The energy and hope of 2009 rings true today in Grandview

I came across an article at ithinkbigger.com today that was written in 2009. It's all about the energy and hope that industrial and road development in and around Grandview sparked.  The article may be old, but the message is still the same. See what you think:
Grandview Mo area: Burgeoning Economic Development

submitted by Cheryl Ann Wills, c-owner The Hard Bean Cafe (one of the businesses mentioned in this article)

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Micropreneur?

What a great program from the Irvine Chamber of  Commerce. Let us know your thoughts on this.

Irvine, California (PRESS RELEASE – January 18, 2011) – The Irvine Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a new online community for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The “Micropreneur Community” provides small-scale entrepreneurs the opportunity to share ideas, seek solutions to problems, and network with other entrepreneurs and professionals from many disciplines.

“We use the term “Micropreneur” to mean an entrepreneur with a limited number of employees,” said Christopher Lynch, Vice President of Business and Economic Development, Irvine Chamber of Commerce. “Micropreneurs can be in any industry such as manufacturing, services, design, and so forth. The point of commonality is that small-scale entrepreneurs face many of the same challenges of limited resources and a need for support that this community will help to solve,” he added.

The Micropreneur Community is based upon the new social network site, oGoing.com. The site provides users with their own private community instead of a broad public community open to everybody. “We want enough privacy so that users can share a certain amount of confidential business information between one another without the information automatically being broadly available on the web,” said Lynch. “The community is open to anybody, but we want them to create a user name and password before they can view postings and share their comments,” he stated.

The Micropreneur Community is open to entrepreneurs from any industry segment and interested advisors. Members need not be members of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce or even be located within Orange County, Calif. to participate.

About The Irvine Micropreneur Program

The Irvine Micropreneur Program presented by the Irvine Chamber of Commerce discusses and solves the needs of small businesses. The program hosted by Robert Coleman, President of the Pacific Venture Club, is designed to teach entrepreneurs and small business owners how to raise capital, market their products, develop new business opportunities, manage finances, plan for greater prosperity, and how to use social media to grow their business by participating in online presentations hosted by experts from many fields. The webinars are available for all to attend for free.

About the Irvine Chamber of Commerce

The Irvine Chamber of Commerce is one of the most influential Chamber’s in Orange County representing hundreds of local businesses. The Chamber’s mission is to promote an economic climate that strengthens the competitiveness of local businesses, while offering members a wide range of benefits, services, programs and information. The Irvine Chamber is one of only 250 Chamber’s in the U.S. who meet the requirements for accreditation by the U.S. Chamber.

SUBMITTED BY Cheryl Ann Wills, co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe, Grandview, MO

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Social media marketing.  A fad? Doubtful. It’s been growing at a rapid pace for sometime now. I think it’s here to stay. According to some experts, any companies who haven’t jumped on board and learned the ropes within the next three to five years will find themselves outside their industry loop.  That’s not where I want my companies to land!

I read an article in the December 2010 issue of Entrepreneur magazine called “Hit the links” by free lance writer Jason Daley that offers some ideas we can do to make social media marketing help us as it should. Through the development of a link collection, we can brand ourselves online, we can get noticed, we can improve our bottom line.

Basically we need to apply the same marketing etiquette to social media marketing that we’ve always applied to marketing in any other form. We need to be real. And honest. We need to have a strategy.

Social media is more than FaceBook and Twitter. His article lists a few more common tools. The best thing we can do is learn and apply.  Check out his article. You may learn something that when applied begins to catapult your business into the highest realms.

Cheryl Ann Wills, Co-Owner The Hard Bean Cafe

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Delivering the best for a better economy

.I am so done with the doom and gloom predictors of our economy. The reality is, we the people can determine by our voice, our actions, our vote and our belief systems just where this economy is headed.

One way we as small business owners can help steer the direction of this country is by understanding that the businesses still standing today are ready and willing to do what it takes to be more than survivors. The CEOs and other decision-makers of today’s businesses understand what it will take for them to become beacons in their industry’s future.

One way for them to stay on top is by contracting for premium services and product.

As Brian Sullivan, CSP, writes in his article “Are you worthy of a higher margin?” in the online issue of Small Business at www.ithinkbigger.com they will do contract for premium as long as the product or service is worthy of a higher price. Premium products generally mean higher margins for the seller. When both the buyer and seller benefit at a higher level, our economy begins to reflate.

Do look at Sullivan’s article for thoughts on how you can make sure your prospects and clients know your company is the one they want to buy from. And then move forward believing in the best economy for us all in 2011.

Cheryl Ann Wills, co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe in Grandview, MO

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Networking - It Really Does Works!

I know you hear and read that "networking works" all the time, but it seems that everytime you go to yet another networking event you come away empty handed.  Recently at our monthly networking event, Morning Connections, I was reminded that networking really does work.  Now, I admit that it doesn't work all the time, but what does?  My reliable Honda and Maglite flashlight don't even work all the time, and don't even get me started on Colt 45's famous slogan spoken by none other than Billy D. Williams. 

So, what happened to reaffirm my belief in networking events?  A group of two dozen business professionals were gathered drinking coffee and eating scrumptious doughnuts in below freezing temperatures at 8:00 a.m. and as introductions were made around the room, an amazing thing happened.  One gentleman introduced himself and his company and without missing a beat, the gentleman to his left stated that he uses his financial planning services and can personally vouch for him keeping his money safe and secure.  As soon as that was said, another gentleman said, "Well, I need to make an appointment with you then for my company's retirement plan".  Another person introduced their company that provides waste roll-off containers for construction companies and was promptly given a card from a construction company executive and told to call and make an appointment for a quote.  Two more stories like these happened all in just a matter of thirty minutes!  As the event wrapped up, the aforementioned financial planner was securing an appointment and a duct cleaner was scheduling an appointment for an estimate. 

Not bad for a free networking event, eh?  Granted, it was very cold but I highly doubt that any of these businessmen were worried about the temperature as they opened up their appointment calendars.  So the next time you get an invite to a networking event, you could say, "It's always the same 20 people who just come for the free coffee and isn't worth my time," or you could say, "Meet new people and market my business with little to no cost or effort - I'll definitely be there."  Who knows, it could be you pulling out your appointment calendar - then you will be the one saying what I am, "Networking, It Really Does Work!"

posted by Angela Brincefield, Grandview Chamber of Commerce

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Identifying Small Business Resources

There is a very large pool of resources for small business owners and prospective owners to choose from, though identifying the right resource can prove to be a danting task.  Do you need help with an initial start-up, forming a business plan, understanding legal and tax issues, or developing a budget?  What if you are looking to grow an existing small business or need help with recruiting and training employees?  Are you looking for a mentor, grant writing, or getting involved with network and referral organizations?  There are numerous resources and organizations that aim to help small businesses in the greater Kansas City region.  Below is a list compiled from various sources, though it is in no way intended to represent a full and complete listing of available resources.

• Visit your local library!  While almost all of us have visited the library for story time with the kids, help with that pesky research paper or to check out the latest crime novel, we forget that the library is also a vast resource for business.  Databases, Databases, Databases!  Would area consumer statistics by zip code help you target your marketing dollars best?  What about researching your competition or developing lead lists?  Your library can give you access to national databases that large businesses bay top dollar for.  Need tax and legal forms?  The library probably has them on-line for you to download.  Don't forget about the many business books they offer - from how-to's to inspiration - there is sure to be a subject that can improve your business.  And best of all - most of them cost nothing to join and many of the fabulous resources can be accessed from the convienence of your home or work laptop! 
• Mid-Continent Public Library:  http://www.mymcpl.org/
• Kansas City Public Library: http://www.kclibrary.org/
• Johnson County Library:  www.jocolibrary.org/business
• State Career Centers offer much more than unemployment checks.  Career centers offer employment recruiting and training to meet your demands, including job postings, referrals, screenings, assessments, training strategy development, job fairs, internship development and on-the-job training reimbursement programs. Many of them also offer resource areas with computers, printers, faxes and copiers for your use.  There are special state and federal programs that you or your business may qualify for as well.
• Missouri Career Center(s):  http://www.feckc.org/
• KansasWorks:  http://www.kansasworks.com/
• Development, Counseling, Mentorships, Resource Centers, Networking & the list goes on!  There are so many valuable organizations in the KC area offering help to small businesses, how can you not take advantage of their experience?  Consulting services, equipment and software usage, network of large, medium, small and non-profit organizations, mentors, and so much more.
• SCORE: http://www.scorekc.org/
• Small Business Development Centers:  KS 913-469-3878/ MO 816-235-6063
• Business Resource Center: 816-235-6675
• Missouri Enterprise Business Assistance Centers: http://www.missourienterprise.org/
• SourceLink: http://www.sourcelink.com/
• Small Business Administration:  http://www.sba.gov/
• Women's Business Resources.  Many woman owned businesses face special struggles when starting a new business.  Be sure to utilize the many resources targeted to help with these struggles.
• Women's Business Development Center:  http://www.wbdc.org/
• Missouri Child Care Resource and Referral Network:  http://www.moccrrn.org/
• eWomenNetwork, Inc.:  http://www.ewomennetwork.com/
• Office of Equal Opportunity:  wwww.oa.mo.gov/oeo
• Missouri Women's Council:  http://www.womenscouncil.org/
• SBA Women's Business Center KS: 913-492-5922/ MO:816-235-6146

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It's a new year: time to clean up

I have been cleaning out closets and drawers and tossing, tossing, tossing. It’s that time when I want to use the new year calendar event as a mid-year re-group, re-focus, re-evaluate, re-start. Cleaning up the stacked junk all around helps me.

Chris Brogan in the December 2010 issue of Entrepreneur called “The New Attention Deficit” makes a point that we have allowed technology to crowd our lives so much that we do not focus enough on the hear and now, which naturally leads to a less productivity. He offers tips on other ways to clean up the mess we may find ourselves in. A few of them speak to me. Perhaps they are calling your name, as well.

“Pick two or three 30-minute windows” to deal with email correspondence.  There’s no doubt that the drip, drip, drip of email throughout the day is a disturbance to efficiency.  We might think we’re great at shifting gears constantly, but the reality is any clutch can be over used, causing the transmission to operate less effectively. And, yes, stop email notifications. Goodness, do we really need to know the second every email enters our inbox? Try it. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much more clear your thinking seems when it has more to do with changing habits than how much mental acuity-activating supplements you took in the morning.

Pick a task and stick to it. Help yourself by closing all those open windows and tabs that you are not actively using. They, too, are mere distractions that can tempt us to sneak away from our work more often than we should.

I am amazed how often I am with people who think it is necessary to answer every single phone call, regardless of what they’re involved in. Are you and your callers so important that immediate contact is essential to each day’s success? It’s that changing gears thing again. Do we really need to do that to our brains all day long? No. Let your voicemail do its job. Just be sure to return the calls in a timely manner and as needed. Chances are, just like unopened mail on your desk, when you get to the voicemail, the urgency no longer exists. And life goes on.

One of the worst things, in my mind, that indulging with technological communication methods has done is to limit human contact. We’ve got to remember that first we are people who really do need other people. We need to hear voices in a real conversation, we need to see people and greet with a handshake or a hug, and we need to know we’re appreciated and to know we are heard.  How does it feel when you are with a friend, client or superior and you see their eyes glancing at the monitor in front of them, answering every phone call, or, what I think is even worse, texting? Do you feel like they’re with you? Are they really paying attention to what you offer or to your needs? Here’s a little Golden Rule advice: turn off your monitor, put your phone on vibrate, and look eye to eye at the person you are with. It doesn’t matter what business we are in, human relationships build it in some way and certainly they help grow and maintain any healthy business. Give humans the attention you, they and your business deserve.

I agree with Brogan that the minutes we save by cleaning out our time-junk and setting technology boundaries will be used wisely to our greater success in business and life in general. And the people we’ve built relationships with by doing so will be grateful that we have made a significant place for them along the way. Now that makes for a happy new year.

Cheryl Ann Wills, co-owner The Hard Bean Cafe

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Does your business stand out?

A question was posed to David Croslin, a market trends consultant, about the ability of a small business to make heads turn in their industry.  His answer can be found in the December 2011 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, entitled “Going Forward”.

Croslin gives a big yes to that question.  His method is for the small business owner to question themselves first with, “What are the pain points in my life, and what can I fix in my customers’ lives?”  In other words, know what you need but get to work on what your customer needs.

Citing examples of companies that spend too much energy on their own image, or in constantly trying to beat the competition, he makes his point.  Look up the article; it will be well worth your while.

Business is always about serving customers.  If we are in the right business for the times, we will make money by keeping their needs met.

I have owned and operated small businesses and worked in retail over the years.  Only one of my businesses is retail-based. It’s a coffee/sandwich shop I own with one of my daughters.  We did a few things correctly from the beginning, sometimes by default.  For instance, we didn’t hire employees we didn’t need until we had a solid customer base because we just did not have the operating capital to do so.

It breaks my heart to see how many start-ups, especially in the food and/or coffee industry, fail in a short time. There are many reasons for this of course: location, timing, insufficient start-up capital. As one looking in, I notice that many hire an entire crew right off the bat because they were so sure they had what everyone wanted and they didn’t want to get overwhelmed with the volume. They thought they were being prepared; the reality is they were focusing on their needs to make their (potential) load easier rather than on what the new customers wanted and needed to become loyal patrons. Another reason that plays a part in the demise of a young business is lack of budgeted advertising and marketing funds.  We must look at marketing as a major part of the business investment. We can’t think first of our own budget and look at advertising as extra expense. We must consider what potential customers need to know to decide to patronize our establishment in the first place.

Once a start up is building a good customer base, how do they keep their business in the upper ranks of success? They upset the apple cart by constantly re-discovering what customers need and want. One way is by asking them to take customer appreciation surveys.  Give them a gift in kind for their time to answer a few targeted questions.  And, by all means, follow through with the ideas and suggestions from the majority. Their answers are our secret weapons, if we use them.

“Going back to the basics can fix a lot of things,” says Croslin. It’s true. Business has always been about service. Apply this simple rule and watch the heads turn when your business stands out in the crowd.

submitted by Cheryl Ann Wills, Co-Owner The Hard Bean Cafe in Grandview, MO

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