GoHuman Blog

It seems like everyone has heard one of the most oft-quoted statistics on small business:  “80% of all small businesses fail within the first five years and, of the 20% that survive, 80% of the survivors fail within the next five years……..therefore,  96% of all small businesses fail within 10 years!”

For this reason alone, many people never start a business and many banks, angel investors, and venture capital firms decline to fund the vast majority of small business start-ups.  I want to dispel this myth because, in reality, nobody has statistics that clearly define what a “failure” means.

Learn your fear of raising prices and stand up to it. Don’t allow the fear you have about money and prices to be the decision maker. Acknowledge the fear, set it aside, and then get creative and make a non-emotional decision, regarding your prices.

When you’re having a conversation with a customer, whether in person or via advertising, focus on “the value” of the product/service you offer. People love to hear stories about other happy customers who have experienced the joy of doing business with you. Talk more about value and less about the price. Being enthusiastic and passionate about what you do is viral. Customers want you to believe in yourself and your business. They want to buy from someone who is proud, passionate and confident about what they do.

When you raise your prices, you’ll have more money to gain more, and better customers. The additional income allows you to market, advertise and promote your business in ways you couldn’t afford to before.

Operating a small business is vastly different than running a corporate giant. Small businesses can be more creative and opportunities to succeed are greater. Very few principles can be taken from a corporate giant and applied to a small business with similar results. Your advantages in a small business are the complete opposite of theirs. They have mass volume, distribution and leveraging advantages.  You don’t. Don’t be misguided by the pricing war behavior they engage in because thankfully, it doesn’t apply to you!

One falsehood many people fall for is that by lowering their price, they’ll “make it up in volume.” Here’s a great example…..a guy buys a boat load of money change-making machines and someone says, “How will you make a profit? People put a dollar in and you give them four quarters. How in the world can you possibly make any money on that deal?” The guy responds by saying, “I’ll make it up in volume.” Really?

Much of the fear of raising prices comes from the whole small business self esteem factor that says, “I’m not worth it and would feel guilty raising prices because my customers trust me for this price and therefore, if I raise them, I’m taking advantage of them.” Really?

Take yourself back to the state of mind you had when you first started your business. Remember all that energy you had? You were so excited that you stayed up all night researching and writing down all the limitless possibilities you could create? Never lose that game element because it’s what keeps every business’s energy and creativity flowing.

There will never be a shortage of opportunity for you to raise your prices, when you are continually raising the value of the buying experience. You won’t lose customers, you’ll gain them.

I’m intrigued with author Frances E. Vaughan’s definition of intuition as “a way of knowing…a way of recognizing the possibilities in any situation.”

Decisions based off of intuition come from an ability to integrate and utilize both the left and right sides of the brain.  The combined product of both facts and feelings that are unclouded by the involvement of personal ego.

Leaders with good intuition see new opportunities in any given situation. They visualize the future and are well equipped to move an organization forward, in response to it. These leaders are particularly good at generating new ideas and providing fresh, creative solutions to old problems. They function best in quickly changing environments, and moments of crisis.

Most men tend to refer to their intuition as a “gut feeling,” whereas women are more comfortable calling on their “feminine or women’s intuition.”

Because intuition originates from a certain feeling in our body, when someone asks how we know, we can’t explain the rationale behind the conclusion. As a result, we’re inclined to keep these thoughts to ourselves in fear others will label us as being unreasonable or foolish.

In the business world, effective leaders understand the importance of using logic and analysis when making certain decisions that will or have the potential to heavily impact the overall standing of the organization. Furthermore, leaders who possess these key traits also understand when to call upon their intuition, not as a substitute to analysis, but as an equal to it.

The thought of achieving any big goal can often be overwhelming and seem so far out of reach that we decide it’s not worth pursuing. So how do you get past that daunting, dreading feeling and transform a dream into a project? By taking action. Any action. You accomplish it one step, one task, one measure at a time.

Ask your superior or yourself, “what’s the one thing I do that is more valuable than anything else?” Whatever the answer, look for continuous ways to perform more and more of that task and learn to do it a little better each day. It’s amazing how much and what you can accomplish by breaking your tasks down into bite-sized pieces, setting deadlines, and then taking action, every single day.

Get into a routine where you’re regularly improving your skills through personal & professional development. Designate a specific amount of time each day to reading about your field. Listen to audio programs on your way to and from work. Take additional courses whenever you can. These activities alone will jump-start your entire career and get you on the fast track in no time. When you invest an extra hour or two per day in personal/professional-improvement, the cumulative effect on your ability to get the results you want is extraordinary.

If you can measure it, you can manage it. In every area of your life, carefully analyze your activities and choose a specific number that will determine your level of success in that area. Focus all your attention on that number because just as a plant depends upon water to prosper, the same is true for people, what you focus on is what grows. The very act of being and remaining focused will allow you to perform better in that area, consciously and unconsciously.

How important do you suppose it is to personally invest in ourselves through continued self development? Whether it be for business or personal reasons, many people just don’t take the time or rather, feel worthy enough to spend the time on themselves, to further develop their skills. I say this with certainty because I used to be one of those people who never took the time to further educate myself, for many reasons.

Before starting my business coaching practice, I spent most of my adult career (20 years) in the RV-MH distribution industry. During that period, I was fortunate enough to continuously advance in my positions from administration to head of operations, which I attribute to a lot of hard work, motivation and a strong passion for the work I did and the people I served.  As shameful as this may sound, it never occurred to me how much additional value I could add to my employees, co-workers, customers, and myself by reading leadership books to learn more about effectively leading others or listen to audios about goal setting & achieving, team building exercises or how to deal with work place conflict. With having said all that, nothing could have prepared me for the complete transformation I’ve made over the past year and half.

Once I made the decision that it was time for a change and realized in doing so, not only would I be stepping way out of my comfort zone, but rather setting myself up for the biggest challenge of my life. By the time I reached that awareness, I was far too invested (financially and emotionally) to ever think about turning back and returning to the “land of safety.”

One of the first lessons I learned about starting a business was any/all results that were to occur, would be completely dependent upon me and the commitment I was willing to make to myself, in order to achieve the results I wanted. Part of that commitment meant learning a lot more about a trade that was, although very unfamiliar to me, a great deal similar to much of the work I had done, over the past twenty years.

For starters, I sought out a good training/certification program that would help me lay the foundation for my practice. Next, I hired my own business coach, someone who I knew had a great reputation in the industry and more importantly, one that was effective at getting the results her clients wanted, which in turn, produced the results she wanted. I spent months reading motivational, coaching, sales and success books. I listened to problem solving, financially fearless, owner/victim distinction audios while in my car, every opportunity I had. Then, it was practice, practice, practice the art of coaching, to learn everything that didn’t work for me or others, in order to find what would work.

I’ve encountered more roadblocks than downtown Chicago and at times, often wondered if I made the right decision. However, as soon as I feel myself falling into the victim mode trap of “poor me,” it’s at that same time when I recall how I’ve overcome every one of those obstacles and turned them into opportunities for growth. As a result, I’m a much more independent, wiser and stronger individual & coach, today.

Launching a business requires knowing the cost and expenses associated with startup operations. Business owners planning to expand an existing business usually need additional financing. Being undercapitalized is one of the most common mistakes business owners make. Attempting to work on a financial shoe string is not only stressful but can impede the growth of the business for years.

The first step most companies take when seeking private capital is the creation of an executive summary and/or a business plan. Executive summaries and business plans typically provide general information about the company, its business model, goals, etc. While this information is important to investors, it does not provide a basis or structure for accepting capital investments, especially from multiple investors. Business plans are important, especially for start-up companies, but should not be relied upon as investment documents.

Here is the “Best Kept Secret in Funding.” The Regulation D series of funding allows you to efficiently raise the funds necessary for your business, in legal compliance with Security & Exchange Commissions laws. Whether it’s $50,000 or millions, there is a Reg D to answer your requirements.

Offering equity in a privately held company, such as a corporation or limited liability company, without proper exemption from the Securities & Exchange Commission, is in violation of offering securities. The Reg D series of private placement offerings are the exemptions. A Reg D 504 Private Placement Offering is ideal for raising $1 million or less. It’s cost effective, has few restrictions, and is easy to comply with.

Ken Hollowell, CEO/President of Profran Consultants, Inc., is sponsoring this issue by offering a free Reg D 504, a $10,000 value. To apply, provide a one or two paragraph description of your business with the amount you wish to raise, up to $1M. Ken will select the business he feels is the best candidate to generate investor interest, from among the first 20 responses. The other 19 candidates will receive a personal counseling session on how to improve their pitch. GoHuman.com will also upgrade your subscription to our $9 Enhanced Subscription Level for 6 months, free of charge.

You owe it to yourself to learn about methods of raising funds for literally any type of business. Respond today to increase your understanding of funding options to chart your path toward business growth and expansion.

Our mission is to bring you the best quality marketing assistance at the lowest cost. GoHuman.com offers very low cost subscription upgrades for you to list your business in more ZIP codes or feature different products and services in different markets.

You can upgrade or downgrade you account at any time via your account management page on GoHuman.

$5/month gives you 15 postings, which helps you market specific services to customers in other ZIP codes.

$9/month gives you 30 postings as well as a unique WebAddress, which makes it easier for people to find your business posting on the Web. (http://www.gohuman.com/chicago-lawyer)

All this speculation about Google buying Yelp for half a billion dollars starts to sound suspiciously like some of the other high finance deals that led to the current economic crisis. But at the end of the day, these are two corporations beholden to shareholders and investors with wealth aggregated at the top and controlled from the top. Worse still, that wealth is still leaving your community.

Where’s the little guy in all this? The independent local professional or small business who just needs to get more customers in the door, no matter who happens to own the search traffic or content at that particular moment.

Google was supposed to be in the business of objectively aggregating the world’s information, not owning it. Buying Yelp ensures a degree of control over the content that is created. And remember who’s creating all that content? You and me.

Yelp was a directory created to give consumers a democratic voice in recommending brick and mortar businesses. I believe their motives were pure, but they leaned so far in favor of the consumer as to alienate businesses who now tell extortion-like tales. The review system is limited and features such as business responses and custom business info are afterthoughts at best.

There is a better way.

What if the website that contained all the customer feedback alllowed businesses to express themselves and interact in a more natural, independent way?

Better yet, what if the people who contribute to the website community end up owning it?

GoHuman.com represents something completely different — 1000’s of sustainable localized business communities connected through the Web yet protected from the rampant evaporation of local wealth. We’re building a unique collaborative economic structure that directly rewards those who contribute to its growth. It’s a revolutionary concept that takes a bit of faith to absorb, but we truly believe it will transform local communities from the inside out, equalizing the gap between the big guys and the little guys.

I recently blogged about how the top 20 Global Companies dramatically highlight the unbelievably unsustainable nature of the current global economy.  I’m following up with an online article about #43 on the list.

End of the world predictions are usually the domain of fanatics and fringers, but this global powerhouse is advising its clients how to prepare for global collapse.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

#2 of 19 random reasons Why GoHuman.com? is that a strong, connected, local community is an essential insurance policy if the worst of doomsday predictions were to come true. And investing in a local economy is by its nature more sustainable, not to mention the marketplace we are creating.

We hope you’ll catch the vision and spread the word. We can make a difference. We can change the way the world works.

Reason #1;

Reason #3; Reason #4; Reason #5; Reason #6; Reason #7; Reason #8; Reason #9; Reason #10; Reason #11; Reason #12

Since I wrote about Goldman Sachs’ apology, investors are calling for a bigger share of profits. Don’t owners have a right to demand this?

Corporations are created to limit investor risk while making money. Sincepowerful corporations can cause enormous damage, layers of governance are added. A balance of forces and laws grow a company as big as Goldman Sachs. Then individuals personally profit from investing in, or working for, these enormously fattened pigs. Some gorge themselves on very large pieces of pork.

Governments become enmeshed and corrupted by capitalism. Bailouts become billion dollar opportunities for greedy individuals to exploit. With the balance of power and control being challenged, Investors, Executives and employees all scream for bigger slices of bacon. The Beatles nailed it in “Piggies”.

GoHuman.com promotes a sustainable model of equitable rewards and a new transactional model at the local community level. We celebrate the power of trust, built on transparent reputation. We look beyond the fallacy of so-called “Free Markets” to open markets of equal opportunity.

I’ll be blogging about these topics in the coming weeks. Thanks for the trust you display in working with us to change the way the world works.

Say cheese! or pork?