Business Discussions

‘Strategy’ is a term that is thrown out by every business person but only a few are well-versed with its real essence. As a businessperson, you are expected to develop strategies that can augment revenues and take your business to greater heights. It’s all about getting hold of the market opportunities. Do you know that many businesses fail to make the most of the market opportunities due to lack of strategic thinking?   Here are a few business strategy tips to get you started:   Set your Goal   ‘A life without a goal is like a ship without a compass’. Just as we need goals in our life, you need to set a goal for your business too. It is the biggest motivator behind thinking strategically. When you have a goal, you can make your plans and strategies that will aid you in accomplishing it. Furthermore, branding is a vital strategy and it is successful when it is done focusing on the goals. Avoid distractions Devising strategies is not a child’s play and requires you to

Welcome to Wellness Works! First, a question: Do you mentally race through the every day, frantically clicking, tapping and swiping your way through a never-ending flow of information, requests and “need-it-yesterday” deadlines? At the same time, do you feel Super-Glued to your desk chair, barely moving a muscle from morning until night? (Sorry, those tiny mousing muscles don’t count!) If this sounds familiar, join the club. As a fitness and nutrition expert running my own business, I know first-hand that working for yourself translates as doing whatever it takes to get the job done. But the truth is, we all benefit – in so many ways! – from regularly slowing down our mind and speeding up our body. And let’s face it: Resiting that giant chocolate chip cookie every afternoon helps, too. I’ve created Wellness Works to help you achieve a healthful balance between your mind, your body and your fuel. Each week, I’ll offer up tips and strategies for mental, physical and nutritional alignm

  You may already have read our checklist for making sure your business is ready for customers and clients and our post about key insights you can learn from your very first customer. Now we’re sharing four strategies for making the most of meeting your very first client (not to mention all the ones that follow). That big moment is exciting, for sure. But savvy entrepreneurs know it’s also a critical opportunity to learn and engage with a customer in ways that will help your business grow and thrive. Here are four ways to help kick-start your business by securing lots of happy, repeat customers.   1. Stop, talk and listen. If customers are always right, let them be your most trusted advisors. Find out what drew them to your product or service, and inquire about what made them choose your brand over the competition. What do they like about your offering – and what could you do to make it even better? Your first customer “survey” may only garner a data point of one, but it’s a

  Name: Dawn Brown Business: AZ Business Consulting Founded: 2006 Dawn Brown is on a mission. As a CPA running her own business, of course she wants to make her all clients’ numbers add up (to say the least). But Dawn is also deeply committed to contributing to society in a meaningful way. By staying true to those two parallel goals – growing her accounting business and doing good, both locally and beyond – Dawn has successfully carved out a novel niche for her professional financial services business. Today she specializes in helping non-profits successfully manage their money in order to achieve their service- and community-oriented goals. In other words, Dawn has figured out how to combine her professional expertise with her personal passion. For folks like Dawn who work for themselves, that’s a winning formula, indeed. How did you decide to start working for yourself? I spent many years as a CPA and a CFO for companies and clients on the East Coast. I worked on projects that w

Name: Charlene Rivera Business: Sassy Sisters on Wheels Started: August 2015 Charlene Rivera had been working her heart out in a restaurant when, out of the blue, she was slapped in the face. Not literally slapped (thank goodness), but after hearing the restaurant owner explain she’d only bought the business to give her daughter a “hobby,” Charlene was shocked – and nervous. Rather than leave her livelihood in someone else’s hands, she decided to become her own boss. It wasn’t long before Charlene found herself the co-owner (along with a long-time friend and fellow restaurant worker, Cherry) of a busy food-truck service in Swainsboro, GA. The Sassy Sisters on Wheels were ready to roll! What tips do you have about going into business with a close friend? We started with three business partners, but the third person dropped out. Cherry and I were both a bit worried about being friends and partners. We knew we’d need to make compromises and talk through the good and the bad. We’ve d

...What's *your* take on this idea when it comes to your business?

  We'll let you in on a little secret. About six months ago, we defined a Main Goal and started using The Morning Ritual to hit our Target Number. It's been strangely effective.    Apparently, there is an intergalactic force that is available to anyone who spends 30 minutes every morning writing down one's ten most important goals in the present tense, adding a target date to each of them.    The Magic is in Writing Down Your Goals   Write down a list of 10 goals you'd like to accomplish in the near future. Write them in the present tense with a general target date. Start with your Main Goal at the top. Then add other specific, supporting goals in the same format. Supporting goals are best as a mix of business, financial goals, family/relationship and health targets.     Yep. That's it. No magic.   For some reason, this technique seems to attract the people, opportunities, ideas and resources to you that help you achieve your goal

I want to start my business. It will be small hotel, and I understand that I need a website. I read that simplest way to create it, it is to use premiym template. I found great variants on famous templatemonster and buy Dalton - Modern Hotel & Resort WordPress Theme - https://www.templatemonster.com/wordpress-themes/62454.html for $75. Price is not big, but design is nice. Now I working with it, but I'm worried that I will not get anything done. How do you think I have some chance for success?

Wondering how contractors feel about and get the most out of accepting credit cards for payment? What do you use?

  Name: Lloyd Mabuto Business: Final Touch Lab Founded: 2011 Lloyd Mabuto was just a kid when he first realized the power of images to convey a message. His dad, an NGO worker helping developing countries, would often ask Lloyd to create a piece of art to explain a concept without using words. In college, Lloyd discovered graphic design satisfied his dueling passion for art and software engineering. A professional graphic/web designer by trade, Lloyd loved helping people convey a message – and achieve their mission – through carefully placed words and images. After testing the waters as a part-time consultant, Lloyd dove in to become a full-time, self-employed web designer and brand consultant based in Chatanooga, TN. What was the tipping point that inspired you to turn your “side passion” into a full-time business? I found myself teaching clients about online marketing, and I wanted to find more opportunities to help and provide value. As I saw my clients’ business increase

Those three little words sum up some serious learnings about getting customers from QB Community member @Rustler. Want more great insights? We’ve got plenty, right here: Three Ways Your First Customer Can Help You Build a Better Business.   Whan have you panicked? When have you pivoted?

I am a mindset coach for business owners.  I'd love to get feedback from the group on how you believe a business owner thinks differently than the average person.

And how do you integrate those lessons into meaningful actions in your business? Share, share and share your Reply! Let's learn from each other :smileyvery-happy:

...and how accomplishing it enables them to achieve their objectives. A customer is basically buying an outcome, not a service. Understand what that outcome is and deliver it, and you’ll be successful (and so will they).” -- Todd Eby, founder of SuccessHacker.   Like Todd’s ideas about how to get customers? Read more from him and other QB Community members like you right here: Getting Customers: Is Your Business Customer-Ready? A Checklist for Success.

Greetings!! Am always very thankful to be able to borrow a blogging platform and serve + add value. Within the next 7-10 days (ETP = est. time (to) publish) , my latest guest post will go live. Topic: Education & a Business' CVST ( Culture, Vision, Strategy, Tactics )

Hello to the entire community! Am always very thankful to borrow a platform and serve + add value. Within the next 7-10 days (ETP = est. time (to) publish) , my latest guest blog will go live. Topic: Education & a Business' CVST ( Culture, Vision, Strategy, Tactics )

A suggestion/recommendation which I now freely pay forward to anyone who is a sidepreneur, solopreneur, mobile-preneur, or any other class of (entre)preneur is to invest in these two resources: Blue Ocean Strategy & the Business Model Canvas. For the latter, there is an app in the Apple store to download as well.

Robert Collier, Author of The Secret of the Ages published in 1926 What's one small effort you repeat that helps you on your way to success?

Mark your answer in the comments below :-)   We learn from each other here in the QB Community -- share an example from your own experience about how your customer's have/haven't influenced you!

The Equation of YouYou = ∑ people + ∑ experiences + ∑ inputs + ∑ habits + ∑ interests/talentsYou are the sum of the:– people you connect with or are surrounded by– experiences you have or choose– inputs you get– habits you form and or change– interests/talents you pursue or developChoose wisely! 

Share *your* story -- how you got there, how you got through it and what you learned along the way.

So make yours positive -- and positively professional.   Here in our QuickBooks Community we’re taking a deep look at how best to establish a strong customer base and turn those customers or clients into loyalists who keep coming back.   Check out this QB Community post on Getting Customers: Is Your Business Customer-Ready? A Checklist for Success.    Do you have a good first impression story? Business or personal -- you choose :smileywink:

Name: Beth Arca Business: Bright Futures Eyewear Founded: 2016 Have you ever scoured Craigslist to buy a business that’s for sale? No, neither have we. But that’s exactly what enterprising Beth Arca did in 2016 when she decided to turn her dream of working for herself into a reality. Thanks to a well-timed “for sale” posting on the site, today Beth is the proud owner of Bright Futures Eyewear, a Bay-Area business offering vintage-inspired sunglasses. Now she’s a multitasking pro, building out her new company at the same time as she juggles both motherhood and a full-time job at startup. Whew! Beth, what needs to happen for you to turn your “side gig” into a fulltime job? I went to school for business management, so my end goal has always been running my own business full-time. Before that happens, I need to secure more wholesale accounts, develop my marketing strategy and expand my ecommerce site. I’m learning a lot about marketing (and more) as a customer experience manager at an eco

to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them — preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.” –- Richard Branson    

  Amy started sewing baby clothes on her kitchen table when she was pregnant with her first baby. Four years after she put the extras up for sale on Etsy, she has a growing business with 150k+ Instagram followers and she just moved into a brand new office space in Brooklyn. We asked her to dish on what it was like when she decided to change her business name along the way (talk about a big risk!) and how she's building a community of fans both online and offline.   Name: Amy Richardson Business: June and January Children's Apparel Started: 2011   How did you create your awesome job? I started doing what would become my business when I was still working a 9-to-5 at Teen Vogue.  I originally learned to sew in third grade, and when I was pregnant I started making a little cap I had a pattern for. I immediately found the process addictive — baby clothes are so quick to make! After racing through dozens of pieces, I decided to put the extras up for sale on Ets