General Business

PLEASE NOTE: I’m not a computer tech repair guy! I design and install Marketing Systems for small businesses. But, I picked up these tips when listening to a presentation a few weeks back and thought they were simple and practical ways you can keep your PC running smoothly.

Here are a few things you can and should do to maintain the performance of your computer:

Let’s start with the Outside:

1. Look at the back of your desktop computer or laptop for the fan… You’ll notice, especially on desktops, that dust and dirt will build up…

This restricts the air flow to your computer and makes it work harder and not cool down as easily. Very similar to a dirty air filter on your car. Buy a can of air like this and blow the dust and dirt out every couple months. This simple maintenance will help prolong the life of your computer.
2. To keep your computer screen clean use an LCD cleaner like this.

3. Do you have a “roller ball” computer mouse that sticks and gets jerky from time to time? Here’s how to clean it.

Now it’s time to go Inside Your Computer (Hard drive, memory, virus protection, etc.)

(Note - these instructions are for people who use Microsoft Windows based PC’s… I’m a Mac user, but realize that the majority of you reading this blog use a regular PC.)

1. Let’s start with your Virus Scan program. This should be up to date and automatically running, updating and protecting your machine. McAfee is a great program. You can also check out Norton
Antivirus.

Make sure you have virus protection. This is the most important thing you can do to protect your system…

2. AdAware - Download, install and every few weeks run Adaware. (There are free and paid versions.

Just from browsing the web - your computer attracts cookies, data miners, and other bits of information…most aren’t bad, but some are… Run AdAware to project your system.

3. Every so often run Scan Disk on your PC. Go to: My Computer > C Drive > Properties - Auto fix all errors and fix drive sectors checked

You’ll get a “Warning - exclusive…” pop-up window. Click OK

Restart your computer

Scan disk will start upon restart and might take a few hours…

After it is completed run a defrag (Can also be found at My Computer > C Drive > Properties.) The defrag helps write all of your data in a straight lin…system reads faster which leads to better performance.

Those were some basic tips… If you need an expert computer repair company, contact a Hartford, Connecticut based client of mine, I.T. Direct.

You need to read the book “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. The “E” stands for “Entrepreneur.”

It’s a rock solid book – the core message – Systemize Your Business!

If someone walked through your door today and said “I am ready to open 5,000 ______________’s” (fill in the blank with your business name) – what would you say?

A lot of business owners would reply with – “Uh oh! We fly by the seat of our pants, we just “get it done,” it would be tough to duplicate what we do”….That’s the truthful answer, but it’s a bad answer.

To hammer this point home, why is it that 80% of regular small businesses fail within the first five years and only 20% of franchises fail in their first five years?

Because of the SYSTEM. Procedures are in place…the trial and error has been completed…there is a well documented and followed way of doing business.

The book does not say that you should go out and buy a franchise…it’s not like that at all. It states this simple, but extremely powerful theme – Systemize Your Business.

Give it a read – It’s mandatory reading for all my small business clients.

I’m interested in learning more about their product/service. They don’t give a phone number to call. They give a long form to fill out and tell me:

“One of our knowledgeable representatives will call within the next seven to ten business days.”

In this day and age, 7-10 days doesn’t cut it. I’m not driving my horse and buggy to work…this is the computer age - the age of fast service and quick response!

I was interested in their product/service…if 7-10 day response time is the way they operate…no thanks.

Ask yourself an honest question…

Are you (Is your business) Good, Great or Exceptional?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately…a lot of businesses are Good or maybe even Great, but few are Exceptional. (I agree with Tom Peters observations regarding customer service…one aspect of being Exceptional)

I think the difference between Good and Exceptional are the little things - Like:

• You follow through with what you said you were going to do.
• You return phone calls and e-mails promptly.
• You surprise them with a kind word or gestures.
• You send them ideas that you think will help their business improve.
• You make their problems your own and do everything you can to fix them.

It takes work and effort to be Exceptional, but it is worth the investment. Get in the mindset of being Exceptional everyday and reap the rewards of higher customer satisfaction and more word of mouth referrals.

In this busy world, companies that take the time to be Exceptional stand out.

Do you have examples of Exceptional service? Leave a comment…

There are a few ways to increase your sales (and profit…)

1. Find new customers to sell to.

2. Sell more to your existing customers.

3. Raise your prices.

Not making the profit you would like to be making in your business? The quickest and easiest way to solve this is to raise your prices.

You can increase your prices 10%, lose 20-25% of your Revenue (Sales) and still make the same amount of profit…

So, ask yourself a question: “If I increase my prices 10%, am I going to lose 20-25% of my sales?” I bet the answer is no…

(See this spreadsheet for the math behind the calculation above.)

If you enjoy reading business books, here is a list of recommended business books…from one of the greatest business writers of our time, Tom Peters:

His #1 book recommedation?

#1, no contender for the spot, Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

It starts this way: “This book is about luck disguised and perceived as non-luck (that is, skills) and more generally randomness disguised and perceived as non-randomness. It manifests itself in the shape of the lucky fool, defined as a person who benefited from a disproportionate share of luck but attributed his success to some other, generally precise reason.” “We underestimate the share of randomness in just about everything, a point that might not merit a book—except when it is the specialist who is the fool of all fools.” “Mild success can be explainable by skills and labor. Wild success is attributable to variance.”

Link to complete list of Tom Peter’s book recommendations. 

I think this list is incredibly interesting…it sheds light on where a great business mind has received a great deal of his education.

Implementing an idea…It’s easy to come up with ideas and improvements…the tough part is being the person that can take an idea to completion.

Having trouble getting your idea implemented? See Seth’s post below:

If you had an hour with your team or your boss or a prospect, how many things would you tell them?

Do you have a laundry list of ten or twenty or fifty ideas you want to share? Six things you want them to do? A dozen changes that are important?

One reason that blog posts have become such a powerful way to spread ideas is that a typical blog post is about just one thing. One.

Why not give that a try? Use your time, all your time, to sell just one thing. Go deep. Sell. Then stop.

Along a similar vein, here’s a quote I like to reference from time to time:

“One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks.”

Forbes

The most valuable people in an organization are the ones that can IMPLEMENT and get things done.

If you are like me you read a lot of business articles, print publications, websites/blogs, industry magazines, etc. You hear/read/see ideas from multiple sources everyday…

All of this reading and education is great but you can’t always put it to use at the time you find it, so you put it somewhere for future reference..that’s where the fun (or frustration) begins.

In the past, when I wanted to go back and find the interesting ad/article/nugget of information - I can’t find it. It’s either in my e-mail, in a stack of stuff, bookmarked in Internet Explorer…who knows.

In order to fix this problem I created an Idea Box. I went back in time and went with a LOW level of technology! Here’s what you do:

1. Grab a box.

2. On the outside of that box write, Idea Box.

3. Write a couple rules on the box…mine are:

1. Don’t put anything in this box without adding a sticky note to it that states what you found interesting/useful.

2. Review Idea Box every 4 months.

It’s as simple as that. Now - all of your ideas are printed out and kept in one place for you to reference as needed.

Everyone loves to save ideas and great thoughts. The key is to organize that information so that you can use it when the opprotunity arrises.

Create your Idea Box today.

Link to Seth Godin’s post on referrals…simple, yet brilliant stuff. Doing the little things can change your business in big ways. Here is his post:

This must be hard

The reason it must be hard is that so few people do it.

“How was your dinner last night?”

Follow up. Not follow up to sell something, just to know. Just to ask. Just to set things right if they were wrong.

The fancy restaurant knows my phone number. Why not have the owner call me the next day just to ask?

The doctor knows my number. Why not call a week later to see how that broken arm is mending?

The accountant knows my number. Why not check in to see if the taxes went out the door okay?

If you really want to generate those referrals, don’t ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional addons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.

I’m a big sports fan so this analogy caught my attention.  It comes from  Tom Peters (read his books…he’s as sharp as they come in the business world.)

His post said:

People are always looking for a silver bullet to help their businesses. Silver bullets can be great, but so often companies don’t succeed due to poor execution of basic things. They try to throw the bomb but forget to block and tackle.

So I loved seeing a fact in a New York Times Magazine story on Mike Oher, a star lineman at University of Mississippi who had a rough childhood. The second highest paying position in the NFL, after quarterback? Left tackle.

Block and Tackle.  Do the basics in your business, do them well, and do them consistently. Sometimes business isn’t all that complicated. You’d be surprised at what happens when you consistently execute simple and sound business practices… “throwing the bomb” down the field is fun, but doing the basics of blocking, tackling and running the ball will usually get you down the field for a score more often and with more reliability.