have your physical gestures to rely on, they often look to other cues, like tone of voice or word choice.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Social Media Recruiting Tools for Small Businesses

Jun 16

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

If you’re an entrepreneur or a recruiter for a large company, it is not always easy to find the most talented, qualified applicants for the job you’re looking to fill. Now with social media being so prevalent, a hiring manager can leverage social media as a way to recruit potential employees.

Between Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, there are close to 550 million users and many of those users are looking for work. As a business owner looking to hire new talent, these numbers offer a large talent pool from which to choose, but with that many individuals on these social networking sites, it can be overwhelming to know how to narrow the prospects. We offer you these tips:

LinkedIn should be your first stop for professional talent as this is a networking site that boasts a more professional atmosphere and is also where job seekers – and those looking to fill positions – typically congregate. Keep in mind that LinkedIn also represents close to 200 industries and 200 countries, making the talent pool even larger. As a LinkedIn user you can “advertise” for talent or you can look through your contacts and the connections of others to find likely candidates.

While Facebook remains the largest social networking site, boasting 400 million users, this is a site that connects individuals in a more social way as opposed to the professional contact building done on LinkedIn. That is not to say you can’t find a full talent pool on Facebook, but you might have to search a bit more and depending on the privacy settings individuals are employing, good potential candidates might not get found.

Twitter can be used to connect a business owner with a potential audience of job candidates as well. You can certainly post on Twitter that you are looking to fill a position. Highlight the position within your tweet with a hash tag, for example, #hiring a #graphic designer as a way to get found.

In all of these examples you can post free “ads” in which you seek potential candidates or you can upgrade the accounts to purchase paid advertisements or ads on your personal page. Posting status updates on your company’s personal pages is a way to let potential candidates know you are hiring. Chances are, your company is likely being followed by “someone who knows someone” and thus the connection begin. Many hiring managers are having great luck in finding potential candidates and filling positions through the use of social networking — all of which are low to no cost ways to fill company vacancies — and that is great for the bottom line.

Tags: , , , , ,

Managing Extroverts as an Introvert

May 24

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

There he is again, the employee in the break room holding court, seemingly sharing all his ideas about how to improve service. Let him talk.

He’s an extrovert and you will know him because he needs to talk everything out. By doing so he resolves issues, discovers new solutions and generally enjoys himself being the center of attention. As an introverted manager, how do you relate to him?

The job of the introverted manager is to put extroverts in positions where they can help the company and shine in their jobs without distracting others. Since their method of operation is to talk everything out, typical jobs for them tend to revolve around sales and marketing where they can use their personal communication skills to benefit of themselves and the company.

Introverts, by comparison, enjoy thinking through situations without too much conversation, which can lead to misunderstandings with extroverted employees who need words to confirm their thoughts and ideas.

Therefore, extroverts may think something is wrong with their performance if an introverted manager doesn’t immediately communicate what he or she is thinking. That’s why it is important for introverted managers to tell extroverted subordinates that they are thinking about the situation and will communicate when necessary. This tells the extrovert in “words” that everything is okay.

Even though introverted managers may not feel the need to converse about the job as often as extroverts, they should schedule one-on-one appointments to talk with extroverts. This tells them that the manager cares about them and wants their input. It also gives the extrovert time to ask questions that pertain to relevant business.

The meeting should be professional, focused and friendly so that the extrovert can be the center of attention and yet be restrained in the amount of topics covered. This enables the manager can say what he or she has to say without being distracted from his points.

An introverted manager, if he or she is not careful, can attempt to dampen the enthusiasm of their extroverted employees simply because they are different. So it’s important to allow them to shine in group meetings and give them the space to network to find solutions to problems.

In most companies, there is room for those who those who think out loud and for those that don’t. In fact, most companies need both types of people in order to serve the varied needs of their customers.

Tags: , , , , ,

Advantages of Working From Home

Apr 18

Posted by Blair Stover in Business | No Comments

There are a number of reasons why working at home is a good thing. Here’s a summary of those benefits:

First, you relieve yourself of the burden of commuting. This means you won’t waste time traveling, getting up early in the morning to catch the bus, or spend half a day finding a good parking space.

Keep in mind that the average commuting time to work is about 30 to 45 minutes. Sometimes this can take 90 minutes in heavy traffic. Multiply that number by two to get back home and you’ll discover that you have spent about 10 percent of your day just to get to the office. If you work at home, you save time, can sleep longer in the morning, and can attend to other activities in the evening.

Since you do away with commuting if you work at home, you save money on transportation. You save on parking fees, gas, vehicle maintenance, bus and subway fees, and insurance expenses to name a few. In fact, you may not even need a car at all. In effect, you save $300 to $400 monthly. Simply not taking the bus or subway will slash $50 to $100 per month from your transportation allowance alone. You also make the world a better place since you don’t contribute to pollution.

Another benefit of working at home is you save money on lunches and shopping. Food expenses can eat up a big chunk of your budget when you’re working in the office. Since it’s not always feasible to bring a packed lunch everyday, your next recourse is to eat out and that’s when you start to lose money.

To make matters worse, after eating outside, you look around and visit stores and boutiques during breaks. This means you’re more likely to spend money on impulse buying – something that won’t happen if you’re working from home.

Finally, working from home protects you from getting sick easily. If you go outside or stay in the office, you’re exposed to the elements and can easily catch a cold or the latest virus that’s affecting your co-employees. Because of sickness, you can lose about seven to 10 days a year. If you stay home, you’re less likely to get sick and can save money on doctor’s bills and medication.

Tags: , ,