Building Strong Customer Relations

Every entrepreneur should keep ‘front of mind’ that customers are not just good for your business, customers are your business! It is a given that your customers are the most important need of your business: without them you have no business. It follows then that fostering an excellent relationship with your customers is the means to success. Understand […]

Do I Need A Holding Company ?

You, (or you & others), own the shares of the company that operates your business (aka OpCo). Do you need a holding company (aka HoldCo) that would own the shares of OpCo? This is an important question. Some advantages of a HoldCo are discussed below. Setting up and maintaining a HoldCo involves administrative and regulatory compliance requirements, (similar […]

HOW TO GET TESTIMONIALS

1. Ask in Person Ask your client, in person, for a testimonial when the work is done. Ask them to describe the problem, explain the solution, how it helped, and how it was to do business with you. Send a reminder if your client forgets. For credibility, it is best if the client’s personal / […]

When To Prepare For Selling A Business

A Succession Plan Although hard to imagine, someday you’ll want to, or need to, sell your business; maybe lack of interest or energy, age or unexpected failing health. You should start thinking about a sale from the day you incorporate. Having a succession plan is critical for an organized, orderly, successful sale. It creates certainty and […]

Why Do I Need To Learn To Sell To Be Successful…

This is a question that is frequently raised in our ASE meetings. Whether in business or in life in general, I feel that ability to convince and persuade, is a most important differentiator between success and failure. We all inadvertently sell. Many conversations opinions and assessments we engage in, are selling statements. Some have opined […]

ASE update

ASE logo

Dear Friends, clients and future clients, Over the years we have enjoyed presenting our newsletter to you and are always happy to hear that you are enjoying the content. It has been a great pleasure for us to help so many of you with so many aspects of your business over the years in our […]

INTERNET TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS

I remember the days when business life was simple, everything was manual and computers didn’t exist. In reality it was not that long ago. History indicates that in 1951 the first general purpose computer for businesses came into play. Since that time computers have evolved to be in every part of everyday life. IT used […]

THE VALUE OF REFERRALS

If you could save both time and money in acquiring clients, would you be interested? And if this marketing strategy resulted in a higher retention rate of clients would you implement it? It’s known as ‘Referral Marketing’ or word of mouth marketing. Most businesses have not developed a formal referral system. An ad hoc approach […]

Do I need a Business partner?

In our ASE Advisory meetings we often come across this comment from businesses we advice. “I need a partner”. Sometimes so frustrated is the client, that I believe they simply seek an accomplice they can blame. Other times the comment is valid. Work load excessive; Skill sets missing; such partners fill gaps in resources such […]

The Elevator Pitch

THE ELEVATOR PITCH In a previous newsletter [November, 2020] we discussed mission statements, vision statements and value statements. The importance of having each one of these statements is to create a clear and concise picture of what is the core essence of your business. With this front of mind awareness, you and your staff know […]