Objectives and Risks of Owning a Small Business Website

website ideas (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

  Having a website is one thing, but marketing it is something completely different. There is no magic button, or special hidden secret to marketing your website. There are however a few things that must be done in order to market your website appropriately. There is no use in having a website if no one ever sees it!
According to Sutevski the most important objectives for a business website are:

• Reaching the target market.
• Attract visitors to your Website.
• Encourage them to buy your products and services – to take action.
• Make them to want to come back to your Website for free or paid content, products or services.

Creating a website that will appeal to your target market is important. Otherwise you will have a high bounce rate, which means that your potential customers are not staying on your site very long. People don't stay on websites very long because they are not finding what they are looking for. It's important to make it appealing to the eye as well as interesting to your niche.

Attracting visitors by submitting your URL to search engines and using meta tags is not enough. If you want traffic you have to use network marketing. That means Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr and so many more. Pick a few that you like and are comfortable with. Make sure when posting to your network that you are not bombarding your potential customers with ad after ad. Post original and premium content. Be creative and watch your followers grow.

No one is buying your products? Is your website set up for payments? How are your item descriptions? Do you have quality photos of your products or the work that you have done?

If you want your customers to come back you need to remind them. The easiest way to do this is with a mailing list. Set up a sign up box on your website with a short form your customers can fill out their personal information. Send out emails with promotions and special events.

As far as risks go, security is the top priority. According to The Startups Team "Credit card criminals are increasingly turning their attention to smaller e-commerce sites, using stolen credit cards to buy goods online, so you have to have the right level of security in place." If you are keeping this information in house on your own servers you need to make sure that it is protected. If you have contracted a separate entity to manage this information for you steps need to be taken to ensure the security of your customer's information.

The Startups Team. (2001, October 12) Running a website: The security risks. Retrieved from http://startups.co.uk/running-a-website-the-security-risks/
Sutevski, D. (2009, September 19). Online objectives for marketing your business. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/559/online-objectives-marketing-business/

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Entrepreneurs take a lot of risk

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Entrepreneurs take a lot of risk because they are investing so much of themselves into the start up. It's not only time and money. It's also blood sweat and tears. You really can't be an entrepreneur unless you have the passion for what it is that you are doing. Any start up would fail if the person that started it didn't have a love and passion for what they were doing. I believe that a person is born with this type of passion. I do not think that it is something that you can be taught or learn. You either have the drive, the motivation and the yearning to excel or you do not. At the same time I believe that many people are born with these driving personality traits but they never understand their true potential. That is why discipline, perseverance and motivation should always be taught, so that people can excel in what ever path they chose, and what ever area they are passionate for.

According to McCubbrey (2009), a venture capitalist is a person or a company which invests money into a business that needs funding. They have grown to a certain extent and cannot grow further without financial assistance. The businesses they choose are usually young businesses with strong management or a specific unique product. Venture capitalists have typically invested in technology companies in the past. The venture capitalist invests in the company with the hopes of a profit return. This is risky for the business because if the plan fails a debt is owed to the venture capitalist or the business can be consumed by the venture capitalist leaving the business owner with nothing. If the company is successful they will grow to the point of having their stocks available to the public.

     The three building blocks for managers to use in developing an innovative and effective business model that I chose are core capacities, the configuration of activities and relationships. Here are my explanations of these building blocks and how they apply to my small business.

In the three years that I have been selling jewelry online I have transformed a small hobby into a streamlined process. By trial and error and after hundreds of sales I have discovered which core capacities are absolutely necessary and how to configure the activities of my shop so that it runs more smoothly than when I first started. Core capacities are basically the things that my shop must have to actually be a shop. This includes a reliable internet service provider, a computer, a printer, the items I have for sale, packaging material such as small jewelry bags and shipping material such as flat rate boxes and tape and more. These are all things that are necessary to keep my shop running. Through out the life of my shop I have been able to find the most cost effective way to obtain all of these things and still continue to tweak my core capacities so they deliver the maximum amount of return and not hurt my profit margin and still maintain my brand and company culture.


     At the same time I have been able to organize the processes of creation of products and shipment after a sale. This is called the configuration of activities. When I first opened my shop I would create one item at a time, list one item at a time for sale on my site and cross my fingers that they would sell. After time, I was able to figure out which items I was producing were the most popular. I have since purchased the supplies for those popular items by wholesale, thus lowering the cost to produce these items and raising my profit margin for each item sold. I have attacked the shipment of my products the same way. For example I went from wrapping each individual item in stamped kraft paper, which was a long process when there are several orders to slipping items in a draw string jewelry bag which is a much quicker process and one I believe looks much better. All my shipping supplies are prepared and stocked so that when a sale is made everything is organized. Time is money when you own your own business so I believe that in streamlining these activities I have succeeded in generating more time for my self to focus on other important activities which need my attention.

     Such as customer relationships! The relationships that I build with my customers is very important because they are the driving force of profitability for my shop. The object is to develop a brand and company culture along with a product that my customers are so satisfied with that they return for more. Eventually I would like my customers to visit my shop regularly to see what new items I have and make purchases because they habitually buy my products.

What is a competitive advantage? How does marketing contribute to the creation of a competitive advantage
Competitive advantage is the ability to create a necessity for the product or service you are offering for sale instead of a desire. It is basically how the consumer views your product or service against that of your competitors. If the consumer chooses your product or service over your competitors product or service you have developed a competitive advantage. In order to develop a competitive advantage via marketing one must have a plan. Marketing is important because it encompasses many of the nuances of your business model and small details in running a business. From internal organization, treatment of employees, to company culture, branding, packaging to the quality and how readily available your goods and services are. These are all aspects of marketing and how you present your business to your consumers and the market. Taking the time to develop and perfect every last detail of your business plan so that your customers turn your brand into a household name. What comes to mind is a movie entitled Corina Corina. In one of the scenes the little girl is asked how to spell the word vacuum and she responds with H-O-O-V-E-R. You know that you are marketing your target audience correctly when your brand name becomes synonymous with the type of product that you are selling.

     Market segmentation refers to market research. Hunt and Arnett state "Its fundamental thesis is that, to achieve competitive advantage and, thereby, superior financial performance, firms should (1) identify segments of demand, (2) target specific segments, and (3) develop specific marketing "mixes" for each targeted market segment."In order to target  different markets a company must do research in order to find an angle in which to market their products to different niche markets.

     In order to gain profit a business wants it's product to be readily available to everyone, but not everyone will purchase the product for the same reasons. Marketing segmentation is the process of developing a way to target diverse markets in order to make a profit. In order to do this a company must first figure out what the customers in a specific market desire or what they are in need of. The business must locate where their competitive advantage lies and focus on it. Publix has a competitive advantage over other supermarkets because it realized how popular sushi was becoming. Publix now offers sushi in their stores for a lower price of dining out. They target their customers with sushi by placing the sushi near the international food aisle and the seafood.

     Once the market for a specific product is found different marketing techniques can be used to find out which is more profitable for the business.

Hunt, S. D. & Arnett, D. B. (2004). Market Segmentation Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Public Policy: Grounding Segmentation Strategy in Resource-Advantage Theory. Australasian Marketing Journal. 12 (1), 7-25. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/199330650?accountid=8289

Discuss several reasons why marketers continue to have a difficult time understanding, predicting, and explaining consumer behavior.
The reason that marketers have a difficult time understand predicting and explaining consumer behavior is because all markets are dynamic. Consumerism is an ever-changing atmosphere and cannot be relied upon to ever remain consistent. What holds true about your market can change by tomorrow with the development of new products on the market, new business arising and new technology as a few examples. The example made by a classmate in the forums regarding Blockbuster video is a perfect explanation of this. Blockbuster video under estimated the power of technology in it's market segment. They relied on their popularity to carry them into a new segment of the market in which they did not have a stronghold on. Without doing market research they were not able to predict that their customers would no longer need to rent videos as technology developed because videos would be readily available over the net (Netflix on video game consoles and television interfaces) and more convenient places (like Redbox at every Walgreens). The inability to evolve with it's ever-changing market caused the demise of Blockbuster video.

     There four types of business legal entities.

     Sole proprietor is the typical small business. It is usually run by a person or family. The risks that the small business owners takes is high because they are responsible for everything the business entails. From every day business processes to responsibility of debts that may incur. The owner may choose to remain small or grow and change it's legal entity.

     Partnerships are basically the conjoining of sole proprietorships. Responsibility and liability are shared and agreed upon along with other aspects of business operations including distribution of work and profits.

     Corporations are managed by the state in which they reside. They receive investments from shareholders or stock owners and can be publicly or privately traded. Corporations are lower risk because of the disbursement of liability to all people involved. Corporations are run by the share holders who's investment and liability directly correlate to each other.

     LLC stands for Limited Liability Company. It benefits from the low risk of liability of a corporation but acts like a sole proprietorship or partnership depending on how many people are involved.

Cultural differences affect international marketing activities because there are so many diverse cultures in the world. Different cultures have different set of beliefs, ethics and morals. Marketing strategies that work with one culture may or may not be effective in a different country where the culture is based on a different belief system. For instance you would not want to open a slaughter house in Israel to sell pork products because due to their belief system most people of the Jewish religion do not eat port. However if you were to open that same slaughter house in a country that eats more pork than others you could have a fairly successful business venture on your hands. This is one of the reasons why market research is so important. No one wants to open a business blindly without any type of knowledge of the market.

The flat organization structure is what most small businesses utilize. The owner of the small business makes all of the decisions necessary for business operations. This is due to the small stature of the business. There are less employees involved if any, so communication is spread out horizontally. Employees are empowered to make decisions and communicate with each other for the benefit of the business. Because communication is stronger problem solving is quicker with everyone working together as a whole. The downside to the flat organization structure is that it is less structured or disciplined then the tall. As the company grows, so does the employee count and without that structure employees can easily lose sight of the company's mission if management does not keep a close eye on daily operations. A good example of a flat organization is a mom and pop owned restaurant.

In contrast, the tall organization structure has multiple levels of management. Much like the United States government, all jobs are broken down into specialized areas. One person at the top makes all of the decisions. Each employee is responsible for specific job duties, unlike the flat organization where employees have a plethora of duties. As each employee specializes in their area they get better with experience and can ultimately cut costs. One of the downsides of the tall organization structure is that employees can become so specialized in their specific field that they lose the human touch that most consumers appreciate about businesses. Communication between employees with different job duties may suffer because they are only focused on the tasks they have at hand and they do no collaborate ideas on how to improve business or functions.
I believe that employee empowerment and the concept of employees as stakeholders goes hand in hand. An employee has a large stake in the company that they work for. Not only do employees count on their job for money which allows them to live a certain type of lifestyle their jobs also give them a sense of purpose. By empowering employees with the tools, information and benefits they need to do their job as well as promoting a close knit and teamwork oriented work place, you are only setting your business up for success. Employees respond better and work more efficiently if they feel like they have the resources and support to do their job appropriately. People in general will take pride in their work when they feel like they are a crucial part of the organization instead of just another "brick in the wall" so to speak. Employees are one of the most important stakeholders in a company and should be treated as such. Overlooking any stakeholder can be detrimental to the success of your business.
McCubbrey D.J. (2009) Business Fundamentals. Global Text Project.

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Small Business: The Four Stages of Growth

Headshift business card discussion (Photo credit: Lars Plougmann)

The Four Stages of Growth

by Michelle Nascimento

From opening a small business to becoming a major corporation there are certain steps involved. There are four stages of growth a successful small business will ultimately go through as it matures. The four stages are discussed in the following text.

Stage 1 is the proprietorship. This is a business that is completely run by one person or a family. The owner themselves complete all operations of keeping the business running. A good example of this would be my handmade jewelry shop with Etsy as my venue. I have been an Etsy seller for about 3 years now. I run every aspect of my jewelry shop from the creation of my items, to photography and listing, to marketing to shipping. I have complete control over changes that need to be made and am responsible for all tasks that need to be completed. I receive all profit that is made but am also responsible for any debts incurred. “An owner-manager, a group of partners or the members of a family dynasty dominate most small businesses.” (Roper, S. 1999. p. 235)

The Etsy office's community workspace area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once the proprietorship has been established to a certain extent it may be time to hire. Expansion is a big step for all small businesses. Stage 2 consists of hiring an employee or employees to assist with day to day tasks. The employee(s) and owner now work together in order to complete tasks. This also gives the owner time to focus on other responsibilities such as hiring more workers and other managerial duties. “[S]mall businesses are more challenged than large companies by resource constraints such as access to financial capital, and technical or managerial skills, which often significantly reduce the number and type of options available to management (Hodgetts and Kuratko 2001). This is a very challenging goal for a small business owner because of the limited resources. However with confidence, innovation and the right product or specialty growth can be obtained.

The 3rd Stage of growth comes when “firms reach a major milestone in organizational development when they add an additional level of supervision.” (McCubbrey, D.J.) Business has expanded and the need for even more employees has risen. The owner still has a part in day to day tasks but focuses primarily on organizing management tiers and overall business operations. A chain of command is created and all duties trickle down from owner to manager to employee. The next stage in development is a littler more complex in that it adds more management where necessary as well as documentation. Aspects of everyday business tasks, budgets, job descriptions and policies are documented. The documentation assists in training new employees and duplication (starting new like businesses).

References

Hodgetts, R. M., and Kuratko, D. F. Effective Small Business Management, Harcourt College, Fort Worth, TX, 2001.

McCubbrey, D.J., (2009). Business fundamentals. Retrieved from: http://www.textbookequity.org/oct/Textbooks/McCubbrey_BusinessFundamentals.pdf

 Roper, S. (1999). Modelling small business growth and profitability. Small Business Economics, 13.3. 235-252. 

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DYI: Emergency Supply Pouch

 Thank you to A Spoon Full of Sugar for this tutorial!
Please click any image to be taken to the tutorial!

Best of all, they only take an hour to make! They would make a nice gift with a gift card, cash or some other emergency supply inside!

No More Trips to the Post Office!

Are you tired of going to the post office? Tired of waiting in the long holiday lines? Or are you just to damn busy to get there? This easy start guide will help you send your sold items out to your customers with out ever leaving the comfort of your own home!

Stop Paying for Boxes
The first thing you thinking about when you make your first sale is how you are going to actually get your items to their new owners. Shipping supplies can become incredibly expensive, but luckily our wonderful United States Post Office offers free boxes. This can be very helpful when you are starting your own business and are already spread thin with listing prices and supplies for your products.  It feels like the Post Office has read your mind, just as long as you use their priority mail option which is usually the cheapest option for shipping anyway. The boxes are available in different sizes to meet your shop's needs. They  come flat but are easy to assemble and are self adhesive, but I still like to use a little extra packaging tape just to be safe. If you sell online like I do you will want to keep a small stock of boxes at home, that way when you get that thrilling sale you'll have everything you need ready to go. Positive feedback means fast shipping! If you really hate the post office or just are too busy to get there you can actually have the boxes you need delivered to your home. Make sure you order the boxes about a week in advance because that is how long they take to be delivered. So you've made your sale and you've packaged your item. Now let's talk about shipping.

Print Shipping Labels from Home
Let's face the facts, going to the post office was fun when you were a kid but it is not anymore! The long holiday lines, the dreadful weather, the PO'd clerks that just want to go home and spend time with their families around the holidays. Well if you have a printer at home then you really don't need to make the trip anymore! Printing shipping labels from home is easy! When you arrive at USPS.com you'll see this exact picture in the lower left hand corner of their site. Just click on the Get Started button! You may need a USPS account to get started. This process is fast and easy. Just fill out the fields it requires in the step by step process and make sure you select the correct Priority Mail box that you are using.

Free Pick Up
At this point you should have your items packaged and sealed  and your label printed. Take some of that clear packaging tape to adhere your label to the box and you are ready for USPS's free pick up. Just follow the directions to set up your free pick up and a mail man will come to your home to pick up the package and send it out for shipping. Personally I use the smallest priority shipping boxes and have a really nice mail man, so I just put my boxes in the mail box with the flag up! Viola! You're items are out for shipping and you should be receiving feedback on how quickly the shipping was in 3-5 days!