Business Excellence Assessment

In a dynamic and hyper-competitive environment, businesses are required to adapt and align themselves quickly. While organizations like to believe that they can improve in all areas, the reality is often that choices need to be made. Selecting one area often involves sacrificing improvements efforts in another. Choices made can be done proactively or forced onto the organization as a result of circumstance.

The organization's future should be decided by its leadership. The five dimensions framework presented in this article may be used as tool to conduct a holistic review of the business, identifying broad areas for improvement. The five dimensions are:

    Leadership excellence

    Strategy and structure

    Human capital optimization

    Process and innovation management

    Marketing and Business excellence

A broad outline of some of the issues to be considered under each of the dimension is described in the paragraphs below.

Leadership excellence - This dimension looks into issues such as: Teamwork across the leadership group, level of trust and respect for leaders, ability to manage ambiguity and adapt to changing business needs, personal learning and capability development of direct reports, the leader's ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders critical for business success and managing operations with a market focus.

Strategy and Structure - This dimension looks into issues such as: Clarity of vision, strategy and the establishment of SMART business objectives, the existence of a closed loop planning system, cascading of objectives to lower levels, market aligned operations and sales footprint, simple and effective organization and work structures, growth plans that address both short and medium term horizons.

Human Capital Optimization - This dimension looks into issues such as: Investments in total workforce development, definition of core values and competencies, linking employee rewards to performance, systems to identify, develop and retain talent, structured processes to review, manage and develop employee performance, assignment of people to positions and roles based on capability and fit, creating a work environment that facilitates teamwork and continuous learning.

Process and Innovation Management - This dimension looks into issues such as: The identification and management of core business processes, problem solving and continuous improvement efforts focus on customer and market needs, effective use of process management tools such as SPC, FMEA, Value Stream Mapping and DOE, process measurements and management, commitment to new product and process development and the creation of an innovation culture.

Marketing & Business Excellence - This dimension looks into issues such as: The mapping of a marketing and sales strategy to support high level business objectives, collection and utilization of market intelligence information, sales force development to effectively market the organization's value proposition, regular reviews of business performance versus objectives, collection of customer satisfaction and market positioning information, the development of strategic partners and suppliers for improved value chain performance, involvement in socially responsible activities that protect the interest of key stakeholders, the ability to deliver consistently strong financial performance in areas such as sales and EBITDA growth and effective working capital management.

These five components provide a simple yet comprehensive framework that may be used to evaluate the relative strength of the organization. The same evaluation dimensions may be used to assess the competition to identify organizational performance gaps that need improvement. The findings from the evaluation should motivate leaders to conduct further analysis, improvement planning and deployment enabling the organization to improved its level of competitiveness in the market.

Business Excellence in the Automotive Industry

Business excellence is an ideal that all good entrepreneurs strive to achieve.  In fact, many organizations are devoted to honoring those businesses that best exemplify this concept.  However, business excellence cannot be strictly defined.  Rather, it varies from one industry to another.  For example, in the automotive industry, business excellence includes customer commitment, quality control, efficient supply, and innovative management.

Leaders in the automotive industry understand the need to form a strong bond with customers.  Perhaps more than other sectors, consumers are more likely to make a decision regarding an automobile purchase based upon their experience with those in the industry.  Thus, entrepreneurs need to be concerned with two key features relating to customer commitment.  The first is meeting the needs of the consumer, financially and socially.  People need automobiles that meet their economic means.  This not only means getting a good initial purchase price, but also finding a vehicle that will require minimal repair and maintenance down the road.  Consumers also want to purchase automobiles that will not require excess money to be spent on fuel.  Therefore, business excellence includes finding more cost-efficient production and distribution processes, and subsequently passing these savings on to the consumer.

The second aspect of customer commitment is meeting societal needs and desires.  This means staying informed of what vehicle features are most important to consumers.  Such information can be garnered using formal surveys and demographic research.  Once you understand the buyer, you are more capable of catering to him or her.  For example, people in some regions are especially concerned with the environmental impact of their purchases.  Thus, the automobile industry would need to show those people they are committed to using recycled materials and alternative fuels.  Additionally, many consumers want family vehicles that are safe and comfortable for children.  Therefore, excellent automobile entrepreneurs will focus their attention on crash test results and extra amenities.

In addition to customer commitment, business excellence must include exceptional quality control measures.  This means ensuring that automotive vehicles are safe and easy to maintain.  Appropriate testing should be undertaken for each new product model, and the results of these assessments need to be made public in a timely manner.  Additionally, individual dealerships should take care to ensure every vehicle is inspected prior to sale and stored under ideal conditions prior to purchase.

Efficient supply is an aspect of business excellence that is frequently overlooked.  The balance between supply and demand is vital to the automotive industry.  Producing too many vehicles can lead to severely diminished profits.  It can also lead to a waste of resources that could have been better utilized for vehicles more likely to be purchased.  Meanwhile, a supply that is too short can cause companies to lose customers.  When an individual needs to purchase a vehicle, he or she may not be able to wait any extensive period for a desired product to come into supply.  As a result, they will simply find an alternative automobile to purchase.

Finally, business excellence in the automotive industry requires innovative management.  There are several parties involved in the manufacture and distribution of vehicles, and financial as well as labor resources need to be managed from the top down as well as controlled on a micro-level.  Thus, not only do large factories need to communicate with business executives and the dealerships that asses supply, but individual sales representatives need to be appropriately trained and supervised at each individual dealership.

5 Secrets to Choosing a Business and Excelling in It

To achieve excellence in business you must be able to choose a suitable business to run with. Choosing a suitable business can be a herculean task. Many have loads of business ideas in their head but are at a cross road over which one to run with. This is a very common challenge especially if you are trying to switch from paid employment to doing your own business.

Many have found themselves in situation where they followed the crowd in starting up a business that looked like rave of the moment at one time without first understanding the intricacies involved with it only to end up losing all they put into it.

Every other day, you hear and read about the anguish and groaning of start-up businessmen and women who have failed to achieve excellence in business venture they went into due to one reason or the other. At one point it looked as if they could pull it through and built the business into a great success. But after a seemingly promising start, the entire business and their investments into it ends up in frustration.

What does it then take to choose a suitable business that brings with it profits and lasting fulfilments. To choose the right business and succeed in it, you need to follow the following steps:

Step 1 - Be prepared

In choosing a suitable business, you need to deliberately prepare yourself, I took my time to prepare for whatever I wanted to do, by reading relevant books, attending seminars and meeting mentors that I belief can give me useful advise. No one builds a structure without first putting on ground a solid foundation.

Step 2 - Be Focused

When I decided on the type of business to venture into, I took a decision and stayed with it. Focus is important in whatever you do. Take a careful study of anybody that achieve excellence in his business today, you discovered that focus is their key. There is need for you to discover your purpose and then do everything humanly possible to actualize it. It is possible to generate at least five sources of legitimate income from any business you are doing. So, it is advisable to start with the first one and as you move along you will begin to naturally see from that single business other sources of income.

Step 3 - Play The Integrity Game

Any business that must stand the test of time must be built on the bedrock of honesty. Never aspire to make all the money on earth overnight. Ensure to give people more than what they want and you will be smiling to the bank, shortchange them, and you will be shooting yourself on the foot.

Step 4 - Make Creativity Your Watchword

If you do not know, this is the engine room. There is always a better way to do whatever you are doing. The most important thing is to always look out on how to improve on anything. Find a way to subtract or add to ideas that are already in existence. This is what stand out a genius.

Step 5 - Secure A Mentor

Mentoring is one factor that assisted my choice of business in the past. Ensure you a have a mentor that you can confide in and must also be ready to show you the thread. It is believed that mentors have seen and experienced everything you are yet to experience and seen. This give them the right to guide you and give you all the necessary counsel, guidance and advice that will help you avoid all the pitfalls along the way to succeeding in business.

To be a millionaire, the best thing to do is to ask somebody who is a millionaire. If it took him ten years to become one, it will take you one year to become a millionaire like him. You can also use materials you can read on your own from such mentors.

In this case, a material from a self-made millionaire at a young age of 26 come handy. It provides you with the Ultimate Success Formula which will alter your perception and approach to work among other things.

The Importance of a System in Business Excellence

Business Excellence is the catalyst for any growing economy in America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and even in the Polar Regions. One of the fundamental keys in achieving business excellence is by building a system. A system is a group of sub-systems working together to achieve a common goal.

The key to effective system building is to understand that each sub-system has a unique function. Like we all know, a lot of people can make burgers better than Burger king or McDonalds but not everyone can build the system that works as effectively as theirs. Take a look at the speed at which meals are served, the environment, the uniformity of recipe all around the world in various franchise.

The truth is that a system is first of all built by technical skills. Technical skills are the skills that involve baking a cake, repairing a bike, fixing a car engine, writing a program; and so on. I hope you get my point? However, these technical skills alone would not effectively build a system.

To build a system effectively you need to develop MANAGERIAL SKILLS; this is the skill that involves dealing with people, it is the process of organizing and controlling the human and financial resources of your business to achieve a goal. Managerial skills involves; managing people and getting work done through other people. These skills can be developed and they can also be learned, by reading managerial books, attending seminars and programs.

However, it helps to go further to develop what I'll call LEADERSHIP SKILLS. These skills involve leadership, the ability to influence people, the habit of foresight. As the leader you are very much responsible for the growth of your company or business and this involve you to think, read, analyze decisions, make decisions swiftly and effect a change.

Understand the principle of synergy, Put ten men to do the work instead of do the work of ten men. Develop a training system for your employees and even when you loose money you will usually rise as a result of these skills that you have learned. If I can do it you can do it too!

5 Habits to Achieve Small Business Excellence

Most small businesses gain their success in the industry not just because they introduced great ideas or because of their excellent customer services. There is a lot more than just having a great idea or friendly customer service department that makes a small business shine from the rest of the pack.

In order to have a quality business outfit, entrepreneurs need to develop these five practices and apply them effectively with your team:

1. Set Your Expectations Clear - You need to determine what you want and what the rest of the team's goal is for the business. It is important that your business is going for a specific goal whether in terms of employees, services to customers, sales and the teamwork of the people involved. If you have clear goals, you can set your expectations and get them as you motivate everyone who is with you in reaching that goal.

2. Gather the Necessary Data and Analyze Them - All businesses have the passion for data gathering. A manager is working on the establishment's data throughout the day. This is because it is important that the management team is up-to-date with what is happening within the business. There should be a regular flow of information coming into the management team.

3. Exceeding Expectations - Every business organization has their expectations and needs to handle 100% of that to their services. However, in case there is a need for more products or to give out more than 100% of the expected service, your business should be able to handle that. That is what all excellent businesses have that others don't. Small businesses that can handle those types of expectations and are able to deliver to their customers have the opportunities of becoming large corporations.

4. Employee Promotion - Quality businesses develop their employees' talents rather than hiring new ones every year or so. If you want to build a good relationship with your teammates, you need to stick with them and expand their knowledge about the trade. This will also save time in hiring and training new employees. If you trust your current employees and improve their skills, it will be a plus for your business in the long run.

5. Celebrate Victories - Include everyone in your business when celebrating your victories and successes. This will motivate your employees to work harder and better to gain more excellence and achievements in the future.

Building an excellent small business is all about developing your habits. Whether you're the head of the team or an employee, taking a big part in the management team is important for the success of the business.

The 7 Steps to Achieving Business Excellence

Are you ready to make 2012 your lifetime best year? By following our seven steps to achieving business excellence, you can create successive years of lifetime bests!

Business excellence occurs when a business relentlessly and consistently executes effective and strategic action steps that lead to goal achievement.

Execution is the systematic, accountability driven, measurable way of effecting concrete action steps that are driven by strategy. Execution is fundamental to strategy and must be taken into account during the strategy development phase.

A business' success is dependent on the leader understanding what strategy and execution is, how they balance one another, and how to navigate them through the obstacles and surprises that show up in the course of business. Balancing execution and strategy is the key to business excellence and it is a lifelong journey for every organization.

All of this probably sounds kind of mystical and perhaps, rather "corporate America" for the business leader who has never truly sat down and developed his company's mission, vision, goals, and strategic plan. We have developed an easy-to-follow, seven-step formula to achieving excellence.

Would it be worth a couple of hours each week planning and measuring results if you could increase revenue and profitability while reducing the number of hours you have to work in a week? Yes? Then you will want to develop a strategic plan as soon as possible.

This is vitally important for every company - even solo-preneurs - who wants to achieve business success and excellence. Therefore, creating time for planning is a must. Another alternative to going it alone is to work with a strategy expert who possesses the knowledge to support you in developing the most comprehensive, objective, strategic plan possible.

Seven-Step Strategy to Business Excellence

1. Develop your company's Mission Statement.

The Mission Statement speaks to the "Why" of the organization. Why does it exist?

2. Develop your company's Vision Statement.

The Vision Statement speaks to the "Where." Where does the organization want to see itself in the future?

3. Develop your company's Value Statement.

The Value Statement speaks to the "What" of the company. What is the character or personality of the organization? What are its values and principles?

These first three steps are important because they direct how everything gets done. They provide the "soul" of the company. When a company isn't sure what to do in a given situation, they can turn to their Mission, Vision, and Value statements to determine exactly the right thing to do.

4. Set Goals.

The more vivid and concrete the longer-term goals are, the better the organization will do at aligning the near-term goals effectively. A one-year goal is always determined by the 3 - 5 year goals.

Quarterly objectives are derived from the annual goals. These quarterly objectives now frame the activity that must be accomplished each quarter to achieve the annual goals.

5. Create Alignment.

Transferring strategic activities to the appropriate people is the first step in achieving effective execution.

As you might expect, communication throughout all levels of your company is critical to business success. If you fail to communicate your plan to all players, no one will have a clue what it takes to succeed. Your people need to be intimately familiar with your Mission, Vision, Values, and your Strategic Plan if you are serious about achieving success and excellence.

6. Execute.

Managing the timely execution of the strategic activities is one of the most profitable tasks a leader can undertake. If you have more than one person or one unit in your company, the strategic action steps must be delegated to all departments and all of the people who are best suited to execute them. It is a waste of time to complete the previous steps if you don't execute on the plan.

7. Measure.

Measuring outcomes against objectives is important. It provides information to course correct in a timely manner or to adjust goals for acceleration.

A Strategic Plan is a living, dynamic document. It drives your business and must be integrated into every aspect of your organization. Achieving business excellence is not automatic, but it can be fun and it is a worthy goal. If you aren't playing to win, you might want to rethink what you are doing.

11 Ways a Food Safety Consultant Can Help Your Business

Businesses within the food industry have strong imperatives to become certified to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked standard. Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, the FDA is enforcing compliance with standards. Likewise, USDA requires meat, egg and poultry providers to comply with industry standards. Even retailers (like Wal-Mart and Costco) are now requiring their suppliers to become certified to a GFSI-approved standard. Teaming with an experienced food safety consultant is the easiest and most economical way to achieve a certification.

Here are eleven ways a food safety consultant can help businesses in the food industry:

1. Consultants provide seasoned expertise without having to increase your payroll.

2. By conducting an onsite "gap analysis," a consultant can quickly identify what must be accomplished to achieve a GFSI -approved certification.

3. They can help you select the best GFSI-benchmarked standard for your unique situation.

4. They can help you present the benefits of GFSI certification to senior management and explain the implementation process.

5. Your food safety management team will receive onsite training from certified experts.

6. They will help you identify and establish acceptable procedures to overcome food risks.

7. Consultants will help your team prepare required documentation for a certification audit.

8. They will conduct a "pre-certification audit" to ensure your business is ready for the real thing.

9. They can be an advisor during your certification audit, assisting you in quickly dealing with any discrepancies.

10. Consultants can provide ongoing expertise to ensure your management system remains in compliance and is prepared for follow-up audits by certifying bodies.

11. If one of your products requires a recall, a knowledgeable consultant can assist in crisis management and brand protection.

Food companies that are already certified to an industry standard may wish to upgrade to a GFSI-approved standard as a means of complying with new regulations, retailer requirements or expanding their market.

Numerous deadly outbreaks over the past years, such as e. coli and salmonella, have created a groundswell of demand for enhanced food safety processes. Sound business policies now require food providers to mitigate their liability by reducing food safety risks. Investing in an outside expert to evaluate current operations, help your company decide which standard best suits its needs, then working onsite with your team to prepare for a certification audit is a prudent business strategy.

Similar to utilizing inexpensive cloud-based solutions on the Internet, "renting" food safety expertise to train in-house personnel makes more sense than adding an expert to the payroll. Knowledgeable consultants can streamline your path to GFSI-approved certification, reducing liability risk and providing a solid foundation for subsequent business growth.

Food Product Labels - How Finding the Right Service Could Help Your Business

When it comes to starting a food business, you should always remember to entice your target market with every aspect of the product. If you're opting to sell a product which you have a lot of competition with, like cookies, preserved goods, or spreads, you have to find a way to make it more enticing, even before people try it. That's why food product labels are very important when it comes to marketing your product. You can't always offer free samples of your product and make people eat it just so they would know it's good. Sometimes, you have to attract their attention and make them want your product just by seeing its label.

One of the main purposes of food product labels is to make your product more appealing. But creating an effective label doesn't only mean making the design pretty. You also have to make sure that the quality of the print-out labels are good, durable for a long period of time, and most especially visually appealing.

If you're trying to sell preserved goods which are supposed to last for several months, you don't want to use labels that would look good only for a few weeks and which quality would expire faster than the product you're trying to sell.

Choosing a food product label printing service is very crucial if you are serious with your business. You cannot compromise with the quality of the food labels because once your product is out in the market, the labels are going to serve as your product's main advertising. So if you are thinking on cutting back on your budget for the labels, don't do it. It will do more harm than good, and you don't want that to happen. Good products become great with excellent food labels.

How to Build a Strong Pinterest Profile for Your Food Business

Your food business needs to be on Pinterest. If you're like most business owners, you probably think Pinterest and social media as a whole is a waste of time. Well it's not.

If you don't already know, Pinterest is the newest social site to hit the mainstream and it can be addictive. Most of the users are women, so if your product or service is marketed to women, you need to be on Pinterest now.

Before you get overwhelmed with yet another social media darling, take a few minutes to build yourself a strong Pinterest profile and a strategy for the best way to use it for your food business.

#1 Separate Your Personal Pinterest from Your Business Pinterest

You can have more than one Pinterest account. Simply send yourself an invitation so you can have a personal account and a business one. Do this as soon as possible because it takes a while for the team at Pinterest to send you the invite.

#2 Create a Username That Prospects and Customers Will Recognize

People will search for you on Pinterest. If you already have a Facebook and/or Twitter business profile try to keep them consistent with your Pinterest profile. If you can't get the exact name try adding "biz" to the end of the name. This will create continuity and make it easier for people to find you on any given site.

#3 Add an Image of Your Logo

Include an image of your logo if it is something people will recognize right away once they land on your Pinterest page. If you don't have a logo you can create an image of the business name, use the header from your website, or even use a picture of your flagship product. If you're a service provider or if there is a face to your business (like Martha or Rachel), upload a picture of that person. Just make sure that whatever you use, it is consistent through all social media websites.

#4 Your About Paragraph

Add a short description in your "About" page. Instead of listing your bio or a bunch of website addresses, keep it short and emphasize the benefits of your product or business. For example, if your food business is dedicated to gourmet party appetizers your bio might be as simple as "Gourmet appetizers delivered right to your door." Or "The easy way to serve hand-crafted appetizers at your next party...in 20 minutes or less."

#5 Add Follow Buttons

When you're creating your profile you have the option to add:

· Your website

· Your Twitter profile

· Your Facebook profile

They'll show up as buttons under your picture on your profile page. Fellow pinners can then click on any button and be taken to the respective site. Bonus: When you "pin" something you can click the Twitter button to tweet it or click the Facebook button and post your pin to Facebook in seconds!

As you're creating boards for your food business, try to capitalize on a few branding tactics. For example, add keywords to your board's names. For example, a few keywords to use in the food business can be: "gourmet food", "quick and easy recipes" and "food gifts".

Be sure to use related keywords for your specific business in the titles of your boards and also in the description section of what you pin and you will build a strong Pinterest profile in no time.

Food Storage Can Be A Good Home Based Business

When huge snowstorms are imminent and reported in the news, grocery store shelves are immediately depleted. When natural disasters strike with little warning, necessities are soon sold out. Having food and supplies on hand may be what sustains a person or family during emergencies. It is a wise move to store some extra food and water. There are opportunities for home based businesses in the food storage and emergency preparedness area, which could help people be prepared.

No one knows when a disaster will strike or when a family problem such as illness or unemployment may come. It is a good idea to be prepared for emergencies by having enough money and necessities saved for the rainy day which could come.

For people who want to be prepared for emergencies, having enough food and water on hand is essential. Food storage and emergency preparedness supplies are now sold through network marketing and home based businesses as well as in retail stores.

Food storage items sold through network marketing are specially formulated for longer term use. They are freeze dried or canned and packaged in a way which makes them last for years. Although it is recommended to regularly use and rotate the products, they can withstand storage for a long period of time.

Companies which specialize in food storage items have plans by which distributors and/or customers may buy a small amount each month and build up their food storage. They have programs which may be set up to buy a certain amount on a regular basis on autoship (which means the order is automatically placed and the credit card charged on a monthly basis). This is a good way to get started and to make sure that it is a priority for the food budget.

Families need to determine what they want to have on hand for emergencies. The food stored should be food which the family will eat. It will be of little value if the family refuses to eat the food although they might be willing to eat anything if a true emergency came.

It is also recommended to have a three day supply of food, water, and necessities packed in a backpack for each family member in case an emergency evacuation is required. The network marketing companies which sell food storage items often have these items for sale as well.

Anyone who is interested in food storage and emergency preparedness may find a business opportunity in that area of interest. As they are trying to reach people who want to start a food storage program, the word of mouth and party plan is part of their recruitment process for securing consultants and customers. It is a good opportunity to become prepared with the necessary supplies as well as to earn money which is an important part of being prepared.

Wasted Food in Businesses Should Be Donated - But Logistics Challenges the Common Good

One thing our think tank routinely discusses is how to solve the problems with starvation and hunger. In the US we have it pretty good, very rarely does anyone in our 300 million plus population die from starvation, I'd say that's a good thing. In the rest of the world, things are not so good, thus, such tragedies are all too common. Perhaps, when you were young your mother told you to eat all the food on your plate because there were people starving in Africa, China, India, or whatever nation she mentioned, well, that was true then, and it's still true today. Okay so let's talk.

It is my sincere belief that there is no food shortages in the world for human consumption, rather there is a distribution problem, and the same is true in the US with companies wasting food at the end of the day. Not long ago, I was reminded of this by a college student who wants to start a food drive, she stated that only;

"10% of food businesses donate their unsold food items at the end of the day to local food banks and homeless shelters."

That's not good you say - No that isn't good is it - especially for a major city in the US, and a nation of abundance.

Right so we have a distribution problem! And we are mismanaging our resources, while everyone runs around asking the government to fix the problem, so they want to raise taxes, which will make it worse. You see, there are more than enough people willing to volunteer, but we keep punishing those who help.

If a business donates food, and someone gets sick, some lawyer will sue, but we keep demanding more laws and regulations. Then a common sense solution like this comes along (pick up the food not used and deliver it to the local charity) and needs to battle the red-tape, and convince small and large businesses to give again - but they've been burned so many times, and folks don't even understand why these volunteers and businesses are less than interested in helping anymore.

How do you suppose I know about such things? Simple, I've been using my company to help the common good for decades, prior to retirement, and it is amazing what you have to go through just to help people, it's really a shame, then when the government tries, it just wastes more money, raises taxes, and the whole problem is unchanged for the most part. Please consider all this.

How to Start a Gourmet Food Product Business (Or Any Product) On a Shoestring

The first issue we see nascent entrepreneurs almost universally attempt to address is the perceived need for working capital. When we ask how much investment they believe is required to get their product to market, they never can justify what they identify as their magic number. I have yet to read a business plan that can justify the assumptions that are utilized to support the capital investment being sought, ever, and I read dozens of business plans each month.

My consulting firm reviews hundreds of new product ideas every year. Many have wonderful commercial prospects. However, almost none of the entrepreneurs offering these opportunities for funding have considered all of the possible avenues available to launch their idea. Funding is the "Holy Grail" in the eye of most entrepreneurs, and yet, a capital raise is the single hardest route they can attempt to utilize.

Investors, unless family or friends, demand a very high level of due diligence before they will stage a capital investment. Strong management, a clearly identifiable Unique Selling Proposition (USP), first mover advantage and a 35% return on invested capital kicking in between months 24 and 36 of operation are the basic guidelines typically utilized when underwriting opportunities. These are standards that very few entrepreneurs and inventors can achieve.

There are many ways to "bootstrap" new products or services before seeking a financing round. They are not glamorous, more like the old parable of the tortoise and hare. These strategies require the oldest trait known to inventive man: simple hard work!

Here is an example of a product that we recently "bootstrapped" to a successful market launch, and subsequent funding relationship. I received a call from a gentleman who owned a construction business. After initial platitudes, he advised me that he had created the world's greatest barbecue sauce. We receive a lot of food products for review, and every single one is accompanied by the old bromide, " it's the best in the world". I was wary.

Mr. Barbecue Sauce sent me a box of his three sauces to sample. They were very tasty. I advised him that the taste was surely excellent and potentially commercial but that he would have to utilize more of a "guerrilla" marketing strategy than his hoped for investor funding round. We wrangled for several months. He approached other consultants and food industry experts before finally coming back to us and agreeing that he needed to utilize a "plan B".

We contracted to write and execute a business plan for the launch of the sauces. We engaged the services of a dietician, a licensed food product private label source, a graphic designer and a packaging resource. We perfected the label statements and content values of the product. Then we conducted a focus group, obtained testimonials for attribution, and prepared sales collateral.

When the product, packaging and sales materials were market-ready we approached independent and regional purveyors of high-end gourmet food products. These types of retailers are much easier to work with, barriers to obtaining shelf space are small and they are keen to enjoy exclusive distribution of select items. Each door that was initially opened agreed to a schedule of product samplings. We set up a table on an aisle end cap, cooked top quality sausages and asked shoppers to choose which of the three styles of sauce they would prefer on their taste sample. We had an inventory of product on the end cap gondola with a special introductory price.

The results were gratifying and confirmed our assumptions that the barbecue sauces were truly commercial and consumer acceptance would be strong. The samplings lead to strong initial sales, but much more importantly, in subsequent weeks repeat sales began to grow without the aid of sampling.

Geographically, the client fanned out to the nearest markets and repeated the same limited, controlled roll out strategy. The results were always the same, a bit of a cult product was beginning to germinate.

For most of the first year of distribution we utilized the "tortoise and hare" approach. We then identified a gourmet product trade show in Orlando, took a stand and sampled the sauces just as we had in the first local gourmet products stores in the owners hometown. The difference is this instance, was that we were sampling, and taking orders from retailers from all over the United States and internationally, key decision makers in the gourmet product industry. Also, because the product was positioned as a gourmet foodstuff, price points reflected the sauces higher perceived value and the products were not buffeted by mass market discounting.

The entrepreneur had invested some reasonable amount of his own money, but this was mitigated by the go-slow approach we had undertaken. His initial sales funded the controlled rollout of the sauces to additional regional markets. He had not diluted a single percentage of his ownership by taking on investment partners. The growing order book from new retailers and repeat purchase orders were valued by his bank and he was introduced to the merchant bank division to establish a line of working capital.

Mr. Barbecue Sauce came to us with the notion that he needed $350,000 to fund the launch of his enterprise. As we initially quizzed him, he realized that he would really need to raise more like $1.2 million to realize his goal. By being open to alternative ideas, he avoided a huge pitfall that most entrepreneurs fall in too: raising $350,000 and failing is expensive, raising $1.2 million in order to insure success is cheap.

In this case, Mr. Barbecue Sauce was fortunate that there was an alternative strategy readily available to customize for his product. He mitigated risk, limited financial exposure, test marketed the product, extrapolated market potential based on real sales numbers and enjoyed the secure knowledge that the product was commercially viable without being at the mercy of investors demanding strict performance markers be constantly achieved.

Most entrepreneurs with truly commercial projects have many more options available to them than they ever consider. It is amazing how few projects are really fundable, and yet, investor funding is almost always the preferred route they choose to undertake. "Bootstrapping" is almost always the last alternative considered. Successful inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses will always do whatever is legally necessary to achieve success. Anything less is the equivalent of dreaming.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Food Cart Franchising Is Not As Hard As Other Businesses

Given a chance, business is one of the choices of people when it comes to making money. The problem is that there are a lot of things that you need to do in order to be successful with your business. But did you know that with the help of food cart franchising, you will be able to create a small business that can generate a passive income for you. The only thing that you need to do is to make sure that you have a good company, location, and food.

The main reason why food cart franchising is advisable for everyone is because a more successful company will be helping you with it. You will be able to use the name, trademark, and logo of the company where you will be getting your franchise. Aside from this, you will also be able to use the business system that they have, ensuring that food cart franchising will be a successful business for you. The company will also be providing the supplies, equipment, uniform, and machines that you need for your business.

Unlike starting your own business where you will be figuring out the things that you need to do, and the system that should be followed, food cart franchising is basically a business-in-a-box. If you have an extra space in front of your house, where hundreds of people are passing every day, you can already get into food cart franchising, and be sure that you will be successful with it. Heck! There are even some companies that will provide your crew, so you don't have to worry about anything.

You may be wondering why there are a lot of companies that are offering this kind of franchising business, right. Well, this method will help them make more money and make their products more accessible to everyone. If you are going to get into food cart franchising, you will be purchasing everything that you need from them, resulting to an increase in their income.

Another reason why food cart franchising is an easier business is because you won't be spending a lot of money just to start making money. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of companies that will allow you to get a franchise of their company for as low as $500, which is a very small amount compared to the amount that you will be spending if you are going to start your own business.

Aquaponics 4 You - A Sustainable Food Source For Your Home Or Business

Aquaponics 4 You is a methodology of empowering the average person to create and run their own sustainable, organic food production system by utilising a self-sustaining natural cycle involving plants and fish. Aquaponics teaches us there is an eco-friendly solution to the mainstream farming techniques both in agriculture and aquaculture, which both use large amounts of land, power and water. As human encroachment reduces still further the undeveloped parts of the world and destroys the rainforests, we need to start adopting efficient strategies to reverse this trend.

Aquaponics is a cross between Aquaculture and Hydroponics, which is the intensive rearing of fish for food stocks and the growth of plants in closed water systems. The two systems combine by creating a relationship between the fish and the plants. Fish are reared in a tank and their excretions in the form of solid waste sinks to the bottom of the tank. Here it sits in the gaps between the stones/gravel/sand and the process of nitrification takes place. This occurs by chemical process, when bacteria are introduced into the chain of events.

Three stages of bacteria break down the solid waste, which includes uneaten fish food, firstly into ammonia, then nitrites and finally nitrates. It is these nitrates that the plants take their nutrients from. Once these have been removed from the water by the process, the cleansed water is pumped back to the fish and the cycle starts again. In effect, the fish get their water cleaned and the plants get a food source for their efforts. Without this cleansing, the water in the fish tank would quickly increase in pH level to a level of toxicity which could damage the fish stocks.

The benefits of aquaponics systems are numerous and include:

They use a fraction of the water of traditional farming methods, sometimes as low as 2% and the water loss is minimal, only requiring a top up to replace natural evaporation, transpiration and rainfall overflow.

Land usage is reduced, which benefits the environment, brings down costs and allows for smaller plots to be farmed upon. This brings aquaponics into the realm of homeowners, who can set up their own sustainable food crop systems and rear fish into the bargain. The space required means aquaponics systems can be set up on a large or small-scale and on domestic or business premises.

The dangerous pollutants which can escape from traditional farming fertilizers and which can damage water supplies if they run off into river systems are not used in the aquaponics model, so vegetables and fish are produced organically with all of the associated positive effects and none of the negative issues such as pathogens. Aquaponics models still need careful monitoring and regulation though, as the bacteria used in the nitrification process can create problems if not managed professionally and with proficient knowledge.

Steven Bourne is a writer with personal interests in the renewable energy sector and his hobbies are centered around the great outdoors and DIY.

5 Tips on Starting a Small Food Business

So you want to get into the food business? You love to cook or bake and have mama's secret recipe that's been handed down from generation to generation You have a great product and you are wondering how to bring it to the masses. Here are a few tips from someone who with her sister is doing just that.

1. Where are you producing your product? Is this something you can make in your kitchen at home and sell or do you need a commercial use kitchen? Call your local health department and find out licensing and inspection requirements and restrictions on what you can legally produce and sell from your kitchen at home. If you do need a commercial use kitchen look for a "shared use kitchen" or a "community use kitchen" in your area to start. These generally have a small monthly fee and you pay by the hour when you use the kitchen. This is a great way to keep costs low while you grow your business.

2. Determine price point. Break down what it cost to produce your product and comparison shop. Purchase a similar product through a local specialty food store or market and through an online competitor. Ask yourself can your product command the same price, more or less. What will it cost to put your product in a customer's hand?

3. Labeling. Check with your local state health department and the FDA for labeling requirements. There are federally regulated guidelines you need to follow and there may be local state, city or town labeling requirements. Check on these and make sure you are adhering to them before you hire someone to create your labels. This could be a very costly mistake if you need to reprint your labels or pull your product from a shelf because the labels are incorrect.

4. How are you packaging your product? Wherever you intend on selling your goods, you need to test, test and test. You can't just put perishables in a box and send them. When you order from your competitors pay attention to how you received the goods. Did they include an ice brick or was it vacuum packed for freshness. Is this something your goods would need to arrive in edible condition? Test your packaging in a variety of climates. Send samples to your Aunt Betty who lives in Arizona and ask her to leave the sample outside all day to see how the contents hold up. Remember, when shipping to a residence someone may not be there to immediately take the package into the house and refrigerate. You need to plan for this. If you intend on selling in a store how will your packaging differentiate your product from the rest. Separate your product from the clutter.

5. How many products are you selling? If you are selling more than 1 item, don't be afraid to cut from your list of items, those that don't sell or no one is interested in. Do not get attached to products because they're one of your favorites but no one else is interested in them. When it's something your offer on your website or business, you need to have on hand the ingredients to make it. Never use old ingredients to make a product, it will affect the taste and ruin your reputation. Cut out what is not working. Think of your inventory as money with an expiration date sitting on a shelf just waiting to be thrown away.

There are a lot of other considerations before you start your business such as business name, web address, getting a trademark, business certificates, getting insurance, hiring a lawyer and so on. Make a list and work your list. It all starts when you implement. Remember you can have a great product or idea but if you do nothing about it it's nothing more than a great idea or product.

Types of Food Businesses and How to Start One

Any business that accommodates food industry in one way or another can be categorized as food business. A food business is not necessarily a business that sells food directly or indirectly, it can be a business that provides catering facilities or some business that arranges food in wedding functions. Similarly, you don't need to be a cook or chef because you can go for a food retail store where you just sell the items cooked/manufactured by others. Whatever type you choose, you can be sure of one thing, food items will be the last kind of product that will get out of demand. However that ever increasing demand doesn't guarantees success for a food business, with plus points there are the minuses and starting and running a food business is not without risks at all. As a matter of fact, it is as risky and as challenging as any other business.

First thing of course is to decide the type of food business you want to step into. There are various types and you must decide according to your interests and expertise. Talking about the options, you can open a full-fledged restaurant, you can go for a retail store selling fresh fruits and vegetables, you can start a bakery, sweet mart or a juice shop selling seasonal juices. Options are just innumerable, and the best thing about food business is that usually you don't need a very heavy investment to start with. You can rent a shop and start selling food in small quantities, after observing the response you can decide to expand or wrap up. If you are looking to sell one or more cooked food items, it's better to give it a try before starting a business. You can do so by letting your friends or family members taste and give their opinion. If you get positive reviews, you can be sure that the general public is going to like it.

One thing you must remember is the sensitive nature of the business. Food businesses have to follow strict laws and restrictions set by regulatory bodies. Even if the restrictions are not there, you must make sure that your food complies with the standard guidelines. Sometimes, people treat food business as any other business, trying to sell unhealthy and putrid food. You should never compromise on the health and well being of your customers. Don't get carried away by short term profitability because a food business that manages to win customer's trust will turn into a worthwhile venture that will grow on its own and continue to provide you profits for years to come.