Some of my members are considering reinstating salary increase programs for 2013. A big item of discussion has been whether the economy will support sustained growth and if there are there better options to deal with this uncertainty and still reward employees. Is this something you're thinking about?  If so what are you looking at for raises?  If you find these kinds of discussions compelling, maybe it's time we discuss TAB membership.  Contact me to learn more.

Mark Komen.  Owner, TAB Minneapolis North/Central

Small business owners generally aren’t good at hiring. But unless you’re a one-man show and want to stay that way, you need to get past the excuses that keep you from finding good help.

Excuse #1: "I can’t afford to hire someone good…"

Sometimes customers delay purchasing goods or services, creating a situation where a business has more supply than demand. Then when everyone places their orders at once it creates more demand than available supply. This can be frustrating for a business owner who sees their investment in inventory and staff not producing any returns (or resulting in overtime). It’s also hard on cash flow.

One technique to better align supply with demand is to…

Marketing can be a large portion of a small business budget. So when I see an opportunity for free marketing, I take advantage of it. For example, when my employees are working at a customer’s home, the project manager visits all the neighbors. He introduces the company and offers for the team, while they are in the neighborhood, to complete any small jobs the person may need done (moving heavy objects, for example). He also asks the neighbors to let him know if the crew is being excessively noisy or messy so it can be corrected ASAP. This face-to-face approach not only positions us in a positive light, it has become a powerful form of free marketing for us.

Many of our clients are much larger companies with developed and hard to amend processes and procedures. We work to synchronize our processes and procedures – such as order input, processing and billing – with their systems. This not only reduces our costs, it plays to our small/medium enterprise strengths because we can be more nimble and responsive than our larger competitors. It also makes us very easy to do business with and the "go to" supplier, which keeps our customers happy and makes it difficult for us to be replaced.

With the growth of internet banking, it’s important for your bookkeeper to have access to your accounts in order to pay bills, transfer between accounts and so on. However, every person with access to your online banking should have their own unique log in and password with specific permissions that dictate what information is visible to them. With each person having a unique log in, there is traceability for every transaction. Your banker will gladly assist you with this matter and be pleased to know that you take your banking security seriously.

As a small business, relationships with subcontractors are part of the game. While it’s tempting to cut costs by using the same contract for different business relationships, this might not be wise. Each subcontractor relationship can have different requirements and covenants. Experience has taught me that it is better to invest in a competent attorney to draft or review every business agreement to make sure that the rights and requirements of both parties are clearly delineated.

All too often, business owners are tempted to solve a given problem and move on, rather than take the time to delegate the issue to a second-in-command (SIC) and hold them accountable for developing a thoughtful, timely and effective solution and executing it. What we need to remember, however, is that being intentional about this kind of delegation and accountability is training your SIC to be a better leader. This makes them, and by extension your business, more valuable.