5 Life Lessons from Running a Software Company
This is a big one. No flashy intros, let's get right into it. 1. It's not always the big things that will nickel and dime you. Running a business is expensive . Which is ironic when you consider most companies work for profit. Whatever profit model, whatever practice, business building is a high-market, high-investment endeavor. If it isn't capital it's labor, if it isn't labor it's design, if it isn't design it's finance, around and around. The costliest thing in business is just being out of your zone. I mean... Read More
Friday May 28, 2021
Who is in Control of your Business
Is it your clients? Is it your staff? As a business owner, knowing how to delegate tasks within your business is essential, but it’s also just the first step. Delegating work only adds value if the person you delegate to knows how to perform the task you put before them. The Problem of Compromising Before today I've discussed the turmoil of managing a difficult client and how to be a better manager for your employees . When looking to these things, I've pointed to the processes you should learn and... Read More
Thursday April 8, 2021
8 Common Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
What are the most common mistakes made in advertising? Frequently, I find that the approach to marketing is typically less structured and more of a random smorgasbord of unrelated marketing attempts. One example, you get a voucher in the mail for $100 worth of free pay-per-click advertising with Google. You figure this is found money, and you are anxious to put it to work. After setting up your campaign and loading in 50 different keywords at $1 per click, you find that the entire $100 has been spent in just a few hours, and you have made no... Read More
Thursday April 1, 2021
Entrepreneurship for 6th Graders
In May 2016, I had the privilege of teaching a classroom of 6th graders at Severance Middle School how to create a new product and prepare it for market. The program was created by Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain , a non-profit organization that is "dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy". As an entrepreneur, I was impressed with the quality and accuracy of the curriculum - it translates directly to how real business is done. I started the day off in the auditorium where several classes... Read More
Monday March 15, 2021
Investing In The Young Workforce
Helping is in our company’s DNA, it’s what our foundation was built on . I started AllProWebTools in 2009 because I wanted to give small business owners a better shot at success. Over the years, that vision has grown to become so much more. Our enduring identity of helping other entrepreneurs slowly evolved into a passion for prompting growth of character, personality, and skill in our very own staff ! I’m writing this article after witnessing twelve successful cases, because it’s been a beautiful journey... Read More
Monday March 1, 2021
Tips for Successfully Managing Your Very First Employee (Part 2)
Ready to hire your very first employee? If so, congratulations! This is an important business milestone. Prepare yourself for a whole new set of challenges, but if you can learn to manage your first employee effectively, you’ll be in a great position to continue growing your team and your business! Management doesn’t always come easily, but I maintain that anyone can learn how to do it. In Part 1 of this blog , I shared 6 tips to help ensure your new employee will actually save you time, rather than taking up more of your... Read More
Monday February 15, 2021
Tips for Successfully Managing Your Very First Employee (Part 1)
By far one of the most exciting milestones in growing a small business is the moment when it’s time to hire your first employee. But if you think hiring another employee will instantly make your life easier as a business owner, you may be surprised! An employee should save you tons of time in the long run, but management has a steep learning curve. I believe management is a skill that anyone can learn, especially if you are organized and have the right tools by your side to keep things organized and efficient. If... Read More
Monday February 1, 2021
3 Questions Before Calling a Meeting
How often do you find yourself in meetings each week? My guess is, you scoffed at this question, mentally tallying up the staggering number of times “Meeting†has ended up on your calendar. So when did companies decide to ignore the inevitable inefficiency of meetings? Obviously team meetings can help collect ideas, and they have potential for powerful results. But far too often collaboration problems, as we describe here , come together to derail your productivity. Remember, a 20 minute meeting with 3 team members is the... Read More
Friday January 15, 2021
Teaching Job Skills Results in a Second Chance in Life
Life can hit hard. For Cherie Strauser, the path to success began at a very low point. Interactions with the law, homeless, but pushing through, Cherie found an internship with us through the Larimer County Workforce Center . What was originally intended as an internship, turned into an eventual full time hiring almost 6 months after she completed her program. Hired to answer phones, Cherie’s determination and the support from her new business family saw the opportunity turn into so much more. When she left us for her new job,... Read More
Friday January 1, 2021
Why Are There So Many CustoMonsters These Days?
For as long as humans have been exchanging goods and services, there have been dissatisfied customers. But does it seem to you that customers today are on a shorter fuse? They’re more easily angered than they have been in the past, issues seem to escalate more quickly, and they’re making their anger much more public. In short, we have an upswell of CustoMonsterson our hands. The “Dissatisfied Customer†vs. The CustoMonster A customer who states their dissatisfaction, expects accountability,... Read More
Tuesday December 15, 2020
Why you should raise your prices
"How much is this?" "Oh..." as the item is placed back on the shelf. For those of you who provide a service, are potential clients excited about your services, yet they never seem to commit? The solution to both problems may have something to do with your pricing. No, I'm not suggesting you lower your prices, I'm actually going to tell you why you may need to raise your prices. "How can I raise my prices," you might be thinking. Americans are primarily driven by something known as perceived value. If we weren't, every one of us... Read More
Tuesday December 1, 2020
When and How to Break Up with a Bad Client
It’s less costly to keep an old customer than to attract a new one – unless that client is a toxic one. A bad client can sap your energy, take up too much of your valuable time, and put stress on you and your team. The costs of these drains can be hard to measure. In fact, they’re often much higher than you realize. But breaking up with a bad client is rarely an easy decision – especially if you don’t have a ready replacement. Here are some tips to help you make the decision, and what to do if you... Read More
Sunday November 15, 2020
Customer Lifetime Value
How much is a customer worth? This is a fundamental question, especially for small businesses. Having fewer customers means that each one has a proportionally larger impact on your business. Good customers can eliminate your cash flow worries and keep you going in hard times, and bad customers can drain more of your time and resources than you can afford. But how do you calculate which customers are “good†or “bad,†or somewhere in between? Most business owners have a sense of this, but backing up your... Read More
Sunday November 1, 2020
Close More Leads and Increase Your Average Sale Amount
Hits, Upsells, Loss Leaders Free Offers: Explained What are these things and what can they do for your business?... How can I turn hits into purchases?... How do you effectively upsell your product or service?... What is a loss leader?... What can a free offer do for me? If you've priced your products or services correctly, you should have plenty of profit margin to make hard to resist offers.Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer, how would you feel if you walked in to buy... Read More
Thursday October 15, 2020
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