Make Your Business Accessible

When choosing a location for your business, accessibility should be the first thing you should consider. Your customers should be able to go to your shop quite easily.

There is no use in putting up a business in a cheap location with a parking lot if your customers need to drive an hour to get to your shop. There is also little value in putting your shop in a high-traffic location if you are selling to a small niche - the rent will just eat up whatever you will earn.

image from http://brokensidewalk.com

Getting the ideal location for your business is a delicate balance between making your shop accessible to your clients and making sure that rental payments will not eat into your profits. The most ideal and best locations for businesses are also the ones that have the highest rents. So be very careful in evaluating where you put your business.

Most business people like putting their shops in malls. Understandably, malls offer high volume of traffic for those who want to rent a space. Malls also provide parking spaces. They are also accessible via public transport. If you are a business-owner, setting a shop inside a mall would make good business sense, except for the rent. The rents inside malls are quite astronomical and sometimes even forces some of the businesses to close shop.

If you have a very high profit margin, say for example you are selling jewelry; or you are attracting lots of customers, think of McDonald's, then renting in a mall won't be a problem. You can easily cover the rent with your profit margins or the number of customers that buy your products.

However, if your profit margin is not that high or don't get that many customer, it is best that you avoid setting-up shop inside malls until you are certain you can pay the rent.

Choosing the right location for your business means you have to understand where your customers are mainly coming from and how they will visit your store.

Different kinds of products or services need different kinds of locations. You cannot evaluate a site based how a fast food company evaluates a given location if you are a furniture company. Those who are buying from McDonald's might not be the same people who are buying Ikea products.

When you choose how accessible you want your store to be ask yourself these questions; are you customers traveling by car? Will they be using public transport? Can they walk to your store?

Customers who are using cars need parking spaces. If you are a stand-alone shop, you should be able to provide your customers a parking space they can park their cars on. If you are a jewelry store, it would make no sense to let your customers park one block away from your store. You will just provide opportunities for thieves to rob your clients.

If your customers are using public transport, then make sure that they can easily go to their next destination when they leave your store. This just means, your store should be near bus stops or terminals. It would be no use to rent a place with a very large parking space. You will just be wasting your money.


Getting to know your customer is the key to finding the ideal location for your store. Find out how they will be going to store. Talk to them if possible. Get into their mind.

In the end, you want your shop to be easily accessible to your customers. You want them to get into your shop and buy your products. Make it convenient to visit your place and they will keep coming back.

How To Choose The Best Location For Your Growing Business

image from http://www.designpax.com/

One of the most difficult things an entrepreneur has to go through is choosing the right location for their business. Anyone will tell you that a location can make or break a business. A business in a very good location can grow faster than a business in a not-so good location. Meanwhile, a business who is not accessible or cannot be seen by people will eventually close. It doesn't matter if the business is good.

Any entrepreneur who wants to grow and expand his business must be able to identify the ideal location for his business. The ideal location for your business is where your primary consumers can easily go to your store;whether they have cars or not, and buy your products, you don't have any competitors within the area and the rent is so affordable.

But in most cases, I see badly placed businesses. The businesses-owner decided to put-up the shop there because the rent is affordable and that is the only place available. Most of the time, the decision to open the store on a badly placed location will result in the business not taking off.

These are the factors you need to look-out when choosing the ideal location for your business:

• Accessibility - your shop should be accessible to your target market. They should be able to find your location immediately. If your customers have cars, do you have a parking lot? If your customers will be going to your place using public transport, will they have no trouble finding a taxi or a cab?
• Barrier to entry - a construction going on in-front of your place will make people twice before they enter your store. Make sure that your entrance is free from obstruction and can be clearly seen by your customers.
• Foot traffic - choose a location where the foot traffic the quite high. A high foot traffic will enable you to have a higher capture rate (the number of customers who will go in your store versus those who are just passing by). 
• Traffic generators - these are things, events and other businesses that gives the reasons why your target consumers are in the area.
• Presence of competitors - you will have a greater chance of attracting customers when you don't have competitors in the area. 

I will be discussing each of these factors in my next few blogs. I will also cite some examples on how these factors contribute to the success of your business.

I will share with you some stories and anecdotes regarding my experiences in choosing locations for a food business. I used to work in the fast food industry and we have developed a system that helps you determine where to put your shop. 

Grow Your Business

image from http://financewand.com/

All entrepreneurs and business-owners want to grow and expand their business. When they grow their business, they will be able to hire more people and at the same time increase their profits. But most have trouble thinking of ways to expand their businesses.

Let us look at the factors that can help you decided whether to expand or not.

1. Increased customer base. You will know you need to expand when you see that customer from far locations are going to your place just to buy your products or service. 
2. Maintaining your lead. If you are the first mover in the market and you want to maintain your lead over your competitors, it is best that you expand aggressively so that it will take some time before your competitors can catch-up with you. 
3. Market saturation. When you have saturated a particular market or area, it is time to venture and look at the possibilities of opening new stores or shops in other locations. 

There maybe other factors that you may need to consider when you expand, such as your current capital and how will you hire the additional manpower that will work for you. Growing and expanding your business is not an easy task. You need to constantly study whether the market you are looking will make your expansion worth while or not.

In the next few blogs, I will write about what are the things you will need to consider when expanding in a new location or market.

It's LIN-sane

I know that most of you are quite tired reading about Jeremy Lin and what he has done for the struggling New York Knicks. I would look at add some of my thoughts what he has done and what he is and try to relate it with what being in business has got to do with his exploits. If you don't want to see anymore of Jeremy Lin, I urge you not to continue reading this blog.

The NBA and Asians are fascinated by one player who is named Jeremy Lin. We had no who Jeremy Lin is and where he came from before he showed what he can do in the hard court. For those who want to know about Lin's story, you can check it out here.

image from http://money.cnn.com/

I would just like to point out several things that an entrepreneur and a business-owner can learn from Jeremy Lin.

1. Never lose hope.

Jeremy Lin went undrafted in NBA after graduating from Harvard. Most scouts hardly noticed him and his talents. In fact, several NBA teams let him go after they acquired him. Before being acquired by the Knicks, his most recent team was the Golden State Warriors.

 Yet, Lin persevered and worked hard. He studied the game and improved it. When the opportunity came knocking, he was ready.

Most of the time, we are dreaming about that one opportunity that will let the world know us. We tell ourselves that when he get that one opportunity, we will let the world know what we can do and how good we are. We must also realize that we always be prepared. We must be ready at all times. Opportunity knocks in the most unexpected moments. 

Lin's opportunity came when Coach D' Antoni of New York had no hope left and was willing to try out anything. 

2. Always work hard.

We have read stories about Jeremy Lin and how fame has not changed him. His team mates has said time and again that Lin continually works hard even in practice. This also translates to how hard we see play on the floor. It is not often that we see a 6'3" guard out-score Kobe Bryant or heave a game-winning shot. 

His statistics is a testament of how hard he plays and plays to win. Aside from scoring, he rebounds and makes plays. Because of his dedication to the game, he has made his team mates look good!

3. Faith in God.

People say that Jeremy Lin is the Tim Tebow of the NBA. I beg to disagree. Jeremy Lin is the Jeremy Lin of the NBA. He is unique. He has special talents that he used to the fullest. His talent is brought about by his faith in God.

It may be easy for Lin to blame God on why he was not drafted. It may be easy to feel down and out when teams dropped him. But he did not. He stayed positive and knew that better things are laid out for him if he just prepared for it. 

Will his star continue to rise? Will he play the game consistently? It really doesn't matter. What matters is that he has given people hope. And I think with that. he has already done more than enough...

Buying Is An Emotional Decision

"How does your waterless car wash and wax work?"

"Well, sir, we just spray our NoWet Waterless Car Clean solution on a panel of your car. The solution emulsifies and it lifts off the dirt from the surface of your car. We then wipe it off. The solution also contains wax that protects your car from the harmful elements of Metro Manila, making your investment last longer."

"How long does the protection last?"

"The protection last for 4 weeks. The dirt and the dust will not stick on your car unlike conventional car washes since the wax we are using is non-static."

"How much is your car wash?"

"It's four hundred pesos for a waterless car wash and wax. But we do have a four-week guarantee. You can bring your car here for three times within the four-week period. Effectively, you are able to save more in terms of money, time and effort since you will not be bringing your car to a car wash as often."

"Okay, you can clean my car."

image from http://benparr.com/

People tend to buy once you have broken through their emotional barrier. In most cases, a logical appeal or statement will not work since people are often preoccupied thinking about their own needs and wants.

Here are some of the common emotional appeals that can help you understand people and breakthrough the emotional barrier put-up by people:

1. People want to get more something and acquire something which they don't have. 
2. People want to avoid loss and embarrassment.
3. People want to treated and seen as special or unique. 

In the above discussion, there are several emotional appeals that we have used to encourage our clients to get our services.

• We want our clients to protect their investment. By getting our service, we tell our clients that their cars will last longer. Our NoWet Waterless Car Clean solution also protects their cars from dirt and dust.
• Save money, time and effort. People don't want their time and hard-earned money to be wasted. This is the reason why they come to us. They don't need to go to a conventional car wash as often.

Learn to address their emotional needs and you will broken through one of the barriers that people put up.

Benefit Selling

I like going to car dealerships and looking at new cars. Cars have always been my passion. I would normally talk to sales agents about certain features of the car and how it can benefit me, as a car enthusiast. Unfortunately, I get disappointed most of the time.

While the sales agents or marketing professional can discuss the car's features and some facts about the car; they are very hard put how to translate the features into benefits. When you are trying to sell people something, you must be able to tell what's in it for them, or how will they benefit from what you are selling.

A typical car buyer goes into a dealership looking for a car to use. In most cases, he has two or three choices in mind. In most instances, a good marketing professional can upgrade a sale because he understands what the customer wants - earning him more commissions. He knows how to translate a car's features to benefits that the client will surely enjoy and love.

image from http://en.wikipedia.org/

Let me illustrate.

Everyone that knows me can tell you that Subaru Impreza WRX STI is my favorite car. I like the 2006-2007 model than the newer generation of STI's. I will use this as an example to highlight the differences of features and benefits. 

A marketing professional will tell you these things about the car:

All Subaru cars have a boxer engine; this is different from the traditional in-line or V configuration engines. A boxer engine can have a lower center of gravity.

What does that mean? If you were the buyer will you understand what was said?

Now try this one out;

A Subaru car has a boxer engine, which has a lower center of gravity. A lower of center of gravity can make your car more stable during cornering and high-speeds. It is safer compared to the other types of engine configuration.

Is it clear how can a boxer engine benefit the buyer? To convince the buyer, you can also add figures and statistics supporting your claim.

How about this one:

All Subaru cars use a four-wheel drive system. A four-wheel drive system engages all the four wheels of a car.

How do you think a customer will benefit from a four-wheel or all-wheel drive system? What can you say about the revised sales pitch below?

This Subaru STI has an all-wheel drive capability that delivers excellent traction and control on whatever road condition or weather you are in. You feel safer and secured than in a conventional front-wheel system.

When you are selling products, it matters to the customer how it will benefit him. Even if all the features of your products are great but you are not able to translate it to what's in it for your customer, you might lose the sale.

Know Your Customers

When we are selling products or services, we must be able to know who are our customers. Unfortunately, in most cases, I've talked to people who cannot even describe who are the primary users of their products.

As I've said in my previous blog, to be successful in business, entrepreneurs and businessmen must learn how to sell. Selling is essential in all aspects of business. Getting people to buy your product is the only way to grow your business. If you can't convince enough people to buy what you have to offer, your business will surely close down.

You may be offering the best product in the market but if you cannot tell it to your target market, you will not get any sales.

image from http://teamaltman.com/

As an entrepreneur, the first thing you must do is to know who your customers are. Know them inside and out. Know what they need and want. Know their aspirations. Know how will they feel once they purchase your product.

Let me illustrate.

I once worked in a start-up online job portal. I was tasked to develop new opportunities for our company to explore and make money without straying too much on the vision and mission we have laid out. Our company aims to give all job opportunities an equal chance of getting hired. The company wanted to do this by highlighting both the technical and behavioral qualifications of the job-seeker.

There is no question about the a candidate's technical qualification since it is already printed in a resume or curriculum vitae. A candidate will know his behavioral fit for a job by answering an assessment. First world countries have given weight for a candidate's fitness for a job. However, in our Philippines, most companies are not utilizing this tool that much.

Companies still place importance on a candidate's technical and measurable qualities.

There were so many things the company I was working for tried. The company ventured into MLM; they even tried franchising the system even without developing a proof of concept. As expected, these ventures failed.

Cutting the long-story short, the company tried selling assessments to job-seekers. These are job-seekers who are on a tight budget. These are job-seekers who just want to get any job because they need the money. Obviously, there was a disconnect in this system.

Leveling the playing field for job-seekers who graduated in Manila and the provinces needs the cooperation of the local government units and the businesses who are found in the provinces. The local government can only do so much with a limited budget. At the same time, the local businesses need all the help they can get to make their business grow. If they can get the right people without spending too much on classified ads, they will surely take the opportunity.

An integration among the needs of the local government units, business-owners and job-seekers is necessary. And this was what I developed. Local government units would be able to file, update and record all the job openings and job-seekers in the area. They will be able to match the requirements needed by the companies to the applicants in their database.

Business-owners will be able to go online and sift through the resumes of applicants and job-seekers in their community. The LGU can charge for a small fee or can offer the service to the business-owners for free. They can even shoulder the cost of the assessment before they hire the applicant just to be sure that the applicant will fit the job.

Applicants will immediately know the companies that are hiring in their area. They can apply to these companies with a click of the mouse. They don't to waste money by going to the company in person.

It took sometime before the program was able to take off the ground. We did alpha and beta testing.

Unfortunately, events happened that forced me to leave the company and ventured out on my own. When I talk to my previous colleagues, they have been telling me that the system that I developed is working and they were able to make good money out of it.

The point of the story is this, before you launch any product or start any endeavor get to know your target market. Find out how they will purchase your product.

In the end, you may have to reposition your product once you understand who your customers are.

The Art of Selling

When I was in college, I told myself that I would not be a salesman. My idea of a salesman is someone who sells insurance, condominiums and those Electro-lux men. They would hound you at all times of the day, calling and texting you just to get a sale.

Little did I know that the art of selling is an everyday occurrence. We sell our ideas to our friends when we tell stories. We sell our point of view to our partners when we tell them our ideas. We sell our vision to our employees when we tell them what are our plans. Selling cannot be avoided; it is part of our every day life. We are selling all the time even if we are not aware of it.

Entrepreneurs understand that selling is a great part of whether their business will succeed or not. They understand that they need to sell their products so that they can pay for their expenses and earn profits to expand and grow their business. They train people until they are capable of selling their products.

image from http://zenmastersales.com/

But what happens if someone who has not sold anything is suddenly put in a situation where he needs to sell? Most often than not, he will be shy. He will not be able to meet his quota and will blame extraneous circumstances for his failure. When he has not met his quota for a couple months, there will come a time when he will blame his boss or the products themselves. This scenario is not only harmful to the individual but also to the company as well.

Entrepreneurs must place importance on product and sales training. He must make sure that everyone of his employees know what the product can do for their consumers before they go out. The entrepreneur must feel assured that his sales staff will be able to overcome any objections placed by their target market.

In my experience, I have come to realize that there are three important factors that determine the success of each sales staff. The factors are:

• Knowing your customers. 
• Sell them the benefit they will be getting when they buy your product.
• Buying is emotional.

In my next blogs, we will be discussing these factors in detail to help you become a successful salesman. You can also use these three when talking to anyone to win them on your side.

Lastly, the mastering the art of selling takes time. You may see that some people have the knack for selling - natural salesmen; while others are not good at it. You must need to practice often and practice consciously to be able to sell more.

Change Management

I was unable to write and update my blog for a few days since I have asked my partner to redesign and customize my blog. We have agreed that my blog should be easy for the viewers to use and view the articles I have written and at the same time, be personalized to reflect my own identity. She is still in the process of redesigning my blog.

There also comes a point in every company where we need to change and shake-up things. Most employees want the status quo. Unfortunately, no one thrives by being in the same environment for so long. Major changes have to be made so that companies will prosper and reach higher levels.

Life on earth wouldn't be possible if there were no major cataclysmic changes that happened. The earth would be all rocks and gases if no meteorites hit our planet. Recent studies say that the water in our planet may have come from meteors and comets.

Why and when do we need to shake-up things? Is it really even important?

image from http://www.genetologisch-onderzoek.nl/

When you are working, you want to have a routine. Routine helps you in making schedules and meeting deadlines. Unfortunately, routine can also hinder your growth. When you get comfortable with the routine, you don't look for ways to do your job more creatively. You get stuck and stumped when certain issues arrive that you haven't handled before.

Encountering change and being placed in a new environment can help you see clearly and offers you more perspectives. You begin to see your paradigm shift and you begin to solve problems more creatively. When change happens, we get uncomfortable at first but we adjust. During the adjustment phase, we are open to ideas that will help us address our concerns more creatively.

When we stay and stick to the routine for so long, we begin to stagnate. We get bored and we often find ourselves on automatic-pilot. Our performance doesn't go up but may eventually go down - a plateauing of sorts. This is what we want to avoid.

A good indicator of how we can avoid this trap is by continually challenging ourselves and our company. In GreenRides, we have been so used to cleaning cars that my partner and I will be expanding our services soon enough. This will force our employees to learn more and get out of their comfort zones. But before you implement changes here are some of the things you must consider:

1. Have you reached your peak performance? You must ensure that you have learned everything you must before you can move on to higher levels. You must be able to master walking before you can start running. When you jump or skip levels, you are bound to fail and fall hard. Make sure that you learn master one task before you advance to another task.
2. Learn new things but build on present knowledge. When you want to improve things, you must make that you build on what you currently know. There is no use in learning calculus if you don't know how to add and subtract first. The knowledge that you currently poses will be used to move to a higher level. This is why I ask you to learn to master and be expert first before you move on.
3. Accept other ideas. There are people who have done the same things as you are doing. Some may have failed miserably and others have succeeded quite well. Learn from them. Learn why they failed and understand why they succeeded. Use this to your advantage. There is no use making the same twice.

Creating Championship Teams

All organizations have politics. It doesn't matter if you are a big multi-national company or just starting-out. It just happens that some politicking are more pronounced than others.

My partner and I have had our share of politics in the office. We've had to let go of some people because we have seen and heard how they talk. These people create discord and talk negatively about other people behind their backs.

Since we are a young organization, we want our employees to feel they are part of the family. We want them to understand that we are all working towards a common goal. A good team must work together to achieve its dream. A great example of this is the Dallas Mavericks. They only had one legitimate superstar but was able to work together to beat the heralded Miami Heat.

image from www.blog.pennlive.com

How can a team or an organization be able to work harmoniously together? I will use examples from the Dallas Mavericks.

1. Work hard. When things got rough for them, they never gave up. In fact, people were counting them out even on the first-round of the play-offs; but they persevered and fought on. They fought hard each time.
2. Know your common goals. The Dallas Mavericks knew what their goal was. It was never to reach the play-offs. It was to win the NBA Championship! They never had the best record in the NBA coming into the play-offs but they knew why they were playing the first place. All of them wanted to win. 
3. Respect your roles. Not everyone can be a superstar. In a team, you have a point guard that calls out the play, a center that helps in getting the ball during a miss. Every one must know the roles that they play. Unfortunately, a team on the court can't be all point guards. Know what your role is and be good at it! 
4. Listen to the coach. When you are in the field, you are too attached on the situation. A coach tells you where are the weak spots in the opposing team or how you can score when the defense tightens. Always listen to the coach and respect him when he asks you to sit on the bench for a few minutes.
5. Always seek improvement. You don't get to be a championship team if you think you are better than all the other teams. You become a championship team through constant improvement. You must seek ways to constantly improve your free throw or three-point accuracy. Once you stop improving, it will become your downfall.