Increasing Profit & Value

A Lesson from Steve Jobs

bizprofitpro — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:30:40 +0000

Six years ago, Jobs had talked about how a sense of his mortality was a major driver behind that vision.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” Jobs said during a Stanford commencement ceremony in 2005.

“Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Hopefully this will serve as a tributue for a real visionary and inspire the visions of countless entreupeneurs. In the end, we are all really naked anyhow…

Google Places

bizprofitpro — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:06:14 +0000

If you have a local business and you’re not listed and optimized in Google Places, you are missing out on new customers. Google may have already created a page for your business, but you still need to claim it. It can be difficult to control your page if someone else should takes ownership. Here are some basic things you can do to increase customer traffic using Google Places.

1. Create Google Places Page if one isn’t setup.
2. Verify Google Places Page.
3. Optimize Places Page
4. Get citations

You do not need a website for Google Places. You can even advertise using Google Places to whip up some instant activity in your business. Google Places and Local Search are connecting buyers that are ready to buy a good or service; particularly on mobile devices. When someone types in “pizza” or from a mobile device, they are looking for the closest provider to buy a pizza now! You want your business to be in the top spots to get these ready buyers. Local Search and Mobile Search are where the highly targeted buyers with immediate needs are going to in astonishing numbers. Claim your Google Places Page today.

QR Codes and QR Code Reader are Coming and They are Going to be Huge!

bizprofitpro — Fri, 20 May 2011 10:01:58 +0000

What’s a QR Code? QR Code stands for “quick response code”
which are like bar codes but QR Codes hold many more times the information of a
bar code. Bar codes are one dimensional and can only hold 20 numerical digits.
QR Codes are 2 dimensional and can hold thousands of alphanumeric characters of
information. The capacity of QR Codes to hold great amounts of information makes
them a fantastic marketing tool for business. QR Codes require a QR Code Reader
to interpret. QR Code Readers can be downloaded as apps on smartphones. After
the user has downloaded a QR Code Reader, they are able to scan a QR Code
much like taking picture. The QR Code can take the user to any website, video,
inventory, real estate listing, sales promotion, or any digital content. The different
uses of this technology are just now being discovered. Creativity is the key as the
best applications are yet to come.

The ability to use QR codes to link people to multimedia digital content will be the
next big new thing in the North American Market. Toyota developed the technology
in 1994 and has been popular in Japan, but now the rise of smart phones has made
adopting the technology a no brainer for small business in the U.S.

Business Services

bizprofitpro — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:26:10 +0000

Welcome to our website where you will find tips, tools and services to increase the sales of
any business. Bizprofitpro is a full service internet marketing agency offering
a full range of business services. Every business is unique and requires a customized solution to work. Contact us for a free consultation on specific actions we would recommend to improve your business. Our services include:

Marketing
Sales
Brokerage & Intermediary Services
Web Design
Website Analytics
Social Media Brand Management
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media Marketing
Email Marketing
Business Plans
Marketing Plans
Lead Generation

When Should You Sell Your Business?

bizprofitpro — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:54:54 +0000

Every business owner will sell their business; it’s just a question of when. The time to sell can be driven by several factors like the need for a new challenge or retirement. When the desire to sell becomes evident, it is likely the right time to sell. There is a risk devaluing your business, if you no longer have the desire to grow your business. A business that is in decline loses value and can possibly become unsalable.

A healthy business is easier to sell and brings more money than a business with problems. Dont worry if your business has problems, all businesses have at least some problems (opportunities). The problems in your business may be problems that a new owner has the unique skills to solve. People want to buy businesses with issues they feel they can solve. This allows buyers to add value to the business and justify its purchase. If a shoe store had a great line of shoes but poor marketing, a marketing person could buy the company with the same products and add marketing skills. The business would be more valuable for the new owner making your business more attractive to them. Businesses can be sold in any economic environment at any time as long as the business is prepared properly.

Your business must be presented in a way to create an efficient market for your enterprise. This means exposing your business opportunity to a large amount of potential buyers without anyone knowing your business is for sale until you leave the closing table. This will allow you get maximum fair market value upon sale. Failure to do this could result in the loss of key employees, customers and vendors.

If you are considering selling your business, that in itself is an indicator as the decision. Don’t make the mistake of staying on too long if you no longer have the energy or desire to grow your business. There is no perfect economy to sell a business because there is no way to predict economic cycles. The economy can easily go further down or further up or stay stagnant for years. The decision to sell is an internal decision based on the owner’s desire. If the owner has lost enthusiasm for the business, it’s likely time to do something else or retire. Don’t do harm to the value of your business by sticking around too long.

Profits versus Wealth

bizprofitpro — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:49:23 +0000

Bizprofitpro is a business advisory firm committed to increasing a company’s value from new start-ups to mature businesses being prepared for sale. Bizprofitpro offers free tips, tools and services to turbo charge the value of any business. We can increase earnings with proven methods that work in today’s challenging business environment.

Peter Druker is quoted as saying “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Creating wealth in your business starts with knowing the elements that increases the price of which your business will eventually sell for. Knowing this will allows business owners to plan and operate their business to achieve profits in the short term and wealth in the long term. It’s never too soon to begin increasing your business valuation so you can maximize profits and create wealth.

Turbo Charging Business Valuations

bizprofitpro — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:31:21 +0000

The creation and measurement of wealth in a small business can be elusive as the value may not be apparent on a balance sheet or income statement that gets regular attention. Shareholders of public companies see their wealth reflected in the share price. You may be making money, but is your business creating financial independence for your future? Is
the value of your business an important part of your retirement plans? For most
business owners, their business represents their biggest and most important
investment and their future financial independence depends on it.

30 Minute Marketing Plan

bizprofitpro — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:43:24 +0000

Marketing is not Sales! Lets say you have an appliance store. All the activity that the owner does to get someone to walk through the door is marketing. What you do with that person when they are in your store is sales. You must have a marketing plan if you want to have a healthy business.

It is easy to become complacent when sales are good and you may even be straining to keep up with demand, but you can never take a break from marketing regardless of the size of your business. A marketing plan need not be an elaborate document that takes weeks or months to produce. A marketing plan can be brief and only for your use, but it should have the following elements:

Market Research
Target Market
Product Specifications
Competition
Mission Statement
Market Strategy
Pricing
Goals
Define Measurable Success

Every business needs a marketing plan and a sales plan, but the marketing comes first. You will have no one to sell to if you don’t know your market. Many businessmen have no marketing plan and they may even be successful, but their success would be so much greater if they had a plan.

If you don’t have a marketing plan and you run any size business, you should spend 30 minutes and brain storm the 9 elements mentioned above. Write each element down and write a sentence or two next to each one. You need not share it with anyone, but you can if you like. This exercise is meant to get your mind energized about marketing your business. The act of writing down your thoughts will bring clarity and reality in what you should be doing versus what you are doing. This exercise doesn’t have to be done in your office or any special place. A bar stool and a cocktail napkin work just fine.

With any marketing plan, make certain you can measure the performance of whatever you plan to do. Dollars spent should be related to some goal. It may be sales leads, store visits, RFQ’s, inquiries or something that will have positive impact on sales.