Archive for the ‘Business’ Category
Computer Repair – Business Pricing Advice For Smart Owners
For many computer repair business owners, pricing their services can be a tricky endeavor. You have to consider pricing very carefully if you have your own business, or you risk not being taken seriously because your rates are too low. Or perhaps you’re attracting price-sensitive clients looking for rock-bottom prices on commodity-type products and not real value-added services.
When it comes to setting pricing, the time for action is now. If your back is up against the wall because your business cannot make a profit or worse yet, is unable to make ends meet, you more than likely procrastinated too long. When you don’t figure out pricing early on in the life of your business, you may also be seen as wishy-washy when you change your prices too frequently.
So If you want to have a successful as the owner of a computer repair business, make sure you price right the first time around so you can make a profit. The following 4 pieces of advice can help you price wisely so you can make a profit.
Consider Your Pricing Strategy Before Start-Up. Your pricing strategy should not be an afterthought, nor should it be taken lightly. It is not something you can easily change later on, so making sure you have the correct pricing is absolutely critical even before you open the doors to your business. Your Pricing Should Be Something That Your Clients Can Count On. Part of building a strong computer repairs business is building trust with your customers and clients and showing them that you will be there to solve their problems and respond to their needs. If you change your mind on your hourly billing rates or how you are charging, your customers and clients are likely to resist and your credibility could be threatened. If your prices change too much, you may lose valued customers and clients altogether. The Economy is Important to Pricing. In a good economy, annual increases of five to fifteen percent are about as much as you can pass through without being seen as going overboard. If you really make a mistake on pricing when you start your computer repairs business and find you need to pass along more than a $20 – $25 per hour increase to stay alive, you will probably be better off just replacing your customers and clients and starting from scratch. Why? Unless you’re exceptionally lucky, even your most loyal customers and clients will strongly resist a large hourly rate increase that seems out of left field. Understand the Cost of New Client Acquisition. If your pricing absolutely must be changed in order to remain profitable, you will have to find new clients. Don’t underestimate this great task. New clients for your computer repairs business will have to be brought on board under the new pricing strategy … but at what cost? Rather than incurring unnecessary costs, begin with the correct pricing strategy so you can pass along minor increases the same way any other type of business does. In this article, we talked about 4 simple but crucial pricing tips. Learn more about how you can get great, steady, high-paying clients now at http://www.ComputerRepairBusinessSecrets.com
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By: Joshua Feinberg
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Wholesale Business: How to Start a Beverage Distribution Business
Combine Wholesale Distribution with the Beverage Industry and you get one of the most profitable and fun businesses in the world.
This article will give you an introduction into this great business, how you can start and how much money you can make on each case of beverage sold. Is beverage distribution for you? Find out right now.
Beverage distribution is one of the easiest and most profitable businesses I’ve seen.
I like it because you don’t need a lot of customers to make a lot of money. You can easily make an extra $5,000 with a few customers.
You will see why beverage is one of the best businesses in the world. I started in beverage while I had my tool and novelty distribution business. I was looking for new products, products that I did not need to exchange so often and that I could sell over and over again to the same customers. This last part was key.
You see, when I was selling tools I figured that I could sell up to 1,000 tools per day or more but every customer was unique. In other words, if you buy a hammer at a store on Monday chances are you will not go on Tuesday and buy another Hammer. Even if it only costs $1.98!
Don’t get me wrong, the “tool distribution business” is a wonderful business and I still love it. I was just looking for another type of product to add to my current items.
I figured out that in order to sell the same product over and over again it would have to be a food product. So I started going to trade shows and looking at chocolate, potato chips, candy, and other products. I even looked at name brands like Hershey’s. The problem was that I could not buy directly from the manufacturers and the profit margins were super low, about 12%. I was used to up to 70% profit margins.
Finally I ran into a beverage manufacturer of an Energy Drink. They were just starting with their product and it was easier to become a distributor.
Now let me tell you a bit about Energy Drinks. Energy Drinks are the new Super Profitable products. Everybody makes money, the manufacturer, the distributor and the retailer. You see, Energy Drinks sell for $1.99 to $2.40 at the stores for 8 to 16 ounces. This is incredible if you consider that you can buy a soda that’s the same size for $0.50 to $0.75. Even a 20 ounce soda runs you about $1.25.
Distributors love the product because they make about $8 per every case they sell compared with about $2 to $4 for their other products.
Let’s get back to the Beverage Business. The great part of this business is that if you have only one customer going into the store buying your product you sell at least 1 case of that product per month.
You see; if you sell a soda someone can buy a soda every day, compared to a hammer, where people don’t buy a hammer every day. So you need fewer customers because you sell more per day.
For example: Let’s say you have only 100 stores that you service yourself and sell 3 different beverages. You sell one Energy Drink and 2 Sodas. You make $8 from every case of the Energy Drink and $3 from every case of soda.
If you sell only 1 case of the Energy Drink per week per store and 3 cases of each soda you’ll make about $600 profit from the sodas per week and another $800 profit per week from the Energy Drink. That’s $5,600 profit per month with only 100 stores and only 3 different products. It’s very easy to ramp up to 5 or even 8 products. This is why I love the beverage business.
Now let me tell you a bit more about Energy Drinks. They are the category that is growing the fastest of any other drink. It grows up to 70% per year in the US compared with 2% growth for soda. Companies are still growing from 100% to 300% per year every single year. The best part is that there is no end in sight.
Not only that, the Energy Drink Business is incredibly fun. You get advertising and promotion from companies, you get to do club and store promotions, get t-shirts, hats, gifts, extra commissions and free product from the Energy Drink companies. You also get free racks, coolers, sometimes even refrigerators.
Copyright 2006 Cube 17, Inc.
By: Jorge Olson
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Socially Responsible Business
The concepts of ethics and social responsibility are closed intertwined in business. To some it conveys the idea of legal responsibility or liability. To others it means socially responsible behavior in an ethical sense. To still others the meaning transmitted is that of ‘responsible for,’ in a casual mode. Many simply equate it with a charitable contribution while some take it to mean social consciousness. Many of those who embrace it almost fervently see it as a mere synonym for ‘legitimacy’ in the context of ‘belonging’ or ‘being proper or valid’. Only a few see it as a sort of fiduciary duty imposing higher standards of behavior on businessmen than on citizens at large. Even the antonyms, socially ‘irresponsible’ and ‘non-responsible,’ are subject to multiple interpretations.
Socially responsible business means different things to different people. In the business sphere, social responsibility is the concern of business for social welfare; especially this concern is demonstrated by managers considering the long range best interests of the company and its relationships to the society within which it operates.
Social responsibility, for both individual business person and the corporation, tends to be defined in terms of the social arrangements and obligations that make up the structure of our society, for example, a pledge to hire the hard-core unemployed.
Ethics concerns the rules by which social responsibilities are carried out. Hiring hard-core unemployed for jobs that management plans to abolish in the near future would be unethical. Thus it is extremely hard to separate the rules of the game from the game itself, to separate ethics from ethical decision making.
Social responsibility is business’ concern for social welfare. Most large corporations feel that social responsibility extends beyond simply earning profits. The power of social opinion seems to be against those firms not taking overt social actions. Social responsibility arises from social power. The business community has extensive social power and must therefore exercise it in a reasonable fashion or be subject to further government regulation.
Social opinion favors the practice of social responsibility by business. But business options are increasingly restricted as a result of the changing climate of opinion on socially permissible conduct, which is reflected by the legislative limits set on decision making by business. Earning adequate return is still considered as the firm’s primary social responsibility.
Meeting social responsibilities requires both planning and organization. In large companies, the consumer affairs department carries out the social responsibilities of the firm. In the past, these departments were little more than consumer complaint departments. Today, consumer affairs departments monitor satisfaction, help develop warranties and guarantees, provide input for improving product safety, often oversees product packaging and labeling and work to improve quality control.
The concepts of social responsibility and consumerism go hand-in-hand. If every organization practiced a high level of social responsibility, the consumer movement might never have begun. Consumerism is a struggle for power between buyers and sellers; specifically it is a social movement seeking to augment the rights and powers of buyers in relation to sellers.
By: Jon Elton
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Business Opportunities in Computer Repair
Thousands of personal computer users and business organizations around the world require the services of computer troubleshooters for handling their computer related dilemmas. They look forward to those individuals or firms, who are specialized in a professional and friendly computer repair services.
Business individuals, who desire to tap the computer repair business need to maintain, implement and choose the right technology and computer solutions.
When it comes to computer repair, customers have some specific needs that computer troubleshooters are qualified to satisfy. Most business organizations and customers require:
Independent consulting and advice Hardware Support and Setup Email and internet setup and assistance Regular maintenance and cleaning Networking Software development and Custom Website Troubleshooting and software setup Training
Need for Computer Repair Service:
Personal computer users and business owners cannot afford the loss of productivity and hassles caused by computer malfunction requiring it to bring in a repair center. This is the reason why hundreds of home users and business owners switch to computer troubleshooters daily to get their workstation problems solved.
Computer troubleshooters need to do more than just fixing the problems of computer. Their main goal is to work with the customers to listen to their needs and offer solutions and recommendations that help in the improvement of business. The important thing is that entrepreneurs cannot succeed unless and until their customers succeed.
Franchise Opportunity:
Below mentioned are some of the reasons as to why computer troubleshooters have an excellent business prospect:-
Fresh entrepreneurs can provide IT support and onsite computer services to home users and small businesses. They also provide individuals with outstanding business experience, marketing programs, instant credibility and outstanding technical support. The IT consultancy is a 25.3 billion dollar industry and may grow continually to reach 47 billion dollars in the coming economic year. The business start up costs and ongoing expenses for computer repair business is quite low as compared to other franchises. Majority of computer troubleshooter firms are two or one person businesses, operated from home. This means no expensive payroll or rent overhead for start up businesspersons. Some troubleshooters do operate with a larger retail location or staff, but it is optional. Fresh entrepreneurs become a subset of the excellent service organization with a reputation for professional and friendly service. They can offer their expertise to some other franchisees and gain advantage of their services. Entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to serve national, regional and international accounts and customers. They cut costs by sharing. Further, becoming a part of the franchise network gives more depth to the business and more credibility from the customer’s point of view.
With the number of people owning computers and laptops increasing day by day, business prospects for computer repair are becoming extremely good. Computer repair is one amongst few industries requiring minimal hassle, which offers free investments with surplus benefits. Business opportunities in computer repair imply smart investment coupled with good brains.
By: Jon Elton
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Business Card Printing Services
The simple black and white business card has metamorphosed into designer versions. Unusual business cards are made from wood, plastic, metal, magnets, glass, or handmade paper. And some are printed in four colors while others are made using embedding or imprint technology. The purpose is to be unique and different, and make a lasting impression.
Depending on your thoughts, budget, design, and needs, a business card service will tell you what kind of printing your card will need. They offer die-cut business cards, embossed cards, CMYK full color printing, bi-fold business cards, or thermograph print cards—different processes that produce varied results.
Most business card printing services will provide in-house design services if you let them have all the information you need on the card. Otherwise, you could design your business card yourself by using the online card design services. Print providers like GreatFX business cards offer a complete online design studio with which you can create a business card in minutes, using your web browser.
Printers today are innovative. They club together to offer online business card printing services which offers a free estimate if you fill in a questionnaire. The questionnaire will go to different card printers, and the ones who can do the job will get in touch with you. There are other online sites where clients can post projects for which printers can place bids—the same concept like elance or guru.com.
For a world-class product you need to ensure that you scan logos and other images in eps or bmp format. Specify how many cards you need, what kind of paper, black and white or color, whether it should be coated, whether you need a proof, and when you need the cards delivered.
Be wise and do your homework well. Contact at least three business card printing services. Comparison shopping is good business sense, not a waste of time. Check the reliability of the printers. Find out if anyone you know has used the service. Read up on design and how one can use a template to design a professional-looking, unique card. Seek the help of a computer-savvy friend or colleague, and find out if designing your own card is as easy as it sounds.
Your business card represents you—it is your brand ambassador, so think before you leap. When it doubt, just choose a classy style instead of shiny brass or psychedelic varieties.
By: Thomas Morva
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