Owner Archives - TODAY INDIA

Are There Any Differences Between An Entrepreneur And A Small Business Owner?

We use the terms entrepreneur and small business owner interchangeably. Are they the same or are there any differences? I decided to do some research to get answers to these questions. My findings say an entrepreneur and a small business owner (SBO) are not the same; therefore, we cannot use the titles synonymously.

Although you start out as a small business owner, somewhere along the way you either remain a SBO or you become an entrepreneur. If you are contented with earning enough profits to live a comfortable life and keep your business afloat, chances are you are a small business owner. This type of income replaces your income stream, which you earned from traditional employment. You really are not interested in growing or expanding your business. More than likely you will keep the business in your family.

Maybe you are not satisfied with the status quo, and you are very ambitious and have the drive to go beyond just surviving. You would fit the definition of an entrepreneur. You will take more risks. Entrepreneurs enjoy learning through growing and expanding their businesses. Some establish businesses for the purpose of resale after realizing a certain amount of wealth. It may take a lifetime for a small business owner to earn wealth compared to approximately five years for a successful entrepreneur.

Another difference is how innovative are you. Small business owners are not the type to “think out the box”; whereas, entrepreneurs come up with new ideas, innovations, and products, as well as construct creative, strategic marketing plans.

If you are the type who works in their business, you would be considered to be a small business owner. You are more repetitive. On the other hand, if you tend to strategically work on your business, evolving it, change target markets, if necessary, you are an entrepreneur. As a SBO, you tend to not change markets. In addition, your markets may be more general when compared with entrepreneurs who target markets are more focused.

In regards to staffing, if you are a small business owner, you may have employees, which would involve having to pay employee-related expenses; such as, benefits and taxes. As an entrepreneur, you may choose to work with independent contractors rather than having employees work for you.

There are some of you who tend to have characteristics of both groups. For example, as an entrepreneur, you may choose to keep the business in your family, just like a small business owner, rather than selling it. In addition to having this in common, there are similarities in operating your businesses. Both of you have to do some degree of advertising and marketing, as well as daily administrative functions.

Overall, a notable difference is as a small business owner, you tend to need motivation; whereas, if you can be described as an entrepreneur, you are fuelled by ambition, drive and inspiration. Although similarities exist among the two groups, according to my research findings, the two terms are not interchangeable, and there are significant differences.

Survive the Recession – Business Ideas and Recession-Proof Tips For the Small Business Owner

You can thrive in a slow economy! Ask leaders and consultants about recession-proof businesses and you get examples that go far beyond the inevitable death and taxes-related occupations.

But most are also quick to point out that any business can be vulnerable to an economic downturn and any business can take steps to protect itself from a financial roller-coaster ride. “To protect against a recession, a business needs an inventive, flexible team that learns together, practices competitive intelligence together and collaborates together.” said industry consultant and analyst Steve Koss, who specializes in the business of large stadiums and other sports and entertainment venues.

But what do you do to protect your bottom line if you don’t have a naturally recession-resistant business? Besides focusing on your current marketing niche, you may follow the trend of many small business owners by diversifying where your income is coming from. Use your downtime to build a ‘business within the business’. Offering a new service that can be handled online, such as Internet Marketing, can make the best use of your time and build an income that has proved more stable during a recession.

Tom Mulhall, who was an accountant in Chicago for 15 years before opening a small luxury guest resort nine years ago in Palm Springs, says some of the same tricks that inoculate a business like his from economic downturns can help any business. When asked how to recession-proof a Chicago-area business, Mulhall said: “If you are in retail, diversify. If you’re in the suburbs, promote ways to encourage Chicago business, and vice versa. If you are a brick and mortar business, develop an on-line business.” Denise O’Berry gives four general guidelines to help any business keep going and growing even in hard times. “Focus on customer loyalty and retention, minimize debt, involve employees and be visible to your customers, your employees and your community,” said O’Berry, president of The Small Business Edge Corp. in Tampa, Fla. “Success in business is a lot about who knows you and what your company does. Make sure your marketing and public relations is done consistently; don’t just market when business is slow.”

Business Owner? Know Why You Need Mobile Apps

In today’s tech-savvy era, going mobile is no more a luxury for diverse businesses. Rather, this is one of the necessities, on which every business should give a deep thought.

Nowadays, almost everyone is using a smartphone. Hence, when you decide to make your business go mobile, you can not only reach a wider audience but can make sure to expand your business market as well.

Still not sure whether you want to invest in making a mobile application for your business or not? Read on to know why you should do so.

Audience Building

Irrespective of their geographical location, you can reach your customers at any time through mobile applications. When customers have the app installed on their smartphones, there is no need of remembering the web address! More interestingly, depending on what functionalities the application has, users can use the mobile app without any access to the Internet as well.

Sales Growth

See, increasing the sales figure in the main target of any business. Now, when you opt for a mobile application, other than your website, you can reach your customers directly through the app. You can contact them, send them push notifications on the latest discount offers, promotions, bonus points to motivate your customers.

Other than this, with the help of such apps, customers can easily make online payments, which is more convenient in today’s technologically progressive era. In this way, any business can experience the overall sales growth.

Optimisation of Business Processes

To support a smooth business flow, uninterrupted communication between the employees is crucial. Apart from this, exchanging data and files, managing and monitoring all the processes, aggregating the statistics etc. are important as well. A mobile app dedicated to the business can help to streamline and optimise all these processes. Automation of different business tasks would definitely result in a fruitful outcome.

Valuable Analytics

By analysing the users’ behaviour while using your app, you can understand which of your products are doing most of the businesses. Moreover, you would get to know how much time users are spending on your application. By analysing this, you would find which functionalities are most and least popular and based on these facts, you can set your next business strategy.

Additionally, you would get important data on users’ demographic details, data on their interests, geolocations and other details that will help you to frame your next business strategy.

Apart from all the basic above-mentioned reasons, such mobile apps can help in better marketing along with creating enhanced communication channels with the customers. Additionally, the customer loyalty also increases. This definitely helps diverse businesses to keep the existing customers.

Social News And Bookmarking Sites – What Every Online Business Owner Needs To Know

If you run a business online then you’re probably looking for a way to increase the number of sales and the number of visitors to your site. One simple and cost effective way to do this is through social news and social bookmark sites.

Social news and bookmark sites are community driven. The community vote for the content that they want to see reach the popular pages. If your content reaches the front page then you are likely to attract tens of thousands of new visitors to your site. Imagine – all that traffic from one article!

Many website owners will spend vast sums of money on traditional advertising, yet treat social media sites almost as an afterthought. If you’re not using social bookmark and news sites then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your business.

Understandably, most people who run a small business or website are pushed for time. There are only so many hours in a day to get things done, but not using social media sites as a marketing channel is a big mistake. Here are just some of the reasons why you need to start thinking about social media marketing:

Drive traffic – social media sites will definitely drive traffic to your site if you reach the popular pages. You can attract a large number of visitors to your page that might otherwise take months to achieve from traditional internet marketing methods.

Reach influencers – by submitting your content to social media sites you can reach key “influencers” on the web. Why does this matter? Well, since most of these influencers have their own websites, reaching the popular pages will often mean that they will link back to your website, which helps you to climb up the rankings in search engines and also helps spread your products.

Build authority – building authority in your particular niche will undoubtedly increase sales. People are more likely to buy something from someone who appears to know what they are talking about. Reaching the front pages of social news and bookmark sites will help you build trust with your audience. You’ll also come to be regarded you as an expert in your field.

Grow your brand – social media sites can also help you to grow your brand. You can almost think of it as a form of public relations. You are increasing your visibility on the web and again, this helps you to gain trust with your audience.

Understand your customers – some users will leave comments about your submitted content. While not all will be helpful, there might be some valid suggestions from users. If you listen to your users and engage in a conversation with them they are far more likely to trust you in the future and you can also get some useful feedback on your website.

Increase sales/subscriptions – this is what every business or website owner wants. Not only can you increase sales in the long-term by building up your authority, but using social news and bookmark sites to promote your business will also see an increase in sales in the short term.

If you’re not using social news and bookmark sites as part of your overall marketing strategy then you’re missing out on potentially tens of thousands of new customers. Just one piece of content can drive traffic to your website and increase sales dramatically. So what are you waiting for? Start today and watch your online business grow!

Signs of a Successful Small Business Owner

When starting a new business, there are numerous signs that can indicate whether you’re succeeding as an entrepreneur or aren’t. A small business can be risky. This is particularly true if you specialize in a niche that bigger companies already excel in. However, if you display some particular qualities, it’s a sign that you’re doing a good job to stay afloat.

That’s because small business owner who have a positive attitude towards success are the most likely to get a taste of it than his counterparts. Their counterparts focus only on stability and nothing more. While business success has a lot to do with your initial idea and how you build upon that idea, it still depends on your personality and capabilities. Here are the few signs of a successful small business owner that you should develop as part of your personality.

You Like To Form Collaborations

Most successful entrepreneurs display this common trait. They understand the importance of having a well-connected network in the business world. Nevertheless, just like in every other change, collaboration needs to start from within your business. This means you’ll need to start delegating tasks effectively. Another crucial part of this is building good relationships with everyone on your team. This includes your employees and suppliers.

Of course, you also need to establish a position in the network of small businesses. It’s unwise to act alone without any partners. You needn’t form friendly relationships with your competitors. However, at the least, you should be on good terms with other small businesses that complement yours. By obtaining a position in the community of other businesses, you’ll be able to create new opportunities that can benefit others. Moreover, others can do the same for you. What results is a beneficial support system that allows all members to rely on one another.

You Have Your Eyes Set on the Future

You never know what the future holds, especially if it’s for something as volatile as a new startup business. That’s why successful entrepreneurs share a common characteristic of looking towards long-term future goals.

Some struggle to stay afloat amidst a rocky economic climate, and such desperate conditions can lead to business owners not looking farther than the near future. Such thoughts are understandable, but think of it this way; acting upon well-structured long-term goals at the same time as day-to-day tasks can ensure far more than financial stability and simple peace of mind.

Your Leverage the Benefit of Technology

Nowadays, when it comes to operating a small business, it all comes down to incorporating the use of technology, whether in marketing, management, or everything else. Technology and software have made it easier for entrepreneurs and small business owner to meet their goals, and now with services like Google AdWords and personal assistants, functions have become much more streamlined than ever before.

Take websites, for instance, they’re a business’ online identity and that’s where most potential customers will go to check whether your brand is legitimate or not. Then comes social media, which is a useful marketing tactic that produces results without requiring you to spend too much of your ad revenue. Then there are other business-related applications like customer support live chat software, fixed responses for keywords and budgeting tools that boost your productivity so you can focus on product quality.

You Love to Learn

You’re never ready to run a business until you’re prepared to improve yourself by learning from others. You may be determined to make it through with a method involving trial and error, but that costs precious resources; you need to start learning from others’ success and failures. Data is the most powerful weapon that a business can possess because it helps you discover trends and important details.

If you aim to learn about what strategies lead to profitable ideas and which ones are just downright terrible, you’ll be able to devise a solution of your own. The best way to fulfill your curiosity is to read and look into insights regarding management, marketing, customer satisfaction, and product quality. Archives can provide you with numerous researches and surveys conducted by different companies. While it isn’t necessary that the results apply to your business, you’re still bound to learn something.

You Don’t Just Think; You Act

While we’re at it, we might as well establish that being a smart business owner doesn’t mean that you’ll never have to take risks; it’s merely the ability to take risks with confidence. One sign that your business will soon see the light of success is that you don’t just think, you also act when the time is right. This sign is associated with the confident ability to make good decisions, even if they’re risky.

It’s true that before you put any plan into action, you need to examine it carefully all the way through. However, if you become stuck on the evaluating stage, you’ll miss your chance to implement your idea. That’s why you should have some faith in yourself and build confidence in your abilities to make a good decision.

You Seek Fulfillment

There are many small businesses operating in the market, but very few businesses owner seek fulfillment. The rest of them, however, only look at it as a means to make ends meet. Success-oriented entrepreneurs always chase after their goal of doing something fulfilling for a living. Your ability to see value in everything you create is contributory to success because you’ll want to build upon ideas to increase that value.

If you realize these traits in yourself, then congratulations; you have what it takes to turn your small business into a success! However, even if you don’t, do not fear! Owning a small business can change you as a person. But, it depends on you whether you take something positive from the experience. All these above-mentioned aspects will greatly improve not just the quality of business, but your life as well. If you can learn to find a hint of success-oriented personality within yourself, then you’ve hit the jackpot.