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There is a phenomenal amount of technology available to small business owners today – tools and software applications that can help you with every facet of your operation. I’ve listed some of my favourite technology – the stuff I use to empower my ventures. I hope it inspires some new ideas for your small business. This is just a small cross-section of what I use and what’s out there, so please feel free to add to the list by posting a comment.

Basecamp – This web-based project management tool is great for tracking tasks/milestones across multiple projects and for facilitating virtual collaboration. I use it to brainstorm and communicate complex ideas with clients. It has a cool feature that allows clients access to specific projects or project sections. I also use Basecamp to conduct virtual interviews for my blog. The application is very affordable (around $25 per month to manage up to 15 projects) and has a free version for managing single projects.

EchoQuote – This automated quotation tool allows prospects visiting your site to request pricing and receive an instant quote by email. Websites don’t generally offer a “low touch” way for prospects to research costs – I use EchoQuote to encourage potential clients to reach out and request pricing…for certain types of small businesses, it’s a unique way to differentiate your brand.

iContact – This web based marketing application makes it easy to create, send, and track email newsletters and surveys. I use iContact to manage my e-newsletter campaigns as well as those of my clients. At around $10.00 per month to manage 500 email subscribers, iContact is an affordable way to start implementing an email marketing strategy.

PR Log – This free online press release service lets you create releases for distribution across the internet including search and news sites such as Google, Yahoo!, etc. The releases are search engine optimized and offer the ability to add clickable links and images such as product photos or company logos.

PR Form – Not sure how to write a press release? This free online tool from Duct Tape Marketing is a great resource – it walks you through the whole press release, section by section and will email you the completed release.

Delicious – This bookmarking service allows users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a
centralized source. Delicious is a great tool for tracking, remembering and sorting web pages. I use it to file important web pages as well as a research tool…if you come across an interesting web page you can tag it and categorize it for later use – it’s also great for archiving all of your favourite pages.

iStockPhoto – A great online stock photo service that lets you research, sort and download royalty-free photos, illustrations or videos. I like iStock because of their pay-as-you-go credit system…no need to sign up for monthly subscriptions, just buy credits as you need them. I use the “lightbox” feature to sort images I research by client, project or category…you can even share and email your lightboxes to clients or colleagues – this is a great feature if you need to facilitate quick turnarounds on approvals. The free account includes storage of all the images you’ve research for easy reference down the road.

RSS – This technology (RSS stands for “Really Simple Sysndication”) lets you subscribe to the “feeds” of your favourite website and blogs, using a “reader” to collect and aggregate any new content into one location. There are a number of different readers available for free – I use Google Reader. Most sites have an RSS icon that you can click to subscribe to that feed – from there the RSS reader checks the site regularly for new content, downloads any updates that it finds, and inserts them into your reader. This is a great tool because it allows me to consolidate all of the online reading I do into one location – without having to worry about missing new content or having to subscribe to a million newsletters to get the information I need.

Google Analytics – Free website analysis that helps you find out where your website visitors are coming from and what they do on your site. Be warned – if you thrive on stats this tool is addictive!

My Blackberry – I couldn’t leave this off the list – this technology has transformed the way I do business and is awesome for helping to facilitate exceptional customer service. The pitfalls with this tool are ever-present: obsessive email checking, always being connected, bad blackberry etiquette…the list goes on-and-on. My advice – try to balance the empowerment the technology gives your small business with some common sense…staying connected is great for business…but being disconnected is sometimes more important…especially for your family!

Note: Thanks to Chris Brogan for inspiring this blog topic

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Coaching is a great way for small business owners to develop leadership skills, build strong teams and grow their organizations. In this instalment of the small business interview series, I speak with leadership and learning specialist Tammy Dewar, Ph.D., Principal at Calliope Learning in Victoria, B.C.

The Evolution of Your Small Business Fuels Leadership Learning

Can you explain how the evolution of a small business might lead to a need for coaching or team building?

“Most small business owners possess a skill set related to whatever type of business they are starting. As their business develops and grows, the skill set shifts from early start up mode (where everyone does everything) to creating an environment in which jobs might become more specialized. As this happens, the need to focus on creating an overall vision to keep people engaged and working together becomes more important. As a small business matures, the shift to a team culture also becomes more important.

It’s at this point that small business owners may recognize the need to provide people with these skill sets. This can vary from hiring a consultant to do a team building workshop to hiring an individual executive coach to help the owner develop those skill sets.”

Challenging the Status Quo

How will small business owners and teams be challenged during the development process?

“While people may come to coaching and team development with an open mind and willingness to learn, often they are surprised by how this process upsets the status quo and unsettles people. It’s normal for a bit of resistance from co-workers as people try on new behaviors. It’s also normal for individuals themselves to hang onto their old way of doing things as that’s comfortable and predictable. What usually helps people move forward is a clear vision of how they want things to be different as this vision can pull them along.”

Not Just for Big Business

Coaching and team development might be viewed as something that only larger organizations get involved in. Do many small businesses engage in this type of leadership learning? What are some of the benefits of coaching and team development for small business?

“In our experience, more and more small businesses are investing in this type of development – their employees are demanding it and owners see the need when they realize they have reached a plateau in their business.

We work with several organizations of 50 employees or less. Small businesses can get even more benefit than larger organizations because they can offer the learning experience to everyone in the company as opposed to a limited number of people (which typically happens in larger companies). Taking your entire staff to an offsite retreat for a day or so can help engage and energize your team – leading to a common vision for the business and facilitating a cultural shift that will help everyone move forward constructively.”

What to Look For In an Executive Coach or Leadership Consultant

What should small business owners look for in an executive coach or team development consultant? Is it important that a coach be in the same city as the client?

“While location might be important in terms of cost, finding someone who relates to the business owner and shares some common values and philosophy is perhaps more important. Look for someone who has a blend of theory/academic preparation in leadership, learning, teambuilding and practical experience in these areas. Probably most important is personal fit … how do you think the person will relate to your staff and build trust quickly? In my experience this is what contributes to a successful relationship overall.”

Investing in Your Small Business

Do small business owners see the value of leadership learning or are they hesitant when it comes to investing in executive coaching or team development?

“Small business owners can sometimes be reluctant to invest in employees for fear they may leave. We often ask small business owners the question: What if you don’t invest in your employees and they don’t leave? How will that impact your business?

It’s often a leap of faith to invest money when you are still trying to build the business. We have faced that ourselves as a small business and have been amazed at how our own business grew substantially when we actually invested in our own learning. It paid off in a more diverse skill set and perhaps more importantly, additional confidence to take on clients and business we didn’t feel comfortable with prior to the learning experience.”

About Tammy Dewar and Calliope Learning

Tammy Dewar combines an academic background in learning (Ph.D. in Adult Learning) with practical leadership and team expertise in a variety of sectors. Her independent consulting practice includes over 15 years of experience in leading and coaching face-to-face and virtual teams. She has designed and facilitated a variety of workshops on leadership, visioning and strategic planning, team building, and individual and organizational learning. More recently, she has been working with organizations to address leadership and employee turnover and morale issues utilizing action research, learning strategies and coaching. The other third of her time is spent teaching with Royal Roads University in their MA in Leadership and Training (MALT), the Master of Business Administration (MBA), and the MA in Distributing Learning (MADL).

Calliope Learning is a leadership and learning company. As “pracademics”, the Calliope team combines sound academic research principles with grounded professional practice. They utilize action research and learning to help individuals and teams enhance their engagement, enjoyment, resilience and performance, thereby realizing workplace potential, and contributing to the overall bottom line of the organization. Calliope facilitates provocative conversations, meaningful learning, and breakthrough changes using high tech and high touch methods.

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Time management is an important tool for small business owners – organizing your time and understanding its value to your small business is a great way to become more focused and successful.

1. Time Allocation

In order to grow and develop a small business brand, owners and managers need to allocate time to three key functional areas:

• servicing existing customers
• searching for new business
• administration

The time required to achieve a balance between the day-to-day and long term needs of a small business will vary from situation to situation – A good time allocation rule of thumb to start is:

• 60% – Existing Customers
• 30% – Business Development
• 10% – Administration

2. Time Value

Yes, we all know that “time is money”…but, besides direct payment for products/services, how can your small business use time to create value and build brand equity? Here’s a hint: don’t just think about your time when it’s billable…view the time you spend as an investment in building your small business brand and creating trust and value over the long term. Some examples:

• spend face-to-face time with customers…take time to learn about their business so you are able to better serve them in the future
• take time to really engage with clients and prospects…don’t rush through situations that may not pay immediate dividends…listening builds respect.
• take time to think…about your business, your strategies, your employees, your vendors…it’s too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget the value of spending time developing ideas
• respect the value of other people’s time…when you gain permission to share time with a prospect or client, don’t risk eroding the goodwill: Don’t be late for meetings; Don’t overstay your welcome; Don’t waste people’s time.

To find out more about how time can create value for your small business check out another great post by Seth Godin.

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Selecting a location for your retail store is one of the most important decisions you will make as a small business owner. Picking the right location can lead to success and profits – choosing the wrong spot for your retail operation could put you out of business.

1. Type of Business

Well before hitting the streets to look for a location, take a hard look at the type of business you will be operating. For example, how many different kinds of products will you be selling? Your product mix will have an impact on such things as the amount of square footage and storage space required at the location. If you are a service provider, factors such as office space will be an important consideration.

Start brainstorming or “white-boarding” ideas of what your target audience might expect when they enter your store – make a list of all the factors you can think of including display space, # aisles, aisle width, shipping/receiving area, storage space, office space, in-store traffic flow, etc. Once you visualize what the shopping experience looks like for your customer, you will gain a better idea of what will be required in a location.

2. Demographics

Another critical component of retail location selection is understanding your target market, both in terms of your target shopper and the geographic area surrounding your proposed location. Once you have established your target market i.e. gender, age, income level. etc. start researching some of the following information:

• What neighborhoods are home to your target market?
• How far will prospective customers travel to shop at your location?
• What are the statistical trends in a proposed location i.e. population growth; income growth; aging trends, etc? How might this affect your store 5 or 10 years after locating?
• What are the employee demographics in particular areas? With labour shortages becoming an ongoing challenge for retailers, does your proposed location have access to potential full time and part-time employees?

3. Competition

Make sure that you have thorough knowledge of all the competitors in a proposed location, good and bad.

Bad competitors are those that will have a negative effect on your business. Some examples might include retail stores that might be selling the exact same products (at a discount) or stores that attract the opposite target audience as your retail operation.

Good competitors are retail stores that compliment your business by drawing a similar target audience to your store’s surrounding area. A good example are retail “pockets” that exist in many cities – shopping destinations that attract larger numbers of consumers by offering complimentary stores in close proximity to one and other i.e. fashion districts, areas with a high concentration of art galleries, auto malls, etc.

4. Traffic Patterns

It’s also important to know how vehicle and pedestrian traffic patterns might affect business at a proposed location. Some things to look for include:

• Access to the store by traffic moving in both directions (both by car and on foot).
• Number of cars passing the store location.
• Number of pedestrians walking by the location.
• Proximity to public transit.

David Gray, Principal of DIG360, a retail consulting firm in Vancouver, BC, shares some suggestions about scoping out store locations in a recent article in BC Business. “If you’re savvy about it, you do a whole lot of looking. You’d be in a car and do it, and then you’d be on foot. And you’d go
weekends and weekdays, just to make sure there’s not a big traffic
difference. Find out which side is the busy side of the street, and
check out where the parking is.”

5. Merchant Associations

An often overlooked factor when considering a location is the presence and strength of a local merchant association. According to the The BC Women’s Enterprise Centre, merchant associations can offer a number of benefits to your retail operation:

• A strong merchant’s association can promote and maintain business in a given area.
• The presence of an effective merchants’ association can strengthen your business and save you money through group advertising programs, group insurance plans, and collective security measures.
• A strong merchants association can accomplish through group strength what an individual store owner couldn’t even dream of. Some associations have induced city planners to add highway exits near their shopping center. Other have lobbied for — and received — funds from cities to remodel their shopping centers, including extension of parking lots, refacing of buildings, and installation of better lighting.
• Merchants’ associations can be particularly effective in promoting of stores using common themes or events and during holiday seasons. The collective draw from these promotions is usually several times that which a single retailer could have mustered.

6. City By-Laws, Zoning and Planning

Understanding all the “rules” and plans your municipality has laid out is very important when it comes to selecting a location – your retail store’s long term success could depend on it. Some things to consider are:

• Zoning – Are there any restrictions that might prevent you from doing specific renovations or leasehold improvements?
• By-Laws – What are some of the laws that might have an affect of your retail operation? For example, are you able to use the space in front of your store for promotions…are you restricted from operating during certain hours, etc?
• Planning – Are there any major development plans that could impact your retail operation? Is there any major road construction planned close to your store?

7. Don’t Rush – Be Patient

It’s very tempting to jump at a location you fall in love with – but just like in residential real estate, “head over heart” is the best approach when it comes to picking a retail location.

David Gray cautions those who want to act on impulse. “You could just destroy your business being in a bad location. A bad spot might well be (a real trendy area); it might be that you can’t take a
left turn or there’s no parking, so don’t rush into anything until you know it’s perfect, or close to it.”

The BC Women’s Center has the following advice:

“Selection of a retail location requires time and careful consideration. It should not be done in haste just to coincide, say, with a loan approval. If you haven’t found a suitable location, don’t plan to open until you’re sure you’ve got what you want. Put your plans on hold; don’t just settle for a location you hope might work out. A few months’ delay is only a minor setback compared to the massive — often fatal — problems that occur from operating a retail business in a poor location.”

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Most people still use Microsoft Explorer to browse the internet, but the landscape is definitely changing. As more web users switch to other internet browsers such as Firefox, it’s important to make sure that your website’s functionality and user experience remains intact across multiple browsers.

Browser User Share

Browser statistics on TheCounter.com show that Firefox has gained a large number of new users over the last 3 years:

• March 2005 – MS Explorer (90%); Firefox (5%); Safari (1%)
• July 2008 - MS Explorer (78%); Firefox (17%); Safari (3%)

Is your website Firefox compatible? If not, do you know what percentage of your website visitors are using Firefox? How might this affect user experience and, in turn, your bottom line?

5 Areas of Compatibility

Datalink, an Australian web development firm, uses the following categories to assess website performance in terms of browser compatibility:

1. Accessibility – Can users access your content? This is the most important compatibility category because your small business doesn’t really exist if users can’t read what’s on your website.
2. Critical Functionality – Are basic website functions available i.e. navigation, ecommerce, contact forms; etc?
3. Basic Visual Design - Are all visual elements in sync? In many cases website visitors can read the content, and see some graphics but some images and visual web elements don’t line up properly.
4. Non Critical Functionality – Are secondary website feature available i.e. other navigation aids, site maps, links, etc?
5. Sophisticated Visual Design – Does the website look perfect and support certain features on particular browsers that are available on
   all browsers?

Opportunity Cost

Browser incompatibility can have a negative effect on your small business – a site with compatibility issues can:

• Cause users to question your professionalism – Is your website a reflection of the services you provide?
• Damage your brand – Will bad user experiences prevent you from gaining trust or eventually eroding your brand equity?
• Cause loss of business – Consumers have high expectations and declining patience when it comes to their online experiences. For example, a colleague switched regional airlines because he could reserve his flight online but, due to browser issues, could not pay for his ticket. He got tired of having to call to complete his transaction every time and switched to the competition.

Case Study

One of my small business clients experienced browser compatibility issues before re-designing their website earlier this year. When they first started their small business in 2005, they decided to program their website using MS Publisher, which is not compatible with Firefox.

As their business grew and they began to establish a presence online, website browser incompatibility became an issue. Clients, vendors and business associates started commenting on the fact that their website was not completely visible on Firefox.

Before deciding to have a new website designed, they installed Google Analytics on their existing site to gather some data about their visitors, including the type of browser they used. As it turned out, Firefox was being used by 35% of the users entering their site.

The small business owner was concerned that Firefox users connecting to their website would get a bad first impression and never bother contacting them. In addition, their brand image would be at risk if (negative) word of mouth started to circulate.

They decided it was a good investment to redesign their website, using a programmer that guaranteed compatibility across multiple browsers. Recognizing the importance of browser compatibility prevented any permanent damage to their brand and helped continue their positioning as a professional service provider.