“Your salespeople didn’t listen when I placed my order, and when I wrote a letter to complain, they still didn’t get it right. I guess they don’t read any better than they hear.”
Daniel Langley, the owner of a central Massachusetts mail order company, took this call on a recent Monday morning. It happened to be a holiday, or he might never have got this close to...Read More
Are your workers independent contractors or employees? This is a compelling question, especially where the Internal Revenue Service is concerned. Every worker claiming status as a non-employee means payroll taxes and social security contributions that won’t fall into the IRS’s pocket.
Now many states are taking a closer look at the question, too. They are increasingly on the...Read More
1. Place a reasonable price on your business. Since an inflated figure either turns off or slows down potential buyers, rely on your business broker to help you arrive at the best “win-win” price.
2. Carry on “business as usual.” Don’t become so obsessed with the transaction that your attention wavers from day-to-day demands, affecting sales, costs, and profits....Read More
Answering services, message machines, voice mail, “on hold” music, speaker phones . . . where would a business be without them? Perhaps–in some situations–a lot better off! In the small to midsized business, where every call should count, owners and managers need to ensure that the telephone is an efficient, effective sales tool instead of a handicap. It’s...Read More
There are myriad reasons why the sale of a business doesn’t close successfully; these multiple causes can, however, be broken down into four categories: those caused by the seller, those caused by the buyer, those that just happen (“acts of fate”), and those caused by third parties. The following examines the part each of these components can play in contributing to the...Read More
