FRESHviews
Small biz in
government
THE SMALL BUSINESS
Administration (SBA) recently
made changes to its 8(a) certifi-
cation program for socially and
economically disadvantaged
small firms, in an effort to ensure
that certified small businesses
were getting more opportunities.
To qualify, a firm can’t
exceed a certain size limit, which
varies by industry; has to be able
to meet certain economic crite-
ria; and must show it is socially
disadvantaged, such as minority
owned. To learn more, visit
www.sba.gov and search “ 8(a).”
If you qualify, get your fi-
nancial house in order. The SBA
requires a huge quantity of docu-
mentation on every aspect of an
8(a) business and its owners.
If you don’t qualify,
the government offers a number
PAUL AND SARAH EDWARDS:
LIFESTYLES FOR THE MILLENNIUM
more broadly. They need to think foremost
of who will utilize their product or service, and
even where they will utilize it. For example,
gastronomic delights such as sashimi, sushi or
panini that could previously be enjoyed only in
upscale restaurants now do better in shopping
center food courts.
Gift basket makers who relished assembling
beautiful baskets for special occasions are shifting
their sales to customers with a more practical
need, such as a physician who depends on
referrals from other doctors and uses gift baskets
to say thank you. A woodworker who produces
beautifully handcrafted furniture may do better
specializing in funeral urns.
If you have an existing business, talk with
current and past customers and listen for clues
to how you can make what you offer more usable.
If you’re planning to launch a new business or
product, thoroughly investigate and validate if
there’s a market that will use what you have in
mind. Either way, determine if, with available time
and resources, you will have access to people and
businesses who will appreciate and use your work
as well as be able to pay for it. C
MAR Y ANN HALPIN PHO TOGRAP Y
Paul and Sarah Edwards (
www.elmstreeteconomy.com ) are the co-authors of a new edition of Home-Based Business for Dummies and 16 other books.
The utilization
principle
IF YOU’RE IN A business that sells goods or services,
you depend on discretionary spending. You’ve
probably noticed that for several years discretionary
spending has been at an epic low.
Now, with energy prices gyrating skyward, the
amount of money consumers and businesses have
to spend for non-necessities is sliding again. If you
haven’t already done so, you need to reposition
what you offer in your business and how you position
it in terms of what we call the “Utilization Principle.”
The concept applies to most small businesses.
For some entrepreneurs, adopting the Utilization
Principle requires making tradeoffs. “Do what you
love and the money will follow” may not apply to
what you need to do to make money. Entrepre-
neurs sometimes have a “field of dreams” mind-set,
launching businesses or products in the belief that
customers will line up, which might not be the case.
The fact is, virtually all businesses need to think
More in archives
On Costco.com, enter
“Connection.”At Online Edition,
search “Paul and Sarah Edwards.”
d”
of small-business certification
programs, including Small
Business, Small Disadvantaged
Business, Women-Owned Busi-
ness, Service-Disabled Veteran-
Owned Business and HUBZone
Business. For more information,
visit
www.sba.gov and search
“small-business certifications.”
For more resources and
tips on how to sell to the govern-
ment, visit www.openforum.
com/governmentcontracting. C
THE YEAR 2011 is well under
way, and if your small business
isn’t online for a portion
of your marketing you
stand a chance of being
left behind, according to
small-business consultant
and Costco member Shelly
Allen (
www.shellyallen
online.com). Ninety-four
million American adults
are online every day, she
explains, and 64 percent of
them use the Internet as their
primary way to search for local
businesses—so if you aren’t
online potential customers
will find someone who is.
If you haven’t tackled the
world of the Internet, Allen says
not to worry. Here are three
simple tasks she recommends
you do to get your small business online today even if you
How to get your small
business online
(without a website)
don’t have a website yet.
Create a free business
listing on search engines such
as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Create a free business
listing on the different Internet
Yellow Pages.
Create a free business
listing on consumer/business
connection sites such as Yelp.
com, MerchantCircle.com and
Local.com.
These three steps
are easy to follow, but
if your time doesn’t
permit or you’re not
comfortable with doing
it yourself, Allen says you
can hire someone or even ask
a computer-savvy teen-
ager to do them for you.
Allen says it doesn’t
matter what type of small
business you own. You can
be a hair salon owner, real
estate agent, contractor,
restaurant owner, land-
scaper, dentist, flower shop
owner, chiropractor, etc. What
matters as a small business
is having an online presence,
even if it’s minimal, in order
to remain competitive.
“This is to help you get
started today without a website,” says Allen, “but, ultimately, a website is a very
important for your small-business presence.” C
MAY 2011 ;e Costco Connection 13
