The Thriving Small Business

tips for small business

How to Turn Customer Satisfaction into Customer Loyalty

by

A loyal customer base is important because it is those consumers who sustain and grow businesses.

Organizations that understand the importance of happy customers, need to think strategically in order to build a loyal customer base.

Successful organizations have learned that there is a difference between attracting customers, keeping customers and developing loyal customers. Read the Full Article →

4 Tips To Keep You Focused On Your Goals

by

I don’t know about you, but I am in a constant battle between trying to get the day-to-day tasks accomplished and working on my annual goals!

Anyone who manages a business understands the unique challenges that come with keeping the vision, strategy, and business goals moving forward.

Our day-to-day issues associated with managing people, processes, facilities, equipment, etc. Read the Full Article →

10 Tips For Soliciting Customer Feedback

by

Customer satisfaction is paramount to the success of any business.

For this success, a business must understand who its customers are, what they want, and have systems and processes in place to, not only meet, but exceed their expectations. 

This simple, yet difficult objective is what sets the successful businesses apart from the rest. Read the Full Article →

The 5 Step Process of Strategic Planning

by

Strategic plans help identify what an organization is striving to achieve and maps out the necessary steps needed to be successful.

It used to be that strategic plans would go out for ten years but organizations today typically look 2-3 years down the road – some industries just plan year by year. Read the Full Article →

9 Inhibitors to Business Growth

by

Why is it that some companies are birthed and grow very quickly – seemingly overnight?

While other organizations putter along at the same stagnant pace for years – or die a slow death.

There are several fundamental things that influence growth and when organizations neglect these business basics – it hinders growth. Read the Full Article →

7 Tips To Foster And Manage Innovation In Your Office

by

Innovation is the golden key to success for business. However you need to know how to manage innovation to set yourself apart from the rest!

Innovative people have been around since the beginning of time. These creative doers have literally change the world.

Without creative and innovative ideas, we would not be where we are today in terms of product development, technology and the way we deliver service to customers. Read the Full Article →

7 Steps to Implementing Business Strategy

by

Business success is the result of strategy, planning and management skills.  

Every business should have a strategy and a plan.

However, a strategic plan is only as effective as the supporting goals that are written to implement it.

And goals are only as effective as the people who have responsibility for completing them. Read the Full Article →

13 Tips For Improving Job Satisfaction

by

According to a Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 88% of US employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job in 2015.

This number is the highest level of satisfaction in 10 years. The purpose of the survey was to identify those factors that contribute to employee satisfaction in the workplace. Read the Full Article →

Read This Before Donating to That Charity

by

It seems that there is a natural disaster happening all the time. The most recent has been Hurricane Florence that hit the east coast pretty hard. Disaster victims rely on the help from all of us. However, if you want to help, make sure your charity donation goes to a credible organization. Read the Full Article →

Advantages and Disadvantages of Performance Appraisals

by

Employees, as well as managers, often question why organizations do employee performance appraisals.

Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a performance appraisal could argue why they perceive it to be ineffective and a complete waste of time.

Employees often feel unjustly assessed, and managers often go through a forced annual process to comply with job expectations. Read the Full Article →

7 Steps Your Small Business Should Take Before Hiring That New Employee

by

When a small business is formed, it is often difficult to imagine the time when there is a need to hire employees.

When that day comes, it is important to understand what needs to be done to hire a new employee.

There are several steps that need to be considered before entering into an employment arrangement. Read the Full Article →

7 Tips for Your Benchmarking Efforts

by

Learning from others is how we all improve.

Organizations use benchmarking to compare themselves to others and learn.

Benchmarking is the process of going outside an organization to look at how high performers are doing things in other industries.  The concept is to identify and learn from best practices.

Organizations use benchmarking as part of their Quality Management System in an effort to gain insight into ways to improve what they do. Read the Full Article →