Sales, Marketing

Maybe someone owns a yoga studio, or a dog groomer, or a massage therapist.

Or perhaps that someone is a cosmetologist, an independent CPA or even a chimney sweep.

Millions of small businesses around the nation struggle when they are competing with big corporations. Many end up throwing in the towel because they can’t find a way to give themselves an edge in order to survive. One small business, Hound & Gatos Pet Foods Corporation, has found a recipe for thriving among an industry of big dogs.

Technology is rapidly changing our world but individual customer service is not keeping up.

While many companies offer products and services through apps and downloads, there are still many functions and applications still needing hands-on help.

Take for instance buying a new mobile device.  On average, consumers spend five hours talking about or researching a new mobile device, according to industry pundits.

Staying competitive in today’s market is tasking for the most established of companies. Without the luxury of a massive sales team or extravagant resources to throw into the sales pipeline, a small business’s sales challenges are magnified.  

Beacons are tools, not substitutes for customer service.

Having beacons in a store may satisfy the gadget geek, but the beacons alone will not improve a small business or its customer relations.

Nicole Chan, Director of Public Relations and Brand Marketing at Bindotalks about the value of beacons. In their most used forms beacons are apps downloaded by the establishment.

While two-thirds of Yelp reviews are positive but the algorithm used to populate the site often allows negative postings to dominate a company’s listing.

Of Yelp’s estimated 77 million reviews, positive four and five star reviews made up 66.8%, with one star reviews making up only 12.8%.

This is particularly hard on restaurants and other food-related businesses. Because food judgement is such a personal and non-standard process, the Yelp program is particularly difficult to police and maintain.

Most start-ups begin with an idea or product.

Often the owners focus on getting the product/service perfected without devoting attention to reaching potential users.

According to Alex Cotraviwat, CEO of the Marendo Group the most effective marketing tips he thinks are important include:

There is an old marketing adage: Fill a need, make money. Fill a desire, make a fortune.

But often there is more needed.

One man who found a need and filled it has rocked the motorcycle world.

And he credits his success to how he works with his staff.

Adam Xavier, Co-founder and Current CEO, developed a unique motorcycle locking system that soon formed his company known as RoadLok.

Xavier described, “I had many jobs, doing just about anything, during college which inadvertently taught me how to run a business.”

Finding a need based on his own experience, one entrepreneur did research before launching his new venture. The effort paid off in a successful business.

For years after Chris Riccobono graduated college, he recalls a struggle with finding a shirt with the perfect fit. He and his peers could never find a button-up shirt that was not too long. Riccobono accounts, “I tried on 150 shirts and not one of them was the perfect fit."

At least 95 percent of men he surveyed had thesame issue of finding a button-up shirt that fit right and did not fall too long.