| The Picture Frame Guys Will Make Sure Your Picture Hangs Just Right (And Looks Good Too!) Posted: 09 Jun 2009 03:11 PM PDT A picture might be worth a thousand words but the picture frame that holds it will only enhance that message.  For every picture that you hang on your wall or set on a table, there is a frame to hold it. The right frame will only flatter the picture and the home it is in. Don’t believe me? Ask the Picture Frame Guys. They live and breathe frames. On their website there is a picture frame for any taste and they’re reasonably priced. They also offer prompt shipping, getting orders sent out in 1-2 business days.
Tell us a little more about your picture frames. We sell an entire frame package, including matting, mounting board and glazing. Customers simply insert their artwork into the frame we ship them. In addition, our frames sell for 70% less than those found in retail stores and are built with detailed craftsmen quality. All of our frames ship in 1-2 business days. We achieve these high turnaround times by carrying inventory to ensure that it is available when customer’s place orders and we have the right equipment and technology to build product efficiently. Specifically, there are parts of the picture frame building process that can be performed very quickly, while others need to be performed with meticulous care and attention in order to insure a perfect finish.
What was the inspiration for the Picture Frame Guys? First, picture frames are generally quite expensive and we were convinced that we could build better quality product at a lower cost than our competition. Second, the demographic make-up of the country is changing. People under 25 have really always known and used the Internet in their adult lives. Those below 50 are using the Internet in both their professional and personal everyday lives and are very comfortable making online purchases. So in many ways, this is a market that was just not present until now. To be sure, ordering a frame online is somewhat more complex than a typical E-commerce storefront because so many options need to be selected. However, our market research strongly supports the fact that those comfortable with the convenience of online shopping are up for the task.
How many frames/styles do you offer? We currently offer just fewer than 150 wood and metal frame options. The selection ranges from a basic flat rail to a sophisticated diploma frame. Nielson, the leader in metal frame molding, makes all of our metal frames. Our Nielson frames are offered in many styles and literally hundreds of colors.
What separates you from the competition? We place a very large focus emphasis on customer service and customer satisfaction. This all begins with our team members. We realize that if our employees are not happy, then our customers will not be happy. So we do everything we can to keep employees happy, while putting the customer at the top of all business decisions. We keep employees happy by considering such things as flexible hours, child day care, free gym membership, continued education, flexible choice of health care options and regular communicating the company’s progress and objectives. Specifically, regular communication is a key component of good employee moral and we believe it builds trust in the long-term. You could say we listen to the customers via the employees.
What process do you implement that allows you to have such a high turnover rate from order to shipping? We streamline everything. Even the smallest process does not escape scrutiny. From how the order is entered into the system to how the work flows on the shop floor to how suppliers package material for easy use. In addition, we also operate some process on 2 shifts if necessary. This buys us time to get a head start. The goal is to continue to speed up each process and to focus on making things more efficient everyday. We find that as we reduce processing time this lowers cost and improves quality. We are also always looking at the latest technology available in the picture framing industry to find ways to improve. A lot has changed in frame making technology in the past 10 years and sometimes this technology can be utilized with great advantage. But we also are careful not to use it when it is not appropriate. That is to say, at certain points it is the person not the machine that will make a difference. Our goal is to always maintain the highest quality standards for our customers and us.
Has your business changed/grown over the last year? Well the economy has definitely scared us. It has been truly unprecedented. First we saw the risk with corporate customers having said all that as a company we are presently surprised with our 2009 results. This year we expect growth in all segments in our business. Of course Christmas is a big deal and that will tell us a lot.
What goals do you hope to achieve in the next year? First and foremost we would like to keep our customers happy. Eventually the economy will turn around and we believe that those companies that can retain and perhaps even attract new customers in this recession will benefit. We hope to build our customer base, and prove that our lower price and faster more efficient service and product will be a success. We will also be expanding our product offerings and adding additional services to better support the needs of the customer.
What has been the hardest part of running your business? The hardest part of running any business in my experience is focusing on what is the most important to ensuring success. It seems there are always so many things to do, so many problems to solve that and countless challenges and bumps in the road. It is impossible to solve every problem every day. Instead, a more realistic objective is to solve the important ones.
What have you learned from it? You start to focus on what’s important. You learn this from getting it wrong most of the time and through experience you learn what’s important. Don't get excited about things, that is one supplier issue does not mean that all suppliers are difficult or trouble.
Any advice you would like to offer to those that might be interested in starting a business of their own? Do you homework, understand the market, complete the business plan. Ask yourself why it won’t work, entrepreneurs are optimistic by nature, especially at the beginning stages of the business development. You want to be pessimistic. Do not over complicate the business plan, but focus on the key drivers of the new business. It does not have to be a fancy power point presentation, but you have to cover everything. Find a good accountant who can guide you through the non-core aspects of your business formation and planning. You do not necessarily need to choose the biggest accounting firm, but instead seek out the one that best that fits your business needs. A good accountant will guide you in many of the key financial aspects of creating your new business.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| Why You Shouldn’t Use Personal Credit For Your Business Posted: 09 Jun 2009 01:00 PM PDT 
 photo credit: Andres Rueda
ActiveRain describes on possible reason that it might not be best to use your personal credit, if you can help it. What might be perfectly normal and acceptable for a business credit profile, such as submitting multiple applications for business credit, can have a serious negative impact on personal credit because of what’s called excessive inquiries.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| Funemployment Posted: 09 Jun 2009 11:11 AM PDT 
SF Weekly:
Funemployment. Paycation. The Unemploymentality. Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness — the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on — and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes. Here’s how the blog Recessionwire defines “funemployment”: “A period of joblessness that you actually enjoy — maybe you get to lay out, sleep in, work out, read up. It helps to have savings, severance, or an unemployment check to help pay the bills. We’re hearing this word used more and more, especially as people realize they may not be able to find a new job right away, so they might as well try to enjoy the time off.” Neil Howe, an expert on generational psychology and coauthor of Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, says the sunny outlook of laid-off young workers is a symptom of the endemic hopefulness witnessed in the so-called Millennial generation of young professionals whose formative years coincided with the longest economic expansion in American history. Like many social trends, the concept of funemployment is also a product, in part, of government policy. As a result of provisions in the Obama administration’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the maximum timeframe for receiving unemployment insurance has been increased to 79 weeks, according to Patrick Joyce, spokesman for the California EDD. Previously unaffordable post-layoff health-insurance premiums have been partly subsidized through expansion of the COBRA program. Continue Reading: “Funemployment” Photo by SF Weekly.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| What You Didn’t Learn In Business School Posted: 09 Jun 2009 10:48 AM PDT 
photo credit: Extra Ketchup
Many people have gone through some sort of business schooling before entering the workforce or even starting their own company. This schooling gives them great information and lessons in financial matters, obtaining customers, marketing, branding and more. But what this schooling often does not teach you is how to handle many challenges and problems that can arise in business, as stated on Score.com. Surprisingly most people don’t realize that many problems in business have new ideas hidden in them somewhere, and solving the problem tends to ultimately bring out these new ideas. Once you solve a problem in business, it is Murphys law that many more tend to pop up, and how you as a company and management solve these problems is actually the biggest challenge of all that you will face in business. Noticing a problem and finding a way to solve it is an opportunity for the business to grow in other areas and to increase productivity and sales.
What can you add to things that they don’t teach you in business school? From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| The Recession Can Be Good for Business Posted: 09 Jun 2009 10:30 AM PDT 
photo credit: B Mully
MaineBusiness.com had an interesting outlook on how you can use the current recession as a powerful marketing tool for your company. Most of us would and have viewed our economic situation as a bad thing, something to fear and worry over, however, there is a lot of good that can come out of this recession for established and new business. While yes, the recession has put many people out of work, but those many people still need to make a living somehow and most of them are doing so by starting a new business. This recession is enabling people to find new customers rather than a new job, it is putting off when the baby boomers will be able to retire which is ultimately causing them to stay open for business longer or to start up a new business. Generation Y is coming into this recession fresh out of school which makes it difficult for them to be placed immediately in a job of their studied field so as a result they are starting new businesses. In short, new businesses are going up everywhere due to the recession which means more business and revenue for our future. The recession is a problem. But it’s a problem that businesses need to solve. Successful marketing will explain how your business solves the problems created by the recession. This opportunity is there for entrepreneurs young and old.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| Use Netspray To Sell Products Across Internet Posted: 09 Jun 2009 10:10 AM PDT 
Skip McGrath:
If you are like most eBay sellers in this slow economy, you are looking for additional places to sell.
netSpray is an affordable lead generation e-commerce site and marketplace where sellers are given tools and services to create, distribute and manage items for sale all across the Internet. netSpray ads can be placed in a variety of online locations including blogs, forums, and social media sites. netSpray is very easy to learn and simple to use. Basically when you log into netSpray, you fill out a form that describes your product and upload a photo of it. netSpray does the rest. It creates an ad than you can simply paste into your blog, website, classified sites, or a social media site such as MySpace or Facebook. When you create an ad, the netSpray widget gives you a line of html code that you just paste into your destination site and you get an ad that looks like the one above. When someone clicks on the ad, they are taken you a large page with a full description. Photo by netSpray.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| What To Remember About Customer Service Posted: 09 Jun 2009 09:30 AM PDT 
photo credit: davitydave
In business there are always several different priorities are one’s list, including the decision making process of which priority needs prompt attention and which one’s can wait until tomorrow. So between the two options of income and customer service, which one comes first? Most would right off the bat assume that businesses put customer service first, this would be wrong. Surprisingly an enormous amount of business owners interviewed felt that income should come first and even more that the clients they do have should be exploited for future and continuous gain, recently stated on microfitgroup. Customers don’t become your friends on a regular basis nor do they become fans easily, so it makes sense that you definitely will not obtain several fans from your community if you are constantly milking them dry. Ever hear the phrase “the customer comes first”, or “the customer is always right”. This as aggravating as it can be is a general good practice for every business to have. Make them feel important and unique everytime they visit your business. Where ever you go, there you are. In life, as in business, if you're full of crap, everyone will know. We business owners can say the right things when on the spot or print the right things on our company materials, but if it isn't the real thing, it will only go so far or last so long.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| Crisis Spurs Spike In ‘Suburban Survivalists’ Posted: 09 Jun 2009 09:09 AM PDT 
Associated Press:
Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn’t even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla. Wiseman isn’t alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as an increasing number of Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hardcore survivalists. These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby. From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and widespread power failures that could make taps run dry. The surge in interest in emergency stockpiling has been a bonanza for camping supply companies and military surplus vendors, some of whom report sales spikes of up to 50 percent. These companies usually cater to people preparing for earthquakes or hurricanes, but informal customer surveys now indicate the bump is from first-time shoppers who cite financial, not natural, disaster as their primary concern, they say. Photo by Associated Press.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| No Interest Loans For Small Businesses Posted: 09 Jun 2009 08:35 AM PDT 
photo credit: Lori Greig
Every small business owner who has been struggling to stay a float in the constant economic downturn may have some light at the end of the down spiral tunnel. The SBA has set up a new 100% guarantee ARC loan program meant for small businesses who are financially struggling. This month on the 15th this loan process will go into effect offering loan amounts up to $35,000 to established for-profit small businesses who need a little help with making their payments on already existing outstanding debt. Best of all yet, these ARC loans are interest free! These ARC loans can provide the critical capital and support many small businesses need to make it through these tough economic times, said Administrator Mills. Together with other provisions of the Recovery Act, ARC loans will free up capital and put more money in the hands of small business owners when they need it the most.
The new ARC loans will be doled out over a 6 month period to pay for outstanding debt such as credit cards, mortgage payments, capital leases, outstanding orders to vendors and more. The repayment of such a loan will not begin for a full 12 months after the loan is given to the small business. For further information regarding the ARC loans, please visit StrategicGrowthConcepts.com. From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| Internet Tax Working Its Way To Louisiana Posted: 09 Jun 2009 08:08 AM PDT 
Ars Technica:
Louisiana residents may find themselves paying an extra fee on top of their regular Internet costs if the state’s House of Representatives has its way. The House voted 81 to 9 in favor of the 15-cent monthly levy with the bill’s sponsors arguing that the money would go towards fighting Internet-related crimes in the state. The bill now moves to the state’s Senate for a vote, though it faces opposition from Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Under the proposed measure, every resident who gets a bill for Internet access will be charged the fee starting in 2010; public schools and libraries are exempt. The move is expected to raise $2.4 million for the “Internet Crimes Investigation Fund” of Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office, which plans to use the money to investigate cases of child pornography, Internet fraud, and other online sex crimes. According to the text of the bill, it would also train law enforcement how to properly handle crimes committed against citizens as a result of their having Internet access. There’s also the small technicality that the “fee” may be interpreted as a tax. If it’s a tax, it could potentially violate the federal Tax Freedom Act that was enacted in 1998 and most recently extended in 2007 for seven years. It bars local governments from levying access taxes on Internet connections, though purchases can be subject to applicable state taxes. The law is meant to promote Internet usage and facilitate wider-spread adoption of broadband across the US. Photo by MSDesigns.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
| How One Small Biz Uses Twitter To Build Its Brand Posted: 09 Jun 2009 07:07 AM PDT 
Ad Age:
If you hope to compete as a small “carryout and delivery only” pizza joint operating out of a 600-square-foot space against the Goliaths of pizza delivery, you had better have a good product, great service and a deeper mission that differentiates you in a meaningful and sustainable way. And we do — but that’s not enough. Even with a loyal following of customers, you must spend marketing dollars to drive business. Even your most core customers must be continually and softly nudged. The advantage here clearly goes to the larger chains, which enjoy greater market penetration and scale. So far, we have relied on cost-effective strategies such as e-newsletters to deliver information and coupons to a subset of our customers. We also use a smattering of direct mail. But the open rate for our newsletter has steadily fallen over the past year. Though this is speculative, we believe consumers are simply fatigued — too busy, too many other newsletters in their inbox, and so on. Enter Twitter. Though many are clearly high on the new smell of Twitter — us included — we are beginning to see, through the fog of idle chatter surrounding social media, new opportunities to connect with our customers in ways that makes sense to us. The obvious and redundant criticism of social media is the ROI of such a strategy at any level. How do you measure ROI on buzz, comments, friends, followers, mentions and so forth? For us, we see the value of Twitter in a number of areas. We Twitter to supplement, or possibly replace, our e-newsletter, with daily 140-character special offerings or other tweets that contain links to more in-depth information on our mission and our products. Analytical tools buried in the HTML of our website suggest that this approach is working. As for the actionable tweets we call “Tweetie Pie” specials, we are optimistic about them when compared with our e-newsletter data. For example, on a single Thursday a few weeks ago, Twitterers accounted for almost 15% of the total sales, many of which were new customers. Source coding in our POS system makes tracking this data possible. Continue Reading: “How One Small Biz Uses Twitter To Build Its Brand” Photo by Twitter.
From Business Opportunities Weblog. 
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment