Run A Small Business

Well, believe it or not, your business venture is a Heavy-Weight Bout. Just today, I received a Certified Letter from the company that hosts the software for my Title Insurance company. The letter explained that: due to the current mortgage crisis, they were going out of business and I need to find new software. I also got an email from a business site where I advertise, stating that: one of my top "pay per click" keywords was not relevant to my ad and they were rejecting it. These may seem like minor annoyances, and they are. But add that to the million and one issues that I have to troubleshoot today, and for a second I contemplated rescheduling all my appointments and setting the phone to Do Not Disturb.

As a rule, I try not to let my mercury rise too much. Deep down, I just want everybody to get along and things to go smoothly. In business however, I've learned the hard way that there is always someone that wants to take my spot. There is always someone hungrier, meaner, with more drive, with more training, with less to lose. In business, I've had to learn to fight. Not that I have ever backed down from a fight, but in business, I've learned that issues come at me from unexpected sources at a moments notice and I refuse to be caught with my guard down... again.

In business, I've learned to come out swinging when I am being attacked. I've learned to fight back former business partners who have wronged me and then badmouthed me all over town. I've learned to fight back unreasonable clients who want everything for next to nothing. I've learned to fight back employees with horrendous attitudes and entitlement issues. I've learned to fight back investors with unreasonable expectations and foul mouth. And the biggest monster I've had to fight back is the one inside of me who is dying to stop holding the world by a string and go surfing. It seems like every situation has to be managed, every potential monster needs its hand held.

So why do I tell you all this? why do I paint this picture? it is to let you know that you are not alone. It is to let you know that the reward is in the fight itself. Every bruise and bump along the way is a medal of honor. It is a badge of courage. It is to let you know that no matter how bad things seem to get, working for yourself sure beats working for the man.

How to Read Body Language for Small Business Success

Imagine meeting a client who says he is very happy to meet you. But he lowers his eyes, and turns his shoulders away from you. Do you think you'll be getting much business? Unlikely. His body language doesn't support his words.

Reading body language is fascinating, because you can learn so much more about a person by watching them. And when our words and actions don't match, we tend to believe what we see.

Here are 5 ways to use body language to increase your small business success:

1. Be congruent. Your actions and words have to match. If you say you are happy to meet someone, be sure to smile and make eye contact. You may think you are doing this, but you may be distracted and fail to really connect.

2. Show people you are paying attention by keeping your body relatively still. Shifting back and forth or fidgeting sends the message that you are bored or distracted. You may be unconsciously sending the signal that you want to end the conversation.

3. For best communication, keep your face open to others. That means soft but sustained eye contact, a natural smile, and a face that reflects your emotions. When you face others directly and allow them to share your emotions, they will allow you to share in theirs.

4. Observe your clients' body language to understand them better. How is this person reacting to you? Is your client facing you squarely, or turned partly away, giving you the cold shoulder? Is your client making eye contact, or scanning papers on his desk? Does you client look at her watch every few minutes? Perhaps she is anxious about being late for a meeting, or uninterested in your presentation. Stop and find out the problem.

5. Match their energy. Is your client a fast-paced person who talks and moves quickly? Speed up a bit to match their pace. Is your client a slower, more methodical person? Slow down a little, or you'll make him feel anxious.

Employees In The Web 2-0

you may want to hire people from the a social networking environment to perform various roles in your business. As an example, if you want to own and operate a medical billing service, it will be to your advantage to have someone to split up the workload with. Making these individuals a full or part time job offer can inspire them to expand their natural talents, and perhaps even give them a new career outlook.

Chances are, when you see a natural inclination for a specific job role, it stands right out. As you browse profiles on social networking sites, you may well find such individuals. The social networking environment also gives you an opportunity to learn more about a prospective employee than you would by simply interviewing them and reading their resume.

Consider that you will be able to see how they interact with others in the network. This can reveal everything from how the manage difficult interactions to what their ethical values are. Best of all, if you don't like what you see, you don't have to even reveal that you are looking for an employee. As a result, you will not have to worry about individuals making a complaint to the Department of Labor because you discriminated against them during the hiring process.

Typically, you can hire people from anywhere in the country, and simply pay them to perform their job from home. If the individual has their own EIN number, you can hire them as a consultant, and eliminate the need to deal with payroll taxes, health insurance coverage, and many other benefits. When you hire from a social networking site, you can gain these, and many other advantages.

Financial Stability Through Balancing Business Assets

Basically, your balance sheet comprises your companies assets, liabilities, and equity. The assets and liabilities are normally divided into either short or long-term obligations which includes accounts like checking, money market, or government securities and the both must equal one another at all times. Here is how as a business owner you can attain financial stability through maintaining a balance sheet:

• Organize all of your business's important documents pertaining to your financial records. After you've done that, group them them into categories of either assets or liabilities. It is important to include any paperwork that could possibly effect your business financially such as cash, bonds and stocks. As you are organizing and separating paperwork, put together separate piles for long term and short term obligations too. This would include outstanding loans from banks or possibly debts to suppliers.
• You're next step is to print out a balance sheet. There are multiple websites where you can download one of these forms. Most retail stores also sell them too if need be.
• On all your assets, clearly make a notation. This should include anything of worth that belongs to your company. Those assets are then divided up into either fixed or current. Your current assets can be liquidated quickly such as cash or inventory, while a fixed assets takes more time and include your property and equipment.
• Now it's time to get your liabilities listed. Just like you did with your assets, your liabilities are broken up into two different categories. They are either current or long term. Liabilities consists of anything your company owes to an outside party. A current liability is an expense such as your wages and accounts payable. A long term is something along the lines of a loan or lease.
• After you've figured all the above stuff out, you can finally calculate your business's net worth, also sometimes referred to as equity. This is the amount of difference between your assets and liabilities. The formula for calculating the net worth of your business is actually quite easy. Subtract the total liabilities from the total assets which leaves you with an amount of equity.