The Mobile Office Goes Global

For Charles B. Warden Jr., global business operations run on a BlackBerry smartphone and two Macs. And he’s not alone. One of his partners has a BlackBerry, a Mac and a backup PC. The other members of The Stanton Group — including four in Massachusetts, one in Connecticut and several in the Washington, D.C., area — also have BlackBerry smartphones and one or more PCs.The Stanton Group has no central facilities, or shared water cooler. There is no Stanton Group infrastructure or information technology staff. The company’s core team of five and its handful of consultants interact via phone, text messages and e-mail services provided by a large commercial Internet service provider. On any given day, Warden and his colleagues may be working from their homes, a nearby Starbucks or hotel rooms in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Gambia or the Korean peninsula — all locations where The Stanton Group has worked with both government and industry to develop energy and infrastructure projects.Welcome to the global mobile office.“Each of us really only needs a couple of devices to succeed,” says Warden.As project developers, much of the work The Stanton Group does involves proposals, presentations and contract development. Word documents and PowerPoint presentations are easy to attach to e-mail messages and to send to team members.

Using Social Media for Recruiting:

When Palo Alto Software is in need of new talent, the company culls the profiles on LinkedIn and Craigslist. “We want talent that is on the leading edge and already using social media tools,” says Chelle Parmele, social media marketing manager for the software maker of business and marketing plans. That's because the entire company collaborates in teams using online documents. Such a strategy has helped the company bring new software to market quicker in the last couple of years than ever before in its 21-year history.

Unlike Palo Alto Software, though, most small businesses haven't embraced the recruiting and managing benefits that social media platforms offer. That's true, in part, because the technologies are only just beginning to break into the business world.

Social media and networking sites — like Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn and microblogger Twitter — allow users to instantaneously connect with one another and share information to a preselected circle of colleagues and friends. By and large, the sites provide easy, step-by-step instructions on how to set up an account. Registration and use are free for the basic services and it takes only a few minutes to join.

Perhaps more important is the question of which site to use — and that depends on your needs. In general, LinkedIn and Plaxo are viewed as professional sites, though Facebook and Twitter are fast becoming seen as valuable for businesses as well. Visit the sites and go with the one that best suits the personality of you and your company. The sites are dynamic and constantly update features to accommodate business users.
One benefit that is often overlooked is the external perception by current and potential employees of a company that uses social media in its business. Most professionals “want to work for a company that they think is really fresh, exciting, special and cool,” says Beth Carvin, president and CEO of Nobscot, a retention management and metrics firm. Such a reputation often attracts and drives talent to these organizations: Think Google and the shopping site Zappos, whose CEO is one of the most active microbloggers on Twitter.

Managing Up in a Down Economy:

Amid the heaviest job-cutting in nearly a decade, no business remains unscathed. From a mom-and-pop retail shop and small-business owner to a global conglomerate, companies and organizations must rapidly reassess their remaining talent and quickly move professionals into new, clearly defined roles.

But what sometimes happens, especially in small companies, is that employees who are chosen to move up into new positions are often not quite ready for prime time. Indeed, many new managers are chosen — often despite lacking the necessary skills to be a good manager — because they are reliable and dependable. “A strong doer may be a reluctant delegator,” which is a necessary managerial skill, says Rabia de Lande Long, an executive coach and management consultant with Chartwell Advisors, Inc.

To ease that transition, you must “have programs, processes and scaffolding in place to make sure that a new manager is not overwhelmed with his or her new responsibilities,” says Dr. Robert Satterwhite, a managing director for APT, Inc., a human resources consulting firm. To do without such a strategy can be costly. Satterwhite estimates that failure to invest in proper managerial training and development up front can cost a company 150 percent of that manager's salary (in recruiting, hiring, reduced customer service), plus six to nine months to get the company back on track.

The Cruelest Cut: The Downside of Price Reductions

Customers are skittish. They’re buying less frequently, spending less per transaction, weighing purchase options carefully and showing more concern than ever about value.
If they don’t see something they need and value, they won’t open their billfolds for any price. But when value and price are in balance, people are still buying. To get them to buy from you, remember these five important sales propositions.

Value matters more than pricePrice is what you get out of the sale. Value is what’s in the deal for your customer.
“Same-day installation, coffee brewed fresh every half-hour, the most-reliable service, the fastest delivery, the greatest selection, amazing service.” These are examples of things customers value.
Use these questions to clarify the value your business provides:
“Compared to our competitors, what’s our quality level?”“What unique benefits do we provide?”“What customer needs do we fulfill?"“How convenient is it to buy from us?”“How reliable is our product or service?”“What are we best at?"
Telegraph your value message, because if customers don’t see value they won’t buy at any price, or they’ll simply buy whatever’s cheapest.

Do Early Payment Discounts Really Save Money?

Your biggest supplier just offered to discount your invoice by 2 percent if you pay your bill in 10 days rather than 30. Should you take the offer?

If you’ve got the cash, the answer is almost certainly yes. That 2-percent discount equates to an annual rate of approximately 37 percent — much more than you would earn by keeping your money in the bank an extra 20 days.

And if you don’t have the cash? Assuming you can borrow the money you need for those 20 days — tapping, say, a bank line of credit — it still makes sense to take the discount. Unless you’re borrowing from the mob, you’re paying far less than 37 percent on your line of credit. “From a financial standpoint, it’s a no-brainer decision,” says CPA John Sauder, a partner with Clifton Gunderson LLP in Peoria, Illinois. Even a discount of 1 percent is a good deal under most circumstances, equal to an 18-percent annualized rate of return.

One of the few times you might not want to pay early, Sauder says, is when you’re buying a piece of equipment that you want to make sure is working properly before you fork over your cash. “You tend to get better service,” he notes, “if you owe the vendor money.” You might also eschew a discount if paying it would leave you at risk for not being able to meet other financial obligations, such as payroll.

Turning Green Into Green:

With all the save-the-planet mania out there right now and the promise of government tax breaks for everything from wind to solar power, many would-be entrepreneurs are wondering how they can get a piece of the "green" action. But launching a business that's focused on helping the environment is just like building any other business, and it requires just as much, if not more, hard work and planning.

"The word 'green' is clouding the issue of entrepreneurship," says Andrew Hoffman, associate director of the University of Michigan's Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. "Just because it's green doesn't mean it's going to make money." His two key pieces of advice: Avoid the gold rush mentality, and look at whether there's demand for a product or service.

Ian Gardner's story is a perfect example of how making a green business profitable can be a slow go. Gardner, with a background in the energy business, thought some sort of "green" business would be a logical next step. But even with his experience, it took a few years before his wind-power company, Helix Wind Corporation, started bringing in real sales.

Spam Do's and Don'ts

Electronic spam is more than just a nuisance. While it can be treacherous, invasive and unrelentingly annoying on a personal level, the bigger issue is that it can cost small businesses real money.

Spam wastes hours of productivity as employees separate important e-mails from harassing ones. And it can unleash potentially catastrophic viruses and worms upon a company network, leading to compromised data and/or additional downtime.

How much of your time does spam waste? Well, how many spam e-mails do you think were sent last year?

A) 1 millionB) 1 billionC) 1 trillionD) None of the above

Companies that court controversy

Nowhere is the adage "nice guys finish last" more true than in the cold, unforgiving world of capitalist America. Growing your brand into a billion-dollar business that's recognized on all seven continents is no easy task, and some fingers are bound to be stepped on along the way.
It's a difficult line to toe. For corporate chiefs, profits almost always come first. But if customer satisfaction or fair labor practices fall too far down on their priority lists, the consequences could be devastating.

The dollar and oil prices

market has risen in recent weeks as the dollar has moved lower. That's largely because of a run-up in energy and natural-resources stocks and in stocks of companies with large business presences outside the United States. Oil prices fell 8% this week to $66.01 a barrel as the dollar appeared to bottom out against the pound and euro. If the dollar falls again, oil and other commodity prices will rebound

Stocks down for the week;

Stocks will face some big challenges with some important economic reports. The biggest will be on Friday: A report on unemployment and nonfarm payrolls.