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Author Archive for Ben Gran

Mars Cafe and the ultimate small business marketing compliment

by Ben Gran
October 26th, 2012

This is a true story about a local coffee shop in my neighborhood called Mars Cafe. Mars Cafe was a wildly successful local coffee shop and hangout for creative types in the Dog Town district of Des Moines. It was in business for 6 years and everyone loved it – it became a friendly local institution and an anchor of a part of town that used to be struggling economically.

Back in July, the owner of Mars Cafe suddenly announced that he was going to close the business. Even though the business was successful, he decided that he was too busy with other commitments and didn’t want to run the cafe any more. Everyone was shocked to hear that Mars Cafe was going to close. This was a beloved local cafe with a devoted following. Facebook lit up with people begging the owner to reconsider, saying, “Please don’t close, we love your cafe,” and so on. People even openly pleaded on Facebook, “Can’t someone else buy Mars Cafe instead?”

Then in August, after the cafe closed, it was announced that it was coming back. The café had new owners and re-opened on September 15, 2012. The new owners are 4 former longtime customers (now owners) who love Mars Cafe and want it to continue.

Here are a few questions to consider about why the rebirth of Mars Cafe is an amazing story, with some inspiring lessons for other small business owners: Continue reading “Mars Cafe and the ultimate small business marketing compliment” »

Categories Marketing Your Business
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3 ways to boost your small business marketing beyond “order taking”

by Ben Gran
October 23rd, 2012

 

The other day I was having breakfast with my family at a restaurant, and the waitress came to take our order. She was very nice and polite, but her method of taking our order was very, well, ordinary – she just kind of stood there with a notepad and wrote down our order without really asking us any questions about what we were hungry for or helping us decide. The waitress could have helped us by asking questions, suggesting popular items from the menu, and offering ideas for food and beverages that we might enjoy – and she probably would have earned a bigger ticket for the restaurant and a bigger tip for herself.

Whether you’re a restaurant server, sales person or small business owner, being an “order taker” might be perfectly polite, but it’s a missed opportunity to help the customer and make more money for the business. When you’re an entrepreneur trying to market your business, don’t just be an “order taker” who waits for customers to tell you what they want. To really add value for your customers and drive better results for your business, you need to help your customers figure out what they want.

Here are a few ways that your small business marketing can go beyond simply taking orders:

Suggestive selling: One of the oldest sales techniques is exemplified by a good restaurant server who knows how to suggest items on the menu. “Do you want fries with that?” is the classic line from a fast food restaurant, but suggestive selling is often a lot more sophisticated. If you’re a consultant, you might say to a client, “Based on your situation and what we’ve discussed so far, here is what I think you might need.” If you run a retail business, and your customers have been browsing a particular item on the shelves, “If you like that piece of merchandise, I think you’d really love this one too.” Suggestive selling doesn’t have to mean forcing things on people or pressuring people into making a purchase. Suggestive selling doesn’t have to be about suggesting a more expensive choice. Instead, it’s about offering up a broader array of choices than the customer might have known about. Good marketing can help educate the customer and make them aware of better choices that can leave them in better condition.

Continue reading “3 ways to boost your small business marketing beyond “order taking”” »

Categories Marketing Your Business
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One simple question that can help you keep customers

by Ben Gran
October 19th, 2012

What do you do when a customer tries to leave your business? Whether you’re a freelancer who wants to avoid getting “fired” by a long-time client, or a retail location that wants to keep up steady traffic of repeat business and referrals, it’s important to maintain your customer relationships. But sometimes, what happens when a customer decides to no longer do business with you can be one of the most important ways to keep making your business better. If you learn from it, even going through the experience of losing a customer can help you gain more customers in the long run.

I recently needed to cancel a life insurance policy because I had bought a new policy from a different agent. So when I contacted my existing policy’s insurance agency (State Farm agent James Lunders) to cancel the policy, instead of just saying “OK” and sending me some cancellation forms to fill out, James Lunders did something interesting: he asked if he could talk further with my wife and me to make sure we were getting a good deal on the new policy.

“I just want to make sure you’re getting good advice from this other insurance agent,” James said. “And I want to make sure you’re getting set up with a policy that’s a good fit for your needs. And if not, I want to see if we can offer you something that would be better.”

This was an interesting experience from a customer service perspective. And it made me wonder, how often do small businesses let their customers walk away without taking a moment to ask them why? Continue reading “One simple question that can help you keep customers” »

Categories Running A Small Business
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Do you have the right character for entrepreneurial success?

by Ben Gran
October 3rd, 2012

Bob Lefsetz is a widely influential expert on the music industry whose blog “The Lefsetz Letter” is must-read material for anyone interested in the latest trends and underlying motivations driving the music and entertainment business. Lefsetz recently posted an article about the ingredients of success in the music business, and how successful succeed not because of their cognitive skills, but because of something more intangible: their character.

If character drives our success, what are the true components of character? Anyone who is trying to succeed as an entrepreneur by starting a business can learn from these ideas about the character of successful people.

Here are the most important aspects of character mentioned in Bob Lefsetz’s article, and some ideas for how you can exhibit and strengthen these characteristics in your journey of starting a business:

  • Persistence: When you start a business, you need to be prepared to keep trying and trying and trying, even in the face of failure, rejection and disappointment. But persistence doesn’t mean simply blasting out a lot of e-mails and making lots of cold calls and handing out business cards – it means learning from your mistakes and adjusting your tactics as you go along.

Continue reading “Do you have the right character for entrepreneurial success?” »

Categories Starting a Business
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Things I wish I’d learned in school about starting a business

by Ben Gran
September 19th, 2012

The fall back to school season always reminds me of how different life as an entrepreneur can be from the typical experience of going to school and going to college. When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to create your own structure and “grade yourself” on your performance. You have to direct your own learning, and adjust along the way to decide whether you’re pursuing the goals that are right for you. Instead of teachers and professors and textbooks and a class syllabus showing you what you’re going to work on and why it’s important, being an entrepreneur requires you to write your own textbook and create your own road map for your growth and success.

There are many things about starting a business and running a successful business that you just can’t learn in a classroom, but here are a few things I wish I’d learned in school that would be helpful in my life today as an entrepreneur: Continue reading “Things I wish I’d learned in school about starting a business” »

Categories Forming An LLC, Incorporating a Business, Marketing Your Business, Running A Small Business, Starting a Business, Startups
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Why hiring an accountant is one of the best things to do for your business

by Ben Gran
September 7th, 2012

Have you hired an accountant to help with your small business taxes and bookkeeping yet? If so, good for you.

If not, you really ought to hire an accountant as soon as possible. Hiring an accountant might be the #1 best thing you can do for your business.

2011 was the first year I did my taxes with the help of an accountant, and even though I’m “just” a solo freelancer and my business is relatively simple compared to larger businesses that have employees, inventory, depreciating equipment, and other tax-related minutiae, I am SO GLAD that I finally got around to hiring an accountant.

Here are a few reasons why (almost) every small business owner needs to hire an accountant: Continue reading “Why hiring an accountant is one of the best things to do for your business” »

Categories Choosing A Business Structure, Forming An LLC, Incorporating a Business, Running A Small Business, Starting a Business, Taxes, Wordy Wednesdays
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Why Start a Business with CorpNet? 100% Accuracy, Guaranteed!

by Ben Gran
August 5th, 2012

We know that your business means the world to you, so you need to hire someone you can trust to help you file the documents to incorporate your business.

At CorpNet, we take pride in our work, and we’re confident that we do what we do better than anyone else. After successfully completing thousands of incorporations to help entrepreneurs start a business, we have the expertise and experience to promise 100% ACCURACY and a 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE on all of our business filing services.

No more worrying about filling out forms, puzzling over government bureaucrat “legalese” and wondering if you’re doing it the right way – you can trust CorpNet to incorporate your business on time, on budget and with zero errors.

Want to hear what our customers think about CorpNet? Check out our 100% positive customer reviews from the Better Business Bureau. We have never gotten a single customer complaint – but in case we ever do, we promise to refund the fees of anyone who isn’t completely satisfied.

We know it can be hard to commit to spending money on your new business venture. But when you hire CorpNet, there’s no risk. We will handle everything to your satisfaction, or you get your money back. No risk, no fuss – no problem.

If you’re ready for a risk-free way to start a business, talk to CorpNet. We’re ready to help you launch your business by taking the paperwork off your to-do list.

Call CorpNet at 1-888-449-2638 for a Free Business Consultation. We’ll help you figure out the best way to incorporate your business and get your business filings done right – satisfaction guaranteed. 

Call CorpNet today at 1-888-449-2638 or go online for a free price quote to incorporate a business.

Categories Events & Announcements, Starting a Business, Startups, Sunday Specials
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When You Start a Business with CorpNet, You Get Personalized Service!

by Ben Gran
July 29th, 2012

At CorpNet, we believe that entrepreneurs want to be in business “for” themselves, not “by” themselves. You don’t have to go it alone when figuring out how to incorporate your business. CorpNet has a team of business formation specialists who can help answer your questions, evaluate your options, and recommend the best ways for you to incorporate your business and manage the business filings along the way.

Other incorporation services tend to be higher-volume, more automated and less personal. They often are dealing with higher volumes of calls and so they might just want to quickly make the sale and get you off the phone. If you don’t always know exactly what you want, or exactly which business structure you need, these other services might not be the best choice for you.

When you call CorpNet you get personal, attentive service. We try to build genuine relationships with every customer we serve. We get inspiration and energy from hearing the stories of the entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who call us every day to help start a business. We take the time to guide our customers through the process. We help you understand your options so you can make the right choice for your business.

Ready to start the process of incorporating your business? Call CorpNet at 1-888-449-2638 for a Free Business Consultation. See for yourself how we can help your business by getting to know you and your specific goals and challenges.

Call CorpNet today: 1-888-449-2638 or get a free price quote online.

Categories Events & Announcements, Starting a Business, Sunday Specials
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Marketing lessons from a stand-up comedian

by Ben Gran
July 3rd, 2012

Doing stand-up comedy is most people’s worst nightmare, but for me it’s been a lifelong dream. So a few months ago, after booking a venue, promoting and producing the show and selling tickets, I did my first stand-up comedy show.

What could have easily been a disaster instead turned out to be one of the best nights of my life. There were almost 150 people in the audience, standing room only. I performed for over an hour. I don’t mean to brag, but it went better than I could have possibly imagined. I’d been thinking about doing comedy for a long time, and I finally fulfilled the dream in front of a full house of people who were laughing really hard.

Encouraged by this initial success, I’ve launched a side business as a comedian and started doing more comedy shows. I’ve traveled to other cities around the Midwest and also participated in a comedy showcase in New York City. I’m still very new to the world of stand-up comedy, but here are a few lessons I’ve learned from marketing myself and performing as a stand-up comedian: Continue reading “Marketing lessons from a stand-up comedian” »

Categories Forming An LLC, Incorporating a Business, Marketing Your Business
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4 Reasons Why America is Still a Great Place to Start a Business

by Ben Gran
July 2nd, 2012

 

It’s easy to be down on America these days – the economy is struggling, unemployment is still way too high, and the past 10 years of business scandals, terrorism, disasters, war and political stalemate have led many to question whether America’s best days are behind it. This 4th of July, I’ve been thinking of some reasons why America shouldn’t count itself out just yet. Even though our country is facing many significant challenges, America still has many important advantages that make this country a great place to start a business.

Here are a few reasons why American entrepreneurs and Americans who are thinking of starting a business can take heart and find reason for optimism:

  • America embraces innovation and new ideas: I have lived in Japan, traveled in Europe, and hosted international visitors in my home from 8 countries. One of the biggest advantages of American business culture is that we are willing to embrace innovation and new ideas. We’re not as hidebound by traditional ways of doing things like in other cultures where people are more reluctant to consider change. I remember talking with an Italian friend during a visit to Paris, and he said one of the things he had always admired about America is that in America, he felt that people were more open to multiple ways of thinking about a problem. “Multiple solutions can be considered in America,” he said. “There are no limitations, people are not as quick to judge or make assumptions about the right path to take.” If America can continue to be an open-minded place, our entrepreneurs will reap the benefits.

 

Continue reading “4 Reasons Why America is Still a Great Place to Start a Business” »

Categories Running A Small Business, Starting a Business
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