10 Kesilapan Utama Dalam Perniagaan Kecil

Kesilapan-kesilapan berikut merupakan kesilapan umum yang dilakukan oleh kebanyakan usahawan dan pemilik perniagaan kecil. Berhati-hatilah dengan kesilapan yang amat merbahaya ini……..

1. Terlalu yakin dengan sesuatu idea dan taksub dengannya.
Jangan terlalu yakin dengan satu idea sahaja.  Ingat, idea adalah matawang kepada usahawan.Pelbagaikan idea dan lihat yang mana berupaya memberi ganjaran dan kejayaan kepada anda.  

2. Tiada Pelan Pemasaran

Pelan Pemasaran boleh memberikan perhatian yang anda perlukan kepada pihak sasaran. Ia menjadi daya tarik  pelanggan terhadap anda! Terdapat lebih dari 25  cara untuk memasarkan perniagaan anda dengan kos yang rendah ataupun tanpa melibatkan sebarang kos. Perlaksanaan pelan pemasaran secara berkesan, cekap, konsisten dan penuh bergaya dapat menjimatkan kos panggilan.

3. Tidak mengenali pelanggan anda

Perubahan pada citarasa pelanggan dan juga produk serta perkhidmatan persaing akan mempengaruhi  perniagaan anda, kecuali jika anda kenal pelanggan secara dekat, tahu kehendak mereka pada masa kini dan masa hadapan, tahu corak pembelian mereka dan tahu bagaimana untuk membantu mereka walaupun anda tidak mempunyai produk atapun perkhidmatan tersebut.

4. Tidak peka dengan kedudukan aliran tunai syarikat 

Walaupun anda mempunyai produk yang paling terbaik, pelanggan  mungkin tidak akan membelinya dalam tempoh waktu yang anda  fikirkan. Oleh itu kedudukan aliran tunai yang  mantap penting untuk menampung diri dan syarikat anda dalam tempoh tersebut.

5. Tidak peduli tentang kakitangan 

Salah satu cabaran yang paling sukar bagi seorang usahawan atau pemilik perniagaan ialah untuk memberi motivasi, bimbingan dan mengurus pekerja. Tanpa kesabaran, kesungguhan dan kemahiran, masalah tersebut akan menjadi lebih teruk. Moral dan produktiviti pekerja serta keuntungan syarikat  boleh musnah dengan segera!

6. Keliru tentang kemungkinan dengan realiti

Usahawan yang berjaya hidup di dalam dunia yang penuh dengan kemungkinan tetapi mereka berbelanja dalam dunia realiti.

7. Tiada pelan penjualan.

Tanpa pelan penjualan, maka tidak ada cara  untuk mengukur perkembangan kewangan dan kemajuan perniagaan anda.  Anda memerlukan plan yang realistik untuk melihat dari mana, bagaimana, bila dan siapa yang  membawa masuk jualan. 

8. Penyendiri

Anda mungkin tahu kesemunya tetapi anda tidak boleh melakukanya seorang diri dan berkembang pada masa yang sama. Anda perlukan kakitangan untuk mengagihkan tanggungjawab kepada mereka.

9. Tiada  'Mastermind'

Anda perlukan satu lembaga penasihat ataupun seorang mentor! Bagi mereka yang memopunyai pernigaan yang kecil , ini mungkin ini tidak masuk akal. Lembaga penasihat ini mungkin terdiri dari anggota keluarga atau sahabat yang anda percayai.Jadikan mereka Ahli Lembaga Pengarah,  kaji pelan dan keputusan perniagaan bersama mereka. Adalah sangat kritikal untuk mempunyai seseorang yang boleh memberikan idea dan pandangan yang objektif.

10. Berputus Asa

Kebanyakkan usahawan yang berjaya pernah mengalami kegagalan. Oleh itu, sekiranya anda gagal, biarkan kegagalan itu. Bangun dan belajar dari kesilapan dan kegagalan lalu. Jangan berputus asa dan menderita.

 (sumber : http://www.punb.com.my/index.php?ch=bm_med&pg=bm_med_biztip&ac=46)

principles as the foundation of guerrilla marketing:

principles as the foundation of guerrilla marketing:

• Guerrilla Marketing is specifically geared for the small business and entrepreneur.
• It should be based on human psychology rather than experience, judgment, and guesswork.
• Instead of money, the primary investments of marketing should be time, energy, and imagination.
• The primary statistic to measure your business is the amount of profits, not sales.
• The marketer should also concentrate on how many new relationships are made each month.
• Create a standard of excellence with an acute focus instead of trying to diversify by offering too many diverse products and services.
• Instead of concentrating on getting new customers, aim for more referrals, more transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions.
• Forget about the competition and concentrate more on cooperating with other businesses.
• Guerrilla Marketers should use a combination of marketing methods for a campaign.
• Use current technology as a tool to build your business.
• Messages are aimed at individuals or small groups, the smaller the better.
• Focuses on gaining the consent of the individual to send them more information rather than trying to make the sale.

(source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing)

8 Rules For Good Customer Service

Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.

Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.

If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.

How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”

I know this verges on the kind of statement that’s often seen on a sampler, but providing good customer service IS a simple thing. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things:

1) Answer your phone.

Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say “someone”. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a “fake recorded robot”.) For more on answering the phone, see Phone Answering Tips to Win Business.

2) Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.

Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, “Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday”, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don’t say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.

3) Listen to your customers.

Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

4) Deal with complaints.

No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

5) Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I’ll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I’ve told this story to?

6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...”

7) Take the extra step.

For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don’t just say, “It’s in Aisle 3.” Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

8) Throw in something extra.

Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.

If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, your business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!

(source: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/customerservice/a/custservrules.htm)

INFORMATIVE WEB ABOUT MANAGEMENT

http://managementhelp.org

Gaining Knowledge
Sharping Skills
Changing Better Attitude

blue ocean strategy

"creating new market space rather than competing in an existing industry"
- blue ocean strategy

5 Simple, Low-Cost, No-Cost Marketing Strategies

1. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone & Network More Often

Develop your networking skills by stepping out of your comfort zone and by attending events where you don't know a soul. The first step in reaping big rewards with your networking is to enjoy the process of meeting new people and taking the time to get to know them first.
Get Out - Be a Joiner and Get Involved!

2. Build Strongly Connected Business Alliances

Build a strong network that supports your business success. This will develop magnified marketing and tons of referrals from your best customers.

Promote and market your business alliances. Don't ever lose the contact! Keep them in mind when referring business. Talk about them and their business in the community. Support them in any way that you can.

Seek out more joint venture opportunities with your alliances. Ask, “How can I help you become more successful and how can we work together to achieve our goals?” You'll note that people pay attention when you ask this question and focus on them first before promoting YOU and what your do.

3. Promote Your Business with Public Speaking

Being asked to speak about your expertise at a business-networking meeting is a great way to promote what you do.

Public speaking is a powerful marketing tool that costs nothing but your time—especially if you are featured as the expert in your topic.

Your success depends upon communication. How well you communicate can determine whether your business quickly grows into an industry leader or joins thousands of other businesses caught up in mediocrity.

Toastmasters networking clubs offer you the tools that will enable you to become an effective communicator and leader all at a very low cost. Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization that was established 1924 to help people speak more effectively.

4. Ask For Referrals and Testimonials

There are two easy steps to creating glowing testimonials. The first is to simply be aware.

We all love compliments. Next time you receive one don't just say thank you. Look the person complimenting you straight in the eye and say, “I appreciate your noticing, that's so nice.

A great testimonial like that could be so helpful to my business.

Would you mind writing it down for me on your letterhead? Thank you!”

The second step is to use these testimonials to promote your business and make new prospects into clients.

Testimonials are one of the easiest, most effective, and lowest cost promotion tools. Although testimonials many be as good as money in the bank, referrals are money in the bank. Once you've honed you referral approach, I can almost guarantee your bank balance will blossom.

A referral is simply one happy client or customer telling another. It is word of mouth praise.

5. Promote Your Expertise to the Media

Become the Media's Expert of Choice.

Create a top-25 list of media contacts and stay in touch with them on a regular basis by sending press releases, photos and stories from business promotions, exciting news about your business, etc.

Add a strong “hook” that ties your story into a current news story or add benefits that promote the community in some way.

Keep improving your innovative marketing skills and enjoy reaping the benefits of attracting more customers like crazy!

3 teras etika kerja

1. 'ubudiyyah : pengabdian kepada Allah SWT, iaitu semua perkara atau pelaksanaan tugasan adalah berorientasikan kepada Allah SWT semata-mata. Justeru, selari dengan garisan syariah yang membawa kepada pengiktirafan perbuatan tersebut kepada ibadah.

2. mas'uliyyah : rasa sanggup menanggung amanah kerja untuk menyempurnakannya pada tahap 100%, di samping sanggup menjawab segala persoalan yang ditimbulkan sama ada oleh orang bawahan, rakan sekerja, & pihak pengurusan atasan.

3. itqan : penunaian sesuatu kerja itu dengan bersungguh-sungguh, iaitu tidak bekerja secara sambil lewa. mengambil serius kepada setiap tugasan, walaupun sekecil-kecil membuah sampah ke dalam tong sampah.

office hour

lazimnya, waktu kerja pejabat (8 jam) ialah:

8.00 am : check in
1.00 pm : rehat
2.00 pm : sambung keje
4.00 pm : check out



kenapa tidak dimurnikan dengan nilai-nilai Islam? this what i've practic in my own company :

8.00 am : aku check in
9.00 am : pekerja check in
10.00 am : rehat (solat sunat dhuha)
10.15 am : sambung keje
1.00 pm : rehat, lunch, solat zuhur berjemaah
2.00 pm : sambung keje
4.30 pm : rehat, solat asar berjemaah
5.00 pm : pekerja check aku, aku sambung keje
6.00 pm : aku check out!

mesti ada yang kata, "uish, mana bleh ni! banyak sangat rehat! kerja masa tak efisien". bagi aku, aspek keberkatan dalam mencari rezeqi mesti diambil kira. kalu dapat buat sales 1 juta sebulan pun, kalu tak berkat, tiada gunanya...

interpretasi penguasaan kota konstantinopel dalam konteks pengurusan

ilustrasi Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh

Sultan Muhammad Bin Murad II "Al-Fateh", dalam siri-siri kejayaannya dalam peluasan empayar Khilafah Turki Uthmaniyyah, kemuncaknya ialah kejayaan menguasai Kota Konstantinopel daripada kekuasaan orang kristian ortodoks, baginda terlebih dahulu memenuhi 3 krateria sebagaimana yang disabdakan oleh Rasulullah SAW iaitu :

i) Pemimpin yang baik - Sultan Muhammad sendiri sangat gigih dalam menyiapkan dirinya sendiri. Antaranya ialah, baginda turut serta dengan membuka serban dan baju untuk membina benteng kotanya, sehingga semua ulama & menteri berasa malu dan seterusnya turut sama mengangkat batu & membina benteng. Selain itu, dalam situasi memilih imam solat jumaat pertama selepas berjaya menguasai kota konstantinopel, membuktikan baginda seorang yang hebat dalam konteks ibadah, iaitu sentiasa solat fardhu berjemaah, solat sunat rawatib, qiamullail sejak dari usia balighnya.

ii) Tentera yang baik - teliti dalam memilih para tentera khas untuk menggempur kota konstantinopel. Sebelum berperang, tentera khas ini dikumpulkan di sebuah pulau, dan diberikan latihan ketenteraan, dalam masa yang sama, aspek ibadah juga ditekankan seperti solat, puasa, dan qiamullail.

iii) Rakyat yang baik - mempraktikkan tindakan Khalifah Umar RA, iaitu turun menemui rakyatnya dengan menyamar sebagai pengemis atau musafir, tanpa diketahui oleh menteri-menteri yang lain, kecuali 2 orang kanannya yang turut bersamanya. Kehadirannya juga tidak disedari oleh rakyatnya, dan pada permulaannya layanan buruk terhadap baginda, seperti dihalau, dan diberi upah yang sangat sedikit, sama ada daripada orang miskin mahupun orang kaya. Setelah beberapa tindakan diambil, rakyat baginda menjadi baik, dan tiada lagi layanan buruk.

cuba 3 krateria ini diinterpretasikan dalam kontek pengurusan organisasi:

i) pemimpin, diinterpretasikan sebagai CEO atau pemilik organisasi/syarikat.
ii) tentera, diinterpretasikan sebagai Ahli Lembaga Pengarah atau pemegang saham.
iii) rakyat, diinterpretasikan sebagai para staf & pekerja.

dengan adanya CEO yang baik dan professional dalam mengurus tadbir organisasi; ALP atau share holders yang setia dengan CEO dalam merealiasasikan visi yang baik; dan para staf & pekerja yang amanah dalam memenuhi obligasinya, serta taat setia terhadap Agama, insya Allah penguasaan terhadap ekonomi dunia mampu dikuasai oleh umat Islam!

cuba anda interpretasikannya dalam konteks yang berbeza.

kumandangkan bacaan ayat-ayat suci Al-Quran di ofis anda!

pada suatu pagi, seawal jam 10 pagi, pernah aku sekali pergi shopping di PKT Kedai Mulong. namun apa yang menarik, bacaan surah Yasin oleh Al-Ghamidi dikumandangkan!

orang kata, baca surah Yasin semasa hendak mula bekerja/berniaga boleh menjadi pelaris. apapun, hikmah tersebut kita kembalikan kepada Allah SWT, dan yang penting mulakan setiap pagi hari dengan bacaan Al-Quran, mudah-mudahan apa jua yang dilakukan seharian nanti mendapat keberkatan & keredhaan Allah SWT.