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News From Touchstone Business Advisors
From time to time, Touchstone has new business listings, changes to existing listings or important new developments, which are first previewed to those valued clients, who have previously expressed an interest in a business acquisition or sale. If you have a business associate who would be interested in hearing about our services, listings and receiving our articles, please forward this newsletter and they will be able to sign-up for future notices. You can also keep abreast of these changes and download NDA forms and business profiles on our website: www.touchstonebiz.com
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10 Ways to Improve a Business
(on a limited budget!)
Whether you are running an existing business, positioning it for sale or are contemplating buying a business and how you will make it more successful, new ideas to spur growth sometimes have a hefty price tag. When cash is tight, you sometimes have to find ways to improve the business without breaking the bank. Here are some ideas...
#1 Hug Your Customers
"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption to our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider to our business. He is a part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us the opportuity to do so." - Mahatma Gandhi -
Find ways to let your customers know they are important. Spend some time listening to them and asking questions. Communicate with them on a regular basis (eg, email newsletter!).
#2 Manage Productivity with Optimism
"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." -Colin Powell-
When times are good, productivity can suffer due to a sense of entitlement. When times are bad, fear can impact productivity. It is the owner's responsibility to recognize and manage the balance between entitlement and fear to attain maximum productivity. As a business owner, you must provide yourself and your employees with
optimism and confidence that challenges can be overcome.
#3 Engage your Employees
"Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune." -Sam Walton-
Help your employees understand the importance of their role in your business and how their job impacts the business as a whole. Review your relationship with your employees and find ways to keep your relationship happy and avoid costly attrition.
#4 Dust Off Your Business Plan
"Make big plans, but change your plans as time changes." -Marchant-
See how far (or little) your business has taken shape from your original idea. Many owners write a business plan at the start. Some forget about it or follow opportunistic paths in divergent directions. Go find your business plan and update it. Since your business' inception, a number of factors may have changed - from the overall business climate to your product line. Seek advise from your business advisers to validate new directions.
#5 Change the Rules
"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative." -H. G. Wells-
Challenge every assumption about your business model. Try new ideas, measure their results and try again. Many business owners assume they have to play by the big guy's rules...but true innovation often comes from the little guy's/gal's or even those outside the industry with a fresh perspective.
#6 Manage Your Balance Sheet
"Profit is an illusion, cashflow is fact." -Unknown-
Difficult times can lead to the vicious cycle of declining revenue, operating losses and negative cash flow. Be realistic and update your metrics and management information rapidly and frequently. Identify the most important things your business requires for profitability and get that information into your reports. Negotiate with vendors for better deals and longer payment terms. Control expenses that do not directly result in improving your business.
#7 Discipline Yourself to Complete an Everyday "To Do" List
"Develop your willpower so that you can make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not." -Brian Tracy-
Accomplish one activity that may result in new business -- everyday! Make a cold call on a new prospect, send an email to a customer you haven't heard from, check-in with an existing customer or motivate a sales rep or distributor. The trick is to discipline yourself to do this everyday.
#8 Create a "Stop Doing" List
"Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed." -Peter F. Drucker-
Productivity, by definition, goes up when work is more efficient. By doing the right things and doing away with unnecessary activities, you can increase your productivity. Analyze your routine. You might need to do away with things you have always done to generate business that are no longer working. Find new ways to streamline your processes.
#9 Use Technology Wisely
"Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination." -Albert Einstein-
Technology is a tool that can rapidly accelerate information flow and transaction time, but success will ultimately come from one's skill in appropriately applying technology to achieve measurable efficiency. Apply, measure, analyze and repeat.
#10 Strive For a Balanced Life
"My private measure of success is daily. If this were to be the last day of my life would I be content with it? To live in a harmonious balance of commitments and pleasures is what I strive for."
-Jane Rule-
Work and business are not the be-all and end-all of your life. Learn to have fun! Spend more time with your family. Take a vacation once in a while. Engage in activities that will rejuvenate your spirit and your life. Take care of yourself, and your health. Your productivity and focus will improve if you are stress-free and healthy.
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Touchstone can help you to clarify your vision of what you want to achieve, where you want to go, and what you want your business to become. Email or call Touchstone today! www.touchstonebiz.com
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FEATURED LISTING
Boutique for Women, Baby & Home with Great Location and Concept in the Right "In" Neighborhood
Do
you enjoy shopping in cute boutiques that make you feel right at home?
If you are motivated, creative and enjoy bringing joy into others
lives, why not own and apply your energies to your own boutique?
Created in April 2007 to offer a whimsical and relaxed boutique for
women and baby, the store brings comfort to customers and their homes
with an array of lingerie, bath and body, home fragrances, linens,
decor, gifts and baby fun too! Special attention is given to offer
affordable and high-quality local and domestic items, featuring local
artisans, which brings in repeat customers. The boutique is nestled in
a quaint neighborhood historic square, and the space features a lovely
front garden and steps up into an adorable Victorian 1100 sf boutique,
where rooms are filled with bed linens, robes, soy candles and fragrant
diffusers, bath and body products, locally made goat soaps, local
artist green manufactured chairs and bedheads, aprons, wine signs,
select artisan jewelry, fun layette items, art for the nursery walls,
plush and of course hooded towels and robes. Bed linens are displayed
on an iron bed, lingerie is hanging in the powder room and unique items
decorate the former kitchen. This turn-key business includes fixtures,
hangers, signs, register, credit card terminal, display furniture,
mannequins and inventory. Great opportunity for a new owner to grow
this inviting retail business through expanded hours, ecommerce and
local events. This business is offered at $60,000.
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UPDATE ON TOUCHSTONE LISTINGS
Niche Manufacturing & Distribution Company
- Consistent Sales, Industry Growth, Strong Seller Support, and RE Available
Fleet Truck/Van Repair & Maintenance Company
- Full Service Facility and Mobile Service, Satisfied Customers, Great Cash Flow
Niche Manufacturer and Construction Company
- High Quality, Low Cost Storage Shed Manufacturer
- Real Estate Available or Lease
Independent Gym/Fitness Club
- Turn-key Opportunity to Acquire Expertly Designed Membership Fitness/Personal Training Studio
Boulder Curves Franchise Resale
- Great Neighborhood Location with Absentee Owner, Excellent Value for New Owner/Operator
Denver Curves Franchise Resale
- High Growth Redeveloping Denver Neighborhood, Growing Membership, New Lease
Day Spa and Salon
- Great Acquisition Opportunity for Less Than Value of Inventory & Equipment
For Detailed
Information See www.touchstonebiz.com
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