Who is your Target Audience?

Taking the time to define your target audience just might save you money.
In today's economy you want to make every marketing dollar count. Without a clearly defined target audience, your marketing is like throwing darts blindfolded. Every once in a while you'll get lucky.

Three specific benefits
Defining the characteristics of your target audience guides you in the following three ways:
• You have a better idea where to advertise. As you define your target audience, you are also able to better define what the members of that audience may read, what websites they might visit, and what resources they might use. The more targeted the resource, the more targeted your marketing dollars.
• You have a better idea how to advertise. If you take the time to consider the life experiences, the values, the motivators, and the needs of your prospects, you are more likely to be able to "speak their language." Just compare the advertising during a Saturday morning stock show to the advertising during a tween sitcom.
• You are better able to tailor your products and services. Or, said in reverse, it prevents you from wasting time and money on the creation of products or services that don't fit your target audience.
Advertise where your target audience is; speak to the specific needs and values of your prospects; and provide products and services that fit those needs. The result? You have a better chance of hitting the mark and increasing your business. It all starts with defining your target.

Recession Proof Industries

Whenever possible, you should look at starting businesses in industries that are considered “recession proof”. These are the industries where consumers will still pay for the products or services offered even when money is tight. Recession proof industries tend to be:

Food
Health care, including psychology and substance abuse
Computers and IT--especially fixing other peoples computers. People aren't buying new equipment; they're fixing what they have to save money.
Security / criminal justice / police
Education--adults go back to school when they lose their jobs; more high school graduates will go to college because they can't find jobs out of high school
International business--just because the economy is bad in the US doesn't mean it is everywhere else

Steve Jobs
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.”

Richard Branson
“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.”

Walt Disney
“A man should never neglect his family for business.”

Donald Trump
“I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.”

"Coco" Chanel
“Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.”

Henry Ford
“The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.”

Steve Jobs
“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.”

Six Ways to Speed Up SBA Loan Approval

Earlier this year, the Small Business Administration set aside $375 million to temporarily eliminate loan fees and increase the agency's loan guarantee to 90% for certain loans. The moves were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama in mid-February. So far, the SBA has used about 55% of those funds; they have translated to $6 billion in loans under the 7(a) and 504 programs, says John J. Miller, an SBA spokesman.
However, barring another act of Congress, SBA-backed loans will revert to their pre-Recovery Act status by the end of November or December, Miller says. The impact will be palpable. Loans made once the funds run out will only get a 75% to 85% guarantee, down from 90%. The decrease will make it tougher to get approved for a loan because lower guarantees raise a bank's risk, says Eric Grimstead, a business advisor at the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. In addition, business owners taking out loans through the SBA loan will have to pay a 2% to 3% loan guarantee fee again, he says.
November is more than two months away, but given that the SBA loan approval process can take as long as 120 days, applicants had better get cracking, says Dave Mulcahy, the director of the Small Business Development Center at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
Here are six ways to speed up the application process for SBA loans:
Update your financials
To accelerate a loan's approval, prepare and provide at least three years of tax returns and up-to-date financial statements, including income and cash-flow statements, balance sheets and sales projections, says Tom Burke, the senior vice president of Wells Fargo SBA lending in Minneapolis. If you don't have a business plan, write one. And if you don't have a marketing plan, write one of those too, he says. "Business owners have to be able to show that they can pay everyone back," Burke says.
Tap a preferred lender
Use a preferred SBA lender such as TD Banknorth or KeyBank, Grimstead says. Conventional wisdom says business owners should consult a bank with which they already work, but if that institution doesn't currently work with SBA loan programs, the process can be take weeks longer than comparable loans at SBA-ready lenders, he says. Not only is there a massive learning curve when working with SBA programs, which are complex and change frequently, but nonpreferred lenders also have to send loans into the SBA for approval, which can take up to four weeks, Burke says. Conversely, preferred lenders are generally able to underwrite their own SBA loans, he says.
Ensure the right fit
When scanning the list of preferred lenders, find ones that cater to businesses like yours, Burke says. For instance, some banks won't authorize SBA loans to start-ups. Others may avoid restaurants or other similarly risky ventures, he says. Also, take into account differences in banks' credit policies. For instance, Wells Fargo will extend a real estate loan for 25 years, but other banks do so for just 20 years.
Hedge your bets
Even if you secure the word of a preferred lender, make sure you've applied to a couple other banks backups, Grimstead says. "Some borrowers get three or six or even 12 weeks into the process only to get a 'no' from someone at the bank," he says. To slash your risk of rejection, apply to a few different banks at the same time. (Note that going through the application process at several banks will not harm your credit, says Mulcahy, from the SBDC in Beaumont, Texas.)
Offer more backup
SBA loan programs often require less of a down payment than typical business loans, says Becky Naugle, the state director for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. For instance, banks providing normal business loans might require owners to put 20% to 40% down, but banks working through an SBA program might require just 10% down. Despite this lower standard, consider putting more down or offering some sort of personal guarantee, she says. "If particularly risky business owners can mediate a [bank's] risk by having a personal guarantee, that could push it through faster," she says.
Get help
An experienced business advisor can also help push your company's loan through quicker, Burke says. Check out a local Small Business Development Center, or tap a volunteer business professional in your area via SCORE, a nonprofit business counseling service, he says. There's also at least one SBA district officer in each state whom business owners can ask questions about SBA loans.

Business Opportunities

#H-N856 Busy Tanning Salon:
This profitable tanning salon has been in business since 1983. 14 tanning beds of various models, 1 spray booth, 1 stand-up booth, a handheld spray system (technician applied spray tan) and a teeth whitening station.
Rev: $175,555 CF: $57,422 Ask: $120k

#H-N852 Special Needs Transportation Company:
This is a special needs transportation company with an outstanding history of excellent and reliable service. Transportation includes; nursing homes, doctor visits, hospital treatments and rehabilitation appointments or events such as; airport transportation, weddings and most any special need. This is a 24 hour service provider with numerous varieties of vehicles to suit any patient’s request. Rev: $659k CF: $213k

#E-N850 Dry Cleaning Plant:
This well known dry cleaning business has been located at this busy major intersection since 1958, and is well established in the neighborhood. It is a production facility and offers a full range of dry cleaning and laundry services on site.
Rev: $232,144 Ask:$199k

#I-1529 Lawn & Garden Equipment Sales & Service:
Established for over 15 years, this business has a reputation to be the “go to” place for quality sales and service on name brand lawn and snow removal equipment. The business provides delivery and pick up service and handles both residential and commercial grade products.
Rev: $746K CF: $57K Ask: $75k+inv.

Creative Ways to Get the Cash Flowing

In ordinary times, cash is merely king. When sales slump and costs rise, cash can claim a far more grandiose title: emperor of the universe, anyone? No matter how lofty its status or how stressful the environment, keeping cash flowing comes down to two things: accelerating the stream of cash coming into your business and slowing its outgo. But these days, says Tom Long, founder of Solid Oak Consulting, entrepreneurs need to take an especially creative approach to maintaining cash flow. Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
• Make a careful and detailed cash-flow projection before you decide what, if anything, to do to improve your cash situation. And don’t rely on your accounting software to do it for you. Few software packages have the ability to do that job well. Your best bet is an electronic spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel.
• Personally call people who owe you money to request payment. When the owner rather than an administrative assistant calls to collect, Long says, it gives the matter a particular urgency.
• Don’t delay paying your own bills in order to conserve cash. Long says, “All kinds of challenges and problems can occur from that.”
• On the other hand, don’t pay bills early--unless the seller offers a substantial discount for quick settlement. In that case, paying in 30 days to get a percentage point or two off the total can be well worth it.
• Lease rather than buy equipment--even sell your building and lease it back. That can free up sizable amounts of cash. “Small businesses often want to own,” Long says. “But they’re not always looking at whether something’s worth having.”
• Factor your invoices. If you thought of your company as one that didn’t have to factor its invoices, think again. Factoring, in which financial institutions buy receivables for a discount and then take over collections, is something large companies embrace more readily than small ones. But it’s just another form of financing: “I’ve never shied away from it,” Long says. A variant called purchase-order financing can provide the advance cash you need to handle an unusually large or complex order.

Think Like a Negotiator

When celebrity hairstylist and beauty expert Billy Lowe, 38, decided to relocate his six-figure business from Beverly Hills, Calif., to West Hollywood, he took advantage of the downturn in the economy to negotiate a deal with his new landlord. For bargaining power, Lowe stressed the benefits of his occupancy: He already had a loyal following of high-caliber clients; he would give the building a clean, polished, updated look; and the landlord would incur costs if the building sat vacant for too long. The landlord was convinced and agreed to both a reduction in rent by about $400 per month and a three-year lease at a fixed price.

Meanwhile, Ken Wisnefski, 37, founder of WebiMax.com, a provider of online lead generation services in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, managed to secure a better advertising deal. By committing to a longer-term advertising contract, he cut his ad costs in half. He projects 2009 sales to exceed $1 million.

Knowing how to negotiate is always important, but when cash is tight and sales are down, this skill alone can make a huge difference. In fact, Jim Camp, a negotiations coach and author of Start With No: The Negotiating Tools That the Pros Don’t Want You to Know, estimates that 90 percent of an entrepreneur’s failure is due not to poor business planning, but rather a failure to negotiate properly. So how do you seal a better deal? Camp offers the following tips:

• Create a vision. Just as Lowe did, it’s essential to clearly demonstrate how this partnership or contract will benefit the other party. “You’ve got to be in their world, creating a vision for them on what this does for them,” Camp says. “So often people get bogged down in facts and figures and data.”
• Don’t believe you have all the power and avoid using terminology like “take it or leave it.” “Negotiations are done in an entirely emotional arena,” Camp says. “The human mind functions in the emotional until it makes a decision. People who are rough or aggressive or pushy often create an emotional reaction that they’re never going to be able to overcome.”
• Know what you want to get out of the deal and make sure it’s achievable. “So often I run into entrepreneurs who don’t really know what they want,” Camp says. “They have to know what they want. That’s a critical piece to the puzzle.”
• Don’t compromise beforehand. “Never ever go into a meeting with a fallback position,” Camp says. “That’s the worst thing you can do.”
• Invest in the skill. Don’t rely only on your natural talent because negotiation really is a science. Read a book, sign up for a course and look at each negotiation experience as an opportunity to learn and improve.

Help is on the Way

The new SBA SOP was released and is effective 10/1/09.

Here is one material change:

With its release today of SOP 50 10 5(B), the U.S. Small Business Administration dramatically altered its requirements regarding goodwill financing. The current rules, which were implemented on March 1, 2009, restricted lenders' ability to finance goodwill under the 7a program to the lesser of 50% of the purchase price or $250,000, whichever is less.

The new rules released today significantly modify the existing rules. In summary, the new rules provide that if the purchase price of a business includes intangible assets (including but not limited to goodwill, client/customer lists, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and agreements not to compete) in excess of $500,000, the borrower must provide an equity injection of at least 25% of the purchase price of the business to process the loan under PLP delegated authority. The new regulations further provide that the borrower's equity can be any combination of a direct contribution from the borrower and a seller note that is on full standby for minimum of two years. The new SOP provides that exceptions to this new policy may still be submitted under CLP or GP processing.