Are You a “Lone Wolf”? Should You Be?
Can you be successful without enduring the inevitable agonies of hiring employees? Absolutely. But if you fly solo you must make a few adjustments.
positioning
Why grow into a ‘Critical Mass Business’?
Just what is a Critical Mass Business and how can you make it work for you?
Timid cleaning and restoration contractors have skinny kids!
Keep negative thoughts at bay when you don’t get the job. Here are some realistic options.
Leading your Cleaning/Restoration Business- Part II
Chuck talks about two struggles: Employee “pushing versus pulling” and how to resolve the eternal “short term versus long term” financial issues. Read on…
Should you play “Simon says” in business?
Water mitigation expert Ivan Turner shares why blindly following the crowd is dangerous. Plus he shares some innovative restoration marketing ideas learned from the late Sam Walton…
“Success starts in your head” (Part 2)
Many restoration owners get derailed in their search for success. Why? Chuck goes deep inside the human psyche for answers that we can use everyday.
“Success starts in your head” (Part 1)
In nearly 20 years of working with small business owners I’ve discovered this much: The root of profitability is deeply embedded between the ears of the owner.
The Story of Smith and Jones
Chuck Violand explains what you can learn from a corporate struggle within one of America’s largest corporations.
Asking permission creates great Moments of Truth
You are a kind, generous person that delights in doing extra things for your clients AND at no charge. So why not get the credit for doing so and in the process create Cheerleader Customers? Steve shares a tip…
Always “do extra” but never do it “for free”!
Value Added Service is all about going the extra mile to make your customer happy. Here are a few options and tips on how to present your “no-charge” extras.
Can you help a “Just Starting Out” carpet cleaner?
Too many cleaners stumble through life flitting from one business model to another. So here’s a starting out checklist of business and life model options.
Do you PLAN your marketing?
Here is a two-page Marketing PLAN Checklist from your SFS team. Now you have something that 92% of your competitors are lacking- a Marketing PLAN!
You just never know who is calling …
Tired of all the “how much” phone calls from Price Shoppers? SFS member Larry Holder reminds us that not all questions about price are from cheap people. Then Steve chimes in with a great (and free) phone script that answers “How much do you charge”?
Is Best Buy dying?
Best Buy should be King of the retail electronics world. So what went wrong? What lessons can a small business learn from the mistakes of Best Buy?
Groupon 2012: Is it for carpet cleaners?
Is Groupon the greatest thing going or a flash in the pan that may destroy your company? Big Billy Yeadon gives an update …