Business Success Center

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22+ Reasons Your Small Business Is Keeping You Up at Night

May 30, 2022 By Jan Triplett

Owners are often insomniac. Photo by Olivia Townsend.

Owners are often insomniac. Photo by Olivia Townsend.

News 8 reporter Harlan Schmidt interviewed me about why Austin is a good place to start a business in 2010. I told him it was Austin’s “can do & it’s ok to fail” culture. And it is also about the fact that we have a highly educated population which means we can learn from our mistakes. I would still say that.

Then he asked me what needs to be done to improve our ability to sustain businesses. After all, it is not about starting — anyone can start one. It is about keeping it going — although not necessarily growing as large as, say Dell. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Improvement, Business Management, Growth Readiness Tagged With: administration, Austin, bookkeeping, business bloopers, business challenges, Dunkin Donuts baker commercial, environmental issues, financial management, fiscal management, government, healthcare, marketing, News 8, operations, owner responsibilities, planning, records management, regulatory compliance, Sales, small business, small business mistakes, startup business, sustainable business, vision

Business Owners Hierarchy of Needs

June 22, 2013 By Jan Triplett and Daniel Diener Leave a Comment

What motivates business owners? It depends on where they are in the owners' hierarchy of needs.

What motivates business owners? It depends on where they are in the owners’ hierarchy of needs.

You’ve probably heard of Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”. He identified how a person’s needs dominate motivation and behavior and that there is a specific order in which they should be met.

His theory suggested that the basic needs (physiological, safety, love and belonging) had to be met before the individual will desire and pursue higher levels of needs (esteem, self actualization, and self transcendence).

If a need is not met, the individual will feel tense and anxious. Although people may have several needs at any time, one will dominate their actions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Administration, Business Building, Business Development, Business Ideas, Business Management, Business Process, Financial Management, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Networking, Planning & Vision, Research, Sales, Sales Strategy, Small Business Research, Vision Tagged With: A Networker's Guide to Success, Business Growth and Development, Business Owners Hierarchy of Needs, business transference, Employee Training, Exit Strategy, financial management, Government Compliance, marketing, Maslow, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Platinum Profile Customers, Processes & Procedures, Ramping Up, Sales, Scalability, Team

3 Networking Skills Every Introvert Has

August 31, 2011 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Rodin's "The Thinker" could have been named "The Introvert". Photo by James Whitesmith.

Rodin’s “The Thinker” could have been named “The Introvert”. Photo by James Whitesmith.

Networking skills are not the exclusive property of extroverts. Introverts have them, too.

Not the belle or beau of the ball? Don’t do well in groups? Are you kind of shy or just hate playing the networking game? You can still be a great networker. The best part is, you don’t have to and shouldn’t change you.

Networking Rules

You do have to play by the rules. Networking is a balancing act; give and take. It’s not just about sales or prospecting. Although these can happen.  You can also use it for finding friends, jobs, fun places to go or avoid, and a million other things. Think about it as a combination of a “net” which gathers things in and keeps things out and a lot of hard “work”. Believe me, it doesn’t come easy to extroverts either although it may seem that way. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: Analyzer, Austin, Changingminds.org, deep thinker, Extravert, give and take, information gather, Introvert, Intuitiveness, lurker, Networker, Networking, online communities, Personal Networking, posts, Prospecting, Sales, social media, SXSW, Texas, Twitter

6 Situational Outcomes™: Because Not Every Customer Wants a Solution

February 3, 2011 By Jan Triplett 1 Comment

Your best customer wants something specific to happen when they use your product or service.

Your best customer wants something specific to happen when they use your product or service.

It’s common wisdom that what people want is a solution. There is even a school of sales training and many books around the concept of “solution selling”.

I disagree. Not everyone wants a solution, i.e. something solved.

Sometimes they want and need something else. Not everything is a “problem” for a customer; sometimes, it’s a “gap” that needs to be filled. I talk to my clients about “gaps” not “problems”.

I referred to these five valued outcomes in my “Best Practices in Pricing” session at ProductCamp Austin. (My slides from the session are on Slideshare .)

In my 30 years experience, there are actually six different results a customer values. The one to stress as a benefit and to base your product or services features depends on the Platinum Customer Profile™ of your best customers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Management, Marketing Strategy, Planning & Vision, Pricing, Sales Tagged With: Austin, Benefit, Best Practices, Business Bank of Texas, Customer Values, Customer's Point of View, customers, Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Dorothy Leeds, Features, Gerald Nadler, Pricing Concepts, Pricing Glossary, Pricing Strategies, Pricing Webinar, ProductCamp Austin, Reed Holden, RISE Austin, Sales, Situational Outcomes™, Smart Questions, Solution, Take Away, Tech Ranch, Thomas Nagle, Worth Reading.

Why Lefties Make Better Salespeople

January 10, 2011 By Jan Triplett 4 Comments

Left-handers rule!

Left-handers rule!

My brother gave me a copy of A Left-Handed History of the World by Ed Wright for Christmas.  As my husband, Daniel, said, that’s much better than a previous gift of 101 Uses for a Dead Cat by Simon Bond. Others found it amusing, as a cat lover, I did not.

I am left-handed. It was interesting to read about other prominent lefties. Some of my favorites include: Queen Victoria, Charlie Chaplin, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Madame Curie, Henry Ford, Ramses the Great, and Joan of Arc. Several US presidents (Reagan, Ford, George W. Bush, and Clinton) were on the left – when it comes to hands at least. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Growth, Business Improvement, Business Management, Growth Readiness, Marketing Strategy, Planning & Vision, Sales, Small Business/Entrepreneur History Tagged With: 101 Uses of a Dead Cat, A Left-Handed History of the World, Ambition, Connections, Customer-oriented, Ed Wright, Empathy, Fantasist, Good Salespeople, Hiring Sales Staff, Iconoclastic, Intuition, Lateral Thinking, Left-Handed, Percentage of Left-Handers, Prominent Left-handed People, Right-handed, Risk Takers, Sales, Simon Bond, Solitary, Spatial Ability, Successful Sales

4 Traits Make Sure You Have the Right Customers

July 9, 2010 By Jan Triplett 1 Comment

Pennies-group-from-http-www.flickr.comphotossjsharktank4630355374-

A penny saved and earned. Photo by ssjsharktank.

Everyone wants and needs sales to have a profitable and successful business. But, sales from the wrong customers can kill a business.  If you doubt me, read Angel Customers and Demon Customers by Larry Selden and Geoffrey Colvin.

What should you look for? Basically, there are two options:

  • Low hanging fruit — the most responsive, easiest sale, shortest sales cycle
  • High value  —  the most lucrative, harder sale, longer, requires more thorough sales process so longer sales cycle

How do you decide who is right and who is wrong? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Growth Readiness Tagged With: angel and demon customers, Best Buy, Brad Anderson, business killer, case study, culture, customers, Focus, Gary McWilliams, high touch, marketing, profit, reputation, retention, right and wrong customers, Sales, sales cycle, sales gains, sales staff, sales training, The Customer Isn't Always Right, time waster, upselling, value add, Wall Street Journal

Selective Marketing

January 29, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Below is a presentation I gave at a local Austin meetup. It deals with how to use sales and marketing strategies and processes to save money and increase sales.
Selective Marketing
View more presentations from Business Success Center.

Filed Under: Business Improvement, Growth Readiness, Sales Tagged With: innovation, marketing, Platinum Profile™, positioning, Pricing, processes, Sales, sales process, strategies, total solution, value

Choosing Business Entity Should Not Be a Popularity Contest

September 3, 2009 By Jan Triplett 1 Comment

Paper work sucks.

Paper work sucks.

Everyone has an opinion and they are passionate about what kind of legal form your business should take.

Get a group of business owners together in the same room and the fur really flies on this issue. I know I have done this.

Ask a lawyer. They will usually say: “You must be an LLC.” (As my mother would say, “Maybe they are poets and don’t know it.”) Why? For liability’s sake. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Growth Readiness Tagged With: business formation, business model, Corporation, legal entity, LLC, Margin Tax, marketing, Partnership, Sales, Sole Proprietorship, taxes

Meet BSC Satisfied Clients

  • Ana's Unlimited Foods

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  • Brytan & Associates, Inc.

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  • Dr. Angelique Millette, Child Sleep Expert

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  • Better Baseball Texas — Rope Bat™

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  • TeamFX Racing

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  • No Time for Social

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  • Happy Vegan

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  • Howie Richey, Author

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  • Trout Green Technologies, Inc.

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  • Tweed Scott, Author

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  • Patricia's Lunchbox

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  • Andrew Eisenberg, Michael Best, IP Attorneys

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  • Paula Pierce, PPierce Law

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  • Sri & Usha Boddapu, Esolvit

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  • Dawn Weathersby, Marketing Consultant

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  • 360 Signs

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  • Stage Alliance

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  • Mane Street Bakery

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  • Innox Digital

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  • Hayes SW Systems

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  • Business Tutor, LLC

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  • INTUVI

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  • Gilfus Racing Enterprises

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  • Art + Artisans

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  • GEO+

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  • The Herb Bar

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  • Exploring New Media

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  • Busivid

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  • Gold Scaffold

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  • Sumpter and Gonzalez, Attorneys

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  • SOAP

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  • TTM Enterprises, Inc

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  • Sledge Engineering

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  • Brite Ideas

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  • Gryphon Graphics

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  • PRE Management

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  • DrakeLight Photography

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  • FalconDay Consulting

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  • INSolve, Inc.

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  • Mane Street Bakery

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  • Natalie Howe Designs

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  • PC Doctors

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  • Morningside Research

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  • CSI-Texas, Inc

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  • CIS Inventory Solutions

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  • TexFX

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  • PRE Management

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  • Go Local Austin

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  • CIS Asset Solutions

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Upcoming Events

EVENTS

BSC's Global Success Forum™ RSVP & Info
Direct Link or dial in: United States: +1 (312) 757-3121
Access Code: 685-053-101

(Forums are held on the 1st Thursday of the month, 11am Central with a focus session led by a mentor expert in that issue and lots of time for other attendees to talk about their business, comment, and share their expertise.)

• Nov. 3 BSC Success Forum, 11am Central. Mentor Bill Combes, owner of No Time for Social, shares his most favorite and least favorite business tech solutions BY NAME. We've been waiting for this!
• Dec. 1 BSC's Annual Blow Your Own Horn event, 11am Central. Great Attendee PR opportunity. Tell us about your business, your expertise, your successes!
• Jan. 5, 2023: BSC Quarterly Lean™ Success Forum, 11am Central:
You suggest and choose the business topics. Dave Nave, Dave Nave & Associates, and Jan Triplett, CEO, BSC lead the open discussion with ideas, feedback, and examples from all attendees and make connections.
Bring your topics or send them to Dave in advance to dave@davenave.com.
............
BSC Wisdom Webinar & Work Sessions Coming up

3rd Thursday monthly except November and December, 11-Noon Central.

This is always a mentoring and work session with input from attendees. RSVP to get the recording and transcript even if you don't attend.

Webinar and Work session leader: Jan Triplett, Ph.D., CBTAC, and CEO of BSC, author, entrepreneur, advocate, speaker, and inventor.

The purpose of each BSC Wisdom webinar and practical work session is to focus on shared experiences and expertise. Walk away with ideas and connections.

• Nov. 10, What to do after the close 11am Central. The close is not the end of the deal; it's the beginning. What can you do to ensure that everyone starts out and stays excited about your product or service? How can you get your next client before you start with this one? Just a few of the ideas we'll toss around.
RSVP

No December Wisdom Webinar. In January we begin our special great business operations series, Success Management Guide.

Be sure to check out our five blogs with posts to help you grow!
• Business Improvement
• Business Tools
• Growth Readiness
• Networking
• Small Business Advocacy

And our free resources and business owner success assessments.

 

ALERT!

SAM (Small and Mighty), OUR BSC LEGISLATIVE WATCHDOG, SUGGESTS:

VOTE! Early or on Nov. 8!

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