Important Factor for Web Hosting

Once you have registered a domain name check web host is another rational step a user must be considered. Although finding an ideal host is a daunting task. One can find several companies that offer web hosting services to customers. While finding the keyword web hosting search engines will find more than 100 million outputs!

You can not deny the fact, a successful online presence of a reliable web hosting is a must. Online presence and accessibility of the site. If not, you should be prepared to lose and potential clients. If, for example if you compare this to the traditional business.

Categories Web Hosting:

You should choose a web hosting deal according to his / her side. One can not fulfill his / her needs while hosting their own story pages for the site e-mail newsletter subscription and archives, e-commerce or web forum. Web hosting can be divided into four prime categories:

1. Virtual (shared) hosting
2. Dedicated Server
3. Co-location server and
4. Reseller hosting.

Two of the most suitable hosting is virtual (shared) hosting, and dedicated server.

What is Virtual (Shared) hosting? It is a condition in which multiple sites share a server. It is a low-cost hosting because price is a multi-user. One can be found in a standard virtual hosting at $ 100 a year.

In dedicated server hosting company lease the entire Web server, and in particular web server. Site Web Server is a web-hosting company. You can choose your own server as a suitable alternative, which does not want to share a server with other web masters. One of the dedicated server can be found in two forms Maintenance and uncontrolled. If we talk about managed server, the company manages all of the installation program for the user to the server. But the needs of the managed server uses to deal with all these for him / herself. The advantage of this type of website hosting is that no one can quite make web hosting as per his / her needs. In addition, for plenty of visitors to a dedicated server is the only reasonable option. Higher costs, which starts $ 100 a month, companies know the value of the Internet business generally use it.

Why the Route to Finding a Family Business Advisor is Confusing

Confused, a FamilyBusiness Turns to a Coach, The New York Times articulates how 2 sisters in business turned to a coach to work through family issues that threatened the long term sustainability of their business AND their relationship with on another.

Only a very few advisors and coaches are equipped to help family businesses. Most advisors tend to be attorneys or accountants - most families feel comfortable confiding with these professionals since they know the most deep, dark secrets of the family.

This kind of advice tends to be transactional, meaning it centers around legal or accounting tactics, as opposed to a more holistic effort address the root causes of the surface issues.

Every semester I start each of my family business classes reviewing  3 fundamentals of Family Business Management.

Are we a business family or a family business?

 A family business is the tangible part, the container that generates current cash flow, a place for family members to be employed, the symbol of the family that is represented to the community. Like everything, there is a beginning, middle and end. At some point a family business does not address the family needs and would be best to be sold with the proceeds going back to generate more wealth in other vehicles for the family.

A business family is a family that likes to work together and has the unique "right balance" human capital and economic capital. They have the strategic and tactical ingredients to make many types of business successful, thereby creating a steady growth in wealth for the family for generations to come.

Why does this family have this business and why does this business have this family?

This is not a trick question and it is very difficult to answer since it requires family discussion and brutal honesty.  A business requires requisite business knowledge and social management skills. Does the family in the aggregate have most of them under one roof? If not, is the f`mily "smart" enough to recognize this and seek the necessary management talent where they lack this talent?

Why does the family have this business clarifies the reasons for the family to invest their time and money. Is it a place that simply generates a steady stream of cash? Is it a place that provides a safe landing strip of employment for family members that might have a difficult time matching their lifestyle needs to what they would be compensated in the real world?  There is no right or wrong answer.. Just the honest answer.

What is the ring model of Business, Family and Ownership?

Family business consists of overlapping dynamics of family, business and ownership and ALL qualified family advisors know what this is. It is the early stage blueprint where one starts to address everything that is happening in each family, business and ownership sector and most importantly, all of the stakeholders within and outside of the family business. Most business have stakeholders primarily as equity holders or employees and management. Family businesses have stakeholders that are neither owners or work in the business… essentially other family members that are children, spouses, cousins, etc. They have a strong influence in what happens in the business and this is where most supposed family advisors go wrong in that they do not understand what is called stakeholder analysis.

So if you are a family business and are seeking a coach or advisor, pose the above questions and see if they can answer each similarly to how I have. If they can, then they understand how to help family businesses… otherwise move on.

All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Family Business

High Performance Teams Part 4

This is a four part series outlining Tips for Running a Family Business by creating High Performance Teams.
Part 1 Types of Teams
Part 2 Team Key Elements and Keys to Success
Part 3 The Decision Making Process

Developing Empowerment and Boundary Management

Empowerment is a form of decision making. It involves individual and not team decisions. Ownership of the business, for clarity purposes must formally approve the overall Empowerment of each High Performance Team. The team in turn determines individual empowerment and boundaries.

Define what the power is

The key issue is what the team is empowered to do without Ownership approval. Additionally what levels of empowerment are allocated to core areas of the business; namely Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finance.

Who has it?

Who are the members and how many will there be? Will therd be an advisory member? Who will be the Team Leader? What skill sets reside on the Team and what level of empowerment is given?

Boundary Management

Ownership needs to define Where it starts (Boundary) and Where it ends (Boundary). Once overall boundaries are defined each member of the High Performance Team will be identified for one or two areas of key strengths. Inevitably tasks and responsibilities will be passed along to another person. Therefore the team will set internal boundary definitions of Start and End.

A plan for Boundary Management within the team should consist of:

• Method(s) for negotiating constraints
• Agreeing on constraints
• Which team members are free to make decisions on their own

The Empowerment Grid

The Empowerment Grid is a simple and effective tool to keep High Performance teams performing! Download The Empowerment Grid and see how easy it is to use. The grid should be developed by the team and used regularly to track performance. The grid consists of four constraints/parameters to answer the question of “how are we going to do this?”

• It explicitly states what each team member has the authority to do.
• If it is not stated explicitly, the team member must consult with others before acting
• The leader creates a target for each constraint

The Objective is set by Ownership

The Constraints in each box are initially set by the team leader. The Constraints are then negotiated with the team. As things change, the Grid forces the members to go back and check the validity of each constraint. The grid allows each team member to know what lengths they must go to without asking for permission. The grid helps define boundaries and provide the Joint Accountability necessary for obtaining high performance.

Summary

Family Businesses consist of Economic, Human and Intellectual Capital. Families by their makeup are natural High Performance Teams. High Performance Teams capitalize on obtaining the best of the Human and Intellectual Capital through Empowerment and clearly defined Boundary Management.

I urge you to try this in your family business to during these tough times to insure your business is there for the next generation.

All the best!
Dom Celentano
Tips on Running a Family Business

High Performance Teams Part 3

This is a four part series outlining Tips for Running a Family Business by creating High Performance Teams.

Part 1 Types of Teams
Part 2 Team Key Elements and Keys to Success
Part 3 The Decision Making Process
Part 4 Developing Empowerment and Boundary Management

The way a team decides to decide is the most important decision it makes. The team must decide, in advance on how the team will decide. The Ownership circle of the 3 Ring Family Business Model sets the guidelines on decision making.



Decision Definitions


Here are the most appropriate Decision Processes and Definitions for Family Business. Note that some are neither appropriate nor desirable in all circumstances.


Consensus


Compromise is used so every team member can agree with and commit to the outcome. This produces innovative decisions, but can be time consuming.


Majority Rule


A simple Majority agrees upon the decision. This allows a quick decision process but can only be successfully used for routine and administrative issues.


Minority Rule


This usually takes the form of a subcommittee that recommends actions. If is appropriate for decisions that require special expertise that may only be in the minority of the team. However it does not use all team members’ capabilities and therefore should be used infrequently.


Authority Rule without Discussion


Decisions are handed down from Ownership. This is best for administrative needs or for emergency situations that do not allow for an elongated decision process. The downside of this process is that one person never can be knowledgeable for all decisions and is not taking the collective knowledge of the team.


Authority Rule with Discussion


This process is a hybrid. Those with decision making authority make it clear that they have the authority. They start by gathering all team member inputs. The final decision is made with team member input and leader lets team members know the decision and how their inputs affected the decision. This requires good communications skills between decision makers and team members.

Example Decision Making Process


You can download an example of a Decision Matrix and Escalation Matrix outlining a process that allows a Family Business to institute a High Performance Team. It spells out in detail what each decision process can do and where it is escalated to the next process.

High Performance Teams Part 4 covers Developing Empowerment and Boundary Management


All the best!
Dom Celentano
Tips on Running a Small Business

Small Business Advice Cloud-based Accounting Software Advice from the Experts

Here is a guest blog post from Michael Koploy, ERP Analyst, Software Advice

Because of its attractive pricing model, collaboration benefits, and little-needed IT resources, more small business should look into online accounting software.

Software Advice, a website that reviews both on-premise and cloud-based software programs, recently held a roundtable discussion with three cloud-based accounting software CEOs. These executives from Intacct, ePartners (a Microsoft Dynamics GP VAR), and Kashoo offer solutions for a wide range of industries and sizes of businesses, but they agreed on a number of qualities that make online software a good choice for small and medium-sized businesses.

Here are some highlights from the roundtable discussion:

• More small and medium sized companies (less than $2 million in annual revenue) are choosing to adopt online accounting and ERP solutions.
• Users are becoming more comfortable with putting their important financial information in the cloud, thanks to users warming up to the idea of storing sensitive information on vendors’ servers.
• Most industries are quickly moving to cloud-based financial systems. One of the industries that is not? Manufacturing.
• Benefits of switching to online systems from on-premise software include: less IT requirements, improved financial visibility, improved process automation, cash preservation, and increased collaboration.
• Mobile technology, decreased data entry, and more accounting-focused, cloud-based ERP solutions are seen as future trends in the industry.

For a full transcript of the discussion check out: State of the Online Accounting Industry: Executive Roundtable.

Michael Koploy ERP Analyst Software Advice All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business

High Performance Teams Part 2

This is a four part series outlining Tips for Running a Family Business by creating High Performance Teams



Part 1 Types of Teams

Part 2 Team Key Elements and Keys to Success

Part 3 The Decision Making Process

Part 4 Developing Empowerment and Boundary Management

Team Key Elements and Keys to Success

High Performance Teams must be designed properly and adhere to a process for the team to be successful. So here are the key elements of team design.

A Purpose

The purpose should be in the realm of transformational

. Examples are Innovative ways to run the business, new products or major shifts in corporate strategy.

Performance Goals

Performance goals or Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are a must. It is not enough for the Objective to articulate "increase sales". The objective must be a clearly stated Business Objective such as "Compounded annual revenue increase of 5% over 3 years through the introduction of 5 new products specifically targeted to a Customer Segment satisfying specific needs of that segment." The goals must be attainable and the team needs to decide on what Objectives are attainable based on the company’s human, intellectual and financial capital. In other words the company must have enough money, enough people with the right skill sets to meet the Objective.

Small Wins

All teams need enough small incremental gains to keep the enthusiasm within. The big picture should always be the overarching goal, but the short term objectives are the steps that get you there!

Problem Solving Approach

Every team needs a process that is Replicable, yet allows flexibility and creativity. The Problem Solving approach is easily implemented in any organization. The Team goes through each step to arrive at “what needs to be done”. The six steps are

• 
  Issues.... defining all issues identified by the team
  
  
• 
  Root Causes... narrowing down to a few causes related to the issues
  
  
• 
  Define the real Problem or Problems
  
  
• 
  Set the Objective(s)
  
  
• 
  Develop the Strategy
  
  
• 
  Create a Tactical Plan
  
  

Summary

Family Businesses consist of Economic, Human and Intellectual Capital. Families by their makeup are natural High Performance Teams. High Performance Teams capitalize on obtaining the best of the Human and Intellectual Capital through Empowerment and clearly defined Boundary Management.

High Performance Teams Part 3 will talk about the Decision Making Process.



All the best! Dom Celentano Tips on Running a Small Business

High Performance Teams

The word Team is used (incorrectly) interchangeably with Work Group. The key difference between the two is that a Work Group is tied to individual performance. However a High Performance team has both individual and group accountability. I will outline what a High Performance team is and how it can be readily incorporated into your Family Business.



This is a four part series consisting of:

• Part 1 Types of Teams
• Part 2 Team Key Elements and Keys to Success
• Part 3 The Decision Making Process
• Part 4 Developing Empowerment and Boundary Management

The most appropriate definition of a team that I find applicable for closely held family businesses is: "A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals and approach which they hold themselves accountable for[Joint Accountability] ". Therefore the key “ingredients” for a team are Complementary Skills, Common Purpose, Performance Goals and Joint Accountability.





The last point, Joint Accountability, facilitates Self Management and is the capstone for a successful High Performance Team. Without this, the group is only a work group and adds substantially less value to the organization.



There are three types of teams with the following key points and differentiators.



Those that recommend

Handing off is critical aspect of this type of team since they have to get top managements attention which can sometimes be difficult. There is also a delicate balance in getting outsiders involved in part of the process so they have an easier time taking ownership of the recommendations.



Those that make or do things

These are teams responsible for manufacturing, operations, marketing, etc. They key differentiator is these teams have an ongoing responsibility and usually do not have a team completion date; they of course have milestones to achieve. They must have key performance indicators for the team related to specific metrics such as revenue, costs or some added value.



Those that run things



These teams are a minority and generally consist of a small group. These teams are most effective when an organization is going through a major changes and where overall company behavior has to change. For example this type of team is very valuable in a Family Business environment when there is a need for succession of leadership from one generation to the next. This type of team is very effective for the transition.



High Performance Teams Part 2 will focus upon Team Key Elements and Keys to Success







All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Family Business

Can a Pet Chauffeur Business Scale Larger? How Big is the Pet Market?

Can Pet Chauffeur Adapt to a Tough Economy?



A good example of a highly targeted Niche Market. At $1 Million in revenue, it may just be a very profitable small business and what is wrong with that. Take the profits and start another business. That is what serial entrepreneurs do all of the time.



All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business

Managing a Small Business Requires a Few Linchpins

Whos Job is it Anyway?

Most business hire people for “jobs” and jobs are framed
(typically) into responsibilities and tasks. Why don’t most small businesses don’t
hire people to really think outside of the narrow framework of their job
description?  Because it is scary and
means empowering someone to act upon information that is incomplete and fuzzy
and maybe to take action without checking with you… The Boss.

So in this article,A Strategy for Learning from Mistakes, 8 years worth of customer shipping bags
were ordered. Bad! However was it anyone’s description to go beyond inventory management
and re-ordering? Even the manager was doing his job since inventory was being
taken, orders were being processed and vendors were being communicated with.

People in key positions should be empowered to act when
things just don’t fit neatly into tasks and responsibilities. Rather than just
acting upon information, they need to recognize what the information means and
then make management decisions… Critical Thinking (sometimes referred t as Problem
Solving).

Hire a few Critical Thinkers

Critical Thinking goes beyond recognizing an “auto-reorder”,
knowing that orders fulfill approximately 3 years of the business needs and a
vendor saying something does not seem right. It means recognizing that “something
just does not seem right” and I need to determine what this means.

All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business

Tips to Investing With Family

As soon as you decide to invest in your child's future business, it begins to resemble a Family Business… and this where the complications begin. If you want to learn more about Family Business visit my Fairleigh Dickinson University Academic Site. Here are some tips and insights on family business.



This type of investment begins to have the overlap of Family, Business and Ownership, and needless to say the "Family" part has the most influence. The Venn diagram here is the illustration of this overlap and is the cornerstone of describing a family business.

You probably want to evaluate your son or daughters business investment request and they should create some form of business plan. You may immediately consider having your accountant look at this family business plan. I would not advise banking solely on your accountant to evaluate the business plan. Use the accountant to perform a critical analysis of the proformas.



However a family business plan is much more than financials.  My viewpoint is this:

• It is the articulation of how an idea is put through a feasibility analysis
• If feasible, then the development of a marketing plan. All business rest on the success of "going to market", hence the critical importance of a marketing plan.
• If you can create a convincing marking plan, and this is another areas where you should have a 3rd party review, an Operating Plan would come next.
• Build Up Sales and Cost Assumptions come next to create your financial financial forecasts.

A better approach to 3rd parties is to include other business professionals along with your accountant. These can be consultants and Small Business Development Centers. A great resource is seeking out a university that has an Entrepreneurship Department. There are many professors and MBA students that can help in the business plan evaluation. For example we have our Business Ventures Program, that works with entrepreneurs to refine their plans for greater success. This is one way to be objective AND create the necessary boundaries between parent and investor.



A wonderful structure is The Family Bank. It allows you to invest in your children and have some structure and boundary separation. You can structure this as formal as your needs determine. It allows the parent to wear two hats:

•  the parent hat
• the investor hat.

It allows you to say "as your parent I want to support you as my child", and then you can flip the hat to say "as your financial backer, here is what the 'bank' needs to make a decision".



The great thing about a Family Bank is it allows the return of capital to the "bank". The Family Bank is what we call patient capital, giving your children the extra breathing room they need to establish the business with feeling entitled the money, just because they are the son or daughter.



The return of principle and interest to the bank allows the parent to reinvest in the future for other children and/or to preserve and hopefully grow the family economic capital. It preserves the financial estate for the next generation.



All the best!

 

Tips on Family Business

Dom Celentano

Visit my Silberman College of Business Academic Site

Family Businesses are different. Why?

Many small businesses are also Family Businesses. Family Businesses are VERY different and it is difficult to explain the differences in a brief and understandable manner. So here is a short narrated slide show that you will find helpful.

PeachTree vs. Quickbooks

The following is a guest post from David Matthew. He is an ERP Analyst at Software Advice where he writes about business accounting software.

Accounting software can be tricky to understand, even for accountants. Most small business owners looking for the right accounting software simply don’t have time to do enough research and determine what would be the best accounting software for their needs. With this in mind, here is a handy side-by-side guide to the latest editions of Peachtree and Quickbooks. It not only keys you into the pricing options and number of users, but also shows some of the more important features found in each product."

All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business

Do Promotional Products Work?

Are you being "sold" on how you should buy a thousand pens with your company name on it?

I just read The Surprising Power of Promotional Products and frankly see this as a distraction.  I always focus on providing tips for helping the entrepreneur how to start a food business, so unless you have some extra cash floating around, put your money elsewhere.

Promotional products, promotional items can be a good investment for good will or as a takeaway when you are at a trade show or a convention.  What are Promotional Products?  Read More --->

All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business

The Price of Bad Pricing

Do you price based on your cost? Do you first view competitive prices and then figure how to make money at that price by adjusting your costs?

As you can see from the comments in The Price of Bad Pricing small businesses are all over the place so was this a helpful blog post?  You decide.

All the best!

Dom Celentano

Tips on Running a Small Business