People go into business to make money. Up to now, capitalism, private ownership and the free market economy was applauded and encouraged in the United States. Now that a recession has hit the United States, capitalism is being blamed. It's not an argument I want to get into. But I maintain that capital and lack thereof, is a real world problem and concern than capitalism.

Less business

So you're a business doing business in the B2B space, which means you're doing business with other businesses. For those who are winning and retaining contracts and business, congratulations. Businesses are not spending. Fewer requests for proposals on the street. Shorter contracts. Fewer contracts. Bottom line, a leaner bottom line for your business.

Fewer loans

Our economic recession in the United States was precipitated by dramatic declines and defaults in the financial industry. Banks are going out of business. Those still in business are tightening their criteria for business loans. Businesses still need a way to finance their operations. Small business owners especially are prone to having business and personal credit scores that are not so good. Some banks are requiring credit scores of 750 to consider a loan, even ones guaranteed by the federal government via the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). So if you're a small business turning to a traditional banking / lending institution for money in the form of a line of credit or a loan, you're probably finding the situation challenging.

Price squeeze

In today's economy, the focus needs to be on preserving capital. It's a victory if you can manage to sustain your revenue levels at a time when many are seeing a decline. There's a video about the squeeze that often takes place between you, the small business and your customer, the big business. The big business may be tempted to push for price discounts, which reduces your profits and cash flow. Wal-Mart is positioned as the low price leader. They are notorious for their vendor strong arm tactics. Check out the CIO magazine video at http://advice.cio.com/thomas_wailgum/the_vendor_client_relationship_captured_on_video_1

Some of your customers may get a bright ideas about saving money by depressing prices. This could have disastrous side effects. An example I'm familiar with is the prior State of Georgia staffing arrangement. They had something like 150 approved vendors - That's an administrative nightmare to start with. Then from the vendor perspective, when there was a need, each approved supplier could only submit 2 people. This means there tended to be 300 candidates for any one opening. So the staffing firms had to bid down on price. The suppliers were dis-incented to submit people because of all the competition. It was more lucrative to spend their time and attention elsewhere.

Low price usually means low quality in the placement world. So for the state, that's what they got. In general squeezing suppliers for lower prices results in lower quality and few options and services. Although CIO Magazine deals with information technology issues, it should not be assumed that the price squeeze only applies to IT vendor client relations. Most businesses are hurting, so they are willing to pass on the pain to whoever they can.

Cash Flow Squeeze

Your business needs cash flow to survive and grow. So how to get the needed cash flow and working capital? You may turn to your customer to work out terms. But there's another squeeze going on. The big companies are also experiencing declines in revenue. So they are motivated to preserve cash and cash flow. So what's a cash preservation strategy? Delay vendor payments. The poor small business is doubly squeezed. Difficulty getting money from their bank and difficulty getting money from their big company customer.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Noble

Is the wall of your business life about to crack, or are you trying to mend the already cracked walls? Whichever way, it is important we note that no matter how hard you may try, the walls will continue to crack unless some things are put into consideration and followed rigidly.

Every business has a protective wall round about, whether visible or not, it exists. This security wall remains relevant so long as the rules of the business are not broken. It is the work of the business owner to keep this wall intact. But where there is carelessness on the part of the entrepreneur, the wall is bound to crack. The wall of your business cracks the very moment there are lapses in your commitment or devotion, dedication or punctuality.

However, mending the wall of a cracked business requires that the entrepreneur goes back to the drawing board and picks up the pieces of his business life and gets them fixed up. There are four important ways of mending a cracked business wall.

1. Reaffirm your love for the business - Love is a choice. It does not come out of nothing but of a deep, thought-out intention. The moment an entrepreneur starts up a business the very first thing that matters most in his life is his love for the choice business. No one operates freely in what he never wanted. Your love and passion for your choice business brings you to a place of commitment. You may be driven by the love of your pocket the very day you decided to do business, yet you just find out overtime that what initially drove you into business is just but secondary. The primary is the interest, and the love you have for the choice business. This love and interest revolve round the welfare of the people you have chosen to serve. Your love is what propels your action to better the lot of a great majority of people, without whom you cannot emerge. Whenever this love is lacking, your business spirit drops, discouragement sets in and your product/service becomes unpopular.

When you are driven by the love of your pocket only, without first caring for the welfare and the good of mankind, your business wall would have no more choice other than to crack.

2. Demonstrate Concern for the Well Being of Others - As I said earlier, every entrepreneur has a choice to love humanity, which makes him sacrifice all that he has to bring out a solution to people's need or want. Greed has nothing to sacrifice for the good of others. The sacrifice we make out of the love of others is what comes back to us in the ways of profit. When we demonstrate concerns for the well-being of others, we are sincerely uplifting our profiles in life. When people recognize you by what you can do or offer, there is no basis for much struggle - you have won their confidence the best way possible.

The love every entrepreneur has for humanity is expressed in the product/services that he had to offer. Love expressed in action is a vital principle in every business and an important requirement for mending cracks on your business wall.

3. Express Your Love to Your Customers - It is expected that every entrepreneur expresses his love to his customers by giving out some kind words about them and trying as much as possible to bring your customers closer to yourself. This is what gives them the sense of belonging and good relationship.

4. Be Appreciative - Always try to appreciate your customers. Do not be selfish. Every input of your customers in the business counts. When you put aside your own personal desires and try to please your customers' input, your business progresses and every cracking wall will find a way to fix up.



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Define the Project

Defining the project can spell success or failure from the very start. Projects that have unrealistic goals, are poorly conceived in the first place, and don't have bounded time frames are common mistakes during project definition. Consider the following elements of a project during your company's next project.

A project is defined as a temporary endeavor, having a defined beginning and end, undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives.

· A temporary endeavor - projects are an activity performed to achieve a specific goal. Activities that support on-going production and operations of the business are not projects. Ensure your project is a temporary work effort and not an effort likely to never end.

· A defined beginning and end - projects must be time bound with a beginning and end date that realistically allows enough time to perform the work effort required of the project but not too long so as to lose focus, funding, and control. The duration of a project is obviously impacted by the size of the project effort - but keep in mind that the longer a project lasts the more likely it is to miss its target date and run over on budget. Also, projects lasting many months or even years often no longer meet the needs and goals of the business they were designed to achieve in the first place.

· Meet particular goals and objectives - a project must have a goal or objective and while some projects can be loosely defined (e.g. lower operating costs) the most successful projects clearly articulate the project goal (e.g. lower operating costs by 10% in 12 months). A clear project goal or objective reduces ambiguity and holds project team members accountable for their actions.

Keeping these three concepts in mind will help you define your project in a way that helps everyone understand the time frame and goals of the project.

Assign Project Tasks

Once you have defined the time frame and goals for your project begin breaking down the tasks required to accomplish the project. Rarely is a project made up of one task (if it is it's probably not a project) so analyze the work effort required for the multiple steps along the project lifespan. For example, to transition to a new accounting system you must first analyze the similarities/differences in system data, then export data from the old system, perform any data manipulation, import the data into the new accounting system, and quality check data in the new accounting system against the old system. Each one of these actions becomes a task on the project task list (and most can be broken down even further).

Once the tasks have been identified assign each one to an owner. A task owner is not a title (e.g. Business Analyst) but rather someone (e.g. John Doe) so that an individual is accountable for performing and completing that task. Assigning an individual to own a task also helps reduce duplication of efforts caused when two people think they own the same task. If resources leave during the project reassign their tasks to someone else so that no tasks sit idle.

Track Status

Possibly the most important part of the project is tracking task status. I recommend meeting at least weekly to discuss progress made on assigned tasks. What's important to determine is the progress made on a task over the past week, the likelihood of the task owner meeting the expected completion date, and identifying and discussions any impacts to other tasks. Meet with team members during your weekly project status meeting and review every active task notating progress in the notes column as well as adjusting expected completion dates that may have changed. If dates are missed or continually slip immediately address the issue and individual assigned to the task to reduce further slippage. Keep in mind the assigned individual may be working diligently to complete the task but factors outside their control may keep them from completing the task. If this is the case help them remove the barrier keeping them from completing their task.

Keep It Simple

By keeping these simple concepts in mind and practicing them on a daily basis your organization can become better at managing projects no matter their kind. Don't get consumed by project methodology, project management software tools or even Project Management Institute certification - these concepts are all built on the universal fundamentals of project management described above.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelly_Short