Kenesco expected to release a kiosk version of Plot Location & Universal Management System (PLUM) by end of Q1 2010. http://kenesco.com
How to create an “out-of-office” reply with Kenesco e-mail.
Click here for a demonstration video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhhQrk7l17o
For the Small and Medium Business (SMB) owner, first mover advantage is not a differentiator. Doing something better is not a core competency. Just give the competition a little time and they’ll do it the same way. What you need is a uniqueness that can’t be repeated – or at least one that can’t be repeated easily.
Protect your uniqueness. It starts small like a seedling that needs great attention and the right conditions to grow. Don’t neglect it. Don’t take it for granted. Help it thrive. Focus your efforts here; all your efforts. Finally, advertise the hell out of it. If it’s truly unique and relieves a basic customer pressure point, you’ve got it. Just don’t stop there.
Constantly revisit your uniqueness. Is it still unique? Has it spurred other ideas? Like a houseplant, proper conditions are critical and seemingly innocuous changes can make all the difference. No one ever got rich by making a plant thrive for a couple weeks. However plant a garden or a green house full of unique selections and now you have something to sell.
Above all, keep at it. If you’re struggling, call us today at Kenesco. A trained business advisor is standing by to help.
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco
+1-877-218-1879
Hope and Hope wrote the book “Transforming the Bottom Line” published by Harvard Business School Press. My copy is from 1995. If you haven’t read it, get a copy and dig in. This isn’t new material. Yet, its concepts are strategic and critical for any executive on your Small and Medium Business (SMB) team.
Do you know your sales mix off the top of your head? You should. Period. I don’t mean, “We sell product X, Y, and Z”. I mean “Product X is 45% of our mix. Y is 32%. Z is 20%. The other 3% is split between new product tests or products we are phasing out.” And if you think that’s detailed, it’s only part of the right answer. The other half is knowing what costs are directly attributed to each product. These are not costs spread across multiple products by an arbitrary proportion. Take a utility bill for lighting as an example. It should not be split 33%, 33%, 33% or even 45%, 32%, 20% as in the example above. This bill is probably a fixed cost that’s not, and should not be, directly attributed to any product. You’d have to pay this bill regardless of producing one or 22 products. And unless your production floor is completely segmented from all other workers and staff, you’ll have a difficult time calculating this correctly. Your accounting firm should understand this concept. If your CPA doesn’t or persuades you that this is unnecessary, find a new firm immediately. Terms and concepts like Contributed Income Statement, Activity Based Costing (ABC), and Target Pricing are not unnecessary. They show you your lifeblood. Learn how to use them.
Now that you have a correct, attributed Gross Margin for each product, focus your sales team on the most profitable products. At the same time, eliminate non-performing assets from your sales mix and inventory. These steps will propel your business forward like rocket fuel.
Do you need help here? Let Kenesco put a CFO or Business Advisor on board with your executive team for a few hours a month. It’s a cost effective option that will pay off immediately. Contact Kenesco today! http://kenesco.com
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco
+1-877-218-1879
When your Small and Medium Business (SMB) client needs you the most, you have one of the best sales opportunities falling right into your lap. Everyone will get that call at least once from every customer. The customer calls in a hurry. They’re in a terrible mess and they want you to be the knight in shining armor. Your horse better be fed, watered, and rested – and your armor better look spotless. This is your chance to shine.
Don’t sell to the customer’s emotion. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of. Put yourself in their shoes. If this is an emergency – personal or business – help them get over a couple hurdles that day. During every break in the action, ask them about their business. It shows you care and it helps you understand the inner workings of Company XYZ that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see. If you successfully help them get over at least one hurdle that day, you’ve gained trust. If not, you’ve at least got their attention as a vendor or person committed to their wellbeing in life and business. The next part is harder to do, yet it’s the most critical point in the opportunity. Listen.
Listen for what the client wants and sell toward that need. As the crisis unfolds, pick up on what drives the individual with the purse strings. Do they need to eliminate bother? Do they need to eliminate clutter? Are they looking to get a better picture of what’s happening in their operation? Think strategically. Find the closest solution you have in your arsenal and sell to that need. Sell it hard. They want it. You have it and you can deliver it!
Finally, make it happen immediately. Don’t wait for the next day. Put the order in now. Send someone to their location immediately. Bill it. Schedule the delivery. Just don’t wait. Do it today! Even if they’re a close and loyal customer, they may change their mind by tomorrow. Worse yet, and I speak from personal experience, a competitor stumbles by unaware of the problem and lands your sale – and not because they earned it. Therefore, act immediately. Put your solution in place while the client is motivated to fix the issue and show them that their purchase decision is already a success by giving them over-the-top customer service. The rest will follow.
If you’re having trouble identifying these opportunities, it may be a good time to talk with a Kenesco business advisor. http://kenesco.com We’re happy to help.
In brief:
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco
+1-877-218-1879
Just like when we were kids, some candies are keepers and others are duds (not the milk kind). Every kid picks the best stuff out of the pile and concentrates there. Why can’t we carry that message just as obviously and easily into our Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) as grownups? We need to learn to separate the candy!
Start by evaluating your current client list. Separate the clients that drive 80% of your revenue from the rest. These are the potential “keepers”. Put the next 5-10% revenue earners on a different list. These are the “groomers”. Discard the last 10-15% earners. These are the “losers”. Don’t even pick up the phone when those guys call.
Next, understand your lists better. Make every effort to keep that 80% band happy unless a particular client becomes a nightmare or diverges too far from your business model. If you’ve got one of these, you’ll need to raise the rates for this client, attempt to change the behavior, fire the client, or put up with the situation (highly unadvisable). With any option you choose, be prepared to loose this business. This is where the “groomers” list comes in.
In tandem with your top-tier efforts you should be preparing or grooming that second-tier client list to eventually move them into the keeper category. This may take some coaxing, yet stick with it. Ask them what they need and how best to fulfill it. If a second-tier client doesn’t appear that it will be a long-term fit, move on to the next candidate on that list. Before long, you will understand your second-tier all well as your top-tier. Then when you have to fire a top-tier candidate, you can fall back to the second tier for future support.
As you trim your lists down, you are building and maintaining quality relationships. Further, you are cultivating up-and-coming relationships to become top revenue producers. A good discipline here allows you to keep your business model in tact. In addition, it eliminates bad business relationships that hang on to the bottom of your revenue list while draining most of your company resources.
Having trouble getting started? Contact a Kenesco business consultant today http://kenesco.com.
In brief:
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco
+1-877-218-1879
One of our favorite tools at Kenesco is Drupal. This is a Content Management System (CMS) that allows even the most technologically challenged companies to get a solid presence on the Web within a day.
If you buy hosting through us Get Kenesco Hosting, this whole process is a snap. After your hosting account is active, log into the hosting control center and click the “My Applications” button. Locate Drupal under Content Management. Click the link and follow the wizard. Within minutes, your site will be live. Customize the theme as desired. Create your first page of content and post it. That’s it! (If you don’t buy your hosting through us, go to http://drupal.org for installation instructions.)
Another interesting tool we’ve stumbled upon is WIX. This site allows you to create a full-blown Website in Flash. All the moving pictures, transitions, and music you want. You can even create, publish, and host the site with WIX for free. (WIX hosts the site and places a small WIX add on the content). We like to use this tool to quickly put together ‘product loops’ and ‘marketing pitches’ that run in the background on wall monitors throughout our office. Try them at http://wix.com.
A third goodie that’s been around for a while is HotScripts http://hotscripts.com. This is an excellent source of pre-written, open-source code. Simply search and locate the type of code you’re looking for. Copy a snippet of the code and paste it into your site. You’ll find calculators, utilities, advertising banners, and thousands more – practically anything you can think of.
Finally, try sourceforge.net http://sourceforge.net. If Drupal isn’t your thing or you need a pre-built site, this may be your answer. Here you can find E-commerce shopping cart systems, Quality Assurance sites, Help Ticket sites, and thousands more.
While these are only a few quickies, they’ll get you running immediately. Still stumped? Contact us at Kenesco to get started.
In Brief:
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco Computing LLC
http://kenesco.com
+1-877-218-1879
Before venture capital (VC), before outside investors, before buy-in from key employees, it’s you – the Small and Medium Business (SMB) owner. It’s your skin in the game. Even after you bring on investors, this is still your baby and you need to take care of it likes it’s your most precious cargo.
With growth comes delegation and rightly so. However you need to make sure you sell every day. If you don’t, you’ll die. I live by this maxim, “We eat what we kill”. I don’t want to be the guy eating dirt soup in the corner of the cave wondering if I’ll live to see tomorrow. You shouldn’t be this person either. Delegate your sales, yet remember this is your business. Make sure it sells.
Similarly, growth requires us to bring on other experts and advisors. That list will be short to begin with and will expand and reformulate as we grow. While it is critical to make the right employee decisions, Just Make A Decision! If you don’t start building the team or remove team members that are no longer a right fit, you have a stagnation problem. At best you move nowhere. At worst you experience theft, loss of clients, and loss of reputation. And no matter how hard you try, you will hire the wrong people. Everyone does. Take heart. We learn from our mistakes. So, make some. Remember, this is your business. Grow it.
As your business grows, get the information you need at all times because your life will depend on it. With growth comes isolation, hurt feelings, changes in responsibility, and redefined expectations. No matter the causes, the result is filtered information to you. Hire an accountant to take care of your accounting, yet stay involved in the financial health decisions of the business. Your accountant may perceive your intentions for the business differently than you. Moreover, you may not have effectively communicated them. In either case, allowing your accountant to cut corners, save money, make purchasing decisions, or soften financial news is a recipe for disaster. Eventually you will get your information. However, it will be too late. Follow this same example through with each key area of your business. Constantly communicate the plan. Constantly ask questions. Dive into the information periodically to confirm what everyone is telling you. Know your business.
Now that you are building your team and you’re getting your information, be ready to stick to your guns. That is, make decisions for you. You may have the accountant’s opinion. Your salesperson is telling you one strategy and your staff is telling another. Step back and put this in perspective. This input is critical and should be used to confirm or refute your position. Yet, it’s your skin in the game and nothing else matters but that. Step out of the emotion. Then dig out that one piece of paper you should have taped to your office wall long ago – your business plan. What does it say? Are you on track? Which decision is best for you? Your plan is a mirror. Look into it. See what’s changed and move according to plan. If you’re drastically off course, change the plan. (This time keep it in front of you so it doesn’t happen again.) If you need a hand in reworking your plan, contact us at Kenesco today! (http://kenesco.com). We’d love to hear your story. We know we can help you out.
In Summary:
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco Computing LLC
http://kenesco.com
+1-877-218-1879
Maybe nothing, probably everything.
Are you an SMB (Small and Medium Business) that has joined or is in the process of joining a chamber? Stop right there. First determine your purpose for joining. A social group, a peer group, a networking group (think sales referrals)? If you’re in the social/sales-referral category, read no further. This article is not for you. True leaders of SMBs need substantive peer groups, not social clubs or sales lists.
Consistent attendees of local chamber events come mainly from onesie-twosie operations, and independents (think CPAs, handymen, computer fix-it guys, insurance salespeople, investment planners, and the occasional banker). Every one of those people will be looking for one thing alone. To sell you their product. Period. Therefore if you want a true networking or peer group to grow your business, you are best served elsewhere. Try entrepreneurial associations or other business groups that spring from business schools. Try hand-picking a group of fellow business owners from your current network to start meeting with. Whatever you do, do not use groups like BNI, LeTip, and other similar lead-generation groups. These are squarely back in that independent, sales-lead arena. Your focus needs to stay on filling out your business, not simply getting a couple more sales leads. Hire a sales guy for that.
From time to time you may need lobby efforts or at least access to them. Staying informed of legislation impacting your industry and your ability to have a voice in it are critical. And while local chambers can certainly get the ear of the local politician and even some local media coverage, their effectiveness in bringing true lobby efforts to the small business owner may be marginal. Again, look within your peer group to find out who knows who. This is always your best starting point.
Finally, don’t overlook the need to build an effective advisory team. We hope you have this in place. Although if you’re just building the team now, that task will often lead to access of other business owners in need of just such a peer group. Some of your advisors may be involved with an existing peer group into which you could fit. If you’re finding difficulty in this step, contact us at Kenesco (http://kenesco.com). Our experience helps businesses attempting to fill some of these gaps.
In summary:
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco Computing LLC
http://kenesco.com
+1 (877) 218-1879
Why do big guys get to have all the fun? Their executive teams appear to have structure, process, and direction to guide the President’s vision ever forward – growing, growing, growing. Yet, all entrepreneurs have a vision and share the same pain (and pleasure) of those in the $10 million plus club. Just move the decimal place over.
For the Small Business, a Chief Executive can be just the right cure for the common ills that plague everyday business life. An updated business plan, an approach for a bank loan, a cash-flow strategy, streamlined processes, or a sales-mix analysis to name just a few. The realized cost-savings and strategic revenue techniques will more than pay for putting one of these aces on your team. We should know. We provide these experts to the Small and Medium Business (SMB) community without the full-time price tag you would otherwise pay.
Consider a small packaged cost or reasonable monthly rate and get a CFO, COO, or any other C-level resource for your company. Begin filling in those “Management Team” blanks on your business plan with real names by contacting Kenesco today. (http://kenesco.com). Your investors (and banks) will love you for it!
David Knea
CEO, Kenesco Computing LLC
http://kenesco.com
+1-877-218-1879
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