How to start, maintain and run a profitable business

  Deliveries for catering businesses   For years, our company has served local caterers, a demanding group with fluctuating daily order volumes. Timely deliveries and high service standards are always expected—even when no orders come in. Managers must know their drivers’ strengths under pressure and ensure professionalism, especially when extra services like unwrapping food or delivering to another floor are requested. Such extras are often expected and any pushback is seen as poor service. Catering orders must be delivered immediately. All other orders are secondary. Delivery service for caterers is only profitable with consistent, high daily order volumes. On-demand calls or unpredictable daily volumes are inefficient and drain company resources.  

  How do I start making t-shirts with my branding logo at home? Does anyone know a cost efficient way of starting something like this with the product links? I seen some machines for it on Amazon but wanted a better understanding because I have no clue Before you start a business, did you ask yourself this simple question? How is my business different from any other embroidery businesses in the area? Before investing your time and money in purchasing equipment, conduct thorough market research. Then write your business plan. How are you planning to grow your business? How much would that cost you to start, even at home? What would be a specialty of your business? Who are your customers? Look around for other similar businesses in the area and examine how they operate. Only after careful research and calculation of all expenses, proceed to look for the equipment.  

  What's left for traditional managers in an AI-driven workplace? I think humans need interactions with other humans. Even though AI can schedule, analyze, place orders, and even train employees, I think a simple conversation, such as a meeting with subordinates or words of support, won’t be replaced by AI. We aren’t robots, and after some time, AI will start to irritate people. We can see proof even now.  

  What knowledge do I need to be a successful businessman and entrepreneur owning a business (excluding main subjects such as tech and real estate)? Please leave comprehensive learning sources. In my humble opinion, it is impossible to learn how to be an entrepreneur solely from books or even with a college degree. Also, it will be a bad idea to try to imitate someone’s business model. You have to have some practical managerial experience besides that. First, you need to have an original business idea. Otherwise, your business will compete on price only. Which is bad profit-wise. Then you need to write a business plan based on your business idea with a deep explanation of your business strategy, marketing, and P&L forecast for your future business. Besides business and marketing strategy, it will give you an idea about financing for your business. Then you need to hire a team of employees for your business, train them, and supervise them. So if you don’t have management experie...

  Dealing with demanding customers is tough sometimes. They expect you to be perfect all the time. Dealing with an unhappy customer is even worst. Although we live in the real world and things happen sometimes. How do you handle a problem your business created for your customer? Do you beat yourself down for that mistake? I think the most important thing you have to remember is you. Would it be better for your loved ones or your business if you lose your health because of worrying about your relationship with your customer? I don't think so. The first thing I would recommend is to take a breath. Something already happened—nothing you can't do at this point. Your customer isn't perfect either and has some problems on their own. We live in an imperfect world. Except this as a hypothesis. So, take a deep breath, think about what already happened, learn from your mistake and move on. Don't forget to call your customer and apologize for your mistake. Also, explain what you w...

  We all want a business to grow and be successful. However, the company's life is cyclical and has ups and downs. Many factors can affect your business. Recently we all witnessed how pandemics slaughtered a lot of industries. Even unpredictable road repairs or bicycle lanes can prevent your customers from exceeding your business. Right in front of our eyes, our company starts to slide into the abyss. We all have emotions and react differently. Some people try therapy; some people give up and begin to cloud reality with substances. Although, some try to save a business. It is hard when a situation is dire. Some evil forces seem to be against us and want us to fail. My business isn't an exception, and I have been in a tough spot many times. I remember how devastating it felt when your biggest customer called and informed you about contract cancellation. Your first reaction is that you've lost a bottom, and fear starts to overpower your mind. Your brain starts to bring you ho...

 We live in the after-pandemic era. Covid has changed not only our way of life forever but also has changed our way of doing business. Some industries were almost gone, and some industries flourished. Also, business owners had to adjust their business models and the method of doing business. People were afraid to go shopping. Unfortunately, many become unemployed. The biggest problem for business owners was how to survive during those times. Industries started to offer home deliveries for their customers. Home deliveries have become a significant source of income for many businesses. The only question remained how to build a new business model and accommodate the customers. It was a difficult task to do because home deliveries are almost unthinkable in some industries. First, it was costly and unaffordable for many moms and pop enterprises. You had to hire a software developer and extra help to complete customers' orders and deliver them to the customers. Another problem for many w...

  Many people, when turning 50, start to evaluate their lives, achievements, mistakes, and so on. It is the so-called middle of the life analysis. I would say that 50 is the highest point in life. A person customarily received an education, gained experience in life and career, and achieved so-called wisdom. Some people can be retired and live happy lives full of positive emotions, exciting hobbies, vacations, and trips. They are the lucky ones. The vast majority still struggle to understand their purpose in life and find a suitable career that would excite them and give them financial rewards. How to find a purpose in life and career? It is million dollar question. On the Internet, you can find many blogs regarding this challenging subject. Some bloggers advise meditating and finding an answer in the subconscious mind. Other bloggers recommend making a list of your hobbies and favorite classes in college. Some even recommend going to college and receiving an education. It can work...

  I have been a professional manager all my life, and it is a very demanding and stressful job. You are between a rock and a hard place every day. From one side, you need to run a business efficiently and smoothly. On the other hand, you must deal with employees' personalities and personal problems. Originally I am from the old Soviet Union, and in my home country manager should be demanding and always in control. When a manager compromises on something with his subordinates, this signifies the weakness of an authoritarian management style. It mirrors how authorities run the whole country. Many years ago, I found a job at Dunkin Donuts. It was my first job in America, and I worked hard. In about a year or so, I became a store manager. Of course, I knew only one style of management. I became a control freak and confronted my subordinates about anything I considered a violation of Dunkin Donuts standards. Plus, I tried to purge a system of thievery in my store. I started to suspect s...

  Water can be our best friend. It relieves our thirst and helps us in gardens. Also, water can be our enemy and bring destruction and damage. Emotions can be like water and flow freely without resistance. Our minds and emotions are connected when we feel angry, upset, happy, or satisfied. Do you always control your mind and emotions when starting a business venture? Do you always calculate all risks and obstacles or make feelings-based decisions? For example, you are looking for a location for your business. You like an architectural style of a particular building and some attractions nearby. Suddenly, you forget about the benefits of your company being in this area. You want the idea of your company being here. Another example is you come to a client's office to sign a service agreement. You like the interior, and everybody is so friendly and nice. Sometimes they even order excellent catering just for you. Your mind starts to get foggy, but emotions run wild. You forget about you...

A business enterprise needs to forecast the demand for its products or services. What can businesses do to predict the future sale or order of supplies? You can build statistical models or use your judgment. For the majority of business owners, a daily routine is quite complicated. A business owner sometimes doesn't have time to build a statistical model. A business mustn't run out of supplies or be understaffed. You can't let your clients or customers down. Big corporations can afford to hire consulting firms to do forecasting for them. Although, even the most sophisticated forecasting models don't give any assurances. So, what is the solution then? Any forecast has some flows. Political, economic, or weather problems can affect it. I think small business owners have an advantage in forecasting. Why? A small business owner is involved with business regularly. That gives an advantage in comparison with big corporations. A daily sales volume gives an idea about stuffing...

  We all know that a company's success is based on two components: operational and marketing. One can't function without another. There are many examples when great innovative companies that have been destroyed without effective marketing.  Many companies don't have an effective marketing strategy, because companies think that their invention will be sold by itself. In fact, marketing strategy is very important and should be based on careful research and analysis. How can a company conduct R&D? What information can be used for marketing segmentation?  The most popular approach is to find demographics and geographic data. We can add also firmographics (information about industry and company), and psychographics( information about customers' motives to buy). Data on demographics, geographic, and firmographics aren't that difficult to find in the Internet Era. Although, psychographics are the most important. According to Thomas V. Bonoma and Benson P. Shapiro's...

      I' ve noticed lately that many people want to start their own business. That's great. However, to start a business you need to have a character and a business idea. Also, it is important to do a research on your potential customers or clients? Who are they? Where do they live? What is your business idea about? If you've decided to start another courier company or website design business, how will your business be a different from hundreds of other businesses in your area or in that industry? How will you market your business? Then you need to figure out where you're going to operate? Is it going to be an Internet business or bricks and mortar business? Also, very important how easy to enter an industry where you want your business to be? If it is easy, then most likely you will compete on price.   Do you see how many questions? Nowadays it is difficult to come up with some unique business idea. Unless, you are a great inventor and had created some new technolog...

  How did you design your business structure? Did you imitate someone or did you design your business model yourself? We all want our business to be successful and of course profitable. Nowadays, because of social networks, we witness a boom of innovations in marketing, technology, biomedical research, pharma. Our time is revolutionary. It seems like anybody with a new idea can become rich overnight. Many people try to follow in the footsteps of those entrepreneurs who become successful in business and independently wealthy. Let's face it we all have different personalities, educational backgrounds, skills set, talents. That is great because life would be boring. We all can't be the same. When you design your business you should ask yourself a question what is your goal? What do you want your business to be in about 10 years? It all starts with those questions? There are plentiful amount of business structures: functional, teams, stimulation, system design. Although, all those ...

I have run my business for 23 years. I always wanted to be self-employed. Since 1991 when I came to America my dream was to be a business owner. I've entertained different ideas from a pizza parlor to music CD distribution. It was a time before the Internet, and newspapers ads,books, and brochures about how to open your own very profitable business were quite popular. They all promised you to get rich quick ideas. Does it remind you of some modern-day scammers who promise you magic systems to get rich ASAP?😅 I tried one or two ideas, but quickly realized I didn't like it. Then, I've completed a small business owner training program and decided to act. One thing when you study and another when you try to build your business in reality. My new business idea was a delivery service for dental laboratories. A friend of mine was a dental technician and started to give me some business. Although, very soon I understood that find new clients would be a challenge.  English is my ...

  America always had a reputation as a country of entrepreneurs. It was a magnet for freedom-loving people who wanted financial prosperity. I can tell you that even in current times there are plenty of opportunities. We live through transformation time. Some industries died, but some were born. It happened many times during human history. The best example of current business success is the Internet platforms. Nobody even dreamed about such a business model even 10 years ago. Who can imagine life without Amazon or Uber now? Many years ago I've started my own business. I always dreamed about being a business owner.  I believed in  BS I've heard from books, media, TV. They've sold the public with a great number of energy ideas about small business ownership and achieving an"American dream". Have you noticed nobody uses anymore this term an "American Dream"? The American dream became a fairy tale nowadays. Almost,like Cinderella. It reminds me of my home cou...

  It's not a secret business environment is tough now days. All small business owners wait for that miracle when someone calls and places a huge order or requires your service. Then telephone rings and ...... and...... spammer.Damn it. Right away your feel cheated. I know that there are a lot of opinions about marketing. I can tell you mine. Spammers not only ruin your day,but almost never win your business. I'd prefer cold calling to spam. Yes, I understand, that bothers someone too. However, at least I've called from a legitimate phone number and made some personal effort. Also, I didn't buy lists of owner's personal information from those shady so called " digital marketers" who run around someone's websites to snoop for some personal information,such as business owner's name or last name along with phone number.  I agree with another way of getting personal information. For example,if someone signed to your blog or seminar. In this case person ...

 I remember like many years ago I've tried to break into delivery business. I always wanted to be a business owner, however I didn't have enough money to buy an existing business. So,here it goes. Courier business! Low starting cost, relatively easy operation, seems like plenty of work everywhere. Well, like famous Russian proverb says" measure 7 times and cut only 1". My desire to be a business owner blinded me completely. I didn't do any research about  potential competition or need for another delivery company on the market. Actually, I found one article about some courier company located 25 miles away from Boston. Courier industry has been unregulated recently and many guys out of blue started to do deliveries. Thankfully they needed only own vehicle and cell phone, almost forgot about pager and fax machine. It is laughable now, but back there those too things, I mean fax and pager were extremely important. So, his business suffered a loss,because of people wh...

I am a small business owner. As many other businesses, business volume in my courier company has declined. Different reasons,but main is a pandemic. Catering companies were my biggest customers. Since the beginning of quarantine, catering industry and hospitality industry in general has declined significantly. Many couriers started home deliveries for restaurants, supermarkets and so on. Well, here they come. Let me introduce Internet platforms created by some brilliant minds in Silicon Valley. People who don't even know one thing about delivery business, decided to run one. Ideas behind platforms were brilliant. Some bloggers even brag about  how great they are.  Very low overhead, lousy customer service and low paying independent contractors.  On the top of that, rip of of restaurant industry. How else restaurants will make money during pandemics?  Many of those contractors who deliver for platforms either illegal immigrants or just desperate unemployed people. don...

 Business is healthy, when employees are productive. Productivity is very important, if you want your enterprise to succeed. I think communication between management and employees creates a productive environment. Communication should be upward and downward. When business starts new product or new branch it is always helpful to explain an objectives to an employees. Then, ask them to express an opinion. This is how a team work created, Indeed, people want to be heard and felt that their opinion counts. Manager should always make sure of that. Of course give a feedback on employee's proposal and encourage an initiative. Another important detail, an employees should be giving a flexibility to create own way to be a productive . Creativity is important to increase a productivity. Boring routine is counter productive. It should be a habit for an employees to communicate their opinion with management and create own way of work, as long as it doesn't  hurt a production.   ...