SmartDeals for Business

In these tough economic times many small businesses need to embrace the new frugal market. You don’t need to start from scratch, but reinvent your business by adding new products or services that are more compatible with the new marketplace. Rhonda Abrams, of USA Today gives her advice on this topic and outlines 5 strategies to “navigate the uncertain waters of change.”  Rhonda Abrams is president of The Planning Shop, publisher of books for entrepreneurs.

Read Rhonda Abrams’ article

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This has been a long, on-going battle for many small and micro businesses.  Should you take the deduction? Am I making the right accommodation when I do work at home? Haven’t the rules changed?

But over time, the definition has become clearer and allowed for more flexibility.  The Washington Times reports that with the proper setup and use, a home deduction is available to workers on the home front.

Consult with your tax professional and pursue this valuable option again.

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According to BusinessWeek, in an article written by Karen E. Klein, businesses will do more to reward their customers than their own employees this year. Her article is based on research obtained via 516 interviews by Echo Research from Oct. 6th to Oct. 14th. I agree with the commentary in the article in that we need to find lower cost ways to appreciate our employees even in these tough economic times. There are some good ideas in the article and they are worth mentioning here if you’re looking to reward your employees to let them know you didn’t forget what they’ve done for you all year. Suggestions were to give a personal thank you note, have your company participate in a “shared” holiday party, have an “in-house” party instead of a gala, bring in home made treats, or give extra time off and flextime.

In the end, if your employees feel a lack of loyalty to them, they will be looking for greener pastures when better opportunities become available.  Find a meaningful way to show you care, because you know you do.  No matter how small, it’s better to be appreciated.  ”It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.”  ~Mother Theresa.  Merry Christmas.

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We’d like to say a special heartfelt THANKS to all of our retailers who still offer free shipping in this time of economic uncertainty and rising fuel costs. We see that businesses are lowering their shipping costs to consumers even though they will have to sustain some loss. According to USA Today, in an article dated Sept. 16Th by Jayne O’Donnell and Sarah Butrymowicz, many retailers have decided that they cannot afford to lose fuel conscious consumers over inflated shipping costs. Lets face it, one of the reasons we buy online is to avoid putting more gas in our tank to get to the store.  Consumers need to feel like they are getting a bargain and what better way to make the sale than to give them reduced or free shipping? According to the article, “More than 40% of people who abandoned their online shopping carts said they did so because of high shipping costs, according to a recent survey by the online payment company PayPal.” Many of the retailers on our blog still offer free shipping with orders of $50 or more and some offer it for a limited time. To retailers like Staples, Dell, CardScan, SonyStyle, LetsTalk, 123Inkjets, Shoplet, CellPhone Shop, Ritz Camera, The Apple Store, and IPrint, we say thanks and we’ll continue to promote your store here!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2008-09-04-free-shipping-holiday_N.htm?POE=click-refer

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