New Business Development – Page 34

The Best Time To Start A Business

The best time
to start a business
is now.

This was true
10 years ago
and it is especially true
today.

Why is it especially true today?

Because climate change
and other issues
are making
doing…well…anything
tougher and tougher.

Resources will become
more and more limited.

We need resources
to start businesses.

And because we know
today we’re well enough,
strong enough,
passionate enough.
alive enough
to start a business.

That might not be true
tomorrow.

If starting a business
is a dream of yours,
start working on that dream
today.

Not Everyone Will Like Your Idea

I will post a cute photo
of kittens
on social media
and receive comments
complaining that
I didn’t post
a photo of puppies.

Not everyone will like
what you post
or do
or build.

This especially applies
to your new business idea.

Some people won’t like it.
Heck, some people
will hate it.

And the more details you share
about the idea,
the more things people
will find wrong with it.

Hopefully enough people
will like it
to build a viable business
around them.

But some people won’t like it.
And a few people will hate it
with a fiery passion.

Expect that to happen.
Don’t let it stop you.

Living On Site

Jayne Merner Senecal
at
Earth Care Farm
stresses the benefits
of living on site
at their compost facilities.

“I find that
living in the middle of it
has really helped me
to keep that good eye.

I know not everyone can live
in the middle of
their giant compost operation
or even their small one
but having someone on site helps.

Because a lot of times
this interesting thing happens
—we call it the morning bloom—
where there can be odors
in the late night/early morning
that you wouldn’t know about
if you were living off site.”

This benefit to living
on site
isn’t unique to compost farms.

It’s the reason
why
many store owners
live above their stores.

Nothing beats
living on site.

And that’s an advantage
we small business owners have
over the large corporations.

We can be
THAT close to our businesses.

Consider living on site.

Buy Used Assets

The harsh fact is…
at least
20% of businesses
(I suspect the number is higher)
fail
within 2 years of opening.

That means
many of the assets
those founders bought new
to build their businesses
are less than 2 years old.

You can help those founders
recover some of the money
they invested
while
saving yourself money
by buying
needed gently used assets
from them
at a discount.

Your furniture, printers
shelving, supplies, etc
don’t have to be new.
They merely have to look
reasonably new.

Decreasing these costs
will stretch your start up funds
and that could make the difference
between your business
surviving or failing.

Buy assets used
whenever possible.

Ask For One Favor At A Time

A loved one
called today
to ask for favors.
Favors.
Multiple favors.
Six to be exact.

And they weren’t easy favors
to grant.
Each one will take
at least a couple hours
to tackle.

She thought she was being efficient
by saving up the favors
and asking for them
all at once.

Nope.
She was greatly diminishing
the odds ANY of them
will be fulfilled.

I would have put aside time
to do one of the favors.

I don’t have 12 plus hours
to do things for her.

And when I heard her list,
I felt…
taken advantage of,
used,
like an unpaid unappreciated
employee.

It wasn’t a nice feeling.

Ask for one favor
at a time.

Value Your Soil

We’ll all super busy
building our businesses.

I completely understand that
as I am in the same hectic state.

But while we’re focusing
on our businesses,
we should ensure
we’re not f*cking up
other assets.

Like the soil
around our businesses
and homes.

Top soil depletion
is a serious issue
now and in the future.
It is as serious
as lack of water.

Which means
it is an asset
that is appreciating in value.

Consider building your top soil.

Add a layer of leaves
to it
in the autumn.
Keep it covered
with grass and other plants
year round.
Stop using pesticides.

It is as simple as that.

And, for f*cks sake,
don’t pave over it
(or install plastic grass
or other harmful coverings)
if that is at all possible.

Your top soil
is an asset.
Value it.

Let People Have Fun Today

There’s a lot
of serious sh*t
happening in the world.

People are struggling
emotionally.

If it doesn’t
directly harm your business,
let people have fun today.

Ignore the employee
who arrived in costume
without permission.

Let employees play
the spooky music
in your store.

Give employees
some time
in the break room
to enjoy the treats
their coworker brought in.

Allow the non-service doggy
in costume
to enter the store.

Let everyone blow off some steam
and have some fun.

Tomorrow,
you can get back
to serious business.

Have Treats For In Store Halloween Shoppers

Yes, there is a push back
in some religious neighborhoods
against Halloween.

So think about
whether or not
you wish to promote Halloween
heavily.

But consider having
a basket of treats
stored under the counters
for Halloween celebrating shoppers.

If a shopper in costume
or buying Halloween items
approaches
your cashiers,
instruct them
to give that shopper
some of those treats.

It will delight
both your employees
and your customers.

Delighted customers
become loyal customers.

The Cost Of Climate Change

According to a survey
completed by KPMG,
nearly 60%
of Canadian small-
and medium-sized businesses
have been directly impacted
by extreme weather events
thus far
in 2023.

54% saw a substantial increase
in their costs.
44% reported direct losses
in revenue.
51% experienced supply chain disruptions.
45% said their facilities were damaged.
And 41% had to relocate their operations
or move to alternative facilities.

THIS is why
climate change is a business building issue.

THIS is why
I talk about it here
on client k.

The extreme impacts
of climate change
are merely beginning
world-wide.

If we want to be successful,
especially long term,
we have to prepare for this.

Doron Telem,
national ESG leader
at KPMG in Canada,
states

“To address the new reality,
companies need to have
business-interruption plans
at the ready
and will also require
stronger, more robust
climate resiliency
and adaptation plans.”

Climate change is a business issue.
Address it.

Your Customer Service Sucks Right Now

In my part of the world,
1 in 25 people (or more)
are currently suffering
from COVID.

That’s one illness alone.

There are wars happening
that impact
people’s families and friends.

Climate change
is still impacting people
and their loved ones.

People are facing
many other challenges.

These people include
your sales and other customer facing
teams.

Customer service is,
as a result,
sucking big time.

And that is impacting
your customers
and your sales.

What can you do
about this?

You can build
more customer service
into your products.
Place a thank you message
on your packaging, for example.

Or/And

You can tweak your systems
to make customer service easier
for your employees.
You can take out steps
in the product return process,
for example.

Or/And

You can hire more employees.
Or give employees more paid breaks
during the day.
Or make their working conditions
as pleasant as possible.

These are just a few fast ideas.
Your customer facing employees
can likely supply more.

Your customer service
sucks right now.

Do something to ‘fix’ it
and improve future sales.