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Andy Latter, Web Expert Columnist
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Andy Latter is an eBusiness adviser with eBusiness Connections, a business resource centre providing eBusiness information and services to help BC business remain competitive in an online market. Andy has over 12 years of experience in website development and programming and is a provincially certified instructor who has taught web design, Web applications and Web programming since 1998.
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Yes, you can compete in tough times Polish your presentation, and above all – stay connected!
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It was no April Fool’s joke. On April 1, 2001, I lost my job as web developer for Thoughtshare Communications. Thoughtshare had been different from other, fly-by-night dot-coms. It had an almost revolutionary product, drawing an actual map of your path from webpage to webpage, and website to website. Unfortunately, the dot-com crash brought down good companies like Thoughtshare along with the bad.
Suddenly, the tech industry was flooded with skilled people, all out of work and competing for fewer and fewer jobs. I faced two options: go back to school, or start my own business. I started Get Help Communications and worked for eight years as a contracting consultant. Today, times are tough again. Many people are choosing to go back to school for retraining – but more still are starting their own small business. They will have to compete with big businesses for fewer customers. But they won’t need to break the bank to do that.
The first step is getting a professional phone system. Nothing says amateur like your kids answering, or saying to a client, “Call me before you send a fax.” I once called a company whose rep dropped the phone on the desk and yelled, “Bob, some guy wants to talk to you!” At the very least, get a separate fax line and a phone system that allows you to put a call on hold – with music, so people know they’re still connected.
VOIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is an increasingly attractive phone solution. A VOIP package, including music on hold, call display, and voicemail, can be almost the same monthly cost as a basic business line. VOIP is truly mobile, working over the Internet, not a phone line. Set up a VOIP system on your laptop and you can answer calls from your hotel room in Chicago, as if you were in your Vancouver office.
Next, start working on your presentation skills. Practice, practice, practice, until you feel comfortable greeting someone, building a rapport, and pitching your products and services. Presentation isn’t just about speaking. It includes business cards, brochures and other promotional material. One big mistake is to try making these yourself. I use Vista Print (www.vistaprint.ca). For less than $100 I get 500 business cards, full colour, glossy, printed both sides.
Recently, US President Barack Obama said he’d have a hard time giving up his BlackBerry, even for “legal and security concerns.” You don’t have to be president of the United States to know the importance of staying connected. Handhelds, such as the LG Incite or HTC Touch Pro, are not just cell phones. They use Windows Mobile and can synch contact lists, phone numbers, and e-mail attachments with your computer. With Word and Excel, you can read and send documents and spreadsheets. The price of a good laptop has fallen dramatically. An eight-inch, 2.2-pound Dell Inspiron Mini 9, an ultra mobile mini laptop computer, costs only $349. But remember: back up your data regularly! I use PC Backup Vault (www. pcbackupvault.com), an affordable, automated service that has saved my butt more than once.
A website is mandatory for any business. According to Stats Canada, increasingly Canadians’ first contact with a business is through their website. We have a negative opinion about a business without one. But it’s not enough just to have a website – it has to look good. Consumer Reports commissioned Stanford University to research how customers determine a website’s credibility. Most important: not a website’s privacy policy or terms-of-use, but its look and feel. An amateurish website equates to an amateurish business. It’s crucial to hire a professional company with the experience and reputation to create an effective, attractive website for you.
Lastly, the one thing small business has over big business is flexibility, agility, and a greater stake in the success of the business. Big business is often handcuffed by limitations in infrastructure, process, and attitude.
If you’re starting your own business, now or in the future, remember that you can compete on a near-level playing field. Use technology to your advantage and harness the power of the web. Get mobile, stay focused, and exceed expectations.
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Read other articles by
Andy Latter:
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Read other columnist articles from the "Focus on Young Entrepreneurs" issue:
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Read other feature articles from the "Focus on Young Entrepreneurs" issue:
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Small Business Tip
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Don’t Cut Your Marketing Budget in a Recession
Perhaps the most widely ignored recession survival "rule," is to not cut back on
marketing efforts. A McGraw Hill study done during the early 1980s recession divided
firms into those that continued to spend on advertising versus those that cut back.
Researchers found companies that continued to spend doubled their sales and profits.
Those that cut back lost about 20 percent of sales and profits. The most dramatic
gains came in the first two years of the recovery when businesses that had continued
to spend enjoyed sales and profit growth of 273 percent. Those non-spenders, they
had 20 percent growth in sales and profit after five years compared to 1980.
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