Business Tips and Insights

Summary:
Flyers are a great marketing tool for promotion. However printing the wrong information on them can easily get them ignored. When you spend money to print marketing materials, the last you want is your advertising money down the drain.

Yes, flyers are a great way to market things such as an event or club night. It’s quite common for flyers to be used throughout the country for various different student promotions. When you make a flyer, you want it to make its way around and not become the next thing that a person throws in the trash

These 10 tips will help you avoid having your flyer the next thing a person throws in the trash:

1. Keep up to date with things, so that you don’t miss out. Always make sure to double check the local Fresher’s week and 2009/2010 semester terms. Make sure to check with the local universities, since they vary nationwide.

2) Make the flyers enticing to students, so it gives them a reason to want to keep them. Think about including things such as special offers, discounts or event things like drink promotions.

3) Include key facts like what you are promoting, when it will be, why you are doing it, and how you plan to do it and where it will be. Make sure to list all relevant information, such as how much it will cost, the time it will be, the address or venue it will be at and what date, along with you contact information and url.

4) Double check all spelling and grammar on your flyer before having it go to print.

5) The company that you choose as the printers for the flyers be sure to check on their delivery times. When you have a lot to print, you don’t want problems when it comes to distribution times.

6) Leave flyers in places where the students that you are targeting hang out. It would not hurt to meet some of the students to help you with brainstorming with ideas for placement.

7) When you want students to remember what you are promoting, it helps to include things like topical humor, or strong visuals. If they really like them, you may even get some of the students putting your flyers on their bedroom walls. Students will take any chance they get to replace an old poster their mom gave them, with something that looks cool.

Get the opinions of some local students on your sample flyer designs. This will help give you an idea to which has to most marketing appeal.

9) Think about handing out the flyers yourself. This helps maximize your budget, therefore increasing your sales and profits, which is a win-win situation. Personally doing it, also shows your enthusiasm and familiarizes others with your friendly face, which works wonders.

10) Stay away from the trashcans by using the above tips.

The world is increasingly becoming a place which is being dominated by materialism. People are willing to sacrifice everything at the altars of money and profit making. Words like morality, humanity and especially ethics have all become obsolete notions in today’s world. All the qualities that had distinguished human beings from animals are slowly fading out from human nature. Yet, ironically, the only way to win somebody else’s trust in this world dominated by suspicion is by being ethical and by learning to believe that at times other factors can play a bigger role in one’s life than money. We hear of so many breaches of trust that occur in the sphere of human relations. So many doctors swindle their patients of thousands of dollars in the name of medicine. Some of them even betray one of their greatest vows of client confidentiality and all for the sake of money. No wonder the daily newspapers are full of stories of how companies have swindled their clients and of the billion dollar lawsuits that follow as a consequence. The entire concept of customer trust has fallen on its face. So how to ensure that your business stays ahead in the rat race? It is not by introducing tempting offers and consumer "benefit policies". Build a trustworthy reputation as a company that doesn’t place money above everything else. There are some scruples that you should follow which will help your business flourish above all the other money making machines.

Firstly, there is no difference between personal and professional ethics. Both are based on principles of trust, honesty and transparency. Always try to be truthful and play fair. Do not let money dominate all your interactions with your clients. Value them as human beings and not potential teller machines. This will build mutual trust.

Secondly, play fair in the sense that make sure both you and your client are on the same level in any dealing. The negotiations should be just.

Thirdly, maintain your integrity and always be reliable. Treat your clients with consistency. Keep to your commitments and never back out on your promises.

Always speak the truth. Or at least make sure that you are truthful where it matters. Do not lure your clients with false promises, especially in a time when companies do not hesitate to build castles in the air for their clients.

Be dependable. Always provide your clients with answers to their questions, and be reliable by providing whatever feedback that they may ask for. In case you ever feel that your company might not be able to provide for their needs, make no bones about it and inform them. Your clients will respect you for your transparency.

Have a clear and planned future organized for your company. Have a vision and some set goals ahead of you. Be sure of what you want to go in the future.

Make your business ethics an universal standard. Maintain them both inside and outside the boardroom.
Be practical. Businesses need to make a profit. Have an efficient internal administration with clear future goals. Take care of your company.

Create certain values for your company. Have some ideals and aspirations that you must follow as a commercial enterprise. These standards must be universal and consistent. Ethics are about certain scruples that you will not violate, no matter what the temptation.

The leadership has to be very strong. All ethics emanate from the leader and therefore, you as the leader have to be strong and firm. Your values and standards must be firm and consistent.

Try to raise your standards by asking your clients for feedback. Always make them feel as if they are part of your decision making. Do not stop them. Actually implement the suggestions that your customers have to offer.

Asses your beliefs and decide whether the goals that you have for the company really reflect your beliefs and standards.

Always ask yourself how you can be better and stronger. Never rest on your laurels because that can make you complacent. Once that seeps in, the quality will suffer and that will not be fair on your clients.

Treat your co-workers and employees with consideration and fairness. Remember that they are the ones who are responsible for the running of your company. If you treat them well then they will return with good service.
Loyalty breeds further loyalty and mutual respect. Remember that compassion and respect are integral elements of business ethics.

Polish your own skills. Be the best at whatever you are doing. If you are good, then your professional expertise will reflect in your dealing with your clients.

Observe your daily behavior in your own workplace. Is it reflecting a high standard of workplace ethics? If not then look for ways in which you can change. Remember that your personal ethics will reflect on your workplace ethics.

Look at your own standards. Are you someone who follows the herd mentality and therefore settles for mediocrity? If you are someone like that then you must raise your standards because you must remember that your customers will only settle for the best. Do NOT ever develop a reputation for mediocrity.

Introduce the element of the personal into your interactions with your clients. Make them feel valued and respected as valued individuals who are making a difference to your company. Treat them personally as unique individuals and not as a herd of customers.

Be transparent in your dealings with your clients. Do not manipulate processes behind their backs. If they ever ask you anything about how you managed to pull off a deal or a transaction in their favor or even why you failed to deliver to their satisfaction then answer honestly. Make sure that all the stages in your deals are explained to your clients.

Lastly, and very importantly, never underestimate the intelligence of your clients. Do not take them for a ride, thinking that they were born yesterday. People today are very aware of their rights as consumers and do not get fooled easily.

Joint ventures may mean many things, depending upon the context we are using it in. But in a broader sense, a joint venture is the pooling of resources and expertise by two or more businesses, to achieve a particular goal. The risks and rewards of the business are also shared. It is becoming increasingly common for companies to create joint ventures with other businesses/companies and form strategic alliances with them. The reasons behind the joint venture often include business expansion, development of new products or moving into new markets, particularly in another country. Business can achieve unexpected gains through joint ventures with a partner. The major benefits of joint venture are as follows:

Established brand name: When two businesses enter into a joint venture one of the parties benefits from the other’s goodwill which has already been established in the market. There is a ready market waiting for the product to be launched. A lot of investment is saved in the process.

Low cost of production: The international partner thus, gets the products of required quality and a stipulation at a much lower cost than what is prevailing in the home country.

Increased resources and capacity: Joining hands with another or teaming up adds to existing resources and capacity enabling the joint venture company to grow and expand more quickly and efficiently.

Access to technology: Advanced techniques of production leading to superior quality products saves a lot of time, energy and investment as they do not have to develop their own technology.

Innovation: Joint ventures allow business to come up with something new and creative for the same market. Especially foreign partners can come up with innovative products because of new ideas and technology.

In order to appreciate how business activity is different from other activities in society, the nature of business or its fundamental character must be explained in terms of its distinguishing characteristics, given as below:

An economic activity: Business is considered to be an economic activity because it is undertaken with the object of earning money or livelihood and not because of love, affection, sympathy or any other sentimental reason. For example, a worker who’s working in a factory, a doctor operating in his clinic, a manager working in the office and a teacher teaching in a school— are doing so to earn their livelihood and are, therefore, engaged in an economic activity. On the other hand, a housewife cooking food for her family is performing a non-economic activity since they are doing so out of sympathy or love.

Profit earning: No business can survive for long without earning profit. The main purpose of business is to earn income by way of profit. That is why businessmen make all possible efforts to maximize profits, by increasing the volume of sales or reducing costs.

Dealings on a regular basis: Business involves dealings in goods or services on a regular basis. One single transaction of sale or purchase, therefore, does not constitute business.

Sale or exchange of goods and services for the contentment of human requirements: Directly or indirectly, business involves transfer or exchange of goods and services for value. If goods are produced not for the purpose of sale but say for internal consumption, it cannot be called a business activity.

Production or procurement of goods and services: Before goods are offered to people for consumption they must be either produced or procured by business enterprises. Thus, every business enterprise either manufactures the goods it deals in or it acquires them from producers, to be further sold to consumers or users.

Global enterprises are huge industrial organizations which extend their industrial and marketing operations through a network of their branches in several countries. MNCs as is evident from what we see around us are gigantic organizations/firms which have their operations in a number of countries. They are characterized by their huge size, large number of products, advanced technology, marketing strategies and network of operations all over the world. These enterprises operate in several areas producing multiple products with their business strategy extending over a number of countries. They have an impact on the international economy also. This is evident from the fact that the sales of top 200 corporations were equivalent to 28.3 percent of the world’s GDP in 1998. Therefore, MNCs are in a position to exercise massive control on the world economy because of their capital resources, latest technology and goodwill. These corporations have distinct features which distinguish them from other forms of organization

Features:

Huge capital resources: These enterprises are characterized by possessing huge financial resources and also the ability to raise funds from different sources. They are also in a position to borrow from financial institutions and international banks.

Foreign collaboration: Global enterprises usually enter into agreements with Indian companies pertaining to the sale of technology, production of goods, use of brand names for the final products, etc. Big industrial houses wanting to diversify and expand have gained by collaborating with MNCs in terms of patents, resources, foreign exchange etc. But at the same time these foreign collaborations have given rise to the growth of monopolies and concentration of power in few hands.

Advanced technology: These enterprises possess technological superiorities in their methods of production. They are able to conform to international standards and quality specifications. Computerization and other inventions have come due to the technological advancements provided by MNCs.

For a layperson, services are essentially intangibles. Their purchase does not result in the ownership of anything physical. But the actual definition is that Services are that separately identifiable, essentially intangible activity that provides satisfaction of wants, and are not necessarily linked to the sale of a product or another service. There are five basic features of services.

Intangibility: One cannot taste a doctor’s treatment, or touch entertainment. One can only experience it. Therefore, Services are intangible, i.e., they cannot be touched. An important implication of this is that quality of the offer can often not be determined before consumption and, therefore, purchase.

Inconsistency: The second important characteristic of services is inconsistency. Different customers have different demands and expectations. Service providers need to have an opportunity to alter their offer to closely meet the requirements of the customers. They cannot be performed earlier to be consumed at a later date. For example, a railway ticket can be stored but the railway journey will be experienced only when the railways provides it.

Inseparability: Another important characteristic of services is the simultaneous activity of production and consumption being performed. This makes the production and consumption of services seem to be inseparable. Service providers may design a substitute for the person by using appropriate technology but the interaction with the customer remains a key feature of services.

Inventory (Less): Services have little or no tangible components and, therefore, cannot be stored for a future use. That is, services are perishable and providers can, at best, store some associated goods but not the service itself.

Involvement: This feature refers to the participation of the customer in the service delivery process. A customer has the opportunity to get the services modified according to specific requirements.