REFLECTIONS

How to Make Your Business Run Better and More Profitably

1. Take action. Taking action will probably move you forward on some significant goal.

2. Know your customers. Look back at the misses and successes of the last two

years and use that data to help you reassess your idea of your real customers/clients and prospects.

3. Speak your customers' language. Remember that you are not selling your products or services, you are meeting the needs or solving the problems of your prospects and clients/ customers; package and market your products/services in a way that addresses that need or problem.

4. Some revenue is better than none. Don't stall your success because you are afraid partnering will reveal your secrets to a potential competitor. Find a Business Buddy, create a business partnership..

5. Put it in writing. If you put the specifics of every agreement and arrangement in writing you will save yourself time, money, agony and broken relationships.

6. Make marketing a priority. You should develop a schedule of marketing actions, put them on your calendar and carry them out -- just as you would any product or service development and delivery for a customer/client.

7. Avoid spending time "getting ready" instead of "doing." If there is something you do not really want to do or are not comfortable with, there is the risk of avoiding it by getting trapped in the preparation phase.

Copyright 2011. Reprinted with permission from Barbara Wold's Retail & Consumer Tips, bwold@ix.netcom.com.