Why You Should Encourage Your Employees to be Entrepreneurs |  |
- Why You Should Encourage Your Employees to be Entrepreneurs
- Introverts Do It Better
- PayPal Makes On-The-Go-Payments Friendlier for SMBs
- Marketing Proves Greatest Small Business Challenge
| Why You Should Encourage Your Employees to be Entrepreneurs Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT Are you worried about keeping employees in your workplace happy and engaged as the economy picks up and competitors start to hire? Are you concerned about maintaining your competitive edge in terms of innovation and industry leadership? One way to accomplish both of these challenging goals is to encourage entrepreneurship in your workplace.
At first glance, fostering entrepreneurial employees might seem like shooting yourself in the foot:
But the benefits of encouraging entrepreneurial individuals in your workplace more than outweigh these risks. For decades, big corporations have sought out and nurtured "intrapreneurs" within their ranks. These employees, who have many of the self-motivation and leadership skills associated with entrepreneurs, are used to start and head new divisions, initiatives or projects within the company—and in doing so, they give big companies some of the advantages that smaller, more nimble entrepreneurial businesses enjoy. A recent post on the Harvard Business Review blog drew an interesting distinction between two types of people: entrepreneneurial-minded people (EMPs) and serial entrepreneurs (SEs). SEs are what we think of as traditional entrepreneurs. They have a desire to own their own businesses, are highly individualistic, want to be in control and have a "sense of urgency." EMPs share some characteristics of traditional entrepreneurs, but are happier within a company and working with a group toward a goal. They like organization, consistency, and working in teams. Clearly, a lot of these desires aren't compatible with the often chaotic, lonely and ever-changing lifestyle of the true entrepreneur. But the good news is, as an entrepreneur, you can benefit from the entrepreneurial mindset of these employees. Identifying EMPs in your workplace shouldn't be too hard. It's easy to spot the employees who like to be told what to do, follow rules and go home at the end of the day. But what about the employees who want something more—who want to come up with their own ideas, take charge and pursue them with a passion? These employees are also easy to spot—and should be encouraged. Here are some ways to test and nurture your EMPs:
EMPs can be found at any level, from your managers to your front-line staff, and should be encouraged at any level, too. Even an entry-level employee can be handed a goal and allowed to figure out how to achieve it, asked for new ideas, or rewarded for accomplishments. No matter where they are in your company, EMPs are eager to stretch, so challenge them! Along the way, you may find some of your EMPs are really SEs. And yes, one or two may leave your business. But if you keep them happy and challenged, you will benefit enormously from their contributions while they're with your company. And that's really the most you can hope because, as you know yourself, you can't keep a true entrepreneur in a cubicle. How are you encouraging entrepreneurship in your workplace?
From Small Business Trends |
| Posted: 21 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PDT Throughout my career I have encountered stellar salespeople and snake oil salesmen. The difference between them is like night and day. Snake oil salesmen are the salespeople who are in your face, pushing you to buy. They cajole, convince, persuade, and strong arm their way into a sale. They are pushy and loud, not only in their voice but in their behavior.
They are selling hard because they are always selling. They don't build relationships so they have to be hunting all the time. They are on the extreme end of the extrovert continuum. Then we have stellar salespeople. These folks understand they are matching a solution to a need. They build relationships and seek to understand where the prospect is before they offer their solution. They have long term clients and receive referrals regularly. At networking events, they ask a lot of questions and share very little about their product or service. Stellar salespeople share a lot of characteristics with introverts. The February 6, 2012 cover story for TIME Magazine talks about the “Power of (shyness).” The author, Bryan Walsh, mentions that:
I submit that listening is the number one skill of an exceptional, stellar salesperson. According to Bryan, introverts are "more cautious and deliberate than extroverts." Introverts "tend to think things through more thoroughly, which means they can often make smarter decisions." Stellar salespeople don't shoot from the hip; they don't think they have a 'one size fits all' product or service. Instead, they take what they've heard from their prospect and they determine how they can help. If they can, they present a proposal that mirrors the need. If they can't, they say so. When introverts network, they spend their time getting to know one or two people. They don't 'work the room' and hand their business card to everyone. Other people like to speak with introverts because the introvert is genuinely interested in them. The introvert would rather learn about someone else than talk about themselves. Once again, listening plays a key role. Introverts build deep, lasting relationships. This is key to sales success. Maintaining lasting relationships with clients is far less costly than hunting for new ones. This is also where referrals can come from. Because introverts are more deliberate in their processing, I submit they are probably viewed as more trustworthy; and trust is critical to sales. If we put all of these characteristics together we see the perfect model of a stellar salesperson – a trustworthy listener who builds lasting relationships and thinks things through to come to a meaningful solution. All salespeople would do well to make sure they are embracing these characteristics and skill sets. After all, it's never been about the salesperson; it's always been about the prospect. When salespeople stop talking, start listening, and spend their time thinking about how they can help their prospect instead of what they can sell to someone, they will be stellar. Follow the introvert's lead – they come to it naturally. Sales Concept Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| PayPal Makes On-The-Go-Payments Friendlier for SMBs Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT When you think about all the apps you could download for your phone, far too often we think about apps like Angry Birds or Words With Friends. But sandwiched between those time wasters are apps that can help you run your business and remove friction from the customer touch points that hold you back. And last week PayPal announced a new app that small business owners are going to want to be familiar with. It may actually change the way you do business. The new app is called PayPal Here and it allows SMBs to accept mobile payments on-the-go through the use of a card reader and their iPhone or Android's camera. And it already appears to be off to a huge success, reporting 1,000 signups per hour during it’s first 24 hours of existence!
If you're familiar with the Square app for the iPhone, PayPal Here works relatively the same. It features a triangle-shaped dongle that attaches to your smartphone via your microphone jack. From there, merchants can swipe a consumer's credit card and use the app to make the checkout process painless. If you don't want to swipe the card or you don't have your attachment handy, you'll also be able to use the "Scan Card" feature which will allow you to take payments by scanning the credit card's number with your camera's phone. Through the app, SMBs will be able to accept debit and credit cards, checks, PayPal, track cash payments, and even email invoices to customers. Once the transaction is complete, funds will be immediately available in the merchant's PayPal account. Merchant's will also have the option to withdraw funds on the spot with a PayPal merchant debit card that gives 1% cash back. It's everything a SMB owner needs to do business while on the go. Still want more information? Check out PayPal's demo video: The fee for the app and card reader? None. However, merchants will be charged a flat rate of 2.7% for card swipes and PayPal payments. What do you think? Will you give this app a chance? For smaller retailers and SMBs who do business on the go, this kind of technology may be just the thing they need to make the transaction process easier. Or, if you're a small business owner who shied away from certain marketing opportunities because accepting payments was an issue, you just lost your best excuse. From Small Business Trends |
| Marketing Proves Greatest Small Business Challenge Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:30 AM PDT Small business owners and entrepreneurs focus on marketing with good cause. Small businesses need marketing to promote their new products and services and to build a strong, loyal customer base. So what are you doing about marketing your business? The Message is the ThingWhen it’s time to market that great product. For many businesses, the product comes first, that great idea that made you decide to go into business in the first place. Of course, sometimes that’s when the hard part starts. Bloomberg Businessweek Failing to get your message out. The product or service you offer may be great, better than what anyone else has to offer. But, what good does it do when you can’t get the marketing part to work? Here are some thoughts. Small Business Trends Vision & BrandingMaybe you need a new vision. If you’re trying to improve what your business does, the first step may be to change your direction. To do this, define your company’s mission and purpose to produce better product experiences, better customer experiences, and better customer relationships. Fast Company Making your brand inviting. A big part of selling what you do is convincing customers it has value. That’s where your branding efforts should come in. Here are some ways to make your business brand more appealing. Dr. Shannon Reece Spreading the WordGetting better press. Better press can lead to more business, but how can you get the media attention you need. Not surprisingly, it can start with your business blog. Consider these ideas. TweakYourBiz Working at online reputation. Controlling your brand and reputation in your local community or market is one thing. Trying to police your reputation online is something else again. Here are some ways to get started. Brick Marketing Blog Making PlansHow Yelp can help. Many small business owners seem to tremble at the thought of customer reviews on sites like Yelp. But the fact is that, handled correctly, these review sites can be a tremendous benefit to your small business marketing. Noobpreneur Developing a strategy that works. Having a strategy to get the word out about your business, product, or service should never be an afterthought. Such a strategy should be, in fact, an important component of your business plan from the start. Understanding Marketing Final ThoughtsSoftware that sells. In addition to the efforts you put into getting your product known and boosting your brand, software is also available to give you a hand. Here is a peek at what’s available in the marketing arsenal. Expert Business Advice Don’t use this four letter word. When marketing your small business for greater success, watch out for a four letter word that can halt your efforts in their tracks. Don’t use this kind of language when building your business! Firefly Coaching From Small Business Trends |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment