Covering For Absent Employees.

What do you do when an employee is going on a leave of absence? As small business owners, you know that every employee involved in your company is very important. Planning is very important for preparing for an employee’s leave of absence. 

Whether someone will be gone for two weeks or three months, business owners need to be able to cover the employee’s workload by creating procedures for this type of situation.

 

In addition, delegating tasks accordingly and beginning the transition of duties early can make things easier for your business and other employees.

 

Look at the article to learn more information on how to handle situations when employees take leave.

A Legal Structure For Your Business.

Are you ready to launch your new business?

Have you thought about which legal structure to use for your business?

Knowing how to structure your business is the most important step and the first step to take. You must consider if you want your company to be a Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation or Limited Liability Company (LLC). Tax consequences and how much risk you are willing to take for your business will be important factors in making a decision. 

All of these legal structures have their pros and cons. If you are not sure what they are, check out this article and learn what these are.

Be careful with your social media.

Many times we post on our blog by saying how social media can be very beneficial to your business, and it is. However, if not used in the right ways it can also be very harmful. It can be bad for your business if a customer uses it to make a public complaint about your company or say anything negative that can impact your company's reputation. Knowing what to do with an unsatisfied costumer is important to avoid damage to your business.


Your company's reputation is one of your biggest assets and something you need to take care of. Be careful when using social media and always be aware of what is going on your Facebook wall and how people are tweeting about you. Social media is great when used appropriately, but always be on your toes and know what’s going on.

To learn more tips on how to handle such situations and what to do with those negative comments. Click here to read the article and to learn how to be prepared.

The holidays are coming, are you prepared?

As a small business owner, attracting clients can be challenging at times. With the holiday season drawing near, go the extra mile to welcome new and existing clients. This can also be one of your best seasons if you know how to get to them.

In this article, two entrepreneurs share their stories on what they learned from being unprepared for the holidays and what they have done differently to prepare for this holiday season.

Check it out and maybe you'll get some ideas on how to prepare your own business.

Click here to read more on this article.

Are You Interested in Exploring the Possibilities of Cooperative Work Space?

It may be possible to find that kind of space if enough business people and aspiring entrepreneurs express an interest.   The City of Rock Hill has scheduled a Fact-Finding Meeting for November 30th to tell you what they have in mind for the Old Town area, and find out how many of our local entrepreneurs might be interested.  

Looking for cooperative work space in downtown Rock Hill, SC?  Click the link for meeting details.

This is an example of Shared/Co-Op work space

in Boulder, CO.   This can be a huge help for

business owners who aren't quite ready to take the big

plunge into leasing a full office. 

Need Office Space?

Are you looking into office or retail leases and finding it hard to negotiate a favorable lease agreement for your company? It can be very difficult for start-ups to negotiate with landlords because they normally have very little leverage.

 

However, you will learn in this article that there are ways to negotiate the best terms possible for the new lease if you plan accordingly.

What are the real reasons for business success?

Many people believe that business success comes from the result of strong financials, innovative products and working long hours.

According to this article, none of these reasons results in a business’ continued success. The article gives examples of how focusing on the ability to empathize, clarity of purpose, and sense of timing can drive your business to become successful.

To read the article click here.

FANTASTIC Workshop yesterday morning!

Patrick Henry spoke to us, made us laugh, made us cry, made us think, made us re-think, made us learn to look at old things (like learning) in new ways. He redefined customer service and even the word customer itself, for us.

He challenged us to create friendlier work places to ultimately create friendlier customers and increase sales.

He opened our eyes to see what he believes "that success is my fault, failure is my fault" it's all up to us and we need to embrace that and take every opportunity to make our customers our friends people like shopping with their friends!

Go to Patrick's Facebook page to learn more about the business of friendship!

Also, check out his website Patrick Henry's website.

More tips on Social Media

Check out this video to see how you can engage your customers in social media.



This video was originally posted by www.entrepreneur.com, to watch more videos or to go to the website click here .

Social Media – be careful with it.

Thanks to social media, we are all connected in some way or another whether it is through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.  When using your business social media account, you always need to be careful that it is not being used improperly.

Although social media is a great platform for every business it can also be dangerous and can ruin your reputation in no time. If it is hard to get people to like you, it can be easy for them not to like you. So always make sure you are protecting your reputation and always double check everything before posting anything on your Facebook or Twitter account. 

Some of the things you should always try to avoid are the following:

1.       Don’t be boring... post photos, interesting promotions and sales, new products and posts that will catch the viewer’s attention.

2.       Don’t ignore visitors’ comments -- always reply to them.

3.       Be careful what pictures you are tagged in, this can be dangerous.

4.       Have someone always be on top of your social media, checking it constantly.

Save the Date.

SAVE THE DATE

Greenville Small Business Development Center is hosting a half-day Small Business Government Workshop titled

“Exploring the World of Government Contracts”

Thursday, November 15, 2012 at the Greenville Marriott in Greenviìle, SC

Presentations by:

Shaw Air Force Base

Small Business Administration

Procurement Technical Assistance Center

Veterans Administration

General Services Administration

Fluor Corporation

US&S, Inc. (Service Disabled Veteran-Owned)

Register here: click here to register

This fast paced forum will provide information on the various missions of Government agencies, what they buy and howl when they buy it, how subcontracting works on Government contracts, how to market to prime contractors, and much more!!

When: Thursday, November 15th

8:00 a.m. - 12 noon

Where: Greenville Marriott

One Parkway East

Greenville, SC 29615

Investment: $49.00

For more information contact: Sherry Pittinger at (864) 276-5560, sQittin@clemson.edu

Important Information For Your Start-Up Business.

Are you looking into opening up your own business and you don’t know where to start? You can visit the South Carolina Business One Stop or SCBOS website below.

They are the official South Carolina business web portal where you will find all the information you need to know about how to file permits, get business licenses, business registrations, or where to pay your company’s taxes.


You can also make payments for multiple filings or even taxes with your credit card, debit card or you can use EFW payments. If you do not have time to go to their offices, visit their website at your convenience to get some more information www.scbos.sc.gov

A quote from H. Jackson Brown

Stay focused on your vision.

Perhaps the most important thing when starting your own business or while running a company is to have a vision. A vision gives a sense of direction and it helps you get to where you want to be.

It tells you where you want to take your company in the future. The strategies of achieving that ultimate goal may change over time but the vision should remain fixed.

Things will always come up and you will have to adapt to them, but try to stay focused on your company's vision. This will help you in the long-run. 

Check out this article that discusses the importance of maintaining a vision.