Business Consulting Topics

There are a lot of moving parts to a business, such as finance, client relations, employee relations, accounts payables, accounts receivables, sales, marketing, business development, operations, etc.  Some business owners may be proficient at some of these functions but not others.  A Business Consultant can counsel clients on areas of their business that needs improving.  A Business Consultant can also help clients with matters such as launching a new business, business expansions and new market entry.  Most importantly, a Business Consultant offers a different perspective on how the client’s business operates and offer alternate systems and methodologies that the owner may not have previously considered.

Any business that needs help in a particular area can seek guidance from a Business Consultant.  For example, an entrepreneur who has a concept for a business but may not possess the knowledge or skills to execute their idea.  Some business owners may have already existing businesses but might need help taking their company to the next level.  In some cases, a company’s deficits could be caused by the owner and an in-depth evaluation of the company’s operational system needs to be evaluated to determine how certain functions can be improved.  The goal of many businesses is to generate as much revenue as possible.  However, decreasing expenses can be equally as effective in increasing profits as increasing sales.  Business Consultants are experts in the implementation of total operational efficiency and total quality management.  Advice from an experienced Business Consultant can help business owners break through barriers that were previously holding them back from advancing.

Business owners and entrepreneurs often make mistakes in business.  Mistakes in business are often made when decisions are made based on emotions rather than wit.  A good Business Consultant can help their clients sidestep a few landmines.  Business Consultants can save their clients’ both time and money by avoiding common mistakes that are typically made in business.  Sometimes these savings exceed the consultants fee, making their service invaluable.  Business Consultants are in the business of providing information to their clients.  The information they provide is knowledge and proprietary systems that they’ve acquired or developed over many years of conducting business for themselves including countless hours of research, meetings, talking to business associates, trial, and error.  This information can benefit clients tremendously and save them a great deal of time, stress, anxiety, and aggravation.

The internet has changed the face of retail in many ways, especially as the younger generations become more comfortable with technology and placing orders online.  In the 1980s, consumers had to go to shopping malls to make purchases.  We were introduced to placing orders online in the 1990s and now with the advent of smartphones, almost everyone is, has and will be making plenty of online purchases as the convenience becomes part of everyday life.

From a business perspective, if you wanted to open a brick-and-mortar retail store you’d have to secure a location on a busy road, hire sales employees, find a designer to create the store concepts, pay a contractor to gut the space and reconstruct the floor, walls, ceiling, electrical system, plumbing, countertop, display racks, etc.  You’d be lucky if it cost you less than $100,000 by the time your grand opening came around.  However, the internet has made it possible for entrepreneurs to spend as little as $10,000 creating an e-commerce web site with a functional shopping cart and they’re ready to start charging credit cards and shipping out orders. Open source solutions such as WooCommerce or leased such as Shopify exit for companies, as an example.

You want to start a business but aren’t sure how to structure it.  Should it be a C Corporation, Subchapter “S”, Limited Liability Company, 501(c)(3), etc.  These entities have different characteristics in terms of shielding the owner from liability and also how taxes are paid.  So which one is best for your business?

If you’re doing business as yourself or as a Sole Proprietor, you’re leaving yourself unprotected if you ever get sued.  In a world full of frivolous lawsuits, entrepreneurs must take advantage of laws that prevent them from losing everything if they lose a lawsuit.  If your company is incorporated, an adversary can’t come after you personally or individually if granted a judgement.  They can only gain access to the assets of the company.  This is why owners of for-profit companies take regular distributions.

C Corps. are traditionally used by larger, publicly traded companies and could have some tax consequences that are less desirable for small business owners.  S Corps. avoid these consequences by allowing the owner to claim profits or losses on their individual tax returns while still providing a certain level of liability protection.  On the other hand, LLCs allow profits and losses to pass through the owners without the business being taxed.  LLPs or Limited Liability Partnerships are similar to LLCs but with more than one shareholder.  501(c)(3)s are nonprofit organizations and may qualify to receive funding or donations.  It’s important to chose the entity that is most appropriate for your individual situation when starting a business.

Some people use these words synonymously or interchangeably.  However, they do in fact, have different meanings.  In short, sales is when consumers or prospective customers are made aware of their need for a product or service.  Marketing creates the need for the product/service and presents a solution.

There are many strategies for selling products and services.  Similarly, there are many approaches to introduce products and services to consumers, customers, prospective buyers and various markets.  Even though they are separate functions, the objective is the same…to generate revenue for the company. A critical business topic covered in consulting.

When it comes to marketing, there are different strategies that can be employed.

• Ambush Marketing: Overwhelming an event with a brand.
• Vertical Marketing: Cutting out the middleman and becoming your own referral source.
• Guerrilla Marketing: Using hit-and-run tactics over and over again.
• Multilevel Marketing: Trickle down commission structure.
• Internet Marketing: SEO, Social Media Marketing, Blogging, PPC, etc.
• Article Marketing: Using information to entice prospective clients.
• Viral Marketing: Redistribution of content by various users typically on Social Media platforms.
• Database Marketing: Collection of demographic information for future contact.
• Freebie Marketing: Enticing customers by offering giveaways.
• Loyalty Marketing: Enticing customers by offering rewards.
• Affiliate Marketing: Recruiting sales partners to promote a brand.
• Alliance Marketing: Co-branding with similar but noncompeting companies.
• Catalog Marketing:  Circulation of printed product offerings via direct mail.
• Black Hat Marketing: Unscrupulous or unethical Tactics (ill-advised).

Employees can often be regarded as the backbone of a company.  However, in some cases, they can also be considered a liability.  In the United States and many other countries, employees have rights.  Notwithstanding these rights, smart employers know that happy employees are good employees.  Therefore, it behooves employers to not only operate within the confines of the law but also consider benefits that incentivize employees to work harder or even just to stay.  It takes more effort and costs more money to continuously hire and train new employees than it does to retain experienced employees.

When interviewing and hiring new employees, there are certain questions that are illegal to ask.  In accordance with various labor laws, prospective employers are prohibited from inquiring about age, height, weight, medical information, race, religious beliefs, disabilities, marital status, intentions of having children, etc.  Asking questions pertaining to these topics exposes the interviewer and company to potential legal liabilities.

Once an employee is hired, there are other considerations to keep in mind, such as sexual harassment, how management responds to sexual or other harassment claims, how management responds to substance abuse, minimum wage, anti-discrimination, labor unions, family medical leave, equal pay, etc.  If not handled properly, these employee-related matters can cost the company a lot of money in legal fees, law suits and other complications.

In lieu of using employees for certain business functions, vendors can be used.  In some circumstances, employees can’t be used because of a lack of expertise or other factors and outsourcing to vendors is necessary.  Like employees, vendors must be managed.  They may not have the same rights as employees but they can be dishonest, incompetent or unscrupulous.

Vendors can help you run your business and sometimes in a more efficient and cost effective manner than employees.  These external entities often bring a certain level of expertise not available at your company.  Although, using bad vendors can significantly disrupt an operation.

If you have a product-based business, the products you sell are either your brand or another company’s brand.  If you decide to sell your own brand of products, you’ll have to put some thought into the qualities these products will have and how these products will be manufactured.  The research and development stage (often referred to as R&D) involves a certain level of due diligence in determining the best ways of creating the product.

If a company is not a manufacturing company, the manufacturing process can be outsourced to a third party or what is known as a contract manufacturer who will make the product to the buyers specifications.  Product development typically refers to the process of creating a finished product out of a concept.  Sometimes this process is not successful the first time around and must be continuously revised until it is ready for distribution.  In fact, it took the Rocket Chemical Company 40 attempts of revising the formula to finally get WD-40 right, which is partly how the product got its name.

Employers weren’t always good to their employees.  Some may argue that they still aren’t.  Nevertheless, labor laws have come a long way.  There were times that children were used for cheap labor, blacks were used for free labor and women weren’t aloud to work at all.  For as much as unions were established to fight for employee rights, there are some unions that have have chosen to play more of a malevolent role in dealing with employers.

If employees feel disgruntled, they may seek representation from a union.  Sometimes unions approach employees.  Either way, if your employees organize a union, the way you operate your business is about to change.  Even though you can discourage your employees from organizing a union, it is considered illegal to penalize or retaliate against employees for it.  In addition to certain employer actions being prohibited in dealing with unions and employees that are interested in organizing, there are also actions of unions that are considered illegal.  In this case, it’s usually advantageous for employers to seek out counsel from attorneys that specialize in labor law.

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The inner workings of any commercial enterprise is critical to its existence.  Any inefficiencies or bureaucracies within a company’s operational system could cause it to hemorrhage cash.  Business administration is a general term for various administrative functions such as bookkeeping, accounting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, billing, payment processing, financial management, quality assurance, etc.  These business operations are the glue that holds a company together.

Operating a business without projecting capital receipts and expenditures is like driving a car with a broken gas gauge.  Despite differences in  business types, the blueprint for operating any business is the same in terms of there being a flow of money coming in and going out.  This cash flow has to be managed properly or the company could find itself in a shortfall which could have devastating effects on the fiscal stability and solvency of the business.

Financial projections are used to prognosticate income and expenses for components such as sales, payroll, cost of goods sold, supplies and other financial factors.  Data can be compiled from bank statements, balance sheets, finance reports and other accounting records to create a a comprehensive schedule of estimated, future financial activity.  A prudent business owner knows his numbers.

There are two main reasons for writing a business plan before starting a business.  If you’re seeking startup capital, investors will undoubtedly want to see a business plan before making a decision to fund your project.  Even if you’re not seeking investment capital, business plans are an excellent way to gain clarity on how to properly execute your startup concept.  Sometimes, writing your ideas down forces you to consider certain factors that you might not have previously thought about.

At the very least, the following sections are usually included in a business plan:

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• List of Products or Services
• Marketing Plan
• Industry Information
• Potential Customers
• Competition
• Financial Projections
• SWOT Analysis
• Break-Even Analysis
• Personnel
• Management
• Startup Expenses

Your brand is your company’s unique identifier.  Many factors contribute to the effectiveness of a company’s brand, such as the company name, website address, slogan, logo, color themes, dress code, verbiage, packaging, labeling, intellectual property, product names, etc.

A company’s branding can make the difference between it being remembered or forgotten, especially the name.

Examples of good branding:

• Names that rhyme: Maui Wowi
• Onomatopoeia: Quack
• Wordplay: Wok ‘n Roll
• Misspellings: Tumblr
• Word Association: AutoWorld
• Unique Identity: The William Glasgow Agency

Examples of bad branding:

• No individuality: The Printing Company
• Too Complicated: BCBGMAXAZRIA
• Hard to Pronounce: Hermes
• Irrelevant: Farmers Insurance
• Too Generic: Telecom
• Offensive: Camel Towing

The psychology of colors also plays an important role in branding.  For example:

• Red is associated with passion and boldness
• Orange is associated with aggression and excitement
• Yellow is associated with energy and optimism
• Green is associated with peace and relaxation
• Blue is associated with security and trust
• Purple is associated with creativity and royalty

If you have a product-based business and store your inventory in your home, you will reach a point where your home will become consumed by boxes.  Having your own warehouse comes with imposing expenses such as rent, forklifts, staff, etc.  Alternatively, there are warehouses that will store your inventory based on how much shelf space it requires. They’ll even process orders and ship out packages for you.  This is a very convenient and cost effective outsourcing solution.  Cold storage and climate-controlled warehousing is also available for perishable items.

If you have a product-based business, you’ll need a solution to get your product from your location to your customers.  You may need different solutions depending on how much product is being shipped.  For example, the solutions that are cost effective to ship one item or one case will probably be different for one pallet or one container.  The weight of your product and destination of your buyers may also effect the shipping method. Remember that the postal service in some countries may not be as efficient or reliable as the United States postal service.

If you have a product-based business, importing and exporting could give you an opportunity to expand your business into other countries.  Depending on the type of product that you’re importing or exporting, certain regulations may apply and need to be taken into consideration.  You may need a license or permit to send or receive certain product in or out of the country and you also may need to get certain products cleared by regulatory agencies such as the FDA or USDA.

Having relationships with certain vendors makes importing and/or exporting possible.  For example you’ll need a Customs Broker and a Freight Forwarder.  If you’re interested in selling your products in other countries, an Export Manager might be able to assist you as they have relationships with international buyers.

Operating a wholesale business is very different than running a retail business.  Your prices will be lower but chances are your sales volume will be higher.  In some cases, you may be the intermediary between manufacturers and retailers.  The typical structure of the supply chain is suppliers of raw materials to manufacturers, manufacturers to distributors, distributors to wholesalers, wholesalers to retailers and then retailers to consumers. A very important business consulting topic covered.

One advantage of selling wholesale is that business to business tends to be more stable, regular and in larger quantities.  Wholesale businesses also tend to have less competition than retail businesses.  A good wholesale business model has strong relationships with both suppliers and retailers.  Marketing is an important component of a wholesale business that should never be overlooked.

Every business needs a logo.  It’s one of the main ways that people will identify the company.  A company logo sends a simple message to anyone viewing it stating who the company is, what the company does and what its core values are.  A logo is a unique design in the form letters, icons and/or other characters.  Even the color of a logo plays a role in the overall image of the company.  Some companies even get creative and incorporate the negative space into the design.  Others might incorporate hidden or subliminal images.  Either way, the logo is any company’s instrument in defining its individuality.

In addition to a logo, companies often use graphic design to create brand awareness with packaging, labeling, stationary, promotional collateral, signage, brochures, websites, etc.

Service Agreements outline the terms, conditions and scope of business for work engagements. Both the service provider and the client need to make sure they understand what they’re agreeing to.  Sometimes the terms and/or pricing in an agreement can be negotiated.  The act of negotiating is somewhat of an art form that certain people may be better at than others.  In some cases, negotiating can be as simple as just asking for the terms or pricing you want and the other party agreeing to it without a fight.  Other times, it takes a little more coercing.  This is where the power of persuasion comes in.

Under normal circumstances, contracts should really be reviewed by an attorney.  Contractual terminology and verbiage can be very confusing for someone who’s not a lawyer.  An agreement could have a section requiring you to agree to policy and procedure manual that could list a whole set of other terms not actually listed in the contract.

When reviewing contracts, know that “addendum” refers to terms that were added to the contract and “amendment” refers to terms that were changed.  The plural for addendum is addenda, not addendums.

Other tips for negotiating contracts is to avoid making the first offer whenever possible/appropriate.  You could undercut yourself if you do.  The other party could be thinking of a number that is more favorable than you’re thinking.  Also, don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal if it’s not good for you.  Sometimes the other party is trying to call your bluff or see how much they can take advantage of you.  You might be surprised how they come crawling back to you once you don’t give in to their terms.

Social media and blogging are two very important components to digital marketing.  Statistics show that the average person spends 2-3 hours per day perusing the various social media platforms.  The days of people sitting in front of a television for hours have changed.  Even if they do watch TV, they’re still flipping through their social media feeds at the same time.

Many companies are tempted to post about themselves, their products or services on their social media accounts.  This makes their posts look like advertisements and social media followers don’t want to be force-fed advertisements.  Social media followers want to be either entertained or informed.  If a company’s social media posts are entertaining or informative, they’ll have a much better chance of engaging followers and converting them to actual paying customers.

Blogging is equally as important because statistics show that websites with an active blog tend to get indexed by Google 400% more than websites that don’t.  In fact, online shoppers also seem to be more willing to buy products after reading an article about it, rather than just seeing an online ad.  This makes a website’s blog a very powerful marketing tool.

Google values websites with a lot of relevant content.  Blogs make it easy to continuously post new, fresh information about an industry, company news and other relevant topics.  For SEO purposes, blogs should be about 350-500 words in length and contain relevant keywords.  If you’re going to include an image, make sure it’s either licensed or royalty free if you don’t own it.

Certain industries require companies to be licensed or certified in some manner.  Applicable licenses and certifications are typically issued by federal, state, county or local municipalities.  Each industry may have a different regulatory commission or agency that monitors compliance.  These agencies are generally run by bureaucrats who claim to have the public’s best interest in mind but, make no mistake about it, these people are not your friends.  They don’t care about you or your business.  Cooperate with them to the extent that is required by law and limit your interactions with them as much as possible.

Sometimes licenses or certificates are just an excuse for a government agency to charge you a fee.  Other times, the regulatory requirements are extensive.  The two most highly regulated industries in the United States are the medical industry, followed by the finance industry.  When starting a business, it’s always wise to find out what’s entailed in obtaining the necessary license in order to operate legally.

As stated above, businesses in certain industries are required by law to operate within the auspices and tutelage of specific government entities.  While there may be some commonalities between regulations from region-to-region, there could be some differences.  For businesses that provide services or sell products within an industry that is regulated, compliance must be taken seriously.  If non-compliant, the appropriate regulatory commission could levy a fine, penalty, infraction, citation or Cease and Desist order which could lead to the revocation of the license or certificate, forcing the business to discontinue its operations.

Printed or digital material used to promote a company’s brand is a very effective marketing tactic.  Examples of promotional collateral are brochures, displays, signage, direct mail or specialty items in the form of free giveaways such as branded T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, bags, etc.  Digital marketing collateral can be any online representation of a company such as websites, blogs, social media posts, infographics, videos, etc.

When acquiring new clients become challenging, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking tends to kick in.  Strategic alliances are like partnerships without the equity.  There may be other businesses who cater to the same type of clients as your business does but they offer something different.  In this case, you can refer your clients to them and they can refer clients to you without there being a conflict of interest.

One famous strategic alliance is Starbucks and Barnes & Noble.  Starbucks doesn’t sell books and Barnes & Nobel doesn’t sell coffee.  However, what’s better than sipping on a nice cup of coffee while reading a good book that you just bought?  When a Barnes & Noble has a Starbucks in one of their locations, both companies benefit.  Some of those Starbucks customers might not have bought coffee had they not gone to Barnes & Nobel.  Conversely, some people buying books might have originally went to that location for coffee at Starbucks but, on an impulse, purchased a book while they were there.  There could even be customers who went to that location specifically because they wanted a book and coffee.

Triangulation is when three companies work collaboratively together in a way that benefits all parties involved.  For example, company A refers business company B, company B refers business to company C and company C refers business to company A.  This scenario is less common but could work nicely when appropriate.

A lack of capital is one of the most common reasons why startup businesses fail.  Some entrepreneurs never even attempt to pursue their dream of starting a business because of a lack of capital.  For some people, there’s no easy solution to this dilemma.  However, many people don’t know that there are grants and loans available for certain qualified individuals.  There are also angel investors and venture capital firms who are interested in investing in startup ideas.  It may not be easy to qualify for any of these forms of funding but it is possible.

Grants are favorable because they don’t need to be payed back.  Loans are risky because you will still owe the money, even if your startup doesn’t succeed.  Investors will most likely require equity in any business they invest into but being 60% owner of a successful company is a lot better than being 100% owner of a company that failed due to a lack of working capital.  Investors will also want to review a formal business plan before making a decision to fund a startup.  That business plan should have clearly defined financial projections, a comprehensive marketing plan, an impressive company description and other pertinent information.

Some people are intimidated by numbers and can barely balance their personal checkbook.  Managing finances only gets more complicated when running a business.  An existing business can project future expenses based on prior years.  Startups need to do some realistic estimations.  Either way, any well run business has mapped out their expenses for the entire year and does their best to stick to it.

If you don’t know how to create a budget, the first thing to do is write down a list of all your expenses or anticipated expenses.  Your list should look something like this:

• Salaries
• Rent
• Supplies
• Advertising/Marketing
• Communications
• Printing
• Utilities
• Insurance
• Auto/Travel
• Taxes
• Meals/Entertainment
• Freight/Shipping
• Dues/Subscriptions
• Office Expenses
• Inventory
• Fines/Penalties
• Repairs/Maintenance
• Machinery/Equipment
• Bad Debt
• Professional Fees
• Bank Fees
• Cost of Goods Sold
• Research and Development
• Depreciation and Amortization
• Miscellaneous

Some of these list items may not apply to your business while other items that aren’t listed should be included.  Once you’ve created a comprehensive list of expenses, you would have to estimate realistic expenditures for certain periods of time (i.e. monthly, quarterly, annually).

When buying a business or partnering with another company, attorneys need to be involved to ensure clearly defined boundaries and terms.  Otherwise, mergers and acquisitions can become a nightmare.  Also, just like a home inspector is used to ensure there is no structural damage to the foundation of a house being purchased, forensic accountants should be hired for due diligence to make financial problems don’t exist.

For mergers to work, there must be a logical reason for the two companies to join forces.  Leadership roles need to be agreed upon and terms must be well defined.  Some successful mergers are Disney and Pixar, Sirus and XM Radio, Heinz and Kraft, etc.

When acquiring a business, the buyer should consider why the seller is selling their business.  Successful businesses are rarely sold.  It’s important to determine what is wrong with the business that the seller wants out.  There may be a legitimate reason but this is something that should be investigated in great detail as the true reason will most likely not be apparent.

Many business owners think about growing their businesses but may not know how to.  If done improperly, an expansion can put a company out of business.  If done right, expansions can make the owner a lot wealthier.  This kind of high stakes move requires careful consideration and planning.  The first thing that should be contemplated is, does it make sense to expand?  There will undoubtedly be a need for more capital.  Is that capital coming from the business, from the owner or from a third party?

Business consolidations don’t necessarily have to mean that a company is downsizing because it’s doing poorly.  Sometimes consolidations are a way to operate more efficiently and can contribute to long-term cost savings. In fact, sometimes consolidations involve several smaller companies being combined into one larger company.

When companies overseas want to expand their business into the U.S. market, many factors must be taken into consideration.  U.S. Market Entry is an extremely complex process because of the many differences in culture, language, currency, laws, regulations, taxes, logistics, etc.  Running a division of a company from thousands of miles away takes a great deal of planning and managerial oversight.  If done right, expanding a business into the U.S. can significantly increase revenue and strengthen market share.

The more physical locations a business has, the harder it is to ensure operational protocol remains consistent at each location.  Very often, employees take it upon themselves to change procedures without approval from management which can lead to a breakdown in quality, continuity and the overall operating system.  This occurs naturally when employees in one location get lazy or aren’t properly trained.  It can also occur as a result of an overzealous employee who thinks their idea or way of doing something is better than the way they were trained.

Either way, when systems stray from management’s policies, the outcome is very seldom favorable.  It would be disturbing to customers if the food at one McDonald’s location wasn’t as good as another, or if one location offered food items that another location didn’t.  When it comes to multi-location businesses, consistency and continuity is key.

So how do you control this phenomenon?  Change control.  Staff has to be made aware that they do not have the authority to change protocol.  Staff should certainly be encouraged to propose changes, as employees sometimes do come up with good ideas.  However, the ultimate decision to implement such ideas should always lie in the hands of management and employees need to be reminded of this from time-to-time.  When management decides to make changes to protocol, it should be introduced to staff in a controlled and coordinated manner as to not disrupt the natural flow of business.

In short, accounts payables are what a company owes to a third party and accounts receivables are what a third party owes a company.  Every business has a flow of cash coming in and going out.  If a business provides products or services and then bills clients afterwards, an efficient billing system must be implemented in order to keep accounts receivables under control.  Many companies get into a habit of paying late so counting on all your customers to pay on time could be disappointing.  Organizing outstanding receivables by 30 days, 60 days and 90 days will help you to identify the severity of how late some payers are.  Uncollectable accounts are considered bad debt.  Having a relationship with a collection agency could help with such accounts.

Keeping a chart of accounts  for your payables will help with your budgeting.  Otherwise it will be easy for you to lose track of how much money you spent running the different facets of your business.  Accountants and bookkeepers keep track of this by assigning a code to the type of expense (i.e. rent, supplies, repairs, COGS, etc.)

As you probably know, the purpose of a bill or invoice is for a business to request payment from a client.  An invoice can be sent to a client prior to or after providing a product or service.  It’s always a good idea to list terms on the invoice in addition to  payment requirements, just to make sure there are no misunderstandings.  A deadline or expiration date can also be listed on an invoice if payment is time sensitive.  Invoice numbers also help to maintain organization from the issuing party.  In some cases, an invoice can be considered a binding contract.  When payment is received, partial or full payment should be documented.  Free invoice templates are available online if you’re having difficulty choosing a format.

Not every product you see on the shelves of retail stores are manufactured by the company whose name it bears.  Very often, company’s outsource manufacturing in an effort to keep their costs down.  These private label contract manufacturers are able to take advantage of economies of scale by purchasing raw materials in bulk and sometime may have equipment and expertise advantages.

For example, if an entrepreneur wanted to launch a line of skin care products, the entrepreneur may not be a chemist or know how to manufacture skin care products.  Alternatively, the entrepreneur can outsource manufacturing to an FDA registered laboratory who is better equipped and licensed to manufacture these types of products.  When the entrepreneur puts his own branding on the labeling and packaging, that is the name that  consumers will know about.  Consumers will never know, and probably won’t care, who actually made the product.

We seldom realize how important labeling and packaging are but without them, the products that we use every day would have no identity.  Labels display company names, logos, instructions, purpose of use and other product details and specifications that are important to the consumer.  Depending on the product and the country in which the product is being sold, certain regulations may apply. A key business consulting topic covered with consulting services.

Labels are usually in the form of self adhesive stickers that get applied directly to the packaging of a product.  In some cases, labels can be applied to the product using silk screens or other processes.  Packaging is the delivery system in which the product is contained.  Sometimes secondary packaging is required.  Secondary packaging can be in the form of a box, carton, container, shrink wrap, safety seal, etc.

Then point of sale or sometimes known as point of purchase is the place in which a retail transaction takes place.  These terms are frequently reference by their acronyms, POS or POP.  POS system typically refers to the equipment that a retailer uses to complete the payment transaction, such as a cash register or credit card processor.

Point of Purchase material refers to signage, displays, tags, brochures or other marketing items that can be used to provoke an impulse buy.  An impulse buy is when a consumer purchases a retail item because it looks enticing to them at the time that they see it, even if they don’t necessarily need the item.

A community-based business is a local business that relies primarily on doing business with residents of the local community it’s in, apposed to national or international businesses.  For regional businesses, a relationship with the local community is crucial.

Community outreach doesn’t only involve reaching out to the local residents.  It also means networking and developing relationships with local agencies, businesses, associations, councils, Chambers of Commerce, municipalities, etc.  Making special offers available to people and individuals who you think could benefit your business in some way is a good way to coexist harmoniously in your local community.

Many businesses don’t analyze the different aspects of customer service but it could be broken up into 3 parts: before, during and after the purchase of a product or service.  The customer service that’s provided to a prospective customer before a purchase could greatly influence whether or not the prospect becomes a customer and places the order.  The customer service provided to the customer during and after the transaction can influence whether or not the customer decides to be a repeat customer.

Some businesses focus solely on ensuring the quality of their product/service but don’t put enough effort into the customer service provided.  However, customer service is equally as important as a company’s product/service.  Customers have a way of condemning an entire company based on the poor customer service of just one employee.  How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m never going back to that restaurant again because that waitress was rude?”

If the management of a company wants its employees to follow their rules, they must be clearly defined. In addition to creating a manual for employees to fully understand their responsibilities and company protocol, a Policies and Procedures Manual can also afford a company plausible deniability if an employee doesn’t follow a rule.  For example, if an employee takes it upon themselves to break a law during the course of their duties, having a written policy on the topic can absolve the company’s liability and puts the onus solely on the employee who broke the law.  The offending employee could never claim that the employer instructed them to do it that way.

Sections a Policy and Procedure manual should contain at the very least are as follows:

• Overview
• Mission Statement
• Table of Organization
• Fiduciary Duty
• Code of Ethics
• Dress and Grooming Standards
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Employment at Will
• Immigration Law Compliance
• Conflicts of Interest
• Nondisclosure
• Disabilities Accommodation
• Policy on Interviewing Prospective Employees
• Employment Status of Employees with Life-Threatening Illnesses
• Medical Leave
• Military Leave
• Employment Termination
• Employee Conduct and Work Rules
• Sexual and Other Unlawful Harassment
• Policy Against Violence in the Workplace
• Computers
• Internet Usage Policy
• Alcohol and Other Drug Use
• Jury Duty
• General Standards and Employee Conduct
• On the Job Injury
• Physical Plant Policies

Growing a business requires creativity and ingenuity.  It involves the implementation of sales initiatives, marketing strategies, partnerships, networking, reputation building, due diligence, research, account acquisition, relationship nurturing, distribution channels, system methodologies, growth planning, referral programs, advertising, public relations, client retention, proposal submissions, co-branding, ROI analysis, etc.  It’s not always about developing new ways of increasing profitability but also operating in ways that decrease expenses.  In other words, business development isn’t just about sales, it’s about creating opportunities for growth.

When operating a business, there are some functions that can be effectively outsourced rather than performed by in-house staff.  When deciding to outsource one of these functions, the deciding factor usually has to do with whether or not it would be more efficient and cost effective to have an entity outside of the company to do it.  The downside to outsourcing is that you lose a small amount of control because the people performing the task are not within your employ and not at your physical location where they can be closely monitored.  However, the advantages are many.

Some possible benefits of outsourcing are as follows:

• Manpower: Outsourcing agencies may have more staff that they can deploy than your company does.
• Expertise: Sometimes an outsourcing agency could be better at performing certain tasks than your company.
• Cost: Outsourcing agencies are usually able to take advantage of certain economies of scale which keeps their costs down.
• Less Maintenance: The outsourcing agency is responsible for managing their own employees, not you.
• No Fringe Benefits: When outsourcing, it’s not necessary to pay employee health insurance, paid holiday/vacation time, Christmas bonuses, 401(k), unemployment benefits, liabilities, etc.

The trajectory of a company’s growth requires the most appropriate course of action in order to maximize the possibility of success.  Successful business owners often choose to be more proactive rather than reactive.  If you can anticipate what could go wrong with your business in the future, you can be prepared with a reasonable solution, instead of panicking if the problem does occur.

When it comes to business growth, it’s important to set both short-term and long-term goals.  Strategic planning typically involves the following:

• Establishing a clearly define goal or mission
• Determining the most appropriate plan to achieve the goal
• Determining the value that reaching the goal adds to the company
• Viability and feasibility analysis
• Calculation of expenses
• Anticipating threats
• An agreed upon process with delineated responsibilities
• Schedule of events
• Expectations and Projections
• Timing

Insurance companies are historically the worst payers on the planet.  They often unnecessarily complicate their remuneration mechanisms in an effort to purposefully confuse recipients.  In the medical industry, the provision of health care services has a lot of moving parts and tracking payment is convoluted.

The process for healthcare providers to be paid for treating patients often involves many steps. Initially, patients have to be evaluated so the health care provider can determine the most appropriate treatment plan or if treatment is even necessary.  Then the health care provider or an agent of the healthcare provider must demonstrate medical necessity to the insurer.  This typically involves the healthcare provider presenting diagnoses and clinical specifications and a case manager determining whether or not the insurance company is willing to pay for the medical procedure.

If the insurance company feels that treatment is not medically necessary, they won’t pay for it and the patient needs to be informed of the decision.  If the insurance company feels that the proposed treatment is medically necessary, they will pre-qualify the treatment which may not necessarily guarantee payment but indicates the insurance company’s willingness to cover the procedure.  This is called the utilization review process.

Once the healthcare provider performs the procedure or provides the treatment, a bill with proper coding is sent (usually electronically) to the insurance company for payment.  If the insurance company finds a reason not to process the claim , the claim is denied and the healthcare provider can choose to appeal the decision.  Otherwise, the claim is processed and the healthcare provider is paid.

The different aspects of Revenue Cycle Management involve the following:

• Data Entry of Patient Demographic Information
• Insurance Eligibility
• Referrals and Authorizations
• Utilization Review and Quality Assurance
• Coding and Billing
• Claims Submission
• Denials
• Appeals Process
• Collections
• Accounts Receivables
• Payment Posting

Many people don’t realize how much work goes into supplying them with the items they use on a daily basis.  Ingredients and raw materials need to be obtained and supplied to manufacturing companies that transform them into a useful product.  Then that product needs to be distributed to stores that can make them readily available for public consumption.  If there’s a chink in the chain, it can lead to a breakdown in the entire system.

All of the entities in the supply chain are designed to make money.  From the supplier of raw materials to the manufacturer who makes the products to the logistics company that transports the products to the wholesale companies that distribute the product to the retailers that sell the products.  Sometimes companies decide to play more than one of these roles or possibly all the roles in the entire supply chain.  This is called vertical integration and it’s done because the company gets to enjoy all the profits that would normally go to the separate entities in the chain.

The 6 components of Supply Chain Management are as follows:

1. Planning
2. Sourcing
3. Inventory
4. Production
5. Warehousing/Transportation
6. Returns

There are a lot of moving parts in a company, all of which need to be managed properly.  In for-profit businesses, cutting expenses is just as important as generating revenue.  One of the most damaging phrase in business is, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”  There is almost always be a better way of doing something.

So how does a company operate more efficiently?  It all begin with an in-depth analysis.  A thorough evaluation of a company’s systems can reveal a lot.  Things to consider when developing more efficient procedures are as follows:

• Can it be done faster?
• Can it be done easier?
• Can it make more money?
• Can it reduce costs?
• Can it be done with less staff?
• Can I be done safer?
• Can it be more productive?
• Can it improve quality?
• Can it be less wasteful?
• Can it be automated?

As a business owner, if you don’t know what’s happening throughout all aspects of your business, you could be having a major problem and not know about it until it’s too late.  The bigger the business is, the more important the reporting is because it’s not humanly possible for anyone to keep their eyes on everything simultaneously.

Areas of a business that should be monitored vary predicated on the type of business.  At the very least, you should be regularly analyzing your finances.  If your not doing the accounts payables, your bookkeeper could be robbing you blind or making mistakes that are costing you money.  Some scams have been uncovered where random bills were sent to company’s and just paid, without even determining if it was a legitimate bill.  Accounts receivables are also important if your business provides services or products first and then sends a bill later.

Website analytics are easy to collect and reveal many important details of a company’s digital operation, such as where visitors were before landing on the website, what items they put in their shopping cart but didn’t buy, how much traffic the website is receiving, what are the best and worst selling products, etc. Continuously gather this information, study the information gathered and utilize the information to determine better ways of operating your business.

Anyone who knows anything about business knows that it costs a lot less money to keep existing customers than it does to acquire new ones.  Sales and marketing can introduce new clients to a company.  However, providing good customer service will keep clients happy and ensure recurring sales.  Both aspects are important to any business and a key business consulting topic covered.

There are several ways to increase customer retention rates.  In addition to providing good customer service, other strategies are helpful such as a loyalty program or some type of incentive for first time clients.  Don’t forget the old idiom, “Out of site, out of mind.”  People forget.  You may need to remind them of your company’s existence from time-to-time.  Customer discounts are another useful tactic as everyone loves to feel like they’re getting a good deal.

Understanding your clients’ complaints are also important.  Social Media can be utilized for identifying this.  When a customer is unhappy, they may make a comment on your social media posts or write a bad review.  You may not know a client is unhappy until you keep an eye on this.  It could give you one last chance to turn their confidence in your company around.

Another way of retaining clients that many companies don’t consider because it’s so simple is just to ask them if they’re happy.  They will give you an earful if they’re not.  Unfortunately, if you don’t inquire, they may just slip away without you knowing why.  If you take a more proactive approach in identifying clients that are not happy with your company, you may have an opportunity to rectify the problem and keep the client.

The purpose of a viability study is to determine how successful, profitable or sustainable a project is while a feasibility study is to determine how difficulty the project is and whether or not it should even be attempted. Both of these studies can be used before executing a business startup, business expansion or business project.  The results may influence the decision as to whether or not it even makes sense to proceed with the project.  The project may make sense in some areas but not others, and these factors might have to be weighed out.  It’s better to determine these factors ahead of time, rather than beginning a project and regretting it.

Gathering information for this type of an analysis can be challenging.  Data can be collected by conducting research online, surveys, focus groups, interviews, conversations, consulting experts, visual observations, etc.  A formal Viability or Feasibility Assessment contains the following sections:

• Executive Summary
• Business Concept
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Projections
• Operational Approach
• Team

Factors to consider when developing a viability or feasibility assessment:

• Concept of the venture or project
• Evaluate the viability/feasibility of the venture or project
• Project the costs (both fixed and variable)
• Determine one-time startup costs vs. recurring costs
• Establish pricing structure or fee schedule of product/service
• Develop a marketing plan
• Assess market trends and competition
• Prognosticate complications and threats
• Conduct a break-even analysis
• If borrowing money, determine a payback period

In its simplest terms, procurement refers to the purchasing of goods or services but for larger businesses, this process can get complicated.  The reason for this is because it’s not only about what items to purchase but how much to purchase, cost considerations, sourcing, terms of the purchase, logistics/freight, vendor/supplier relations, contract negotiations, quality control, warehousing, storage, approvals, receiving, payment and other special considerations.

Procurement is often divided into two categories: direct and indirect.  Direct procurement refers to the purchasing of essential items that will be used by the company for the customer.  For example a bakery buying flour to make a cake.  Indirect procurement refers to the purchasing of nonessential items that won’t be used for the purpose of a finished product being sold to the customer.  An example of indirect procurement would be the purchasing of office supplies, office furniture or computer equipment.

The relationship between management and employees is an interesting dynamic that could contribute to a company’s success or lead to its demise.  If the relationship between management and employees is adversarial, there could be some level of dysfunction present.  Not all managers are natural born leaders, although they should be.  If a company promotes a lower-level worker to a managerial position but the employee doesn’t have leadership qualities, it’s really the fault of management, not the employee.  This is referred to as the Peter Principle.

It takes a certain amount of psychology to properly manage people.  Employees are inherently difficult.  They’re emotional, lazy, entitled and often easily offended.  If managed properly, employees can be a company’s greatest asset.  Among the many different personality types of employees, under most circumstance, they can be categorized into 25 stereotypes:

1. The Loyal Minion: Always coming to you and ratting on other employees.
2. The Belly Acher: Complains about everything.
3. The Attention Seeker: Always has a way of letting you know what a good job their doing.
4. The Disgruntled: Feels like they’ve been wronged by the company and are bitter about it.
5. The Thief: Steals anything from office supplies to inventory. Keep an eye on this one.
6. The Self Starter: Requires minimal supervision.
7. The Ego Maniac: Thinks they’re great at everything but probably aren’t. Quick to engage in power struggles with management.
8. The Alarmist: Always blowing things out of proportion.
9. The Smoker: Wastes time with their cigarettes in designated areas when they should be working and somehow knows everyone’s business.
10. The Late Riser: Never shows up on time.
11. The Problem Solver: A valuable employee who will figure almost anything out.
12. The Entitled: Labor law expert who feels they have everything coming to them.
13. The Slacker: Lazy person who may look like they’re working but really aren’t.
14. The Socialite: Wastes time talking to coworkers instead of working.
15. The Finger Pointer: Never takes responsibility and blames other people for things that are going wrong in the office.
16. The Sociopath: A dangerous employee who may appear charming but is actually ruthless, manipulative and lies constantly. This employee won’t think twice about betraying you.
17. The Leader: Alpha dog who naturally takes control in most situations and often gains the respect of other staff members.
18. The Martyr: This employee will always play the victim role. Complains about drama but somehow seems to thrive on it.
19. The Gossiper: Talks about coworkers in a derogatory manner and creates drama for entertainment purposes.
20. The Devil’s Advocate: Sometimes argumentative, naysayer, eternally dubious, always finding something wrong with things.
21. The Creeper: Quiet, socially awkward, outcast, who makes other employees uncomfortable. Typical offender of sexual harassment.
22. The Troublemaker: Frequently causing problems and entices other employees to get in on their wrongdoings or toxic mentality.
23. The Follower: Typically can’t think for themselves and tends to team up with the Troublemaker.
24. The Liar: Dishonest and cannot be trusted.
25. The Conformist: Adjusts to just about any situation or scenario.

The flow of money coming in and going out of a business might seem like a simple process in the sense that you need more money coming in than you have going out.  However, it seems to be just as difficult as monitoring the number of calories coming in and going out of your body when you’re on a diet.

Much of the complications come from a variable amount of money being received and spent on an ongoing basis.  The first thing to hone in on is any areas of waste.  Some reasons for a lack of money coming in or an excess of money going out may be unavoidable or uncontrollable.  Focusing on problems that are controllable is certainly a good way to start plugging holes.  Reporting is crucial to ensure that an accurate representation of cash flow can be followed.

Questions for properly managing cash-flow:

• Is sales volume where it needs to be?
• Are clients paying on-time?
• Are prices appropriate?
• Can expenses be reduced?
• Can processes be automated?
• Can payroll be reduced?
• Can better deals be negotiated?
• How can we generate more revenue?
• Where is there waste?

Because of customer reviews and social media, people have more than enough ways to voice their frustrations and disapproval.  If a businesses reputation has accumulated an excess of bad feedback online, there are ways of dealing with it.  A company can hire a reputation management company or take matters into their own hands.

The first thing to is to search your company name on Google or whatever search engine you’re using.  You can also fine tune your search by adding your company name followed by the word, “reviews.”  Consider registering a Google Alert for your company name.  This is a free service that Google offers where they will send you an email every time a new entry appears on the internet with the keyword you’re interested in (such as your company name).  This will alert you every time someone writes about your company on the internet.

Once you’ve identified the bad publicity, you can try to respond to it if possible.  If it’s a review or a comment, you may be able to do some damage control. Whatever you do, try not to engage in battle with negative people.  You’ll gain more credibility by responding in a respectful and professional manner.

If a person makes a comment about you or your business online that violates the website’s terms of service, you may be able to contact the site’s administrators and get the comment removed.  Another clever tactic is to take the exact wording of the insult and copyright it. You can do this easily on LegalZoom.com.  Now you own the rights to that wording and if you don’t give your permission for it to be used, you can request that it be removed.

Another way to ensure that people don’t find negative reviews about your company is to flood the internet with positive content.  You can publish articles, press releases and blogs about your company that hopefully will push the bad publicity down in the search engine result pages, making it more difficult to be found.

Every business owner is forced to take risks at one point or another.  Whether you’re risking time, money or something else, there are logical ways of mitigating your chances of encountering a loss.  The easiest way to manage risk is to give yourself a cut-off point.  This is the maximum you’re willing to lose in your effort to gain what you want.

Utilizing a reasonable risk to reward ratio is a logical way to manage risk.  In other words, when dealing with any risk, determine what the most ideal situation is and determine what could go wrong.  Assign definitive parameters.  For example, you’re shooting for X but you won’t let your risk go in the wrong direction more than Y.  If your chance of achieving X is greater than your chance of encountering Y, then this is a good risk to reward ratio.  If you have more of a chance of things going wrong than you do of it going right, you may want to reevaluate your approach.

The strategy of communicating information to a particular population in an effort to portray a positive message about an entity, company, mission or product is considered public relations.  The purpose of advertising is to promote a brand, company, product or service by encouraging, influencing or persuading consumers to make a purchase.  Both can play an important role in the growth of a company in the never ending pursuit to generate more revenue.

The protection of intellectual property is protected by the use of trademarks, patents and copyrights.  The protection of a word, phrase, design or logo is a trademark.  The protection of an invention is a patent.  The protection of a piece of creative artwork is a copyright.

Every business owner in every company wants to make more money.  The big question is how do you accomplish this?  It may not be necessary to reinvent the wheel.  Many entrepreneurs have asked themselves this question and have devised valid strategies to bring in more cash.  You can increase the amount of clients you have, increase the amount of transactions you get or increase your profit margins by raising prices.  These factors may or may not be easy, depending on your business and situation.  The suggestions below may not all be applicable to your business but here are some ideas:

• Offer something for free
• Bundle products/services
• Offer volume discounts
• Engage in Up-selling tactics
• Require upfront payments
• Follow up with your prospects more than once
• Raise your price to include shipping costs and advertise free shipping
• Develop strategic alliances and referral partnerships
• Widen your marketing reach
• Sell related products/services
• Increase the number of products/services you offer
• Stay in touch with previous clients
• Improve customer service
• Recon and Intel
• Do something different
• Customer loyalty programs
• Increase your marketing budget
• Offer staff and client incentives

Another obvious way of generating more revenue is simply by decreasing expenses.  A key business consulting topic covered. This may be harder than it seems at first but there are plenty of was to make this work.  Here are a few:

• Cut back on energy usage
• Work from home
• Avoid late fees by paying on-time
• Minimize travel
• Keep your rent low
• Watch your payroll
• Buy used equipment/furniture
• Barter, trade and make deals whenever possible/appropriate
• Manage inventory
• Find legal ways to lessen your donation to Uncle Sam
• Hyper-analyze your expenses
• Watch your purchases
• Outsource certain functions
• Internship program
• Ask your vendors for discounts
• Take advantage of pool purchasing
• Due diligence/shop around
• Find free stuff
• Negotiate with vendors and ask for bids
• Automate operations when possible
• Cut back on paper
• Offer your employees more vacation time instead of pay increases
• Minimize credit card use and paying interest
• Keep track of dues, subscriptions and recurring fees
• Monitor your bank statements for errors and fraud
• Identify unnecessary expenses
• Make sure you don’t get overcharged
• Sublet unused office or warehouse space