Business Coaching

One of the keys to running a successful business is making it easy for customers to buy from you, which is why most businesses accept credit and debit cards.

Since many people don’t even carry cash these days, the proliferation of plastic payment has cut into revenues and profits for businesses, making it harder and harder for some smaller businesses to even accept credit or debit cards.

The amount that businesses pay in fees on purchases made with cards can cost a business thousands, if not millions of dollars, depending on the business. Credit card fees can be particularly onerous with rates of anywhere from two to more than four percent paid by merchants on every transaction. For small business owners, that can make a real difference in the bottom line.

But the issues with debit card payments can be even bigger with many small businesses.

Today debit cards are the number one form of non-cash payment in the United States and from 2006 through 2009, debit card transactions rose from 25 to 38 billion. In 2009 those transactions accounted for $16 billion in transaction fees that went to the issuing banks.

Obviously businesses are losing a ton of revenue and profits in these transactions, but many businesses don’t have any other option. They have to make it easy for customers to buy from them in an increasingly cash-free world.

Legislation will be taking affect on October 1st that will lower the rates that businesses pay on debit and credit card purchases, but will those changes be enough to help small businesses grow?

Right now, businesses pay an average of 44 cents for each debit card payment they accept. On October 1st that amount will go down considerably, to just 21 cents per transaction thanks to new legislation.

But while that drop may seem like a lot, it’s actually a compromise.

Originally the Federal Reserve was going to knock down these fees to an average of about 12 cents per transaction, but the banks that issue debit cards cried foul so the Fed decided to come up with a compromise cost: 21 cents per debit card transaction.

For small business owners, it’s still a large fee and it’s important to remember that while 21 cents is the average charge, many debit card transactions are small, everyday purchases.

The problem this leads to is two-fold.

Businesses have to pass the cost of these charges to their customers, even customers that buy with cash. And because everything is more expensive, the costs weigh on the entire business, making it less likely that small businesses can hire workers or reinvest in themselves.

The irony is that in this particular case big business joined with small business to lobby against the banks keeping rates high.

The large lesson we can learn is to make sure you know all of your numbers and have systems in place to ensure the rates you have to pay are more than covered by your company’s growth.

Are we headed for a lost decade in the United States? In the 1990s Japan experienced a massive recession which led to their “Lost Decade” a time in which Japanese economic expansion came to an almost complete halt.

Now, as the United States experiences economic growing pains, we are faced with the possibility that it could happen in this country.

But, while we’ve been mired in a painfully slow recovery from a major recession, some statistics show things are getting incrementally better, if you know where to look for them.

One area that is a positive is the change in the number of small-business bankruptcy filings from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2010. According to Equifax, over that time, bankruptcies dropped by 18 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the fourth quarter of 2009, which was the height of the recession.

Of course, when we take these numbers in a vacuum, they don’t tell us much but if we look at them in the context of the economy we can see some interesting things. First, weak businesses that weren’t prepared for the economic winter are no longer around and, secondly, the small businesses that remain are doing a better job of leveraging their resources so they should be stronger in the long run.

Let’s focus specifically on the first point: Businesses that weren’t strong enough have collapsed and their owners have filed for bankruptcy.

Sure, some well-run small businesses met their respective ends as well, but an economic recession brings problems and challenges to the surface so they can’t be ignored like they can during strong economic times.

Poorly run businesses are most likely to suffer in this scenario because they don’t have the resources or managerial talent to withstand it. Companies that have strong plans and talented leadership in place are not as vulnerable to those extreme economic circumstances.

Quite simply, economic downturns mean real trouble for poorly run businesses, but it also offers terrific opportunities for well run businesses. A well run business has the ability to change on the fly and adapt to difficult times. And, maybe most importantly, a well-run business is in position to reap the benefits of the struggles our economy has experienced.

A recession weeds out poorly run businesses, but even poorly run businesses have their share of customers, who need to buy from someone. If you’ve been competing with one of those businesses, you have a new group of customers you may be able to bring to your business.

If strong businesses can take advantage of this scenario to grow, we may be able to avoid our own “Lost Decade” but only time will tell.

Entries are being accepted in 13 categories for the Business Excellence Awards, which will take place on the last night of the 2011 Business Excellence Forum, hosted at Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami from August 19-20.

The Business Excellence Awards will honor the “best of the best” in small and medium sized businesses from around the world and entering the awards is also an excellent way to showcase outstanding performances of business owners, entrepreneurs, their teams and companies.

Winners will receive a 2011 Business Excellence trophy for their category, designed by the same company that designs the Oscars. They will also receive local and national publicity for the award-winning accomplishments.

The 2011 Business Excellence Forum and the 2011 Business Excellence Awards are sponsored by ActionCOACH, the world’s number one business coaching firm.

Theses events are part of the company’s on-going commitment to innovation and business re-education for small-and-medium sized businesses.

In addition to the awards ceremony, the Business Excellence Forum will feature some of the finest speakers in the world of business, including Les Brown and ActionCOACH Founder, Chairman and President Brad Sugars.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to attend a number of workshops, breakout sessions and networking events.
Deadline for entries is June 30, 2011, so sign up today and get recognized for your hard work in Miami in August.

One of the indicators that tell about the growth and health of a franchise is franchisee satisfaction.

It comes down to one simple factor.  If franchisees are happy, then things within the entire franchise system are probably running smoothly. When this is the situation, the systems within the franchise make sense and, more importantly, they do what they are supposed to do.

That’s why it was such an honor that ActionCOACH was ranked 31st in the latest Franchise Business Review in the large systems category for the most recent poll.

“This is an award we strive for every year. We are proud to be recognized by the Franchise Business Review,” ActionCOACH CEO Jodie Shaw said. “No matter how great your company is, if your franchisees aren’t happy, growth simply isn’t possible. Our franchisees are our business partners, so the fact that they are happy speaks volumes.”

To review the entire list of businesses that ranked on the list, just click here.

Happy New Year!

Now that we’re in year 2011, maybe you’ve made some New Year’s resolutions. Hopefully you’ve made some for your business so your business can be the best it can be this year.

If you’re a small business, consider making a resolution to start thinking like a big business.

Crazy? Not so much.

People often separate small business from big business. As they should — there are legitimate differences between big corporations and small Mom-and-Pop, homegrown shops.

But what people don’t realize is small businesses are really just big businesses in training. Think about it — they each have common goals, and the biggest one is the goal of succeeding.

Big businesses tend to have an easier time targeting markets and generating leads because they have a more well-known brand presence. Sometimes small businesses need to think like big businesses…and other times, they need to think smaller to really focus on their target markets and generate the most leads from the most possible places.

What are ways small businesses can think like big businesses? A free coaching session can help you discover some ways that might have been overlooked.

This could make a difference for your business this year!

UK is struggling through some tough times, but that still shouldn’t mean consumers should be helping companies with their marketing efforts.

Mediabistro.com obtained a real open letter “to all of advertising and marketing” from a consumer in the UK. Read how he feels about ads that ask him to work even more than he already does.

As a business owner, can you use the feedback from this letter to help your own business’ advertising and marketing efforts?

Credit card companies will use professional cards as a way to increase their profit margins.

Credit card companies are looking for a way to recoup some of the losses they’ve experienced following the implementation of the new credit card law this March and they’ve been using professional cards as a way to increase their profit margins.

This puts small business owners in a difficult position. Traditional credit lines have been frozen for some time, leaving business owners scrambling for capital to fund their ventures. Credit cards seem like an attractive option to turn to, but there are risks.

Many small business owners don’t realize that the new credit card laws which went into affect earlier this year only deal with personal credit cards, not professional credit cards. This can be a major problem for small businesses that don’t understand how the loophole in the law affects them.

For example, The Ink From Chase card, one of several professional cards offered by the bank, is one professional card subject to the whim of issuers. The card agreement says Chase is free to implement a default rate of 29.99% if a customer is late by just one day on a payment.

Holders of Capital One’s Business Platinum Card, meanwhile, can see their low introductory interest rates spike if they are just three days late with payment twice in a 12-month period, far less than the 60-day notice for personal cards required under the Card Act.

These are just two examples of the practices card issuers can still use when dealing with professional cards, but there are many more out there. There are five major differences between personal and professional cards.

Under the new law credit card companies can apply any payments in excess of the minimum to balances with low interest rates, don’t have to allow 21 days after a statement is mailed before payment is due, can raise rates on existing balances if late payments are made to a different creditor, can charge big fees if cardholders exceed their limit and, maybe most importantly, card issuers can change agreements without giving advanced notice. All of these practices are now illegal in regard to personal cards.

What do you think of the credit card industry’s strategy in regard to professional credit cards? Is it good business or bad faith in this struggling economy?

Small businesses that use cash only mayconsider using credit cards due to new credit card laws.

With the new financial bill signed earlier this summer taking affect, small merchants in cash only business may be considering using credit cards for the first time. But are the new laws enough for businesses to change their way of doing business and accept plastic?

Under the new law, merchants can now legally set $10 minimums on credit-card purchases, and offer discounts and promotions for cash purchases.  These new rules can certainly help small businesses that currently don’t accept credit cards, but there are many aspects of the law that have yet to take effect, including the most important to most small businesses, swipe fees.

Over the next eight months, the Federal Reserve will issue new standards for swipe fees for debit cards. These new standards are meant to ensure that fees are proportional to the costs of the transaction. Credit-card fees, however, would remain unregulated, meaning the credit card companies can keep gouging business owners.

Many small business owners pay ridiculous fees on credit cards under the current system. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores the convenience store industry paid $7.4 billion in credit-card fees in 2009 while making $4.8 billion in profits from cards.

Obviously those numbers seem out of whack and there should be a way of changing the system so small businesses can make more of a profit from their sales than credit card companies do. It just seems that the new law, although a step in the right direction, doesn’t go far enough.

How does you business handle credit cards? Will you accept credit cards more regularly with the new laws enacted? What do you think of the government’s attempt to legislate the credit card industry?

Some temp jobs are better than others.

Good news! More U.S. companies are hiring.

Bad news: Many of these positions companies are hiring for are temporary.

While this isn’t uncommon for an economy in the early stages of recovery, it is frustrating not only to those looking for work, but also companies.

According to an article in this week’s Bloomberg BusinessWeek, iring of temp workers had been rising each month since October 2009, until they dipped in July by 5,600, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. From October to January, employees at staffing agencies like Manpower and Robert Half

Given the depth of the recession and concerns about a double-dip, companies are seeking more proof of customer demand before doing much permanent hiring. In a robust economy, the acceleration in orders at GE Transportation could have led to hiring full-time workers, says Stephan Koller, the company’s spokesman. Proof of sustained demand hasn’t yet appeared.

But like most things are moving in this recession, it will most likely be a long ways away until lower unemployment stats. The jobless rate won’t budge from 9.6 percent this year, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. While growth in gross domestic product of about 3 percent is widely expected for 2010, Oppenheimer Funds corporate economist Brian Levitt says it would take at least 4 percent to make a dent in the unemployment rate.

Read more from the full article here.

This past year has been rough on small businesses.

Recently, it seemed like economically, things might be looking up for small business…but we may have spoken too soon.

It’s no secret that times are tough for small businesses but the semi- annual mid-year economic report from the National Small Business Association released at the end of July show just how difficult this year has been.

The report, which surveyed 400 small business owners in varying fields found that only 11% have hired workers in the past year, 25% have cut jobs and 41% say they are unable to secure adequate financing.

These numbers are obviously not very promising for our economy when it comes to job creation. It takes a 5% increase in GDP to create enough jobs to lower unemployment by just one percentage point.

“Given the direct correlation between access to capital and job growth, unless small-business owners are able to secure financing, we will continue to see high unemployment,” Todd McCracken, President of the NSBA said.

Other numbers were equally bleak. Almost three quarters of respondents said economic uncertainty was their top concern, up from 64% in December. Almost half, 44% don’t expect any growth opportunities in the coming year and 45% believe the economy is worse now than it was a year ago. Just 59% of those who responded felt confident about the future of their business, down from 61% in December.

But all was not bad — only 25% predicted decreases in revenue for the next 12 months, down from 31% in December. There were also more businesses reporting higher revenue since the last survey in December, 26% this month, compared with 22% at the end of last year.

To view the National Small Business Association survey, click here: http://nsba.biz/

Do you see these numbers reflected in your business? Are things turning for the better or are we headed for a double-dip recession? Tell us what you think.