The StartUp Blog at PartnerUp

One of the easiest and most efficient ways to get your product to market is through a great distributor, but there’s more to choosing one than simply having your pick of the litter. A distributor also has to want to carry your line, which is tough for companies entering into a market that already has a ton of products just like yours. So unless you have a product that is out-of-this-world unique, you’re going to need to market yourself to distributors by doing something to stand out. You can offer more money or some nice perks. You can demonstrate that your product has strong consumer appeal or that you have a track record of successful new products. Pitch whatever you need to to show distributors that your product will be profitable for them. Just make sure your distributors provide the level of service that you want associated with your product. Choosing the wrong distributor can ruin customer relationships and the image of your brand or product.

Generation Y, those between the ages of 16 and 29 (depending on the source), is comprised of more than 75 million people and is transforming the traditional workplace as we know it, according to a recent BusinessPundit post.

As more and more baby boomers start to retire, the number of Gen-Yers in the workforce is only going to increase, which is why business owners and managers need to listen up. Generation Y has a lot to bring to the table. They’re tech-savvy multi-taskers with good networking skills, and they introduce real innovation into the workplace. But if you want them to work for you, then you’re going to need to understand a few things about them.

Gen-Y employees like to have a lot of input and control over their jobs. They’re not just mindless order-takers. They have ideas and opinions and are not afraid to voice them. They also like to maintain a work/life balance. This is where things like telecommuting and flexible scheduling might come in handy. Finally, Gen-Yers want to make a difference. They want to see the impact that their work is making on the company, and they want to feel like they’re making a difference in the world.

As a member of the Gen-Y crowd myself, I’m proud of what my generation has become. We grew up in the age of baggy jeans and dirty flannel shirts, trolls, and worst of all the “Macarena.” Despite all of that we turned out pretty OK. Then again we also had such cultural masterpieces as Nintendo Gameboy, Super Soakers and “The Simpsons,” so I guess it all evens out.

Anyway, small businesses in nature are primed to meet the wants and needs of this growing sector of the workforce. If they don’t embrace this generation and take advantage of their competitive edge, they’ll likely miss out on a huge opportunity.

Have a great weekend!

As the economy worsens many small businesses are saving their highly-coveted cash by turning to the age-old practice of bartering, according to a recent New York Times article.

The informal exchange of goods and services between small business owners has been going on for a long time. Relatively new to the game, however, are online barter exchanges like U-Exchange.com. The Internet has extended the reach of bartering and made it possible for small business owners to meet other willing barterers that they wouldn’t have otherwise met. Also, it’s now becoming customary that these online exchanges enable their members to build credit that can be used for future transactions.

Bartering is appealing to strapped-for-cash business owners because it can find them new customers, both bartering and cash-paying, and it can help them conserve their monetary funds. Because of this, online barter exchanges have recently seen increases in both membership and transactions. Here’s an example from the New York Times of how members are using the service.

One new member at U-Exchange is R House Construction, owned by Rich Rowley of Tacoma, Wash. In a recent post on U-Exchange, he offered new home construction, remodeling, home repairs, real estate work orders, home maintenance and commercial improvements. In exchange, Mr. Rowley is looking for vacations, real estate, homes, land, dining, medical care, dental care, a boat, a motor home, groceries, gas, entertainment, a ski pass and tickets to Mariners baseball games or Seahawks football games.

Barter exchanges are a great way to start conserving your cash, but be warned. You must be careful about how much of your business comes from bartering. “Experts recommend that a business use barter for no more than 5 to 15 percent of sales to avoid crowding out cash business.”

One of the most important characteristics a person can have when starting a business is passion. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, then success will come that much easier. The problem with passion is that even if you have it, you can lose it.

I recently read two blog posts about passion in business—one about losing it and one about maintaining it. The post about losing your passion pointed to “trying to do it all” as one of the ways entrepreneurs quickly lose their enthusiasm for the job. It’s hard for them to relinquish any amount of control—even if it’s tasks they hate—because they rarely believe that others are capable of doing things up to their standards.

What the other post (the one about maintaining your passion) points out is that entrepreneurs must take it upon themselves to fight the urge to be a do-it-all entrepreneur. Obviously when entrepreneurs are in startup mode they have no choice but to do it all. When business starts to pick up, however, the onus is on them to maintain their passion by continuing to do the things that they enjoy and then outsourcing those tasks that are sure to cause burn out.

As a business owner your job is to strategize and manage, not code a website, write a press release or create sales collateral. The bottom line is that you need to make sure you’re focusing your efforts on those tasks that will continue to give you that zest for business, not those that you just don’t trust others to do.

Part of securing a bank loan for your small business is choosing the right bank. Start by looking at the financial institutions that you’re already working with or have worked with in the past. There’s definitely an advantage to being a familiar face. These banks already have records of your history and financial behavior, and if you’ve already demonstrated to them that you’re financially responsible, then you’re in good shape. If getting a loan from a bank you already do business with is not an option, then take a look at smaller institutions, like credit unions. With institutions like these you are more likely to be able to talk directly to higher-level decision makers right off the bat.

When you run a small business, you will no doubt encounter delinquent payments every now and then. Trying to get your customers to pay their bills sucks. It takes time, effort and it’s not at all fun…unless you live in Spain.

In the United States it’s illegal for business owners to humiliate delinquents in front of their friends, family and neighbors. In Spain it is not, and it turns out that the Spanish are experiencing quite a bit of success with this. Here are some awesome examples of businesses going the whole nine yards to mortify their customers into paying their bills.

   1. Employees make flamboyant house calls in top hats and coats with tails.

   2. Employees dress as Franciscan friars when they pay visits to delinquents.

   3. Collector sends bagpipe players to announce the debt to the entire neighborhood.

Here’s my personal favorite…

   4. One debtor hurriedly paid off his daughter’s wedding tab when the collector found the guest list and began billing each attendee for his or her “share” of the debt.

Classic! Whoever came up with that one is a genius. Apparently shame is far more likely to prompt customers into owning up to their debts than, say, the standard phone call or tersely-worded email. I’m not suggesting that you should ever humiliate your customers (it is after all still illegal here in America), but it’s funny to hear stories like these of people who do.

Have a great weekend!

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced tougher regulations late last month regarding immigration and the duties of employers. According to the new rule, employers have 90 days to resolve a “no-match” letter, which notifies an employer that there is a discrepancy with an employee’s legal working status. If they don’t do so within the 90 days, they could face a fine of up to $10,000.

The premise behind the rule is to make employers who receive a no-match letter and don’t respond aware that they are employing an undocumented worker. To avoid liability, employers must take certain steps.

1. Check for typographical or clerical errors within 30 days.
2. If there are errors, the employer must correct the error, inform DHS or the Social Security Administration (SSA) of the correction and verify that the corrected information is congruent with social security records.
3. If there are no errors, employers must ask the employee to confirm that the records are correct.
4. If the employee states that the records are incorrect, then employers need to amend their records and verify with DHS or SSA.
5. If the employee states that the records are correct, then the employee should take the matter up with the SSA. To minimize liability, employers should also contact their local DHS office on the matter.
6. If the discrepancy is not resolved within 90 days, the employer and employee have three additional days to fill out an Employee Eligibility Verification Form as a last-ditch effort to resolve the issue.
7. If the discrepancy still can’t be explained, then the employee must be fired. DHS assumes that if the employee isn’t fired, the employer must then be aware that he or she is employing an undocumented worker and will be fined.

The new rule has not yet been finalized, but DHS is in the process of petitioning a federal district court to move forward with enforcing it. The National Federation of Independent Business strongly encourages small business owners to become familiar with the rule so that they know how to appropriately respond to a no-match letter should they ever happen to receive one.

Credit card fees are a huge pain for small business owners. Every time customers run a debit or credit card a percentage of their purchase goes directly to the banks.

For some time now small businesses have disregarded the fees, which also impact consumer prices, as a necessary annoyance. As more and more of them are being forced to watch each and every dollar, however; some in Washington are lobbying for fairness and the ability to level the playing field.

Right now few businesses can afford to reject cards because of the frequency with which consumers use them, but for small businesses these seemingly minute amounts of money can make all the difference in the future of their businesses.

Merchant card fees are broken down into “an ‘interchange fee,’ which includes an average 1.7 percent of the sale price and a flat per-transaction fee, and a separate fee that goes to the merchant’s bank,” according to a recent New York Times article. The Times offers this example:

Take, for example, a driver who pays for a $1,000 car repair with a credit card. The bank that issued the consumer’s card receives an interchange fee of $17.10 (including a 10-cent flat fee), while the repair shop’s bank gets $4, or four-tenths of 1 percent of the total sale. The repair shop pockets $978.90.

According to the Nilson Report, a payment systems industry newsletter, merchants paid $61.56 billion in electronic payment fees in 2007. Lenders received an estimated 82.5 percent of that money.

It’s because of figures like these that Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, introduced legislation to crack down on these excessive merchant fees. Welch told the New York Times that “American merchants are paying the world’s highest interchange fees…with literally no protection.”

Welch’s bill will require credit card companies to disclose all rates, terms and conditions to the public. The bill will also allow the Federal Trade Commission to review the practices of credit card companies and prohibit any that violate consumer-protection or anti-competitive laws. The bill would also allow merchants to give consumers who pay in cash a discount and bans penalties on small businesses that process only a small number of transactions.

Some small business owners don’t believe that legislation is the way to go, while others are thrilled about the potential for reduced fees. What do you think?