Social Studies: Being socially responsible is a key element of running a small business

Written by Rhonda Abrams, featured on Costco Connection Magazine

Small businesses have long been the backbone of their communities. Small businesses support local charities, Little League, food drives, school fundraisers and more. Most small-business owners don’t have to be told to be charitable-they already are. But being charitable is just one part of the wave of interest and increasing demand for businesses to be socially responsible.

In addition to focusing on the bottom line, being socially responsible is a smart part of a company’s strategy for success.

Social Steps:

  • Create an inclusive workplace with fair pay.
  • Donate a portion of profits. Choose an organization and make it clear a small percentage of your pre- or post-profit sales will go to that cause.
  • Think and work sustainably. Look for ways your business can reduce waste, consume less energy and lower its carbon footprint.
  • Donate time. A good way to build team morale as well as contribute to your community is to have your employees volunteer-on paid company time-for a good cause.
  • Donate products or services to causes you believe in.

The Mentor Mentee Relationship: A Two-Way Street

Article taken from “Chamber Executive Fall 2018”

This article is written by two chamber executives from the Texas coast who have shared many years together in the same office but now get to share on a different level. The mentee has been at the helm of the Portland Chamber of Commerce (Texas) for a little more than a year. Prior to serving in Portland, she worked at the Rockport-Fulton Chamber (Texas) for 13 years. The mentor has led the Rockport-Fulton Chamber for almost three decades. The two communities are 25 miles apart.

Let’s Negotiate: Switch From an Adversarial to a Collaborative Approach for Best Results

Negotiating is most effective when you build in breaks between sessions and anticipate some back and forth. Pressure can derail the process.

Article by Jessica Notini

Learn to Listen:

To conduct a successful negotiation, don’t launch into a monologue about your business or your budget. Instead, ask the other party open-ended questions about their long-term goals and visions.

The more information you can gather, the better you will understand what motivates them, and the more targeted and effective your negotiations will be.

Listening has another benefit, too: focused, authentic attention builds trust and goodwill, and you’re more likely to want to work out a deal when you feel a genuine connection.

Want to learn more about overcoming customer objections? Register today for our upcoming workshop by clicking here.

Creating Customer Value: There is no loss to the customer by eliminating activities that do not add value

Excerpt from The Daily Drucker by Peter Drucker

Activity-based costing provides the foundation for integrating into one analysis the several procedures required to create customer value. With activity costs as a starting point, the enterprise can seperate activities that add value to customers from those that do not, and eliminate the latter. The chain of value-creating activities uncovered during value analysis is the starting point for analyzing the underlying process of value creation. Process analysis seeks to: improve the features of the product or service, restructure the process while reducing costs, and maintain or improve quality.

Process analysis in an automobile company involves designing and redesigning components and subfunctions in order to carry out each function at predetermined cost targets. For instance, the basic function of an automobile is to provide transportation, but secondary functions include comfort, fuel efficiency, and safety. Each of the functions and subfunctions require components or services that create value for the customer. Each also contributes to the quality of the automobile as well as to the cost. A process team is formed from personnel who perform the value-chain activities. This team often include suppliers and customers. The task of the team is to identify the functions the product or service is to perform and to analyze the components or services that go into each function with the objective of achieving value and quality objectives while meeting cost targets.

Action point: Eliminate activities that do not create value. Analyze the underlying processes of value-creating activities and redesign the processes if necessary to enhance customer value.

Continuous Learning in Knowledge Work: A knowledge organization has to be both a learning organization and a teaching organization

excerpt from “Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker

Knowledge workers must have continuous learning built into their tasks. And a knowledge organization has to be both a learning organization and a teaching organization. Knowledge today, in all areas, changes so fast that knowledge workers become obsolete pretty soon unless they build continuous learning into their work. And that is not just true of high knowledge such as that of the engineer, the chemist, the biologist, or the accountant. It’s increasingly just as true of the cardiac nurse, the person who handles payroll records, and the computer repair person. But also, a knowledge organization depends on knowledge specialists understanding what their colleagues are doing or trying to do. And each of them has a different specialty. Knowledge workers need, therefore, to hold themselves responsible for educating their colleagues, especially when the knowledge base of their own specialty changes.

This means that knowledge workers are well advised to sit down and answer two questions:

  1. What do I need to learn to keep abreast of the knowledge I am being paid to know?
  2. And what do my associates have to know and understand about my knowledge area and about what I can and should contribute to the organization and to their own work?

Action Point: Answer the two questions at the end of this reading.

Business Ownership Guide for Female Entrepreneurs

Written by Harvard Business Services

Of course, starting a business can still be demanding, and women face a unique set of challenges when doing so that their male counterparts do not. The path to business ownership can be intimidating, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from pursuing your goals. By learning about other female entrepreneurs, the ways they overcame obstacles, and what you need to do to start your own business, you’ll be well-armed with the knowledge necessary to begin a successful career as a female entrepreneur…

Read More Click Here

Five Reasons to Apply for the 7th Annual Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition

The pitch competition is back and by popular demand we have significantly extended the timeline to apply for the pitch. WE are in full swing to find the next start-up winner in Delaware. If you think your start-up has the right stuff, then please apply now.

Not sure whether you should apply? We think it is a no-brainer if you are a start-up under 5 years old, but we will break it down for you. Here are five reasons you should apply to compete in the Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition.

  1. $10,000 Cash Grand Prize and other additional in-kind services

What can we say? Cash is king and for a start-up $10,000 can help jump start your business.

2. Brand Awareness

Gain exposure for your business.

3. Find possible mentors for you and your business.

The judges that will be listening to your pitch are already mentors out in the community and have demonstrated their potential to help businesses. They can connect you with people who can be beneficial in supporting you such as other mentors, business partners, or advisors.

4. Perfect your business plan pitch

Take every opportunity to practice your pitch over and over and over again.

5. Receive input from professionals on your business plan and pitch

Feedback can be hard, but it’s good. The judges are there to help you progress and grow.

And one extra bonus just in case by now we still haven’t convinced you it’s worth applying…

It won’t cost you a thing to apply. So you have nothing to lose.

Click here to find out more.