Northland SBDC & Show Low/Pinetop/Lakeside Chambers offer Small Business 911 Service

Northland Pioneer College SBDC and the Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside Chambers of Commerce are offering a program to provide assistance to local small businesses who are having problems with the current downturn in economic activity. We will provide help for local small businesses who find themselves in trouble, such as · Credit Issues - Inability to make payments on current debt, or inability to obtain credit for current needs; · Sales downturns - lower volumes than historical, leading to reduced operating funds and/or profitability (losses); · Inventory problems - too much of the wrong seasonal goods or slow moving inventory problems; · HR problems and/or staffing concerns.

We have a team of experts to help you "one-to-one" with your problem, to help analyze your situation and make recommendations. The team will visit you at your business and perform an audit of operations, including basic planning issues, personnel policies, operations, inventory control, sales and marketing, advertising and promotion, bookkeeping and financial, and credit and cash flow. The team will utilize functional "experts" to help put together recommendations that will lead to a plan of action to help you turn things around and get on the success track!

The first step is yours. Fill out an application and return to the Chamber to get things rolling. For more information and a copy of the application form go to the following web address: www.npcsbdc.com/call911.htm

Every business knows it costs more to acquire new customers than to retain existing ones. Yet many businesses spend lots of money on elaborate advertising campaigns while their profitable, longtime customers walk out the door to do business elsewhere. In this climate of economic uncertainty, it's more important than ever for business owners to hold on to the customers who helped them build their business in the first place.

Don't give them a reason to stray. Make customer service a priority by setting the example for your employees, who learn by seeing and doing what you do. Make suggestions and invite workers to come up with their own suggestions for how customers could be better served. Good customer service starts with the boss.

Reward loyalty. Every customer wants to know that his or her business is appreciated, especially when money doesn't go as far as it did even a year ago. Customers often go elsewhere simply because they feel ignored. Let your customers know you appreciate their business by saying thanks through words, letters and small rewards.

Act on complaints. For every customer who complains, another 26 have similar problems they haven't resolved, according to the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs. Think of complaints as market research you didn't have to pay for, and then respond by fixing the problem.

Provide incentives. Promotional campaigns that provide an incentive to existing customers for doing business with your company in the future can generate additional business you would otherwise have missed out on. A discount, gift or chance to win additional services will often cost you little at wholesale but can spur much more in revenue.

Tell customers about incentives or promotions. A promotion can backfire if customers can't take advantage of it. Customers who pay full price and later learn that they qualified for a substantial discount no one told them about might be angry enough to start shopping elsewhere. Be sure that promotional offers are communicated to customers.

Stand behind your product or service. Guarantees, whether written or oral, provide trust, and customers come back to businesses they can trust. Many customers are willing to pay more just knowing they have recourse if the product or workmanship should fail.

Make things simple. Make it easier to buy from you than from your competitor by offering convenience and simplicity. Something as simple as including a self-addressed envelope when documents must be returned tells your customers you care about making their lives less complicated.

Treat your best customers best. For most companies, the top 20 percent of customers contribute 80 percent of sales. Large companies responded to this long ago by introducing loyalty cards that rewarded their best customers with discounts. American Airlines began its frequent-flier program in 1981, and Starbucks is using a similar model in 2008. If you take care of the top 20 percent of your customers, 80 percent of your revenue should be secure.

Listen. Be aware of the needs of your customers even if they aren't expressed. Take time to watch their habits as well as listen to their concerns. This type of research often uncovers hidden opportunities that allow you to meet more of your customers' needs. Actively look for opportunities to provide more value to your customers, whether it's in the form of a more pleasant experience, greater cleanliness or friendlier service.

by Laurie Owen
Senior Vice President
Profit Mastery Group

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop in the normally chatty group of jewelry store owners. The presenter spoke quietly, even a bit nervously. His message, however, had everyone in the room mesmerized. The topic was employee theft, the venue a business performance group, and the speaker, a convicted embezzler and someone known to one of the members. Although his former employer was not a jeweler, the circumstances and the impact of his actions hit close to everyone one in the room.

Our speaker, whom I will call Ted, shared with the group how he managed to steal over $500,000 over the decade he was employed with a family-owned food supply company before he was caught and ultimately sent to prison.

He started as an hourly employee doing odd jobs, then graduated to warehouse worker, and eventually worked his way up to general manager. During the time he was employed, the company grew rapidly from a $5m to $15m company. He worked hard, often putting in over 80 hour weeks. As the owners trust in him grew, so did his responsibilities. The more time he put in, the less the owners did. His stealing started small, with a few supplies here and there out of the warehouse. As Ted rose up the management ladder, his opportunities and boldness grew. He graduated to creating fake invoices, which in turn, were paid by real company checks. He had a partner on the outside of the company who helped cash the checks. He was caught by chance, when one of the owners happened to review the accounts payable. One of his fake invoices happened to be on top of the pile. The owner did not recognize the vendor, and curiosity compelled to learn more. Things started to quickly unravel and eventually the magnitude of the embezzlement came to light. A conviction resulted in a jail term of over 4 years, two of which were actually served due to good behavior. He is now, he says, a reformed man, who has created an honest and ultimately much more satisfying life for himself.

Key pointsto prevent a similar occurence in your business:

· Trust no one; Verify and cross check everything
· Don't give any one person too much responsibility
· Treat your employees fairly - pay people what they are worth
· Stay involved in the business and with your employees
· Don't let anyone else sign checks for you. Don't use signature stamps
· Set a good example. If employees see you taking things (supplies, etc) out of the company, they'll think it's ok for them as well.
· In addition to criminal background checks on prospective employees, do credit checks. Get them to sign over permission to do so on their employment application.
· Institute a proper division of business functions between preparing checks, receiving payment, making bank deposits, signing checks, opening mail, and bank reconciliation.
· Have a good, computerized bookkeeping system and competent bookkeeper and outside CPA, who conducts periodic security audits.
· Know your costs and the benchmarks for your industry so you can spot things that are out of alignment.
· Educate all employees on the negative impact of theft. Solicit their support of and involvement in the prevention and detection of theft.
· Don't give employee advances. Get rid of employees who need them. If they are that close to the edge financially, chances are they will be tempted to steal.
· If you are a victim of embezzlement, by all means prosecute. But spend your resources on a good credit attorney who will be your best chance of finding where the money went - so you have a chance of getting back.

The next-best thing to free money is available through two federal programs for small businesses involved in technology and innovation.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) is the larger of the two programs, and it will provide about $2.5 billion this year in grants and contracts to small and start-up businesses to develop products, technology or services that solve pressing problems in agriculture, defense, education, energy, transportation, the environment, space exploration, health and other areas. Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) requires the small or start-up business to team with a nonprofit research entity, such as a university or federal laboratory, and generally involves a transfer of technology, know-how or expertise from that institution to the company's project.

Eleven federal agencies - including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, NASA and National Science Foundation - offer SBIR grants, and five offer STTR grants. Both programs provide money that doesn't have to be repaid, and the business doesn't have to surrender equity. But, as federal programs, the grants are subject to federal procurement regulations.

"They also are not 'free' in that you can't just take the money and do whatever you want; you have to do the work you promised," said Gail Greenwood of Greenwood Consulting Group. Greenwood and her husband, Jim, contract with Los Alamos National Security - the public-private entity that runs Los Alamos National Laboratory - to give workshops on these federal programs as part of the lab's commitment to support Northern New Mexico businesses through Northern New Mexico Connect.

SBIR and STTR are designed for high-risk, untested innovations, not for conventional enterprises, such as retail or service, or for technology companies with proven ideas, Gail Greenwood said. In Phase I of a project, recipients receive about $100,000 to conduct a technical feasibility study that shows how the innovation will solve a pressing problem. In Phase II, recipients may receive an additional $750,000 to expand and complete research and development. In Phase III, recipients must commercialize the results of the first two phases - and they have to do so without additional money from these programs.

"You are expected to move the project out of the lab and into the marketplace," Jim Greenwood said. "You might do this yourself, or you might license or sell the innovation to someone else who does, but (these programs are) about putting solutions to real problems into the hands of consumers, industry, soldiers, doctors, farmers, or whoever is appropriate." Businesses often find that SBIR or STTR backing helps them attract additional funding from venture capitalists and other investors who otherwise would be unwilling to invest in getting an untested idea to market, Gail Greenwood said.

For more information about these programs, visit the Small Business Administration Web site. To attend a workshop about these programs, contact Shandra Clow at Los Alamos National Laboratory.