Blog Directory ID: 1151
Blog URL: http://cutelittlestore.blogspot.com
Google Pagerank: 2
Blog Description: This blog is the extension and continuation of the book "Cute Little Store: between the entrepreneurial dream and business reality"
Blog Category: Small Business Blogs
Blog Owner: Adeena Mignogna
Blog Added: November 27, 2007 04:47:42 AM
Audience Rating: General Audience
Blog Country: 
United States Number Hits: 6 |  Blog Rating: 0.00 |  Rate Blog: Submit rating |  Review Blog |
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Research for Your Business Plan
In working on Cute Little Store 2, I've found so many more resources than I knew about when I was writing business plans 6 years ago to start The Pot and Bead. (Some might not have even existed then!)Lucky for you!
In doing some research for Cute Little Store 2, I came across the following website:
http://www.centerformediaresearch.com/
If you're in the business planning stage and looking for numbers to include in your business plan to back up your assumptions, this site might have some good info.
For example, the following research briefs might provide valuable insight into customers:
Wealthy Consumers Using Social Networks Online
More Women in the Marketplace
Data like this can help you answer why your product or service might be successful.
Remember to include information about your source and evaluate your source. If your using the internet for research, most sites have an "About" page that will give you insight into who is posting the data. (Data from a lobbyist group promoting a product might be a little more biased than say a government group or consumer advocacy group.)
Email marketing - when did you last send an email to your customers?
I am a firm believer that email marketing is one of the BEST things a small business owner can spend his or her time on.
- Email marketing is free or VERY inexpensive
- You can target EXISTING customers (there are lots of statistics out there that talk about how it is less expensive to retain a customer or encourage repeat business than to find a new customer)
- You can keep your business in the minds of customers (even if they don't read your email, the fact that they saw it was from you is a little reminder that you still exist)
If you aren't collecting email addresses from customers, start! And you need to be a little proactive about it... don't just leave a piece of paper on your counter - ask customers. A good time is when you're ringing up merchandise... it's going to take you a minute to do that, so why not say something like: "While I'm ringing you up, you could sign up for our email newsletter right here!"
What next? Writing the email! Deciding what to write, when to send, what offers to include, what "call to action" to include... these things can be a little daunting, but if you can set aside one day to devote to email planning, you can cover several months! Brainstorm a list of ideas and topics. Having events is useful, but people are more prone to read something interesting. Lists are always a good idea. "Top 10 unusual uses for our product" "Top 5 people who'd appreciate our product as a gift (and why)" "Top 10 reasons Dad would appreciate our product this Father's Day" and so on. Light humor is great too. As are references to useful websites.
Polling people, asking them for their opinions and other ways to get folks to interact with you are also fantastic options for your emails.
While doing research for Cute Little Store 2, I came across this useful website:http://www.emaillabs.com/tools/
They have a great set of articles, tips and best practices. Take some time a browse through.
Good luck with your email campaign!
PS - For almost 4 years, I used Constant Contact as my email "management" tool and definitely recommend it - although it's not the only option. You can do a search for these companies, or browse your own inbox to find a newsletter you like and look at the bottom - often in tiny little text will be a link to the email service.
Choose one...
I just heard the best quote yesterday from a colleague (who heard it said over and over by another colleague of his years ago):"You can make what you want, live where you want or do what you want. Pick one."
This is perfect quote for entrepreneurs to ponder. When you venture out on your own, which one are you choosing?
When I opened The Pot & Bead, I thought I was "doing what I want". And for a while, that was true. I think this is the choice that most new small business owners believe they are making. This is also the item from that list that is the focus of the "e-myth" series of books. I.e.: if you want to bake, don't open a bakery. Since if you are the owner of that bakery, you'll need to find someone else to bake while you manage employees, customer service, pay the bills, deal with facilities, marketing, etc etc etc.
After a while, it was obvious that I wasn't doing what I wanted. I enjoyed the day-to-day freedom of being able to set my own priorities, come and go mostly as I pleased, etc. But certain aspects - like customer service, planning for the winter holidays in the summer and never turning my cell phone off or having it out of ears reach - were putting a damper on the whole thing. Add to that the fact that I wasn't making what I wanted either and barely living where I wanted. (I still live in the same place now, but with the retail store I didn't really have a choice of where I lived. Now, if I choose to, I could move out of state or to the other side of the country or other side of the planet.)
The message here is... if you own your own business, or are thinking about it, which of these are you choosing?
... and if you find a situation where you have all 3 (which might not mean you're the owner)... Congratulations! You win!
Your finances come first!
If you're thinking about starting a business, now is a great time to take a look at your own personal financial situation.If you need some form of financial backing to start your business, it might not be that easy right now. To start The Pot & Bead, I needed a bank loan. 6 years ago, it wasn't too difficult to get one. Right now, in the current financial climate, I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't have been able to get the loan I needed to start my business - I don't have the same equity in my house I did due to falling house prices and banks are being more cautious in granting loans.
Even getting a new credit card isn't as easy as it was in the recent past. Have you noticed the amount of credit card offers in the mail have decreased over the past 6 or so months? (I used to get 1-2 a day in the mail. Now I might get 1-2 a month. No - I haven't signed up for any 'do not mail' lists.)
So what's a would-be business owner to do? Do everything you can to get your own financial house in order. Pay down your debt (especially those credit cards!). Control your spending. Build up a savings cushion. Get these three things done now - when you're a business owner, they'll be even more important.
The good news - you have time. You can take care of your finances along with performing all the other necessary research you need to do before opening the doors to your business.
If you've never given any thought to your personal finances and whether or not you're in good shape, you're in luck! There's a bazillion books on the subject. I recommend reading anything by Suze Orman, among others.
Take care of yourself first - and you'll be in a great starting position to own your own business.
Looking for stories for the sequel to Cute Little Store...
The sequel to my book "Cute Little Store" is well under way. To supplement my own experiences, I'm looking for people who are willing to share their own stories. I had a few stories in "Cute Little Store" - I'd like to include even more in the next book.
Please contact me at info@cutelittlestore.net if you have an interesting story to share that fits somewhere in this list:
- people who've sold their store/business
- people who've bought their store/business
- people who've closed their store/business
- people who have multiple jobs (own a business but also maintain separate employment)
- people who have broken their retail/commercial lease
- for anyone who has bought/sold their store, stories about use of brokers
- people who have multiple stores - how you sleep at night not being able to be in each store
- Interesting or funny tales about websites or online stores
- Interesting or funny tales about your store managers and/or problem employees
- Interesting or funny tales about money mistakes
The business doesn't have to be retail and I'm looking for stories that can be told in a "I wish I knew then what I know" way.
You'll receive a free copy of the book if your story is used. Also, if you desire to have your name withheld, that's fine. Or if you desire to use your real name and business name, I'll do that. The choice is yours!
Thanks in advance!
The Economy and Your Small Business!
The most popular question asked in our last week of open business:"Is is the economy? Is that why you're closing?"
Not exactly. I'm not an expert on studying the economy, but it doesn't take an expert to know that things aren't fantastic right now - high gas prices, low stock market, sagging home prices, difficulties in getting loans, etc. However, day-to-day business hadn't been terrible at The Pot & Bead. It was actually reasonable and proportional to the amount of advertising and marketing that I've done.
But here's the real effect: I couldn't sell the business. No one could afford to buy it! Folks have lost equity in their homes and banks aren't giving out business loans to anyone who doesn't have the equity in their home (or some other asset).
I'd been running the place and managing my other engineering career and trying to write all at the same time and I couldn't keep up all of it at once. Something had to give and that was the store. (It's not that simple, of course, but this is the gist of it.)
What does this mean for you?
1. If you're already in business, things might be tight. Now is the time to be chinsy - watch every penny you spend; and do everything you can to *market* your business (marketing = advertising you don't pay for). Give out coupons, give out gift certificates, write a Press Release, build up your email mailing list and send out those email newsletters. Do what you can for your customers - when the economy picks up, they'll be there and bring their friends.
What I wouldn't do now: spend a pile of money on an advertising campaign. Now isn't the time. You'd be chasing after people who might not be ready to spend money on your service (yet).
2. If you're not in business yet, and you need to get a bank loan to start up, now is going to be a difficult time to do this. While you might need to wait a bit, don't loose sight of your goals! Now is the time to make sure you're going into your business debt free (i.e., make sure those credit cards are paid off!). Do some more research, write your operating procedures and prepare as much as you can.
What I wouldn't do now: settle for a smaller loan amount than I thought I needed. If you're just starting out, you might be tempted to opt for a smaller loan just to get started - this means you might not have the working capital you need to get the business going over the first 6 months to a year. Don't short change yourself like this, it could be the biggest mistake you make!
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