The Business Autopsy: A Fact Of Life

Written by Tim Knox


Continued from page 1

Believe me, I know.

The final contributing factor torepparttar death of sixty-three percent ofrepparttar 104684 businesses who died from bad management was thatrepparttar 104685 owners had no relevant or applicable business experience.

Bad financial planning wasrepparttar 104686 second reason sited byrepparttar 104687 survey as to why most businesses fail. In business, it's always about money. According torepparttar 104688 U.S. Bank study, eighty-two percent ofrepparttar 104689 business failures studied reported poor cash flow management as a contributing factor torepparttar 104690 death ofrepparttar 104691 business.

Seventy-nine percent ofrepparttar 104692 businesses were inadequately funded, and seventy-seven percent miscalculatedrepparttar 104693 cost of doing business. In other words, they failed to take into account all ofrepparttar 104694 costs involved when settingrepparttar 104695 price for their products.

Let's move on to my favorite subject: bad marketing. You've heard me preach this sermon before. You can haverepparttar 104696 greatest product inrepparttar 104697 world, but if your marketing efforts are inadequate or ineffective you will end up with a warehouse full ofrepparttar 104698 greatest product that no one inrepparttar 104699 world has ever heard of.

The study showed that bad marketing was a contributing factor inrepparttar 104700 death of sixty-four percent ofrepparttar 104701 businesses surveyed. Many of these misguided entrepreneurs either minimizedrepparttar 104702 importance of marketing and promotion or ignored it totally.

A vital part of marketing is knowing who your competition is and always knowing what they are up to. The entrepreneur who ignores his competition is a fool (gee, was that too harsh?) and is always destined to fail, as proven byrepparttar 104703 fifty-five percent ofrepparttar 104704 dead businesses inrepparttar 104705 survey who either didn't even know who their competition was or simply chose to ignorerepparttar 104706 competition altogether.

Here's a nice hole inrepparttar 104707 sand for you, sir.

Please insert your head…

Another mistake made by forty-seven percent ofrepparttar 104708 deceased businesses was that they relied on just one or two customers for repparttar 104709 bulk of revenues. This is a common mistake made by many business owners who devote all their energy to one huge client. What they don't seem to understand is that if that one customer goes away, so does most of their revenue.

When performing your business autopsy you might identify other contributing factors that were beyond your control, such as a down economy,repparttar 104710 lack of qualified employees, new government regulations that negatively affectrepparttar 104711 way you must do business,repparttar 104712 failure of a strategic partner, etc..

There will always be things you can't control. The key to business success is to keep control of those things you can and do everything you can to prepare for those things you can't.

Next time we'll discuss a few things you should and should not do to help ensure your business success.

Here's to your success.

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.

Related Links: http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.30dayblueprint.com http://www.timknox.com


Noncompete Agreements Help Protect Your Business

Written by Tim Knox


Continued from page 1

Most business experts agree that noncompete agreements are generally a good way to protect your business. The downside is that noncompete agreements are often difficult to enforce and in some states, may not be enforceable at all. Many state courts have ruled that noncompete agreements are too restrictive on an employee's right to earn a living.

In California, for instance, noncompetes are generally only enforceable in connection withrepparttar sale of a business and not for employees. In Alabama, noncompetes are generally enforceable in only two contexts:repparttar 104683 sale of a business and in connection with employment - but even thenrepparttar 104684 enforcement requires that there be a valid interest worthy of protection.

Some states require thatrepparttar 104685 noncompete be signed atrepparttar 104686 beginning ofrepparttar 104687 employment relationship and will only considerrepparttar 104688 enforcement of a noncompete signed afterrepparttar 104689 initial employment date ifrepparttar 104690 signing ofrepparttar 104691 noncompete was accompanied by a promotion, raise in pay, or other event that elevatedrepparttar 104692 employee to a more important role within repparttar 104693 company.

To be enforceable, noncompete agreements must be reasonable on three accounts: Time, geography and scope. Regarding time, you can't restrict someone from competing with you forever, so one to three years isrepparttar 104694 accepted time period for most noncompetes.

As to geography, you can enforce restriction inrepparttar 104695 general area where you conduct business, but you can not enforcerepparttar 104696 restriction beyond those boundaries. And for scope,repparttar 104697 agreement can restrict certain actions onrepparttar 104698 part ofrepparttar 104699 employee, but can't be so generally restrictive thatrepparttar 104700 employee won't be able to earn a living working inrepparttar 104701 same industry in a noncompetitive position.

One interesting thing to note: noncompete agreements are not enforceable against certain "professionals," like doctors, CPAs, and lawyers (who do you think writes all those noncompetes).

At this point, Brad,repparttar 104702 best thing you can do is contact your attorney to see if you have other grounds for suit, then contact your customers and let them know what's going on.

Explainrepparttar 104703 situation regardingrepparttar 104704 former employee, but do so calmly and resistrepparttar 104705 urge to tell them what you really think of this guy. Showing your anger torepparttar 104706 customer is not going to help you keep their business .

Reaffirm your relationship withrepparttar 104707 client, tell him how much you value his business, remind him of your track record and level of service, then ask one simple question: What can I do to make sure your business stays with me?

Here's to your success!

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.

Related Links: http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.30dayblueprint.com http://www.timknox.com


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