Small Business Blog - Small Business Assistance - Small Business Frustrations

Who to turn to for advice with your small business

fortheinfo — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:42:32 -0500

Being a small business owner is sometimes lonely proposition. You're the person in charge of everything. From open to close, from income to expenses. Everyone looks to you for answers. Where do you turn for answers or advice?

There are many times you're going to find yourself in need of advice for a specific situation. The following are people you can turn to for help and counsel when needed:

Spouse: Even though you might want to keep your business separate from your personal life, it mixes. Your spouse is someone you can turn to for advice on your small business. Now, they might not know the ins and outs of your business, but they know you. They know how you've dealt with things in the past and they have different recollections than you.

How to get a client to say yes or no on a proposal

fortheinfo — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 16:54:52 -0400

One of the more frustrating aspects of running a small business is waiting for your clients to respond . How many small business owners have found themselves waiting for an answer from a client on a proposal? I am pretty sure everyone has felt the sting of unknowing. Depending on what business you are in, getting a yes or no is important to your small business.Â You may have resources lined up ready to tackle the project, but you'll lose them if the client hims and haws too long on your proposal.

There are a number of reasons that a client may sit on your proposal, but if they truly aren't interested in your services you need to know. Â

How to deal with with employee frustrations in small business

fortheinfo — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:58:50 -0400

We're coming to the conclusion of our articles on dealing with the frustrations of owning a small business. Today we're going to review the last frustration, employees.

Yes, you may depend on employees to make your small business run, but as the owner you provide the energy to make that happen. Sometimes frustrations crop up with employees, so it's important to know how to deal with them. Here are the top three frustrations with employees and how to deal with them.

Employees who complain: Do you have an employee that is constantly complaining about their position, job or duties? Do they make it worse by complain to customers? If this is a valuable employee you need to take care of this right now. The best thing to do is have a private meeting with the employee and explain your expectations. After that make sure they understand that their attitude reflects on the business. If this fails you have no other option that to terminate their employment.

How to conquer paperwork for your small business

fortheinfo — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 17:00:12 -0400

We're almost finished going through our list of small business frustration. Today we're going to deal with what seems to be one of the more common issues: paperwork. Just like the photo in our article, you may feel like your buried at times with paperwork. We have three tips to help you deal with the avalanche of paperwork. Remember, let us know how you deal with it.

Take it on: Many people put paperwork off until they "get around" to it. Since most everything else is going to seem urgent by comparison, make sure you take the time to tackle it during the week. You can save an hour or two to handle it on the weekend or you can deal with it on a daily basis. The idea is to get a handle on it before it becomes a huge pile.

Dealing with money frustrations in your small business

fortheinfo — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:50:01 -0400

If you're like most small business owners, you've started your business with your own cash. Usually that means you're boot strapping the thing with the cash you have, and not the cash you'd like. Still, once you get the company off the group there are a number of things you can do to help find the money you need.

The first thing you need to do is look at your planning. Are you doing a good job of planning for expenses? When people start a small business they understand the costs of doing their business from the materials and time standpoint, but many people forget the taxes and fees. Make sure you understand the taxes you're responsible for.

Using a to do list to help your small business

fortheinfo — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:35:40 -0400

Human nature doesn't lend itself to organization easily. We're not instinctually wired to keep things nice and orderly. We leave that to our friends the beavers . Seriously, a little organization can go a long way to helping you run a successful small business. More importantly, it can relieve you of one of the frustrations you feel.

A to do list doesn't have to be anything fancy. It can be a simple piece of paper, heck a scrap of paper, on which you write the most important things you have to do. Some people believe there are specific ways to create your to do list. An example of this is Getting Things Done commonly referred to as GTD. You may want to explore those programs, but for most people just writing down the most important things to do helps.