Small Business Conversations

Ron Friedman visits with Tom Shay to discuss what is wrong with the loyalty/reward program that many businesses offer. We share some interesting statistics of how paid loyalty/reward programs are being used by many businesses and how you can make one work for your business.

Ken Banks is a member of the retail advertising hall of fame. As he visited with Tom Shay he discussed how businesses can market differently after the pandemic. We talked about the "retail apocalypse" and what types of businesses were a part of it. Ken shared experiences of being the head of marketing for companies like Circuit City, PetsMart, Levitz Furniture, Eckerd Drug, and as a consultant to many others.

This program was recorded during the height of the spring 2020 Covid 19 period of isolation. Mike McCormick discussed how small business owners can protect themselves as well as how to utilize the assistance programs being offered by the federal government. We also discussed the challenges with selling a business at this time as well as the changes a business should make in their marketing efforts.

As with Mike's previous visits, he has the unique ability to explain things in terms that we can easily relate to and understand.

The Small Business Development Center is a service of the Small Business Administration that far too many people know of. There is a SBDC lead center in each of the fifty states. California and Texas have multiple lead centers. On a local level there are over 1,000 local centers staffed with experts equipped to help you with your small business.

Whether you see an opportunity for your existing business; you have an idea for a new business; your business faces a challenge; or you want to find a coach to help you, the SBDC is the organization you want to contact. The majority of the services of the SBDC are free. The SBDC also hosts webinars and workshops, some of which have a small fee to participate in, on topics that relate to small business ownership and management.

Listen to this month's Small Business Conversation with Tom Shay visiting with Lisa Shimkat, the state director for Iowa's Small Business Development Center. Visit AmericasSBDC.org to find the SBDC office nearest you.

We are thrilled to have Joe Baer, the co-founder and CEO of Zen Genius, a visual merchandising design firm headquartered in Columbus, Oh. Just before Joe and his staff head to Germany for EuroShop, we ask Joe to share ideas of what a small business can learn from large businesses who have sizable budgets for merchandising and visual display work.

We discussed what happens when a customer can first see your business and many of the components when a customer visits your business that can affect their impression of your business as well as their desire to return to the business.

This was an hour that was just like having this visual display and merchandising genius visit your business. You will definitely enjoy all the wisdom Joe Baer shares.

While the idea of a "family business" may bring up warm feelings about a business, it can bring challenges and opportunities when the ownership is transitioning from one individual to another. Our guest expert is Henry Hutcheson, author of Dirty Little Secrets of Family Business. Whether the business is a partnership among friends, a business transitioning from one generation to the next, or a transition involving siblings, cousins and other family members, Henry's expertise is helping make the transition smooth as well as helping make sure the business is ready for the transition and that the business endures.

If you are a part of a family business, this is another of the very important Small Business Conversations from Profits Plus and Tom Shay.

Have you ever thought your business is missing an ingredient, or person, that will help your business overcome an obstacle or grow to the next level?

Gwen Bortner has created herself as a virtual chief operating officer (COO); the person who can be that missing ingredient or the person who helps you overcome the obstacle. During this program Gwen discussed the challenge of a person understanding the difference in an owner, manager and leader.  Those who find they are not getting things done in their business and those who find themselves putting in too many hours trying to get things done will find this will be a very wise investment of an hour.

Did you know there is a network of over 10,000 experts on small business management who will volunteer to help you? Ron Friedman visits to explain how SCORE works; how you can sign up to work with a mentor. Ron also explained the webinars, courses on demand, and live events that you can participate in.

Why would you consider paying someone, or subscribing to some service without first investigating how SCORE can be of help to your business. Ron shares his success stores and insight to taking advantage of this service.

Did we mention the mentoring service is free? Did we mention that the few items having a cost them are as little as $5?

We read an awesome article that is applicable to every small business owner. The author was Beth Montpas, who is a life coach. The article, and our discussion for the program focused on what a life coach can do for a business owner. We also discussed how many of us have a written and/or mental to do list.

The October program was a fascinating hour with Beth and we are sure everyone can find value in what she shared with us.