Business Consulting Articles

by: Geoff Ficke During my many years of lecturing university business school students on entrepreneurial topics I have been pleased, and surprised, at the relatively large numbers willing to take the plunge and pursue new business opportunities. The surprise is that modern students are willing to forego a corporate job right out of school; a job that for so many has been a pre-occupation (and the dream of tuition strapped parents).

Centering is one of those topics in statistics that everyone seems to have heard of, but most people don’t know much about. It has developed a mystique that is entirely unnecessary.nnCentering just means subtracting a single value from all of your data points. It shifts the scale of a variable and is usually applied to predictors. It's called centering because people often use the mean as the value they subtract (so the new mean is now at 0), but it doesn't have to be t

Have you ever experienced a misunderstanding over what you thought was something clearly communicated without any emotional component? Did you ever have an unexpected impact on a person to whom you were communicating and had no understanding as to why? People refer to Communication as a ...

Organizations rarely go it alone when they implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy and its supporting technology. That's because it can get overwhelming: business strategies, technology, budgets, operational processes, change management issues, and more. Good CRM practices and principles apply to companies across many industries.

Several years ago I wrote an article entitled “How Do You Choose the Best Marketing Consultant”. The article was posted on my website - www.DuquesaMarketing.com - and on numerous print and internet links. The content was written to advise layman of the many options and obstacles that should be addressed in their search for experienced and competent consulting help. Common sense, some inside-baseball tips and guidance on avoiding shyster’s constituted the bulk of the articles copy points.

A W-2 form is an earned income statement containing a detailed set of information, including your total income (wages, tips, commission) and the amount of federal, state and social security taxes that have been withheld. Your W-2 is the most important document you need for filing your taxes. Your W-2 details the income and taxes paid throughout the year through your employment or wages earned for the year prior. Wages can include your regular hourly or salary income earned, b

A transition plan that allows the business owner to sell the business for the highest price possible in the shortest amount of time to the most qualified buyer is generally the top of the wish list for most business owners. Because the business owner lives and breathes their business they become emotionally attached to their customers, employees, suppliers and other business partners as the business is a reflection of who they are.

Sales letters are the foot-in-the-door your company may need when contacting potential clients or a way to announce a new product or service to existing clients. Here are some tips on writing a sales letter that gets results. 1. Personalize it! Whenever possible, make sure you address the letter to a specific individual within the organization. Nothing says amateur more tha “Dear Potential Customer” or “Dear Client”. Let the reader know you’ve done your research and took the

If you are the type who takes frequent trips out of town, you would probably understand the concept of taking care of all your business before catching that next flight out of the country. nnIt is easy to go out and about without having to worry for your special someone back home. Sure it may be bliss for your busy schedule, but back home, you loved ones need your presence felt. Why not send flowers and gifts while you are away? It’s a great way of letting them know tha

For most owners of a privately held company, when the time is right they want to sell their business for the highest price possible in the quickest time possible and live happily ever after. There is nothing too complicated in that and at a basic level, that’s perfectly fine. However, a question to ask is whether the business owner wants to sell the business or is their preference to transition the business?

Having just returned from a Trainer Training in London a month ago, I thought it a good idea to answer one of the questions that I was asked by enough people to make it worthwhile to write about here.nnThe question I've been asked is, "What makes a successful consultant?" Well, I've taken this question and expanded it sideways to include "trainer, teacher, manager, etc." and expanded it upwards to include 'entrepreneur, etc." because to me, whatever it is you're doing profess

Storage warehouse is commonly, confused with storage facility. However, these two are different from each other. The former is used for industrial purpose while the latter may be used for personal or business needs. A storage warehouse is a commercial building that is used for storage of goods. It is usually, located in an industrial area since it is not meant for personal use. These warehouses are of use to wholesalers, retailers, exporters, manufacturers, transporters and s

There is no doubt that the current recession is as long and as hard as we’ve seen for many years. And hopefully we will not get to see again for quite some time. If you are a business owner whose business is not making a profit and you don’t have the capital to invest and keep the business going, you may be wondering about your options.

The need to use seller finance when trying to sell your privately held company has come back into vogue due to the lack of third party finance being readily available. Some techniques less known and used, however, are available but require a clear understanding between the seller and buyer and may then need good legal agreements to clarify, protect and define the responsibilities of each of the parties. Here are five options both a seller and buyer may want to consider.

This current recession in 2008 and 2009 is marked by how low the economy has gone, the increase in unemployment, but most frustrating of all, how long it has taken before the “green shoots” appear. If your business is struggling and you think your only option is to close the door and hand the keys back to the landlord, here are some things to consider.

Why should you work with an executive HR firm instead of hiring new employees? Better yet, why should you work with such a firm instead of outsourcing your needs to the cheapest company in town? HR executive workers are of a higher skill level than traditional office workers. Executive-level professionals, by definition, have anywhere from five to thirty years of experience in corporate and professional HR work. Furthermore, these are expert workers who have recent "hands-on"

The Lesson of “I, Pencil” An Essay on Economic Freedom for the Ages As a young college student studying economics in the 1960’s I was exposed to the writings and philosophy of Leonard Read while researching a paper on Adam Smith’s enlightened principle of the “Invisible Hand”. Mr. Read had founded the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1948. As I conducted my sophomore research I noted that the thoughts and articles of Leonard Read were inevitably intertwined with the ideas of the capitalist pioneer Mr. Smith. At that time I stumbled upon an essay that Mr.

No matter what you sell there are natural steps, common questions and a normal way of doing things. I often work with clients to help them define what is normal and what is abnormal. I feel it is essential to define and differentiate normal from abnormal because this knowledge will help you to immediately sense deals which are on the verge of turning unfavorable. The earlier you detect it the better as you have more time to think, plan, act strategically and turn the deal in

Social Media Optimization technique has their own role to boost up the internet traffic. Every one wants to increase internet traffic towards their website. There are various techniques used to boost the internet traffic but everyone have their separate concepts to perform their function or increase the traffic in the internet marketing world. SMO techniques work towards getting link popularity in the link forming concept. Social Media Optimization is process of optimizing a

I have always prided myself on being very aware and having excellent observation skills, but every so often something happens, which takes me down a notch or two and reminds me that there is always room for improvement. There are lessons to learn every day. In 2003, my niece and I travelled to Grenada for the Caribbean Gift and Craft Show held in late September. As is our practice when we travel, based on recommendations from the hotel where we were staying, we hired a local as our tour guide. We spent quite some time on a tour of a Nutmeg Factory.

Here is an interesting and informative excerpt from entrepreneur.com talking about the different types of business plans and when they are applicable. Do you know what type of business plan you need? Who will be seeing it? What will it be used for? If you need help answering these questions or developing a plan call Coastal Business Strategies for your free business idea consultation in which we will direct you on the correct path to success. rnBusiness plans can be divided r

This is one of the most important articles you will ever read. There will be no fluff! We'll only be telling you straight facts, with specific directions. Anyone needing more info can drop me an e-mail Twitter signs-up about 6,000 new businesses every day, and around 19,000 people daily. This is where things happen, this is where your customers go, your new friends will meet you. This is the place where real network marketers search each other out and help one another. The fi

rnIn case you do not know what Android is, it is basically the latest mobile phone software package that have been created over the previous few years. Since it's launch the actual operating-system continues to be dramatically used around the globe and additionally is still growing. It has been 3 years since they introduced the Google android platform around the globe in Nov '07, nevertheless the first smart phone to have Android wasn't unveiled right up until early 2009. Pri

Social Media is very important in online marketing. Well, if you are out to earn money through your online web store, you do need to promote and market your brand, products, and services in a suitable manner. Just as businesses have developed marketing strategies over the years, you do need to do the same for your online business. Here, you are starting from a scratch, with almost all contacts and exchange of information done through online, you need to be extremely careful a

Many people find that craft work is an ideal way to melt away the stress and anxiety of everyday life. Craft work is a hobby pursued by thousands and the finished result after spending time crafting your own individual creation is undoubtedly worth all the work. For many, craft work results in pride and a feeling of contentment. In many cases, homemade creations are of far more value than something that has been mass produced. For instance, when hanging a piece of art work in

Don't ever assume you won't be audited. It can happen to anyone and you need to be prepared. What many people overlook is that you will need much more than your receipts to be properly prepared for an audit. We have provided a list of items you should keep in mind at all times in case you are later audited: Records A good rule of thumb is to treat each day as if you will be audited two or more years later, because this is often the case. Keep all records including appointment

It's of little surprise that in these challenging times, consumers have made pricing their top priority in making their buying decisions. Many retailers have in response to this, created the perpetual discount price point. Week after week sales go on until after a couple of years of this strategy, customers have become wary of the perpetual sale in so many stores. They wonder whether they're really getting a bargain after all.rnA recent survey in Australia revealed that the p

Once you have found the perfect apartment and executed all the paper work you can now move in and enjoy the place.nnMoving can be an intimidating process and it is quite hard to decide what to take with you and what to leave behind. Check with the apartment super whether the elevator can be used during the move and whether the apartment has any rules.nn The key to success is to be organized and plan your move. Here are a few tips: nn1. Decide on when you want to move and make

Strategy is common term related with policy making or making out a plan. Business strategy is useful in making the business a grand success. Like in a war a nation decides to deploy its forces in such a way that the war is won. Similarly business strategy also underlines various policies that are needed to make business a success. Following are the business strategies that are basic parameters of successful business. • Marketing strategy rn• Management strategy rn• Info

It is now more vital than ever to stay ahead of what is going on around us, so that our businesses remain in tact and stronger than ever. I strongly believe a 'quality system' is one way to do that. That doesn't necessarily mean that you need to go to all the trouble and cost of obtaining an accreditation certificate to ISO 9001; what it does mean is that you can use the ISO 9001 guidelines to setup your very own quality system. If you are having problems in areas of staff performance, comebacks, customer satisfaction...

What is Consulting? Consulting is a process followed by specialist experts who have a wealth of business and management experience, to identify structural and organisational areas of concern, ascertain their causes and develop solutions to overcome them. Management consulting is a discipline and profession which covers the totality of change affecting an organisation and could produce solutions for problems ranging from a loss of market share to bottlenecks in production, f

A well-fitting regression model results in predicted values close to the observed data values. The mean model, which uses the mean for every predicted value, generally would be used if there were no informative predictor variables. The fit of a proposed regression model should therefore be better than the fit of the mean model.nnThree statistics are used in Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression to evaluate model fit: R-squared, the overall F-test, and the Root Mean Square E

Plenty of dedicated gardeners will spend hundreds of dollars each year on organic bark mulch for use on their properties, but have you ever wondered whether there is a cheaper way to do this? Chances are, if you’re a dedicated gardener you have a wood chipper of some kind – did you know that you can use this machine to make your own organic bark mulch (and for a fraction of the price of buying bags of it)? Wood mulch that is created using a wood chipper (more commonly kno

All India Pre-Medical Test(AIPMT) is an twelve-monthly entrance exam conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) for admittance to 15% seats in Medical and Dental Colleges run by Union Government, State Governments, Municipal authorities in India(except for Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh). AIPMT in Hindi Medium is conducted in Hindi Medium also in order to help and support those students who are from Hindi Medium and are weak at English Language. Keeping in mi

The notion that trends in fashion take part in a phenomenon known as the trickle down effect has long been recognised by fashion pundits. A process of social emulation of society's upper echelons by the subordinates provides myriad incentives for perpetual and incessant changes in fashion through a sequence of novelty and imitation. Dior's 'New Look' of 1947 consisted of creations that were only affordable to a minority of affluent women of the time. Fashion was governed by haute-couture designers and presented to the masses to aspire toward.

I got the opportunity to interview my hero and invisible mentor, Jim Rohn, a few years ago. On December 5, 2009, Jim Rohn a business philosopher and teacher, passed away from pulmonary fibrosis. I was very saddened by the news, but his words will live on, and I am grateful for the 30 minutes that he was in my life. How I Got to Interview Jim Rohn A few years ago I interviewed Jim Rohn for my newsletter Ambeck Edge, and my book Tales of People Who Get It.

I grew up in the 1950’s playing basketball hour after hour on city playgrounds. The public courts of the day were nothing like those found today in most American towns. There were no lights, a steel, kidney-shaped backboard (ugh!) with bent rims, occasionally a steel chain net and no lines painted to properly delineate the free throw line and out of bounds. The surface was often rough and cracked. You had to know where the ball would give a true bounce and where you could lose control because of the uneven surface. But we played on for endless hours in all weather.

At the conclusion of every sales presentation the salesman will have achieved one of three results: a sale is made, a sale is lost or valuable information is gleaned that can result in building a relationship. The third result can be called identifying the “hot button”. Obviously, the purpose of every sales presentation is to close the sale, and this is the only acceptable outcome any good salesman expects.

In working with our clients we are always looking for ways to differentiate them from their competition. One behavior we've found that does this is for the organization to commit to confirming an appointment at least one day prior to the appointment. While most physician and dentist offices do ...

As leaders and managers, we must be tuned in to the many facets of diversity in today’s workplace. It’s not only the right thing to do, but “just makes cent$.” An effective “people strategy” built around diversity includes many dimensions, some we can see and other we cannot. One dimension - ...

The importance of a professional business presentation can not be overstated in determining the fate of a new business opportunity. Nevertheless, it is amazing how many times the presenter does not apply these same essential professional requirements to their own person. You only get one chance to make a great first impression. Make the most of it! This goes far beyond the obvious elemental issues of personal care and hygiene.

by: Geoff Ficke Many of the inventors and entrepreneurs we deal with in our consumer product marketing business approach us with dreams of selling product to the masses. This can be lucrative and a proper launch strategy in cases where all of the stars in the galaxy line up properly. How often does that happen? Mass marketing success is contingent on economies of scale, production advantages and large budgets for penetrating a clamorous commercial environment.

There can be no denying that some of the popularity of aluminium windows and doors lies in their extreme durability and resistance to the elements, but the silver colour can be somewhat of a turn off for many homeowners. Whilst many companies today offer their aluminium with an attractive powder coating, this is of no help to those homeowners who had their doors and windows installed a number of years ago. In these cases, painting the frames in a colour that complements the r

Many young women dream of the moment when their boyfriends get down on one knee and propose with a flawless diamond engagement ring. They have come to believe that diamonds are a symbol of everlasting love and commitment; as such, the diamond engagement ring has become an absolute necessity for men who wish to marry.

One of the bigger mistakes we see new entrepreneurs and startup businesses make is to try to hit a home run right out of the box. My experience in the days when I played baseball, and in building a solid business foundation, is that when purposely trying to hit home runs, you usually strike out. The homer usually comes when you just try to make contact with the ball and put it in play. My consumer product marketing consulting firm counsels dozens of entrepreneurs every year. Very often, these admirable, ambitious go-getters are driven to be as big as they can be, as fast as they can be.

If you could turn back the hands of time and make amends for an earlier mistake, a major one, would you? And, have you been fixated on this mistake, perhaps had many sleepless nights over it? Judging by the amount of research conducted on regret over the years, these questions should not be taken lightly. The ability to disengage from regrets, especially as we grow older, is paramount since research by Dr. Carsten Wrosch and Dr. Isabelle Bauer from Concordia University revealed that holding on to regrets can affect health. “Regrets are a double-edged sword,” says Wrosch.

For many years I felt that if you scratched any American you were scratching an entrepreneur. This is the country where entrepreneurial activity is most possible and seemingly every citizen has an idea with commercial potential. Sadly, over time, I realized I was wrong. If you scratch most Americans you are most likely scratching a dreamer. The difference between a dreamer and a doer is profound. Successful entrepreneurs might have initially dreamt of success, but they will not stop there.

Any traveler to London is naturally overwhelmed with the many sites, sounds, history and majesty of this glorious ancient capital, especially first time visitors. Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Thames, Big Ben the Horse Guards, 10 Downing Street, St. James Park, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey and Hyde Park Gate are only a few of the famous must see locations tourists consume in the vast spread of this vibrant metropolis.

Unlike the mainframe era, today’s computers are designed to be small, reliable, extremely useful, and above all, very fast.