Topics
Scaling Your Business
Books
Customer Centered Growth: Five Proven Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage
Customer Centered Growth reveals the secrets to company growth by putting the customer at the center of your efforts. Using dozens of case studies, the authors outline five strategies that a company can use to grow no matter what the business conidition.
Richard C. Whiteley, Diane Hessan.
Addison Wesley Longman.
321pp.
Paperback.
Cost: $11.05
Customer Connections: New Strategies for Growth
Customer Connections discusses information and knowledge management technologies to connect with customers in a new way. This new model promotes collaboration and playing the right role in supply and demand chain. This book is good for any businessperson.
Robert E. Wayland, Paul M. Cole.
Harvard Business School Press.
267pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $29.95
Entrepreneur's Notebook
This book offers a practical guide to starting a business and begins with advice on coming up with new business ideas and finding the right business for you. It also stresses the importance of finding a good business attorney, creating a business plan, and looking for investors.
Stephen K. Gold.
Learning Ventures Press.
232.
Paperback.
Cost: $15.95
Global Jumpstart: The Complete Resource for Expanding Small and Midsize Businesses
Global Jumpstart is a complete guide to launching a global strategy that will minimize risk, make the best use of your skills and resources, and capitalize on oppertunities. This book also includes a self-assessment tool for determining your company's global readiness.
Ruth Stanat, Christopher West.
Perseus Books Group.
198pp.
Paperback.
Cost: $23.95
Grow to Be Great: Breaking the Downsizing Cycle
Describes successful strategies to produce profitable growth in the tough business environment of the 1990s. Drawing upon their new study of more than 1,000 large companies, Gertz and Baptista argue that managers must move beyond the current wave of downsizing, restructuring, and reengineering. Using these case studies, the authors analyze successful high-growth firms such as Starbucks, Staples, USAA.
Dwight Gertz and Joao Baptista.
Free Press.
224pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $0.99
Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share: A Guide to Greater Profits in Highly Contested Markets
Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share discusses how companies are able to extract a profit potential of 1 to 3 percent of annual revenue by adopting a different approach. This book includes ways to identify new profit opportunities, base your marketing decisions on objective, thorough analysis rather than gut feeling, raise prices strategically, and much more.
Hermann Simon, Frank F. Bilstein, Frank Luby.
Harvard Business School Press.
232pp.
Hardcover.
Cost: $22.05
The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth
This review of the small business landscape argues that there are seven "rules" of growth for entrepreneurs and small businesses: 1) Establishing and maintaining a strong sense of purpose, 2) Understanding the marketplace, 3) Creating a growth plan that is realistic and specific, 4)Developing customer-driven processes with a focus on acquisition and retention, 5) Leveraging technology wherever possible, 6)Recruiting and retaining top performers, and 7) Monitoring trends to anticipate market changes.
Steven S. Little.
John Wiley & Sons.
236.
Paperback.
Cost: $18.95
The Do's and Taboos of International Trade--A Small Business Primer
Provides all the information you need to start, develop, and sustain a thriving export business. Has excellent chapters on business protocol, communication, shipping goods abroad, and negotiating with the Japanese.
Roger E. Axtell.
Wiley.
336pp.
Paperback.
Cost: $21.95
The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business
This book is billed as a "step-by-step blueprint for the first-time entrepreneur and includes advice and tips on identifying business opportunities and creating a new business, preparing a business plan, finding sources of funding, and entrepreneurial "do's and don'ts.
Stephen C. Harper.
McGraw-Hill.
254.
Paperback.
Cost: $14.95
Publications
Entrepreneur Magazine
Entrepreneur Magazine covers the whole range of issues that might be encountered by an entrepreneur or small business owner. A typical issue might include articles on networking, starting an e-business, financing your business, identifying insurance needs, hiring strategies, technology, and more. Its website also offers a variety of small business checklists to download.
Web: www.entrepreneur.com
Inc.
Inc. magazine bills itself as "the daily resource for entrepreneurs." It offers articles on marketing, financing, business growth, technology, business development, and frequent case studies of successful entrepreneurs. The Inc.com website also offers a variety of other downloadable resources.
Web: www.inc.com
Success Magazine
Success magazine is a business service magazine offering articles addressing the personal and business needs of small and medium-size business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs. It offers success stories, advice, and step-by-step guides to such things as online marketing, setting up a new office, and taking advantage of small business tax breaks.
Web: www.successmagazine.com
Web Sites
10 Steps To Grow Your Business
To run your business at its very best, use our step-by-step process to help you tweak, streamline and turbo-charge the performance and profitability of your business.
10 Ways to Grow Your Business
When you first started your business, you probably did a lot of research. You may have sought help from advisors; you may have gotten information from books, magazines and other readily available sources. You invested a lot-in terms of money, time and sweat equity-to get your business off the ground. So...now what?
8 Ways Online Videos Can Scale Your Business
Between 80 and 100 million Americans are watching online videos. Many of them are sharing the videos with coworkers, family and friends. They're making purchasing decisions and developing opinions about brands based on these videos.
If your company doesn't have great online videos, then you are missing out on profits. Don’t hesitate any longer.
Here are 8 great ways to leverage online videos for profit.
Aim To Win Market Share
Being an entrepreneur is a constant learning process. If you're smart, you learn from experts. Two of them, legal and business consultant Andrew Sherman and startup coach Mel Chasen, offer these tips.
Ask an Expert: Plan for growth, don't jump in too soon
In the life of any small business, there usually (and hopefully) comes a time when an opportunity arises that can allow you to take a quantum leap. Maybe it's a contract with a big company, or a great distribution deal, or a competitor goes out of business. Whatever the case, when it happens, we are all inclined to say yes and reap the rewards.
But know this: There are not always rewards for growing fast. There are pitfalls a plenty, and you better be aware of them if you want to avoid them.
Banking on Thanks
More and more, retailers are showing their appreciation for customers in an effort to keep them spending.
Brand Management: The Hilfiger Lessons
It has been quite a decade for Tommy Hilfiger. During the 90s, it seemed his brand could do no wrong. The business experienced meteoric growth and, by 2000, was generating $2bn in worldwide sales.
But then came the new century, and Hilfiger struggled to maintain the momentum. Tommy would learn some of the key lessons of brand management the hard way.
Breaking Through
How companies just like yours mushroomed into powerhouses in their industries. A conversation with Keith R. McFarland.
Closing Part of Your Business
When a setback forces you to cut back your operations, make sure you have a team of advisers to help you craft a plan to reorganize.
Don't Be Afraid to Delegate
It's a tautology, of course. If you insist on doing everything yourself, your business will never grow beyond what you can personally handle.
Eight Signs You're Not Ready For Outsourcing
Outsourcing some or all of your company's IT functions can jump-start your business, push it to the next level or just get your systems under control. But for outsourcing to work, you'll have to manage it carefully. Read the eight signs below before taking the plunge.
Enjoy your success. Now get back to work!
If you and your company have made it past the start-up stage, congratulations! You've poured a lot of time, resources, and lots of yourself into getting the company this far. But, here's a secret that is generally only know by entrepreneurs who have been in the game for years: it's only just begun.
Extreme Networking
A group of internet entrepreneurs take male bonding to a whole new level with their jet-fighter flights and dune-buggy races--and just maybe secure some new business in the process.
Franchising - A Safer Path for Entrepreneurs?
you were trying an aerial trapeze stunt for the first time, would you do it without a net and safety harness? Probably not because chances are very good that you would fall. The same holds true for business ownership. If you’ve never been your own boss, doing it alone could be difficult, scary, and full of the unknown.
Fuels of the Future
By focusing on corn-based ethanol and ignoring alternatives such as algae, Congress may make a mistake as big as one the Romans made two millennia ago.
How to boost your online presence
Got biz? Having a website's a big advantage - that's true. But it doesn't mean there's no way to do online profile-raising other than that. Do more with your site!
How to Cope With Overnight Success
What do you do when your product's a hit? These 10 steps will take you from being overwhelmed to being in control faster than you can say "I made it!"
How to Execute a Merger
We'll show you how to navigate this critical period in five key steps, and our video interview with M&A expert Steven Ramirez will explain how to avoid common merger mistakes.
How to Grow your Business During Tough Economic Times
The first action you must take is to create a marketing plan. You must get clear on who is your best customers, where to find them, what problems you solve and why they should buy from you. This does not require a long document but clarity in thinking.
How to Make Bigger Better
Managing your company's growing pains doesn't need to be a one-person job. Sometimes, the key to growth lies in combining forces
How to Use Text Messaging to Reach Customers
Businesses are always seeking innovative ways to communicate efficiently and effectively with customers in order to maintain good customer service and to increase sales. While postal mailing, phoning, and most recently emailing have been utilized as methods of communication from businesses to its customers, a new communication star is emerging, known commonly as "text messaging" and also known as short message system ("SMS").
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/332476_schreter21.html
Every startup entrepreneur is busy -- really busy. There are business plans to write, projections to prepare and products to design. In their earnest desire to get ahead, it's easy to overlook the very issues that can slow down any promising company.
Incubating Innovation
At some point, all companies realize that they need to grow faster to meet their shareholders' expectations and that their core businesses just aren't going to reach those goals. So, senior management begins to think of new ways to create growth outside the core organization. They may decide to set up an "incubator."
Marketing Your Home Based Biz
Even if it's the only thing you do to promote your home based business, e-mail marketing will get you repeat business and referrals without breaking the bank.
More Than One Way to Help a Business Grow
If you Google the phrase "grow or die," you get more than 11 million hits. So clearly there is something to the idea that if a business is not expanding it is withering away.
Here are some ideas that could keep your company thriving.
Oh, Grow Up
These 8 steps will take your business from awkward adolescent to full-grown adult.
Outsourcing to China
The benefits of outsourcing to China are clear; it can be both cost effective and efficient. However understanding the laws, navigating the bureaucracy, and negotiating the contracts can be tricky. Find out how to develop Guanxi and increase your odds for successful manufacturing in China.
Recognize the warning signs and build your business
It can happen to anyone in a leadership role. Entrepreneurs can fall into the trap. Small companies experiencing growth can get into trouble. A middle manager can make the same mistake. They all can ignore the warning signs that they need to hire help, delegate work, or add another layer of leadership.
Setting the Bar
A host of upscale new drinking establishments means business travelers no longer have to languish at dreary, dingy airport bars.
Seven Rules for Closing a Deal in China
If you're outsourcing to Chinese manufacturers for the first time, you're bound to make a few gaffes when dealing with a business culture so different from your own. Here are some rules of the road...
Strategic alliance is one way to grow a company
You want to grow your company, but don't have the resources to acquire another company.
Perhaps you've even considered a merger but aren't too keen on the idea of giving up your independence.
Looking for another option?
The Benefits of Outsourcing for Small Businesses
Outsourcing -- the practice of using outside firms to handle work normally performed within a company -- is a familiar concept to many entrepreneurs. But not many businesses thoroughly understand the benefits of outsourcing. It's true that outsourcing can save money, but that's not the only (or even the most important) reason to do it.
The Power of Partnering
Regardless of the size of your business or the industry you operate in, aligning your business with complimentary organizations that can help you expand your reach and even your set of offerings can be a highly effective way to succeed, especially if you are a small business with limited resources.
Business partners can serve a multitude of purposes in the course of a mutually beneficial relationship. Here are several examples.
Together We Innovate
When it comes to innovation, the myth of the lone genius dies hard. Most companies continue to assume that innovation comes from that individual genius, or, at best, small, sequestered teams that vanish from sight and then return with big ideas. But the truth is most innovations are created through networks -- groups of people working in concert.
Top tips for REAL joint venture relationships
Lots of marketers throw around the term "joint venture" when what they often mean is "you'll promote my stuff and I'll promote yours." While that's a good way to get more sales if you can partner with someone who has a good list of people who will be interested in your products and services, there are other ways to joint venture that will be much more profitable for you.
Virtual Assistants Help Entrepreneurs Grow Sales
I've heard it said "do what you love and delegate the rest."
For small business owners, one of the biggest challenges is wearing all the hats. We originally went into business because we had a passion and skill for a certain service or product. However, our skills may not include the operational, marketing or financial end of the business.
When Success Isn't Enough
Business is good, but it could be better. So get out of that rut and take it to the next level--here's how.
Whitepapers
Scaling Your Business
Your business has taken off. Sales are growing rapidly. You have begun to make money. It's clear that you could grow even faster if you could open new offices, expand marketing, improve distribution, enhance technology. This is when it really gets interesting.
