Photo (CC) by Dana, on Flckr

Is your business a family business?

When most people hear that phrase they think in terms of some formal and regular involvement of family members in defined business activities with some payment for such activity.

Yet in the broadest sense, family businesses cover a much broader involvement of family members. The work might include the regular activities of the business or it may be an occasional job or it simply may mean help in planning and development. Taken to its extreme, the involvement may simply mean being there too help cover an emergency.

Also in a family business, payment for such work is not required.

Finally, the “family” connection is not fully defined. It may be blood-relative or an adopted child. It also may be an in-law, someone connected by marriage. Given our wide use of those considered family, there are many others who may be involved in the family business.

As a manager, it’s important to consider this as you operate the business. Your first step should be to determine who is working for your business who considers themselves “family.” Family members often have different ideas of their rights and responsibilities as well as their expected level of compensation. And certainly, they may have ideas about progression “up the ladder” as jobs become available.

Being aware of this can help navigate some of management decisions that will need to be made. Family relations are complex. Business relations are complex. Now mix the two together and you have great opportunities for unhappiness and dissension.

Avoiding, or at least minimizing, these potential negative aspects begins with understanding where everyone is coming from. Open communication is also important as is talking about certain sticky points before they become a problem.

Don’t assume that a one-time conversation, even if everyone seems in agreement, is the end, however. Keep revisiting and checking to see if feelings and desires have changed.

Family businesses can be a great place to work. Your proactive efforts as a manager can make them stay that way long into the future.

Photo (CC 2.0) by USDA, on Flickr

How do your customers feel about the opportunity to access your company online?

This may be to find information, search for products or services, make a purchase, ask a question, discuss a problem, find more information, get store hours, or determine where you are located.

Have you ever thought about this question? Or perhaps you don’t have an online presence so you don’t feel there is a need to ask your customer?

This should be a key question as you work to understand your customer. Just recently a report was issued that suggested the buyers of 70 to 80 percent of purchases at some point used an online resource in the search and purchasing process. And with the rapid growth of mobile devices, this trend will just expand.

My interest in this topic came to the forefront when I tried to contact a local store of a major chain to ask why they no longer carried a favorite product.  Yes, I could have talked to someone in the store but never got the right person (but that’s another issue). When online though, I found that all questions were directed to the corporate headquarters. I suspected my question was now entering a black hole. (It’s been a week and I haven’t heard anything.)

So I did my own market research. I asked a dozen friends/colleagues (most lived in other places in the US) about their online experience over 2015. This is what I heard:

• Everyone had tried to locate or contact a local company using an online service or went online to look at products and services available. On average, they did this weekly or even daily.
• Based on their recall, 50 percent of the stores responded to a comment or question in 1-2 days. Only about 10% responded in 8 hours or less (Sometimes they got an automatic response saying that someone would bet back to them. Generally the feeling was that really didn’t count as a response). About 25% of the companies took more than a week or never responded.
• Some of the time, a first and second message were returned fairly quickly but if it was a more complicated issue response time grew as the conversation continued.
• Several comments were made about the difficulty in finding where to even make contact. A couple even mentioned that not only was their no online contact information provided but neither was a phone number and, in a couple of cases, there wasn’t even an address.
• Not all of the business map locations were correct. Several small business owners had not claimed their business (Don’t know what that is – Search for “Claim your business”).
• I didn’t ask but a couple of comments were made about websites that were not mobile-friendly.  This made it difficult to find the information they wanted or to even fill in a form for more information.

While the overall feeling was that things were getting better, the people I talked with said they also have lowered their expectations over time.

My little study has no scientific rigor. It’s not necessarily valid or reliable. However it begins to tell a story.  

You can do the same thing when talking with your customers. Ask them if they have ever tried to connect with your store online. If you don’t have an online presence, ask if they have ever posted a review about your business in a third-party online review site. Ask them about their experience contacting other stores. These are simple questions. They don’t take a lot of time to ask or answer but they may tell you a story about your business.

Think about the answers I received. What’s the story about your business? Is a response in 8 hours acceptable? What if I am simply asking what your store hours are?  I probably am looking to head out now to buy something so you don’t even make my list of places to go.

Today’s customer is online to compare, shop, buy, resolve an issue, find store hours, etc. They are doing this while 100 miles away, down the block, and even standing in your aisle.

Are you meeting your customers’ online expectations? 

Photo (CC) by BruceBer, on Flickr

Why should I read this article? My hope is that it will help your bottom line.

A marketing message, just like a news story, must answer several questions, including who, what, when, where, how and why.

While all the parts are needed, only one element connects with the consumer and gets a person to take action. That part is the “why.”

Although the why question can have many forms, two of the ways it often is expressed are crucial if you, the business owner, are to get a person to buy what you have for sell. The first form is: “Why should I spend my money on product X?”

To answer that question, you need to make a convincing argument of how your item solves a problem the customer has. If the customer has not recognized he or she has a problem, then your marketing job got much harder. In that case, generating action may take several messages.

If customers have recognized the need, you still are faced with helping them understand what they will gain in terms of their individual motivators. This differs for every person, but think quality of life, safety, time with family, time saved or dollars saved. The list is not exhaustive, but these give you a sense of our basic motivators.

The second form of the why question just adds a couple of words: “Why should I spend my money on buying product X from you?” The customer thinks, “You may convince me I need the product, but now you must convince me that your business is the best source.”

A typical response to this question is to offer the best price. But price only works for a short time because someone always will come along with a better price. Instead, here is where the tools of relationship building, trust and service come into play.

Research continually finds that most consumers are not as price-driven as you might imagine. While price cannot be ignored, the total package – the brand, the service and the price – is what gives the customer the greatest satisfaction.

The why question can take other forms, and you cannot ignore the who, what, when, where and how. But focusing on these two forms of why will create a great base to your marketing message.

So does your marketing message answer the why?

Photo (CC) by BruceBer, on Flickr

Business owners work hard to achieve success. Yet when they achieve that goal, sometimes they are not ready for the consequences.

Owners often are focused on being able to overcome all sorts of hurdles as they open and run their business. It rarely occurs to them that they also need to do some planning for success. Success can bring challenges just like struggling along can. Sometimes the challenges can be even more unsettling. It shouldn’t be like this is a thought many owners express.

Being prepared for success may mean many things. Probably the first thing the owner must prepare for is being able to handle expanded orders and a growing client base. How will you fill new orders? Do you have or can you get the materials or goods you need? Do you have plans for expanding your workforce? Have you been getting your procedures and policies in order?

I have seen several small businesses get a big order only to see them practically lose their business in the process of filling it. All of their effort was spent trying to get things up and running, and when the big order came, they had no idea how to handle it.

The owner also must remember to keep his or her celebrations in moderation. You certainly should enjoy the moment of such achievements, but understand that true business success is long term in nature and work remains. Stay motivated and don’t let this slow your efforts in building and maintaining your brand and reputation.

Staying focused on the present also is important for small-business owners. Achieving a big order or some other measure of success is great, but understand that much, maybe even all, of the effort in making that happen comes from work done earlier. Focusing on the win actually is focusing on earlier work. As the owner, you need to be looking at today and tomorrow and working toward continued forward progress.

Probably the last reminder for business owners is to use this time to rethink their goals. Make sure that these goals will continue to challenge you. Keeping a challenge in front of you is what helps maintain your passion and drive.

Business owners are told to prepare to mitigate risk and plan for the bumps in the road. Rarely is advice offered on spending some time knowing how you will handle hitting the home run.

Think about what success can mean and develop a framework for managing your business when it arrives. Your goal is to make this achievement a regular thing.