5 Ways Any Business Can Survive (and Thrive) Against Amazon | All Business

September 14, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The last twenty years has seen a dramatic shift in the retail landscape ever since Amazon burst onto the scene. Offering a vast selection and ever-shorter shipping times, Amazon came to dominate retail sales, starting with books and quickly expanding to other categories.

Yet for all of Amazon’s disruption, the online giant is not invincible. Many retailers and etailers have built significant businesses by refusing to accept the status quo. Any business can learn to beat Amazon by incorporating these five easy tips:

1. Create a unique voice.

Many businesses believe they are unique when they really do not have anything that truly sets them apart. In order for a brand to stand out, it must have a story that aligns with both their business values and personal values.

We’re Not Nearly as Busy as We Pretend to Be, According to a New Study | Adweek

September 11, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Hey are you busy?” We all know that when someone asks this question at work, there’s only one possible answer.

But maybe, just maybe, we’re not actually that busy.

A new study from Havas Worldwide surveyed 10,000 adults worldwide and found that 42 percent admitted to overstating their obligations, while around 60 percent believe that other people are pretending to be busier than they really are.

Millennials were most likely to exaggerate their workload (51 percent) and to accuse their peers of doing the same (65 percent), while only 26 percent of Boomers said they pretend to be busier than they are.

What You Need to Know about Body Language at Work | Page 19

September 10, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We’ve heard it a million times before: “90% of communication is nonverbal.” But what does that really mean? And how can you use that information? We asked the experts.

When we talk about language, we almost always are referring to words and sentences, nouns, verbs, dependent clauses, and all the various things that we can write down.

However, human communication is much broader than that—it includes variations in tone, emphasis, and entirely nonverbal signals like facial expressions, eye contact (or lack thereof), and hand gestures. Even the direction you’re facing communicates something to your conversation partner, regardless of whether or not they’re totally aware of it.

Clearly, there is a benefit to being able to reliably read (and project) nonverbal signals. So what’s a person to do? We consulted industry experts on nonverbal communication for their best tips. Read on.

Improve decision-making through the relieving mindset of self-responsibility | The Startup Magazine

September 10, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For all of us life starts in a similar way, however through our decisions we change it with lasting effect. Decisions can bring you closer to your goals or lead you much further away. Think about this: Everything exists in your life, because at first you have made a decision on something. Decisions are the roots of all your results. You make your decisions and your decisions make you!

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

The tricky thing

Primarily it is not about whether your decisions are wrong or right. In the first place, it is rather about discovering when you really make a decision. They are usually intertwined with behaviour and habits so it often seems a decision would be out of your control. [In at least half of the decisions you make,] you are not even aware of making them in that moment.

Hampton Creek Throws Eggs at the FDA | Bloomberg Business

September 9, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ask U.S. food regulators, and they’ll tell you that mayonnaise has to contain eggs, as it has for the past two centuries. But Josh Tetrick, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur hellbent on disrupting a host of food staples with his plant-based substitutes, gives a far different response: Who cares? “I think it is stupid we can’t call our product mayonnaise,” Tetrick says of his two-year-old Just Mayo eggless spread. “I think it’s ridiculous. We’re definitely not changing the name.”

That defiant stance seems to put Tetrick’s company, Hampton Creek, on a collision course with the Food and Drug Administration. The agency on Aug. 12 issued a warning letter listing a litany of rules broken by its Just Mayo and Just Mayo Sriracha products, including the use of “Mayo” in the name and the image of an egg on the label that may imply it meets the agency’s standard definition for mayonnaise—eggs and all. “This is one of the most blatant violations of the standard-of-identity rules that I’ve seen in a long time,” says Elizabeth Campbell, a former acting head of the FDA’s office of food labeling, who now works at EAS Consulting Group.

5 Scenarios Where Panic Can Destroy Your Startup | Entrepreneur

September 9, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Want your business to appear in Entrepreneur magazine? Tell us how you’re empowering employees, and you could be selected for a full-page promotion provided by Colonial Life.

Staying calm in a crisis is often easier said than done. When an emergency or unexpected and disruptive situation hits, your adrenaline rises, your thoughts start to race and your body and mind both go into reaction mode. Those fast, impulsive reactions are beneficial in some types of emergencies, like that of an older world where a predator was chasing you. But in the modern business world, such reactions usually create more problems than they solve.

The following five scenarios are especially sensitive to anxious reactions. So, instead of resorting to panic and instinct, take your time to approach these dilemmas carefully and methodically:

Our Entrepreneur’s Journey | Peter Mehit

September 8, 2015September 17, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Peter was interviewed by Australian Michael Pullman on Franchisee Connection about he and Lydia’s journey from the corporate world to their own business. In particular, the interview focused on the challenges they faced and the attitudes they needed to overcome them. The interview also covered tips for those considering starting a franchise.

Click the play button on the far right of the yellow bar

Listen here

How to Respond to, “Why Should I do Business with You?” | SmallBizTrends

September 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The title of the article says it all when it comes to leading effective meetings. As the sales executive, you are the leader when meeting with clientele.

False Start

On occasion you may hear someone say, “I can talk to you now, but I only have a few minutes. In a snapshot, tell me what you’ve got.”

Many people fall for this, and proceed to tell everything they’ve got in a two-minute verbiage vomit. The only thing this produces is a mess, and hearing “not interested.”

A far better approach is to ask to schedule a meeting where you may have a give and take to get to know one another better. This lets the other party know you are serious and potentially trustworthy. This normally promotes a scheduled date.

Blame Game: Does Firing ‘Bad’ Employees Really Solve the Problem? | Business News Daily

September 3, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Businesses shouldn’t be so quick to assign blame to employees when problems arise, new research finds. Rather than dismissing a problem as the result of one employee’s incompetence, businesses should look deeper to find the root of the problem, according to a study recently published in the Academy of Management Journal.

“Concentrated failures prompt narrower attributions of responsibility, which, whether accurate or not, ultimately lead to less thorough investigations and fewer of the system-wide changes that are typically required to address organizational performance problems,” wrote Vinit Desai, the study’s author and an associate professor of management at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Thinking About Buying a Franchise? Know the Limits! | All Business

September 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Starting your own business is both an exciting and terrifying prospect. Many people choose to take a more financially secure path by purchasing a franchise. Purchasing a franchise buys instant brand awareness and a ready-made system of operations that offers real benefits to first time business owners.

But like any business decision, it is important to think about potential problems when you consider buying a franchise. Here are some of the limits of franchising that any potential business owner should consider: