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Small Business Information
Increase Sales in Your Home Business With These 10 Simple Ideas
Every home business has the same problem of how to increase sales without a hugely expensive marketing campaign. By utilising the following simple ideas you will be able to do just that.
10 Ways to Start a Business on a Budget
If you?ve been thinking about starting a business, but are held back due to cash-flow issues, there are plenty of ways you can get your plans off the ground. Though your vision may be to own a big store, restaurant, warehouse, or office, consider starting on a smaller scale.
Effective Customer Interviews Make Life Much Easier!
One of the critical success factors for service-related businesses is our ability to understand a client?s needs and requirements. Misunderstandings can lead to loss of repeat business, economic loss, and damage to reputation.
Job Costing - Do You Know How?
What?s your job profitability? I meet with business owners every day that are unsure of their profitability at a company or job level. They ?think? they are making money because they have a few dollars in their checking account. Having money in your checking account doesn?t mean you are profitable. It might mean you haven?t paid all the bills yet, so you have a little cash. Cash and profit are two different concepts. If you aren?t profitable, you won?t have longevity in your business.
Money Series 1: Who Takes Your Money
Your business is making profits, but where is the cash? It seems that someone has taken away your money. Your bank account is still the same, and your personal wealth is still the same. There must be someone that took your money. Based on my over 18 years of professional experience and study, there are 8 persons that take away your money without your knowing...
How Disabled Veterans Can Win Government Contracts
The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) is a program that allows small businesses to self-certify as service-disabled veteran-owned businesses providing them increased opportunities to win government contracts. Significantly and permanently impaired veterans may be assisted in the daily business operations by a spouse or permanent caregiver.
Financial Strategies for a Mobile Car Wash Business Plan
Writing a business plan for a mobile car wash is fairly easy, yet often operators fall down in understanding the financial strategies and costs. Bankers and Investors alike will want to see that you have a well thought out business plan to insure your start-up goes successfully. Below you will find a sample mobile car wash strategic financial strategies section for a business plan. I recommend that you print this out and modify it to best fit your over all plan and then once you have a good rough draft think on it for a few days and add in your additional costs and thoughts or insights. Then type it up and use it in your over all business plan so that you can get the funding necessary for a success start-up either thru a loan or investor partner. This sample is written from the perspective of a franchisee, which is part of a larger franchise company. If you are to be an independent business your plan may slightly vary somewhat.
Technology Community Helps SMBs Focus on Their Core Business
If you?re starting your own business or currently work for a start-up, you wear a lot of hats. Any disruption in your business can eat up hours of your time and kill your productivity. Many start-ups are so focused on getting their business off the ground, that they overlook technology considerations that can help increase their productivity and enhance their efficiency. Unlike mid to large corporations that have dedicated IT personnel, start-ups typically do not have in-house IT resources to evaluate and deploy new technologies to pre-empt unforeseen issues, such as virus attacks, and streamline processes to increase efficiency gains. This is due partly to time and partly due to budgetary constraints. Small businesses want to focus on the next sale, not the next purchase. Largely for this reason, many small to medium businesses (SMBs) are categorized as laggers on the technology spectrum -- classified as conservative IT buyers and slow adopters of new technologies. This profile make it seems as if SMBs are risk adverse, when in actuality, SMBs are more risk takers than corporate employees ? after all, they?ve started their own business or are part of a start-up where the P&L is felt throughout the company.
Pressure Washing Market Niche
Those who are in the pressure washer business should not neglect the Hotel exterior cleaning niche. Many five-star hotels spend significant dollars in making sure that their grounds are meticulously cleaned. There are also many regular hotels, which take pride in their hotels. It would be wise to have a customized sales letter and/or brochure made especially for this type of service, with follow-up information on your website.
How to Wash Mobile Homes as a Business
Washing manufactured homes, mobile homes, can be a lucrative and steady business. Generally Mobile Home owners desire to have their mobile homes washed twice per year. There are many mobile home washing companies who make a very good living and have multiple rigs running. If you currently own a pressure washer you may wish to consider a new business washing mobile home and manufactured houses.
Cleaning Service Stations with a Pressure Washer
Fuel prices these days are quite high and they take their toll on a service business. It is time to strike back. If you own a cleaning business that uses pressure washers why not clean service stations and get some of your money back as you pay $2.30 per gallon for fuel? Gas Stations are usually franchises and have cleanliness commitments as part of their franchise agreements with the oil companies they sign on with. This means they have no choice they must keep their gasoline stations spiffy. Currently with unemployment rates so low 5% on average many stations do not have the extra labor needed to keep up with the cleaning.
Why Clean Mobile Homes for a Business?
Manufactured and Mobile Home owners know that the weather this year will be quite harsh. It?s imperative these owners to clean out rain gutters and debris from on top of their homes. They realize that they must thoroughly wash off this summer?s dirt so they do not have drip marks on the sides of their cottages this winter. They must eliminate the mold buildup, and unsightly stains. Those mobile homes which have not been cleaned all Winter must have their rain gutters cleaned so when Hurricane remnants dump massive amounts of water in a region the roofs do not collapse. It is equally important to clean the bottom of the eaves and carport to prevent mold spots from forming.
Pressure Washing Aircraft Hangers at the Airport
If you are looking for a way to own your own business using a pressure washer or expand your current pressure washing business you might consider cleaning Aircraft Hangers out at the airport. Why Wash Aircraft hangers? For one it can lead to much more work cleaning all sorts of things at airports which is an encapsulated market. Larger airports have terminal buildings, staging areas, parking structures, fuel depots, retaining walls, security vehicles, airport shuttles, rent-a-cars and of course aircraft. If you get a job cleaning a hanger or several you will be seen by others who need services desperately.
Mobile Car Wash and Cleaning Post Office Jeeps
If you own a mobile truck washing, pressure washing or mobile car wash business you may wish to consider washing postal vehicles. They have one of the largest fleets in the world and they are relatively easy to wash. Yes, like all quasi-government agencies they pay slowly, but you know you will get paid as long as you show up to wash.
Pressure Washing at Golf Courses
There are many potential niches for pressure washing companies that often go unchecked. Some are quite lucrative and are worth investigation if you own a pressure washing business. One such niche is the pressure washing of golf courses, clubs houses, golf carts and facilities. To target this specialization of services you will need to slightly modify your sales approach.
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