03.12.10
Posted in Legal Issues, Start-up at 4:28 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Here’s what the Oregon Secretary of State Corporation Division says in answer to that question.
Are all businesses required to register and use an assumed business name?
If the name of your business includes the “real and true” name of each owner, then you do not have to use or register an assumed business name. A “real and true” name means your first name, middle initial or name, and last name. For example, if your name is Tom G. Sorenson, and you conduct business under the name Tom G. Sorenson Construction, you would not be required to register an assumed business name. For corporations, limited liability companies, and other business entities, the business name registered with the Corporation Division is the real and true name of the business, so no additional name registration is required. An assumed business name is only required for entities like corporations and LLCs if they are conducting business under a name other than the registered name for the entity.
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03.08.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:41 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Do you want to learn how to start a business? Are you interested in returning to school to learn new job skills? Did you recently lose your job through no fault of your own? Then this scholarship is for you!
Enterprise for Employment and Education is offering two scholarships to displaced workers. One is for tuition at a community college to develop your job skills, and the other is for an entrepreneurial program at the Chemeketa SBDC!
Here are the criteria for applying for either scholarship. You must:
- Have at some point in time been employed in Marion, Polk or Yamhill County;
- Be 18 years of age or older;
- Register (or be committed to registering) as a student an Oregon Community College or Oregon Private Vocational Training School, carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours per term;
- Commit to pursuing a degree or certificate;
- Demonstrate financial need;
- Show ability to succeed in their chosen field;
- Have a business idea identified; and
- Provide evidence of satisfactory academic achievement.
The deadline to apply is March 31st. Click the link below for more information and to learn how to apply. Enterprise for Employment and Education Annual Sparkle of Excellence Award
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02.12.10
Posted in Small Biz Management at 5:46 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Scott Sadler, SBDC Advisor
Goal setting. It can be an overused term and an underutilized tool. As owners we go into business, for the most part, because we love the idea of being in business. It is easy in the beginning to keep motivated because our personal goals and business goals are in perfect alignment. There are few disconnects since the business is in its infancy, and is still a passion for you as you watch it grow.
After a few years it may be that your business has morphed into something that needs much more money, time, or experience than you had ever imagined. The distance between your personal and business goals become more obvious in the forms of burnout, stress, and consistent lack of motivation. Your business may not be serving you personally any longer, yet it is now in the young adult stage and needs more and more from you to take it into the maturation stage.
So how do you go back and find the enthusiasm of the earlier years when your personal and business goals were in better alignment? How can you get back that motivation?
I had a client recently whose business had been a joyful experience for many years. Business was good and he had hired several staff members to help. This was good for the business and the bottom line, but the passion had dissolved because now he was managing the process through others, essentially becoming a production supervisor, something he did not enjoy. It was okay for a couple of years but he missed his flexible day going from task to task and dealing with his customers face to face. Before long he was dreading going to work and feeling burned out and tired. Because he got away from being very hands on in the process, he had lost the balance between business and personal goals. He noticed and customers noticed.
Through a series of questions about what he wanted personally, he and I worked on restructuring his operation to accommodate both business growth and personal goals. He reallocated staff, hired a personnel manager and reoriented his role towards a deeper personal meaningfulness.
He still has to do some of the things he does not like to do from time to time, that’s just the reality of entrepreneurship. But now he spends the bulk of his business hours focusing on doing the things he enjoys in the business. His personal and business goals are back in alignment. He has returned to the place where he started from originally, when he could imagine his business serving him, instead of his serving the business all the time.
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01.31.10
Posted in Small Biz Management at 12:37 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Marcia Bagnall, SBDC Director
Have you ever had a recurring business problem that you just couldn’t solve? A problem that came up over and over and wouldn’t go away? Here’s a strategy that may help you discover the root of the problem so that you can stop addressing symptoms (which will always come back) and solve the underlying problem once and for all.
It’s called the “5 Whys” and it’s a question-asking method developed in the 1970s at Toyota. The strategy involves looking at any problem and asking: “Why?” over and over again until you trace the chain of causality down to a root cause that still has some connection to the original problem. Using this technique will help you determine not only the nature of the problem, but the solution as well.
Very often, the answer to the first “why” will prompt another “why” and the answer to the second “why” will prompt another and so on; hence the name the 5 Whys strategy. There’s nothing magical about 5, that’s just the ballpark number of “whys” it takes on average to get to the bottom of something. Often what you’ll find is that the cause of the problem isn’t obvious at first glance, and that’s why you’ve been missing it all this time. Only when you dig and dig will you uncover it.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you have a very unhappy client. So you ask:
1. “Why is my client unhappy?” and the answer might be because you did not deliver your services when you said you would.
2. So why were you unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or schedule for delivery? Well, the job took much longer than you thought it would.
3. But why did it take so much longer? Turns out you underestimated the complexity of the job and didn’t factor in enough time to complete it.
4. Wow, why did you underestimate the complexity of the job? Because you made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and did not carefully list the individual stages and resources needed to complete the project.
5. Why didn’t you spend more time and effort on the estimate? Because you don’t really have a protocol for estimates, you just do them on the fly.
Aha! You clearly need to review how you handle estimates, and you need to create some clear protocols to handle this in the future. What you’re doing now simply isn’t working, and it causes this same unhappy client problem to recur.
But unless you asked “why?” a few times you probably wouldn’t have connected the unhappy client with the lack of a workable estimates system, and that’s what ultimately turned out to be the root cause. The easy answer would have been to say that you couldn’t deliver on time because you were backed up, or had employees out sick, or any number of other probable causes.
Don’t stop with easy answers! Keep asking “why” until you get to the heart of the problem. Then you’ll be able to formulate a solution.
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01.17.10
Posted in Marketing Ideas at 1:02 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Jennifer Hofmann, SBDC Advisor
If you have a heartbeat, you probably have opinions about a wide variety of topics. When you feel passionately about political issues, it can be tempting to turn your customers to broadcast your enthusiasm. No matter which side of the fence you’re on, it’s important to take a wider look at the implications of sharing political views in a small business.
How far should you go in sharing your political views in your business?
First, consider the people who are on the receiving end of your message: your customers. Whether you share with them formally or conversationally, remember that they do business with you because they want your help and need what your business offers. They may not welcome topics outside of the norm because it goes beyond the expected transaction.
Secondly, recognize that your business has a brand. A brand is partly made up of images and messages that convey what your business is about. Branding speaks to your target market and helps them feel comfortable doing business with you. However, branding is also about how your business is perceived by customers and potential customers. If politics aren’t historically part of your brand, you may get a certain amount of resistance from reluctant listeners.
So, before you hang posters or become a Facebook fan of a political issue, here are some questions that help clarify whether your business should take a stand:
• Who are your clients? Think about who your customers are from two angles: demographics (household income, gender, etc.) and psychographics (what beliefs they have and what they value). Do your political views align with the lifestyle and values of your target clients?
• What needs and problems do they have? If you reflect on past conversations with clients, you may find that they have similar problems that cause them to hire you. They may look to you to solve their challenges. What problems do they have?
• Does sharing your political views help your clients with the problems they’re having? If sharing your viewpoint would directly assist the client, they might appreciate hearing about it. However, if the issue is not related to their problem, you might risk alienating valued customers.
If you’re still not sure, put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Consider the reaction you’d have if your favorite store sent a letter endorsing a belief that contradicts your own. Is that a reaction you’d want your customers to have about your business?
In essence, political views are a personal issue. They’re part of your individual value system and you have a right to communicate them. However, as a business owner, you must weigh your desire to share your views against the importance of serving your customer.
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01.03.10
Posted in Marketing Ideas, Money & Finance, Small Biz Management at 12:50 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Marcia Bagnall, SBDC Director
In tough times of reduced revenues and reluctant customers, it’s necessary to make cuts just to keep the doors open. There are many cuts you could make of course, but how do you decide? There are better and worse cuts, so choose carefully. Here are a few guidelines.
First, always always keep your customer in the front of your mind. Be thinking constantly about what your customer hears, sees, and feels with each interaction they have with your company. Remember, you’re in the customer loyalty business. Anything that you do needs to boost customer loyalty, not erode it.
Your customer has many small interactions with you in the course of one visit, or one phone call or online transaction. And all those little impressions (especially the initial ones) add up to one big impression about how your customer feels about doing business with you.
This means you should think about cuts in terms of what your customer won’t see, hear or feel. When you make cuts of any kind, do so in the ways that are the least visible to your customer, and help ensure that the fundamental customer experience is unchanged to the greatest extent possible.
Say you have a retail business, and your customers know that when they walk in they will enjoy your wildly creative window displays. Those displays are part of the experience your customers get by coming to you and not going to a competitor. This should be the last thing you cut, as it’s one of the first customer impressions (and an important one). It may not be a revenue center in and of itself, but it’s a draw that keeps customers coming in.
The person who answers your phone may be a similar draw to customers. While it’s cheaper to have an answering machine instead, the cheerful voice and knowledgeable answers from your employee may be the single factor that keeps customers sticking with you and not shopping your competitors. Remember the rule about all those small impressions adding up to one big one.
You need to maintain high levels of customer service at all times. So instead of cutting services when you’re open, consider cutting hours or days instead. Essentially this is a quality vs. quantity decision. Another thing you may be able to cut is management. Management seldom cuts itself because no one thinks they’re redundant. But since management is invisible to the customer it’s fair game for reduction.
Determine what the small but crucial experiences that matter most to your customers are, and keep those at all cost. Then figure out how to reduce other costs that don’t adversely affect these small but psychologically important customer interactions. Remember, your customers are the most important asset to your business.
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12.04.09
Posted in Legal Issues, Marketing Ideas at 5:18 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Everyone knows you can get contracts with the State or the Federal government, but not everyone knows where to look. There must be some kind of secret to finding them, right?
Here’s the secret!
Two websites:
Now you have the secrets - how will you use them to grow your small business?
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12.01.09
Posted in Money & Finance at 12:00 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
Growth is a good thing for your business.
Right? Probably, but there are some areas of danger to watch for. Since it’s not likely that you have a large cash reserve sitting in the bank, working with a small cash surplus is risky.
Here is a possible dangerous scenario, which by the way, is likely to happen during this season of many craft shows leading up to Christmas. You get new orders at the trade shows and increase production to fill these orders. You have enough money to pay the added labor, and your accounts payable is increased as you order more materials from your suppliers. You increase your accounts receivable because you sell on credit. Before you collect the money from your sales, the bills to your suppliers are due.
Lesson: Fast growth consumes cash quicker than it produces it.
How can you take advantage of the season and still not destroy the cash credibility of your company? Some things you can consider up front.
Accounts Receivable:
- Require a deposit when making sales.
- Divide your invoices for large, complex items – 1/3 up front, 1/3 progress payment and 1/3 due when delivered.
- Review your credit policies – print them right on your invoice so there is no confusion about the terms of payments from your customers.
- Send an invoice as soon as the job is complete.
- Offer early payment discounts to encourage promptness.
Accounts Payable:
- Manage your payments by due date rather than by when you sit down to pay bills.
- Compute your vendor’s payment terms (added cost of extending payments) in the price of your product.
- Negotiate with your vendor – ask for extended payment terms during periods of obvious growth.
- Pay your bills on time – take advantage of early payment discounts - during off season times so your vendors know you are a good customer worth keeping.
Expenses:
- Predict your sales realistically so you can determine your expenses accurately.
- Don’t buy unnecessary or “add-on” items.
- Control your overhead expenses – keeping fixed costs as low as possible.
- Be sure your variable expenses relate directly to the growth/increase in sales.
The upcoming season can be a great boon to your business cycle. Be sure to guard your income and expenses as jealously as if the survival of your business depends on it – it just may.
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11.24.09
Posted in SBDC News & Info at 5:59 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
We usually crow about our fantastic local businesses, but we are excited to share some encouraging statistics with you that we’re rather proud of!
Recently we came across some nice statistical information from the SBDC at Portland Community College on what their SBDC has saved the state in terms of unemployment benefits over the last year. Using their metrics on this and our particulars here’s what this calculates for us:
Historical Perspective: The SBDC at Chemeketa Community College is part of a 19-center network within the State of Oregon. Founded in 1983 and hosted by Chemeketa, the center has provided one-on-one business advising to almost 600 clients in the past 12 months.
Jobs Creation and Jobs Retention: In the past 12 months (as documented in CenterIC, the Oregon SBDC Network’s management information system) Chemeketa’s SBDC created 74 new jobs and 130 retained jobs.
Cost Savings Realized by Jobs Created and Retained by the State of Oregon Employment Department: Over the past 12 months the employers working with advisors and instructors at the Chemeketa SBDC have created and retained a total of 204 jobs (74 new and 130 retained). The valuation of these jobs based on the cost to unemployment is:
• 204 jobs X 26 weeks (Oregon’s benefit duration without extension) = 5,304 weeks
• Multiplied by $300/week (average benefit amount; maximum $482) = $1,591,200!
Rock on Chemeketa SBDC!
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11.20.09
Posted in SBDC News & Info at 1:15 pm by Chemeketa SBDC
We’re looking to add books to our business library and are seeking your suggestions!
Here are some recommendations we’ve received already:
- “Grassroots Marketing/Principled Profit”
- “Infoguru Marketing” by Robert Middleton
- “CrazyBusy” Dr. Ned Hallowell
- Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet
- What Color is Your Parachute?
- Making a Living Without a Job by @
- Career Renegade by @
- Booked Solid
What would you like to read about?
What book titles would you like for us to own? We’re all ears!
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