Recession Presents Opportunity:

Your competition cuts marketing support because business is down due to the recession. This represents an opportunity for you.

Contrarian view? Absolutely not. The best time for you to strike is while your competitors are off guard. While they cut support and meet to complain about the recession, seize this opportunity to reach out to your existing customers and find new prospects.

Far too many business owners absolutely take the wrong approach. They hunker down, cut marketing budgets and pull back in bad times. The end result is “unattended customers” and less competition for you. Businesses that cut marketing budgets also de-motivate their best salespeople, who start spending more time thinking about getting a new job than a new customer.

Economic downturns are a great time to strengthen your relationships with your existing customers as well as your competitors’ customers. Odds are they are not as busy and they may be more willing to spend a more time with you - use the time wisely:

Collect testimonials: Asking for a testimonial is a contact with your customer that’s not a sales call. Tell them you would like to promote the testimonial and link it to their website, which will promote them as well. Use the opportunity to show your customers you value their opinion, your business relationship, and their business (i.e., dynamic websites, blogs, Scribd, PR news, etc.)

Survey your customers: Create an opportunity to collect feedback and discuss services and/or products you offer that they may not be fully aware of or completely understand (i.e., email marketing, custom website landing pages, etc.)

Network: Introduce your customers to people in your network that they consider prospects and ask to meet their business colleagues and associates - an excellent source of referrals (i.e., LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.)

Use your “consulting” skills: Help your customers and prospects save time and money by providing pertinent industry news and educational materials that will help them compete during these difficult times (i.e., email newsletters, white papers and custom publications all have high ROIs).

But don’t be fooled. There is also new competition for you - competition from new business start-ups and competitors that have invested in new technologies and lower-cost marketing tactics.

Lots of new businesses are created during economic downturns. Layoffs create a lot of entrepreneurs that may soon be targeting your customers with fresh ideas, creative solutions and competitive rates. And, they are targeting your customers using high ROI marketing tactics such as online social networks, email marketing, industry newsletters, dynamic websites (blogs) and related marketing technologies.

If you are not already taking advantage of these marketing tools, now is a good time to ask yourself, if not now, when?

Don’t forget, the marketing tools mentioned above are low-cost when compared to traditional marketing methods but there is a cost. And, implementation requires resources - consider the costs while developing your 2009 marketing budget. This year will be a difficult time for many and many companies won’t survive. Yours will if you take advantage of the marketing tools available today.

This post is adapted from an article previously published by SCORE “Ask the Experts” blog which is featured in our blog roll in the right hand column.

Ideas to Help Small Business Survive the Recession

Lancaster, PA.—Entrepreneurs face challenges on many fronts, including lower consumer spending, rising unemployment and tightening credit. Inflation pressures have hit both businesses and customers. By acting quickly and decisively to protect their business today, local business owners can make it through the recession with a profitable business.

SCORE Lancaster Chairman Jerry Glenn says, “Small businesses feel the credit crunch first. We have seen difficulty accessing capital and collecting payments from customers.” Glenn adds, “Don’t wait. Now is the time to meet with a SCORE mentor to make plans to tighten credit policies, cut expenses and look at holding cash in your accounts. Experienced SCORE mentors are here to help you plan actions to survive the recession and grow when the economy turns around.”

SCORE Lancaster has fifty experts who offer free and confidential advice to small business owners. SCORE mentors have experience in finance, accounting, management, marketing, sales prospecting and strategic planning.

SCORE offers tips for small business owners on Five Recession Pitfalls to Avoid:

Cutting expenses too slowly. Don’t cut expenses a little bit at a time. Now is the time to look at expenses and decide whether your company needs to cut expenses five, 10 or up to 20 percent. Do what it takes early in the year and bring costs down.

Maintaining the same product and service mix. Your needs are changing. You can bet your customers needs have changed too. Call your existing customers and ask them what they need. Then, design your product service mix around those needs.

Reducing marketing instead of focusing on marketing. The company that stands tall, strong and visible in the marketplace has stature and status. Differentiate with strong marketing to drive leads and sales.
Lacking systems to free up your time. Streamline your business and become more efficient. Use a handheld organizer to keep track of phone numbers, dates, appointments and meetings. Set a time each week to handle routine tasks, bills and paperwork.

Keeping everything to yourself. Your team knows the economy is tough and wants to understand what the company is facing and how, together, you can make it through.

Lead toward a brighter future by focusing your efforts on today. Since 1964, nationally SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” has helped more than 8 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call SCORE Lancaster at (717) 397-3092

Free Online Business Courses from SCORE

The following online training modules are available for starting up a business:

Developing efficient systems
Learn how business systems can give you greater control, add value, lower your costs, improve profits and free up your time.

Quick Start Business Plan
If you intend to start a business, you should write a business plan. It will help you flesh out your ideas, and will be required by your bank and other lenders before they extend you credit, business loans, or overdraft protection.

Creating a cash reserve
This lesson outlines practical ideas and tactics you can use to create a cash reserve in your business. It helps you to plan ahead for cash squeezes by focusing on the financial things you can do to save or generate money.

Planning your advertising
This lesson shows you how to plan and implement your advertising to increase your chances of gaining new customers.

Creating customer loyalty
The lesson explains why loyalty is so important and covers a range of practical ideas you can implement in your business immediately to build loyalty.

Establishing advisory boards
Taking time to complete a business plan before you start your business will reduce the risk of missing something. This quick business plan outlines the main points and will give a clear snapshot of your business idea and its feasibility.

Can you afford to start?
You need a clear idea of how much money you will need to get started and how much you will be able to make. This lesson will show you how to assess various situations using financial templates you can download.

Working out your prices
The lesson will help you to set optimum prices for your goods or services. These enable you to maximize profit, while making sure your prices remain attractive to your market. Along the way, you will find out how to work out costs associated with bringing your products or services to market.

Here is a link to SCORE's main course offerings web page:
http://www.score.org/online_courses.html

SCORE Provides Free Online Business Courses 24/7

SCORE provides useful online courses to help you with dozens of small business questions. The courses are free and confidential. They are available 24/7

They're Practical and Interactive

Our modules are designed as 'hands-on' learning experiences. As you work through each module, you'll be asked to:

Enter your thoughts and responses to questions and queries
Input details relating to your business
Make choices about what you want to implement in your business

You get lots of help along the way

Along the way you'll get plenty of help:
Suggestions on what you can input
Ways that you can improve your business
Tactics you can implement

You'll also get help from

Downloads of useful articles, templates and business tools
Examples of what other businesses have done
Tip boxes

Your Courses are saved for review or action

All the information you select, or work you complete will be saved and stored for your review or later use. You can print out a customised Action plan at the end based on this input, and you can also come back at any time to amend any of the choices or input you've made.

They're customized and convenient

The key is that you will be able to customize the workshop for your own business. Rather than working on 'case studies' of imaginary businesses you actually get to work on your own business!

The online modules are not like formal text-book training where there are exams or tests. Instead we offer real-life experience of the challenges facing small businesses like yours. All the work we encourage you to do is based on your own business.

The best way to see how it works is to get started. Here is a link to the sign-in web page:

http://www.tsbc.com/sbo/score/userRegister.aspx?ReturnURL=http://www.tsbc.com/sbo/score/viewLesson.aspx?Lid=209&cid=1

Federal Stimulus Bill Impacts SBA

WASHINGTON – The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains a package of loan fee reductions, higher guarantees, new SBA programs, secondary market incentives, and enhancements to current SBA programs that will help unlock credit markets and begin economic recovery for the nation’s small business sector.

“The tax incentives and credit stimulus elements of the Recovery Act will truly help small business owners affected by the credit crunch, and will provide financing opportunities to help them create new jobs in their communities,” said Acting SBA Administrator Darryl K. Hairston.

The bill provides $730 million to SBA and makes changes to the agency’s lending and investment programs so that they can reach more small businesses that need help.

This funding includes:

• $375 million for temporary fee reductions or eliminations on SBA loans and increased SBA guaranteed shares, up to 90 percent for certain loans
• $255 million for a new loan program to help small businesses meet existing debt payments
• $30 million for expanding SBA’s Microloan program, enough to finance up to $50 million in new lending and $24 million in technical assistance grants to microlenders.

The bill also authorizes refinancing for certain SBA loans so borrowers can expand their businesses on favorable terms, and expands leverage capability for Small Business Investment Companies.

“We are going to be part of the solution, and this bill gives us specific tools to make it easier and less expensive for small businesses to get loans, give lenders new incentives to make more loans, and help restore healthy SBA secondary markets to boost liquidity,” Hairston said, noting also that more details on implementation will be coming over the next few weeks.

The stimulus bill takes a comprehensive approach and attacks several problems facing small businesses at once by reducing fees, guaranteeing a greater share of certain loans, expanding capacity in the Microloan program, providing new loans to help small businesses keep their doors open through economic hardship, as well as new mechanisms to help unfreeze the secondary markets for SBA-backed loans.

Declines in SBA lending volume last year, which are continuing in FY 2009, reflect problems in the broader credit markets, and present hurdles to small businesses that are seeking credit in the current economy. The financial crisis has created a variety of conditions that impact small businesses, including a lack of liquidity in the banking system, a reluctance of many lenders to extend new loans, tightened credit standards, weaker finances at small businesses, and uncertainty about taking on new debt on the part of many entrepreneurs.

The Recovery Act addresses small businesses’ lending problems, and addresses key investment and contracting issues. The bill helps Small Business Investment Companies better leverage investment capital to reach more small companies. The bill also increases the current contract limit for SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee program, which will help small businesses compete for contracts.

90 Percent Guarantee
The bill allows SBA to raise its loan guarantee from the current levels to as much as 90 percent for some loans. At present, SBA can guarantee loans up to 85 percent on loans up to $150,000, and up to 75 percent on loans greater than $150,000. The 50 percent guarantee on SBA Express loans would remain unchanged. Increasing the SBA guarantee percentage will encourage lenders to extend more capital to small businesses by increasing the share covered by an SBA guarantee.

Business Stabilization Loans
The bill creates a new SBA loan program to provide deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 to viable small businesses that need the money to make payments on an existing, qualifying loan for up to six months. These loans will be 100 percent guaranteed by SBA. Repayment would not have to begin until 12 months after the loan is fully disbursed. The bill provides $255 million for this new program. These loans will help ensure that small businesses have time to re-focus their business plans in order to succeed in the long run.

Microloans
The bill expands SBA’s Microloan program, which provides small loans (up to $35,000) paired with technical assistance to start-up, newly established or growing small businesses. The bill provides funding to increase loans from SBA to participating Microlenders by $50 million through September 30, 2010, and adds $24 million in grants to provide technical assistance to borrowers. Historically, these loans reach low-income individuals, women and minorities in both rural and urban areas. Expanding this program through the stimulus bill will help ensure these entrepreneurs are not left behind in the credit crunch.

Investment Program
The bill helps SBA-licensed Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) and families of SBIC funds better leverage the capital they use to invest in small businesses. The bill sets maximum levels of funding the agency can provide to these companies at up to three times the private capital raised by those companies, or $150 million, whichever is less. It also raises the percentage any one SBIC can invest in a single small business to 10 percent of total capital, and raises from 20 percent to 25 percent the percentage of any licensee’s dollar investments that must be made in “smaller” businesses.

To learn more about the new SBA programs, contact SCORE Lancaster at 717-397-3092

Get Your Real, Free Credit Report

To get on top of your credit situation, you need to know what’s in your credit report. Perusing your report is how you are going to discover mistakes that can unjustly hurt your score and is a crucial tool for detecting identity theft.

The good news is that, due to consumer pressure, Congress finally passed legislation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act that gives consumers the right to obtain three free credit reports a year. By spacing a request every four months, you can get one from each of the three credit reporting agencies during the year. The less than good news is that the credit reporting agencies have sought to make this process difficult. When you go on the internet to get your free credit report, they steer you as best they can toward information or products that must be purchased.

There are three ways to request your free credit report: online, by phone and via mail.

How to request your credit report online: Visit www.annualcreditreport.com. That is the official and only site for getting your free credit report.

Beware of other sites that may look and sound similar and liberally use the word “free.” They are not free; they are selling a product along with the report. Also, be careful if you’re doing a search and use phrases like “free credit report,” since that can lead to one of these commercial sites.

Once at www.annualcreditreport.com, click on your state first. Do not click on one of the three credit agency logos or you will be redirected to their site.

Then, fill out a simple verification of identity form that will ask for your social security number, address and date of birth.

Next, select which of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies from which you want to obtain a report.

On their sites you will again be asked to verify your identity through verification questions like who is your current mortgage holder, what is a former street you lived on, etc.

Then, you can print out your free credit report. But remember, you can only get one free report per year from each agency.

Note, this site is not the place for you to order your credit score. Why?

Because the law says they only have to give you the last FICO score that was calculated on your file. Well, that may have been a different type of inquiry and is not going to give you the most accurate score. They may also offer you Fako scores such as Vantage, Score Plus and True Credit. These are educational scores and not used by lenders when considering your credit requests.

To obtain your real FICO score, visit www.myfico.com.

How to Request Your Credit Report by Phone: Call 1-877/322-8228 to request credit report. You will go through a simple verification process over the phone. The reports will then be mailed directly to you.

How to Request Your Credit Report by Mail: To request your report by mail, fill out an request form and mail it to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
PO Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

In order to obtain an official request form, you have to download it from the internet. (Beware, if you send a request on a non-official form, the security of your information is not guaranteed.) But if you have internet access, why waste a stamp and wait fifteen days when you can get your report immediately from www.annualcreditreport.com? It’s now an internet world.

This information is brought to you by SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business"

Entrepreneur Self Assessment

Sign up now for SCORE’s entrepreneur self-assessment workshop called “Fundamentals of Small Business" being offered Saturday February 28, 2009.

This workshop addresses the basic steps critical to starting and managing a business.

For a person planning to start a new business, reviewing these processes is a reality check – a no-nonsense look at the requirements and challenges of starting a business. “Small Business Fundamentals” is a valuable learning experience for new business entrepreneurs.

Who should attend?

People considering starting or buying a business.

What you will learn:

· Ten essential factors that determine success of a business
· Starting a business (naming and registering the business)
· Legal structures (sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability companies, S-Corporations, etc.)
· Marketing products or services, including positioning the product or service, defining target customer wants and needs, and evaluating competition
· The essential parts of a business plan
· How to interpret Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statements
· Funding alternatives
· What you need to know to start a business, and where to find answers

Sign up now for Saturday, February 28, 2009 from 9am to Noon at www.scorelancaster.org.

Alternative dates include:

• March 25
• May 2
• May 20
• July 15
• August 22
• September 16
• October 24
• November 11
• December 12,2009

Small Business Readiness Review

Sign up now for SCORE Lancaster's Small Business Readiness Review.

This workshop is a two and a half hour interactive session led by a SCORE facilitator. It is designed to help you assess:

· Why you want to go into business for yourself
· Are you suited to be an entrepreneur?
· Your business skills and those skills needed to achieve success
· Your relationship style compared to that of others
· Relationship strategies that can help you and your business succeed

You should attend if you are considering starting or buying a business. The workshop may also be useful to small business owners who want insight into their strengths as well as areas for development.

What you will learn:

· Why people go into business for themselves
· Factors that help make a business successful
· Your strengths and development opportunities
· Your relationship strengths and challenges
· How to recognize others’ relationship approaches
· How to practice techniques to improve relationship effectiveness
· Where to find additional resources

Dates this workshop is offered 6:30 PM to 9PM Wednesdays:

· March 18
· May 13
· July 8
· September 9
· November 4, 2009

The price is $25 if you pay at the door or $20 if you sign up at our website www.scorelancaster.org

To learn more call us at 717-397-3092