Alan

A: Indeed I do hear from lots of small business owners and they do seem to have a few things in common. For one, they are definitely trying and experimenting with new, affordable business strategies right now; there seems to be a lot of trial and error going on out there. Secondly, and paradoxically, they are not forgoing the tried-and-true as they ride out the recession (the worst of which seems over.)

Here are a few of the new ideas that I have heard about that seem to be working well these days:

1. Make some new online friends: Social media is busting out right now for a reason – it’s working. If you still think Twitter is hogwash and that it is nothing more than a tool for Ashton Kutcher to build buzz, you are wrong. Twitter has become a valuable business tool that is allowing small business owners to connect with people in ways they otherwise could not.

Think of Twitter as a conversation. You can either choose to engage in it and be part of the discussion or you can watch from the sidelines as the people who are participating make new friends and business associates. Who do you think will get more business?

And of course Twitter is not the only game in town. LinkedIn is a fabulous business tool, as is Facebook and others. The important thing is that you engage in this new online world. It will make a difference.

2. Lower your prices: First let me say that lowering your prices is a strategy that needs to be done thoughtfully as there are dangers involved:

• You don’t want to devalue what you already offer
• You don’t want to get customers used to the lower prices
• You don’t want to damage your brand if yours is a more high-end business
• You will cut into your margins

That said, strategically lowering prices is an idea that can have a lot of merit because it is what customers are, by and large, looking for these days.

There are many ways to do this of course. You could have a sale, you could create a bargain bin area, you can eliminate high-end products, or you could simply cut prices across the board. Whatever method you choose, make sure that you trumpet it loudly. Cutting prices alone is not enough. It has to be done in conjunction with a loud announcement of the same. That is how you get the biggest bang for your buck.

3. Focus your efforts where you will get the highest return: We have all heard of the 80-20 Rule which states that that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers (or, similarly, products.) Savvy small business owners are using this these days to boost business.

At a time when there is little room for error, being more effective makes a lot of sense. If this means hiring an assistant to handle your more routine tasks, then so be it. With the high unemployment numbers right now, there is no shortage of very capable people who can help you.

Or, similarly, be like my friend Susie: Ring your local university and hire yourself an intern.

Either way, freeing yourself up to spend more time growing your business and less time answering emails can be a very good move.

4. Keep your overhead low: Cut costs. Lower your rent. Get new bids on phone service and insurance. Find cheaper vendors. Turn an employee into an independent contractor. Telecommute. Use an executive suite. Keep your overhead low.

5. Be great at something: People hire you because you do something very well, and especially in an economy like this one, being great will be rewarded. Here’s a simple, but significant, example: We use an occasional housekeeper whom we love, which is no small thing as my sweet wife is a bit of a clean freak. We have been through several housekeepers over the past few years.

And then we met Nona.

After Nona has been to the house it is immaculate. Spotless. And not surprisingly, we have recommended her to several friends. So Nona is a reminder that people patronize your business because you perform a needed service, or you offer a needed product. If you do those things exceptionally well, they will continue to be your customers.

Don’t, and they won’t.

Today’s Tip: When posting on Twitter, try using a hashtag in front of key words, for instance “In this economy, #entrepreneurs should be rewarded for risk-taking!” This enables people who search terms on Twitter to easily find your post.

And you can always follow me on Twitter @SteveStrauss.

Asa

A: It is never fun to make a mistake in business, even if they are inevitable. And worse, mistakes are both more prevalent and more dangerous during the startup phase of your business because your idea has yet to be fully cooked; the startup period is, unfortunately, usually the ‘error’ part of a ‘trial and error’ phase for you business.

That said, even though mistakes are to be expected, they need not be crippling, or even negative. Not a few entrepreneurs have stumbled into success when they discover ways to make money in their business that they didn’t know were possible. For instance, Dr. Spencer Silver was trying to create a super sticky glue for his employer, 3M, when he mistakenly came up with an adhesive that was instead sort-of sticky. What to do with somewhat sticky glue? 3M created the Post-it note, that’s what.

So no, not all mistakes are bad mistakes.

But there are some mistakes that can and should be avoided as you start your business:

1. Taking on too much debt: Most entrepreneurs have to take on some debt to fund the dream. That is expected and fine. But you simply must 1) keep that indebtedness to a minimum, and 2) have a plan for paying it back from the get-go.

It will take a while for that new business to begin to generate revenue, and while that happens your debt load will increase due to interest. And the bigger it grows, the more it threatens the lifeblood of your business, your cash flow. Keep your debt low and get out from under as soon as possible.

2. Having no marketing plan: As I am wont to say, starting a new business is like being alone in a dark room – you know you are there but no one else does. The only way to turn on the light, the only way to get people to know you are out there, is through marketing and advertising.

It need not be expensive. There are scores of ways to get the word out without breaking the bank – everything from tweeting to flyers to creating a viral video can work. In fact, over at my site, www.MrAllBiz.com, I offer a webinar called Marketing on a Shoestring (click Webinars on the homepage.)

Market and advertise your business, and then do it some more.

3. Not choosing well: This may sound a little amorphous, but it’s not – it has to do with looking before leaping, and that is always a good idea in business. For instance, some people get so excited about a business idea that they don’t really stand back and give it the proper, objective analysis they should . . . and then, for instance, they are surprised that the rent at their store in the mall makes turning a profit quite challenging, or that this franchisor is hell to work with.

Other examples of not choosing well include

• Partners: Before going into business with someone, do a project or two together. See if your styles are compatible. See if you think about money and growth the same way.
• Vendors: A contract with a bad vendor can doom your business.
• Bad location: It could be too expensive, or maybe it is too off the beaten path.

Choose wisely, grasshopper.

4. Not having a great team: There are 20 million businesses in this country that are one-person endeavors – solo practitioners, freelancers, independent contractors and so on. That is all well and good, but it still does not mean that you have to be totally on your own, and you shouldn’t be. The problem with being too independent is that there is not another person around to give you feedback and share the work.

So the important lesson here is to take advantage of the help that is out there:

• The Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Related Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) offer tons of no-cost and low-cost counseling and seminars.
• SCORE does this too.
• Business schools need businesses with which they can place interns.
• Part-time employees can be hired inexpensibvely.
• Business associates can become an informal board of advisors. Other entrepreneurs can become part of your mastermind group.

Mistakes may be inevitable, but these ones are not.

Today’s Tip: It is often true that businesspeople need forms, contracts, checklists and the like, but where do you get them? A new resource has opened that you may want to know about. DocStoc is an online marketplace of business forms that you can buy (or where you can sell your own) – everything from contracts to templates are available.

Mara

A: Indeed, if there is one thing that presidents are good at, it is talking about how important small business and entrepreneurship are to the American economy. Consider this small sampling of quotable quotes:

Barak Obama: “I think Ronald Reagan . . . tapped into [the fact that people wanted] a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.”

George W. Bush: “Prosperity results from entrepreneurship and ingenuity.”

Ronald Reagan: “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”

Calvin Coolidge: “The chief business of the American people is business.”

So it turns out that the answer is yes, many of our presidents were in fact small business owners, but some sure were more successful than others.

Certainly our first presidents had, if not small businesses, at least then an entrepreneurial bent. Prior to leading the continental army, George Washington was a farmer. John Adams, James Madison, and James Monroe were all lawyers (among other occupations) and take it from me, that too constitutes owning and running a small business.

But it was really with the advent of the presidency of Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) that a president actively courted and promoted small business. Jackson railed against the power of the big banks of the time (The Bank of the United States) and as a populist, he actively fostered small business and entrepreneurship, which was maybe not surprising since his early career was as a “frontier lawyer.”

While many people know that Abraham Lincoln was also a lawyer, what they may not know is that he was most definitely an entrepreneur too, if not the most successful one. In 1833, Lincoln and William Berry opened a general store (with Lincoln going into debt to finance his share of the business.) The business failed a year later and Lincoln’s possessions were seized by the sheriff. (Noteworthy: When his ex-partner Barry died shortly thereafter, Lincoln assumed Barry’s debts too, even though he did not have to, and eventually paid them all off.) In addition

• Lincoln co-owned a law practice
• Lincoln created an invention and received a patent

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) was quite the entrepreneur. He bought a newspaper that was going out of business when he was only 19 (although he had to borrow his share of the $300 total paid.) Not long after, the paper, the Marion Star, became so successful that it earned income for Harding for the next several decades while he was off running for office.

In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. After hearing about a boy who regained the use of his legs using a hydrotherapy treatment program in Warm Springs, Georgia, FDR worked to raise funds and turn the spa into a healing center for polio victims. The effort culminated in the creation of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.

Harry Truman (1945-1953) was famously a haberdasher before becoming president, but the truth is a little more interesting. After serving in World War I, Truman opened a clothing store in Kansas City, but after a successful run, the store fell on hard times and eventually went bankrupt.

Similarly, Jimmy Carter was known as “the peanut farmer from Georgia” but the truth is again far more interesting. After a stint in the Navy, Carter took over the family peanut farm yes, but it turned out that he was also a savvy businessperson and eventually grew that small farm into a multi-million dollar business that included warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant, and farm equipment supplies.

Upon his election to the presidency, Carter put the business in a trust, only to find he was almost broke once he left the White House four years later. Again his entrepreneurial skills helped when he turned things around again, becoming a best-selling author and speaker, founding the Carter Center, and becoming a millionaire in the process.

More recently, both President Bushes were entrepreneurs:

• Bush the elder Bush started the Bush-Overby Oil Development company in 1951 and soon thereafter co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation; a venture that later made him a millionaire.
• George W. Bush, while not nearly as successful as his father in the oil business, invested $800,000 in the Texas Rangers baseball team and later sold that share for $15 million.

So maybe it is not surprising that our presidents speak so often about small business – they know the joys, and sorrows, that come with it.

(Thanks to Inc. for some of the source material in this article.)

Today’s Tip: “The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.” – John F. Kennedy

I don’t mean that in a Pollyannaish, “rah-rah, you can do it!” way, but rather, as a very serious business proposition. In the history of business, this happens to be an amazing time to start your own enterprise.

Of course the economy is a bit rough right now; no doubt about that. And yes, that is a challenge. But what I am talking about is taking a broader view. The fact is, between technology, the Internet, and global capitalism, this is the golden era of small business – a moment in time unmatched.

That is one reason I am so excited to be part of USA TODAY’s Small Business Challenge. For the next six months we will be following six entrepreneurs and their startups, and along the way, my colleagues Rhonda Abrams, Gladys Edmunds and I will be offering coaching and advice. While you will be able to read about their progress both in the paper and online, to help kick things off, I want to offer some general advice that I would give anyone starting a business right now.

Be a business person: This may seem obvious, but I don’t think so. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of any entrepreneur is their passion. It is passion that led our five entrepreneurs to start their own enterprise in the middle of this recession. It is passion that got them to enter the Small Business Challenge, and passion is part of the reason they were selected. All entrepreneurs are passionate about their startup – and they better be!

But passion alone is not enough.

One error I see far too many small business owners make is mistaking passion for business acumen. There are two parts to any business: 1) The part you love to do, that thing that got you in it in the first place, and 2) everything else – the hiring and firing, doing the books, advertising, and all the rest.

If you want to stick around for the long haul, be passionate yes, but also learn all of those other things. That is what makes you a real business person.

Look for vacuums and waves: To succeed in your business, you must strike a balance between being relevant and being different.

With so much competition out there, it is important to find vacuums – areas where your competition is not as strong. For example, I recently met a business person who started using posters and flyers to advertise; his thinking was that few people do that anymore so he stands out.

Similarly, catch a wave when possible. If everyone is tweeting, there may be a very good reason for that. Stay relevant.

Have a great online presence: People today now spend as much time online as they do in front of a television. You have to go where the eyeballs are, and if they are online, then you have to be there in a big way. That it is so affordable makes it even smarter.

And notice I didn’t say you need a “good” online presence. You need a great one: A great website, a great social media presence, a great e-marketing strategy – the whole great enchilada.

Use available technology: Technology can be your competitive advantage. Whether it is software, outfitting your mobile workforce, or some cool gadget, technology can make the difference. So, for instance, don’t just buy some program and learn the basics, but really figure out how it can be used to your advantage . . . because it can.

Don’t lead: Especially in the beginning of your enterprise, especially as you are just learning the ropes, I suggest that following can beat leading. You don’t have to invent the Next Big Thing, or create some brand new scheme. It may work, but it may not, and in the beginning there is little room for error. So learn about business, learn about your business, learn what works, and do that. Later on you can go for your big idea, but probably not yet.

Take advantage of free resources: As I mentioned, there is a lot of free (or almost free) help out there. SCORE counselors will help you learn areas of your new business where you may be a little weak, as will the SBA. There are tons of great websites, magazines, and books that can help (including mine!) Social networks can offer free support and so on.

Market and advertise, and do it some more: Become a marketing expert. Period.

Good luck!

Today’s Tip: My friend Rieva Lesonsky (the former editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and now the CEO of her own business) just wrote a great e-book if you are looking to start a business. Called 23 Hot Businesses to Start Right Now!, it is chock full of cutting-edge strategies and ideas. Steve says check it out!

Scott

A: What if I were to tell you that I could give you not one, not two, but THREE GREAT REASONS why?! And what if those lessons could IMMEDIATETLY bring you more cash? And what if those infomercial selling secrets WERE SO EASY EVEN YOUR MOTHER COULD MASTER THEM? Would you click away from this column? Of course not!

But wait, there’s more!

The fact is, the folks who make and star in infomercials know a thing or two about selling, and what they can teach us can make a difference to any small business owner, no matter what you sell.

1. Be enthusiastic: Over the past few years, I have gotten to know Tony Little, the pony-tailed infomercial exercise guru. At coffee recently, Tony told me that one of his keys to success is that “enthusiasm sells.” If you have ever seen him demonstrate the Gazelle, or any number of other products, you know he practices what he preaches.

The lesson is applicable to anyone who sells; enthusiasm does work. Enthusiasm is magnetic. It is charismatic. Done right, it can relay excitement, integrity, and power. Of course done wrong, done inauthentically, it relays phoniness and pushiness.

But there is a reason why one of the first things you see on any successful infomercial is an enthusiastic spokesperson. It makes a difference.

2. Demonstrate the need: I saw a commercial recently where the business tagline was something like, “we don’t sell products, we solve problems.” That’s what I’m talking about. One reason great infomercials work is that they are masters at showing you why you need a food chopper or, yes, a ladder.

They create the need and then solve the problem.

You can and should do the same in your business. Whatever you sell, think of ways to show potential customers why what you are offering makes their lives easier, better, richer, healthier, etc.

3. Offer a simple solution: People famously could not program their VCRs, but recording with TiVo or a DVR is easy. That is why they have taken the consumer electronics market by storm. The same is true for any good infomercial you see. These folks offer products that are straightforward and easy to understand.

So, no matter what you sell, even if it is not “easy”, the trick is to make your solution seem logical and simple.

4. Offer actual testimonials: No infomercial would be complete without real people explaining how the product made their lives better.

The same should be true for you in your business. Do not underestimate the power of testimonials. Ask clients for letters and post them online, in the store, etc. It creates legitimacy in the eyes of would-be customers.

5. Add extra value: Why do you think that every infomercial always offers, not just the product, but a bonus gift ‘if you pick up and dial the number on your screen right now’? There are two reasons.

First, offering extra value makes the deal seem even better, almost too good to be true.

Second, the bonus product creates an incentive for buying now. And that is the last secret. If infomercial experts can teach us anything, it is to ask for the sale and give people a reason to act now. Whether it is a special price, or limited selection, or whatever may be the case, creating immediacy and a call to action helps close the deal.

So don’t delay. Act on these ideas now! Operators are standing by!

Today’s Tip: Tony Little’s is an amazing rags to riches story. He’s almost died twice, has sold more than $3 billion worth of products, and he’s a great guy. Tony has a book out now, sharing his insights and story — There’s Always a Way: How to Develop a Positive Mindset and Succeed in Business and Life. Steve says check it out.

Vance

A: How would you like to get out of debt for about 50 cents on the dollar? I’ll tell you how in a moment.

Although there is very little that is good that can be said about this economy, if there is one bright spot, it is this: Some creditors seem more willing than ever to work with people who are indebted to them.

Businesses get into debt for all sorts of reasons and with all sorts of creditors. Maybe its money owed to a business associate, or a bank loan, or money owed to vendors. Whatever the case, there may come a time when you need or want to get out from under. When that time arrives, you have a few choices.

First, you could, of course, work out a payment arrangement. The advantage here is that this solution will do the least damage to your credit rating. Call your creditors up, tell them what you are able to handle, and I bet you will be surprised at how flexible they are. Creditors know these have been tough times for people and are often willing to work with you.

Another option of course is bankruptcy. It is, and should be, the option of last resort. I have written about it before in this column previously.

But today I want to discuss a third option that can occur before you file a bankruptcy. At that stage, it is often true that your business debts have been sold to third parties – to collection agencies. When that is the case and you want to avoid bankruptcy, what do you do?

Negotiate, that’s what.

In an economy like this you just may find that these creditors will be more willing than you think to work out a settlement with you. You can in fact often settle for, yes, 50 cents on the dollar, or less. (Standard caveat: While I do feel sorry for the creditors, and have been named as a creditor in a bankruptcy myself, I can pass no judgment on negotiating down a debt.)

If negotiating a reduction in your debt is of interest to you, here’s what you do:

1. Make a list of all of your debts: When people get into financial trouble, there is a natural tendency to hide from the facts, but if you want to deal with your creditors you have to make a list of how much you owe whom. For each creditor or collection agency, list the principle and interest, along with their phone number.

2. Get a lump sum together: This is the hard part. These creditors have little reason to settle with you if you can’t pay off the settlement amount in fairly short order – say a month or two at the most. No, I don’t know where you will find the money, but I do know you need access to some – from a relative, friend, or wherever – if you want to be successful in this process.

3. Smile and dial: Get on the phone with each agency / creditor and tell them that you want to negotiate a settlement. Offer 25 cents on the dollar. They won’t like it, but they will very likely counter offer. If you can offer a lump sum settlement, expect to end up at around 50% of what you owe – sometime a little more, sometimes a little less.

4. Get it in writing: Before making any payments, get each collection agency / creditor to sign a document, yours or theirs, that says they are agreeing to the agreed-upon settlement amount as payment in full for the debt and that you will have no further financial obligations to them. You may want to speak with a lawyer about this part or get a copy of a suitable settlement agreement. Make sure too that your credit report will reflect a zero balance.

5. Pay: Pay as agreed and say goodbye.

It will take you a few years to get a decent credit rating again, but hey, by then the economy should be good once more.

Today’s Tip: Have a great blog, or maybe you are a tweeter extraordinaire, but have yet to create an app? Well, hop on the bus, Gus! An app can extend your brand online and help you monetize your content.

For an incredibly easy, professional, and affordable solution, I suggest you check out Mother Apps’ Blog Engine. In a few short minutes you can turn your blog or tweets into a very professional iPhone app. Steve says check it out!

5. Social Media Grows Up: Have you noticed that “social media” is a term that doesn’t really describe the experience that well anymore? Yes its social, and yes its media, but for business it has become so much more than that. Tapping, nay, mastering, social media is one of the hottest of all online trends:

• Everyone from Jet Blue to Comcast has turned to Twitter as a customer service tool
• Companies like Whole Foods and Popeys increasingly use it to get feedback, post company news, etc.
• Big business has discovered what many small businesses already know: Facebook is a great place to advertise. “Facebook” in fact was the most searched term in 2009 (Source: Experian Hitwise)

Hop on the social media train, Jane, because it’s headed out of the station at light speed.

4. Going Local: Consumers are increasingly looking for a local angle when looking where to spend their hard-earned dollar. Example: The explosion of farmers markets across the country. According to Entrepreneur, “there are almost 5,000 farmers markets across the country, the result of more than 5 percent annual growth for the past five years.”

Additionally, with people staying closer to home right now because of the economy, with folks focused ever more on community and family, and with the green ethos growing, home is where the heart (and dollar) is.

3. Sharing vs. Shared Experiences: According to a recent NPR podcast, we used to share national experiences. The nightly news was a shared ritual for instance. The OJ Simpson trial was a shared experience, the same with Vietnam, and so on.

But that is changing, for two reasons. The first is the fragmentation of the media. With innumerable news outlets, websites, cable channels, mobile options and the like, the opportunity to create shared experiences is diminishing. We are all not watching or experiencing the same thing nearly as much.

Secondly, with the advent of easy to generate user-created content, sharing experiences and opinions is becoming ever more prevalent. YouTube, blogs, Facebook, Yelp, email even, all contribute to both the media fragmentation as well as the sharing culture.

For the small business person, it is vital to realize that 1) people look for, and increasingly expect, the personal, and 2) small, localized, immediate user-created media are where the eyeballs are headed.

2. Mobile Mania: Maybe the only marketing trend that is hotter than social media is mobile mania. Why? Maybe because there are four-times more cell phones than PCs worldwide, or because they are the favorite product of Gen Y, or because in 2000, there were almost no texts sent but this year, 130 billion texts will be sent a month, and only 23% of those will come from my daughters.

So yes, mobile marketing is exploding. Whether it is creating the Next Big App, offering customers a real-time mobile coupon, or creating a text marketing campaign, in 2010 there will be mobile options galore for small business.

Even better maybe: The variety of ways to measure the success of your mobile campaign. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, they will include: “The number of eyeballs, shakes and finger swipes. The number of blogs, articles, tweets and diggs. The number of acquisitions, conversions, calls, responses or purchases. Total basket size, consumer recall, loyalty and recommendations. Check-ins on foursquare and check-outs on Amazon.”

It is a new world indeed.

1. The Start-Up Economy: Last year, 2009, my top trend was entitled “Economic Tumult,” and tumultuous it indeed turned out to be; the Great Recession is great in all the wrong ways.

But this year, while the state of the economy will continue to be the most significant trend effecting small business, the outlook is both brighter and calmer. It is calmer because things are slowly getting back to, if not normal, at least something recognizable. And it is brighter because out of the rubble, a new, vital, innovative startup economy is being born.

We have entered the era of small business. Whereas GM president Charles Wilson once said “What’s good for the country is good for GM, and vice versa,” it can now safely be said that what is good for small business is good for the country. Consider these statistics.

Small businesses now

• Number almost 30 million
• Employ more than half of all workers
• Constitute 99.7% of all employers
• Constitute 97% of all exporters
• Create the majority of business innovations

(Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2009.)

With 10% unemployment for as far as the eye can see, with the unemployed running out of benefits, and with benefits not what they once were for the employed, startups of all shapes and sizes are taking root: One person shops, home-based businesses, part-time ventures, online enterprises, high tech companies – you name it. These are the folks who, with their creative energy, drive, ingenuity, and hard work will be leading us out of this anything but great recession.

We will have to wait until next year’s list to see just how far they will take us. My hunch is that the companies born in this recession will be the stuff of legend by the end of the decade.

Certainly this was true last year when I listed, to no one’s great surprise, the economy as the top trend of the year, and sadly, it didn’t disappoint. I am sure I speak for many of us when I say we are happy to say goodbye to 2009.

This year, the top trend is also related to the economy, but is thankfully it is not bad news. In fact, it offers fantastic opportunities for the savvy entrepreneur . . . but I am getting ahead myself. That will need to wait until next week.

Here then are the Top Trends in Small Business, 2010:

No. 10: The New Frugality: A variety of factors have coalesced to create an era of frugality – the bad economy, stubbornly high unemployment rates, and the burst of the housing bubble to name just a few.

The upshot is that people are spending less, saving more, and are looking for bargains. For the small business person, this has several ramifications: First, as you well know, it’s tougher to get people to spend, and spend more. That isn’t going away any time soon. Secondly, you have to give people what they want, and what they want are bargains.

No. 9: The New Employee: This trend is another directly related to the changing and challenging economy. More and more, employees are shifting, or are being shifted, to part-time or independent contract status. It might be a forced furlough or a forced downsizing, but whatever the case, full-time employment with full-time benefits is becoming harder and harder to find, and to offer.

It is not hard to understand why employers are doing this – it saves money – but it also creates a far less satisfied workforce. I know, “they should be happy they have a job!”, but really, can’t we begin to raise the bar again here soon?

8. Less Money, More Responsibility: It is not my way to be the bearer of bad news, and I promise that the rest of this list is not so gloomy, but this trend is real and it ties in with the previous two.

The fact of the matter is that more and more small business will have to learn to get by on less, even while their financial burden grows. There are a variety of factors at play here again, and all are equally culpable: Fewer customers with less to spend, banks who won’t make loans, tighter credit generally, the end of the home equity ATM, etc.

Yet, while the trend is less money to go around (although it will certainly be better than 2009), the financial demands on small business continue to grow. Thankfully, Congress tried to do something about out of control health care costs for instance, but if it helps (debatable, hopefully) it won’t be for several years.

Want to help us Mr. President? Get banks lending to small business again, or, as my colleague Rhonda Abrams put it so well recently, give a tax credit for hiring our first, or more, employees.

7. Welcome the Era of Hyper-Connectivity: Whereas your online life and brand used to consist of independent activities that were essentially stand-alone silos, the accelerating trend is towards using a variety of tools to create an e-interconnectedness. As explained by Adam Ostrow Editor-in-Chief of Mashable, it is easy, and smart and important, to now connect your blog to you Facebook account, which can also connect to your Twitter account, as well as MySpace, YouTube and more. Every time you update your blog for instance, your content automatically filters across your interconnected online world.

The opportunity and challenge is that you can increase your online presence multi-fold. Do it right and prosper, do it wrong and don’t.

6. Green Opportunities: The failure to reach any sort of comprehensive, legally binding, climate agreement in Copenhagen is further proof that Trend  No. 6 is real and growing: There will continue to be opportunities galore in the eco-sphere for the entrepreneur. Governments may not be able to create green energy or zero emission cars, but the sharp business person can. There is and will continue be a growing and lucrative market for products that heal the environment.

Next week: Mobile mania, sharing vs. shared experiences, and more!

Bill

A: OK, I’ll play too.

I am in the business of creating and selling small business content. Traditionally, because of this column, that content has taken the form of written articles, tips and the like, (with some media and business speeches thrown in for good measure.). But increasingly this past year I felt like we were missing an opportunity to distribute this content using all of the new e-tools available, so next year we plan on creating content that will use video, podcats, and of course, more social media.

Over the past few weeks I have been asking small business owners I know, meet, and hear from what they plan to do differently next year. Here are some of the best, most useful, answers I have heard:

Get bigger and better clients: With budgets continuing to be tight, not a few people told me that their goal was to find, not just new customers, but new customers who can pay: Businesses, commercial clients, etc.

It’s a good plan for all of us. Now, maybe you are thinking that that would not work in your business. Let me suggest that you re-think things. Even a mini-mart whose customers are almost exclusively individual consumers could try and land some commercial accounts.

Why not you too? Target some businesses that need what you sell. Make a presentation and pitch them. Try some more. Think different. Get out there. When you throw enough stuff against the wall, eventually something is going to stick.

“Give myself a raise”: One business owner told me, “I have kept my prices even for a few years, and even lowered some prices this year for a few customers. This year, as the economy hopefully improves I plan on raises prices a bit. Nothing dramatic, but enough so that we increase our bottom line.”

“Spruce up your website”: The folks over at the Intuit Small Business United blog smartly suggest that a great resolution for many a small business is to update that website. “Perhaps it’s time for a redesign, or even just updating things like photos and customer testimonials, or adding a blog . . . Research shows that 2/3 of consumers turn to the internet first for information about local companies so not having a website [or a great website] could put you at a disadvantage.”

Bust a move: 2009 saw many small businesses retrenching, waiting, holding back. While a smart strategy probably, it is also against our nature. There are new customers to be had and angles yet to be attacked. With everyone more than happy to say goodbye to 2009, there just may be pent up demand for something new, different, and better in 2010. Give it to them.

Master at least one online advertising /marketing / selling method: There are so many ways and places to make money online, and since it is a very affordable thing to try, it only makes sense to just do it already. Check out:

• Pay-per-click Google ads, or Yellow Pages local, CitySearch, Yahoo local, Facebook, etc.
• Placing ads on CraigsList
• Selling on eBay
• Getting more involved with LinkedIn, Facebook, and/or Twitter

Create a referral rewards program: “It is so simple, yet so effective. Some of my best business comes from referrals so I finally decided that next year I will create a consistent system for reminding current customers, and then rewarding them when they send me business.”

“Pay myself first”: “This is the year I do it – I will pay myself 10% of my net income in a savings account first.”

Great ideas all.

And next week, look for Part 1 of my annual Top Trends in Small Business column.

Today’s Tip: Need help with your resolutions? Gaebler.com, a great resource for entrepreneurs, has a nice New Year’s Resolution Generator.

James

A: One thing I have noticed over the years is that risk-taking, especially financial risk-taking, occurs more in the start-up phase of business, and necessarily so. The new entrepreneur, the new business, has less to lose and more to gain by going for it and as a result, they often do.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

That is one reason why you hear about so many new small businesses failing; without a safety net, and lacking a track record, there is little room for error. If that huge first or second risk does not pay off, adios amigo.

But as you note, as a business matures, there is less need to risk and much more to lose – equity, customers, a brand, employees – the list of what is at stake with a big business risk is long, and that is also why so many small businesses top out at a certain level and never get much bigger than the middle of the comfort zone.

It’s comfortable there.

But from where I stand, the best small businesses never stop risking; the difference is, they get better at it. Great entrepreneurs continue to look for opportunity and once spotted, continue to go for it. The difference is, and it is a significant one, as they grow in their business acumen, the experienced entrepreneur learns how to make risk-taking less risky.

If you want to grow your business next year, then do what they do: Look for opportunity and take smart, calculated, prudent risks. Don’t bet the bank on one idea (you can lose a lot of money that way.) Don’t tell the world about your big vision (you can lose a lot of face that way.) Don’t re-jigger a lot of your resources towards a new, untried idea (you can lose old business that way.)

Instead, consider taking a small step and seeing if it looks fruitful. Give yourself a small budget to play with and do some due diligence. Keep it on the down-low until you know it will work.

Personal example: I got a business idea about three years ago and it was one of those dang ideas that just wouldn’t leave me alone. You know the ones. But I never moved forward with it because we never wanted to commit the time and money necessary to launch it. It seemed, well, a bit too risky. But just recently I realized there was a way to test the idea inexpensively online. So now that is what we are doing. It is still a risk, but it’s a small one to start. If it pays off, we will ramp up and take a bigger risk. There was a time where I may have started with the bigger risk, but not now, because now I see there is no need to.

See an opportunity, take a prudent risk, start small, test, analyze, decide. That is a mature risk formula.

Upon getting to a lake, some people like to just jump in while others like to get in slowly and get used to the water. What I am suggesting is that if you want to continue to expand your business, there is no need for an all-or-nothing approach, and plenty to be said for getting your feet wet first.

Today’s tip: “The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him. The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” George Bernard Shaw