How to Price Business Services The reason you went into business selling services to customers was to make a profit. If you were giving away your services for less than cost, or just breaking even, you'd be operating a non-profit venture – or a business that's likely to fail. There are a variety of components that factor into whether or not a business is profitable, including location, leadership, market demand, competition, and so on. Service businesses can range from a sole proprietorship consultancy to mid-sized businesses with several hundred employees, some of whom go out to customers and perform anything from cleaning homes to providing information technology expertise to large corporations. "It can just destroy you if you don't do it right," says Charles Toftoy, an associate professor at the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. Pricing Your Services The good news is you have a great deal of flexibility in how you set your prices. Cost-plus pricing. Materials cost. U.S.
Fortune 500 Mission Statements Fortune 500 companies are the biggest and best run in the nation. That's because they remain tightly focused on delivering quality in a competitive market. If you want to learn from the best, there are plenty of lessons waiting in these mission statements. 6443 Iron Bridge Road Richmond, VA 23234 We're Ready in Advance Advanced Auto Parts, Inc. is a company that provides customers with automotive products and services, which include diagnosing vehicle problems and doing repair work It is the Mission of Advance Auto Parts to provide personal vehicle owners and enthusiasts with the vehicle related products and knowledge that fulfill their wants and needs at the right price. 1932 Wynnton Road Columbus, GA 31999 Aflac insurance policies may help you with those expenses not covered by your major medical plan. Aflac is a supplemental insurance company in the US. AGCO Corporation 4205 River Green Parkway Duluth, GA, USA 30096 A World of Solutions for your Growing Needs Albertson's, Inc. 250 E. 50 E.
Are you charging the right price? | Missouri Business Development Program Calculating the overhead percentage for your business is critical to pricing your goods and services profitably and operating your business successfully. Competitive pricing is always a hot-button issue with business owners. They know competitive prices will attract customers and that price is often the first piece of information buyers collect. So they rationalize that if they can make a favorable first impression on price, increased sales and loyal customers will follow. What they fail to realize is that price-conscious consumers are not always loyal customers. They often choose the lowest price over anything else the business owner can offer. Many business owners establish prices without understanding or analyzing their own costs of doing business. To compete effectively, business owners need to have a basic understanding of their costs and a procedure for capturing these costs in their selling price. Pricing terminology Here are some important terms to remember. Conclusion Required: 1.
How to Write Your Mission Statement A mission statement is a key tool that can be as important as your business plan. It captures, in a few succinct sentences, the essence of your business's goals and the philosophies underlying them. Equally important, the mission statement signals what your business is all about to your customers, employees, suppliers and the community. The mission statement reflects every facet of your business: the range and nature of the products you offer, pricing, quality, service, marketplace position, growth potential, use of technology, and your relationships with your customers, employees, suppliers, competitors and the community. "Mission statement help clarify what business you are in, your goals and your objectives," says Rhonda Abrams, author of The Successful Business Plan: Secrets and Strategies. Your mission statement should reflect your business' special niche. The Write WordsTo come up with a statement that encompasses the major elements of your business, start with the right questions.
The Best Free Apps to Simplify Your Life These mobile apps help even the busiest people boost productivity and stay organized. Simplify Your Day This article originally appeared on LearnVest.com. There’s an app for that. Until we really dug in, we had no idea how many mind-blowing (and free!) After trying out the most popular apps for ourselves, we came up with a list of our ten favorites. 10 Time-Tracking Apps That Will Make You More Productive In 2014 My favorite tools to keep track of my time are, honestly, pen and paper. What I lose in snazziness, I make up for in flexibility. I don’t have to turn on my computer or phone, which means I’m better about recording "off" hours. Since I’m not beholden to a spreadsheet or categories, I can describe my time however I want. However, in this age of apps, many people want something a little more fancy. Lots of businesses need to keep track of employee time, and so the time-tracking product category is pretty crowded. 1. With this app, you say what you’re doing, start the timer, and stop it when you’re done. 2. Running in the background on your computer or mobile device, the free version of RescueTime tracks minutes spent on various sites or applications. 3. This free app lets you track your whole life by tapping on your phone to start or stop each activity. 4. Structured to remind you about work-life balance, Eternity divides time broadly into work, sleep, and play categories. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
35 Free Android Apps for Business It costs a lot to run a business today but there’s some relief on the app front – many Android apps are free. If you’re looking to increase profits and efficiencies and streamline your work while on the run, you’ll find these 35 free Android apps particularly helpful. And, you guessed it – you’ll find them all on Google Play. 1) Foursquare for Business. 2) Google My Business. 3) Google Apps Lookup. 4) AdWords Express. 5) Box. 6) Facebook Pages Manager. 7) MailChimp for Android. 8) OWM for Outlook OWA Web Email. 9) Microsoft Remote Desktop. 10) QuickBooks for Windows. 11) Vault-Hide SMS, Pics & Videos. 12) GoToMeeting.
Hiring Employees vs. Independent Contractors | Wisconsin Startups The question facing start-ups and small businesses (less than 50 personnel) about outsourcing their staffing needs to an independent contractor is if the economies outweigh the risks. Should they hire organic personnel, train them, and administer their salaries and benefits, only to see most of them pirated by larger companies that pay better? Or should they leave the headaches of managing and controlling workers in the hands of other people who are better trained and experienced to do the job? Hiring Employees Versus Independent Contractors The appeal of hiring an independent contractor that has scores of people it can deploy as contracted by the fledgling business, or individual professionals and freelancers who can do limited tasks on demand, hinges mostly on overhead cost reduction. For instance, companies that do business online can benefit from freelance professional web developers and IT practitioners, and need have to invest on expensive IT training for its staff. Conclusion
Hire a Contractor or an Employee? Independent contractors and employees are not the same, and it's important to understand the difference. Knowing this distinction will help you determine what your first hiring move will be and affect how you withhold a variety of taxes and avoid costly legal consequences. What’s the Difference? An Independent Contractor: Operates under a business name Has his/her own employees Maintains a separate business checking account Advertises his/her business' services Invoices for work completed Has more than one client Has own tools and sets own hours Keeps business records An Employee: Performs duties dictated or controlled by others Is given training for work to be done Works for only one employer Many small businesses rely on independent contractors for their staffing needs. Savings in labor costs Reduced liability Flexibility in hiring and firing Why Does It Matter? Misclassification of an individual as an independent contractor may have a number of costly legal consequences.