2006 Nov/Dec

Every business sooner or later will be sold or transferred to someone else. Whether that someone else is an insider (e.g., a family member or key employee) or an outsider, certain steps can be taken to ensure that the transfer achieves the goals of the business owner.

This is the third in our Inside Leadership series, in which Cape Business interviews executives to learn what makes them tick – and how their leadership tips can help every business owner and manager on Cape Cod. In this issue, we talk with Carol Sim, President and CEO of the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands.

An old joke says an entrepreneur is someone who works only half time –12 hours a day. Or, entrepreneurs are people who set their own hours – from 6 a.m. to midnight. Not necessarily. You don’t have to organize, operate and implement every aspect of the business yourself or with your own staff.

Listen … can you hear the rumbling in the distance? And is it cause for alarm? If you are a business owner, the answer is categorically yes!

Small business owners often think they are too small to have an official employee handbook. However, the courts expect companies to provide their employees with a clear and informative document that explains what the rules are.

Many studies report that speaking in front of a group tops the list of adult fears. We fear public speaking more than we fear heights, dogs, loneliness, financial concerns, and even death.

What does the new health insurance law mean for your business?

Business analysts say the marketing plan may be the most important element of your overall business plan. The marketing plan covers your products and services, markets, financial issues and sales tactics, which are the core of your business.

Our Retail Details guru, Doug Fleener, shares 50 ways to be more customer-focused. “When you let your customers know that you appreciate them,” he said, “they’ll show you that they appreciate you by purchasing more of your products and becoming a loyal customer.”

Why do consumers buy from you and not from the many other businesses in the field? Often because they have heard of you, remember your name and you are more visible in the community.

Julie Brooks of eCape.com and Leslie Fishlock of Genevate offer 20 ways to use the Internet to grow your business and your profits.

Recently I was talking with some friends of mine and the topic turned to fear of rejection and rejection itself. Naturally, each of us could tell our own tales of rejection.

Software as a Service, or SaaS, is a way of describing any software that your business may need to use that would normally run on a computer in your office but can now be served up on the Internet via a Web browser.

It can often seem that technology is moving a mile a minute. After tending to the daily demands of work and life, it can be hard to keep up with the latest and greatest gadgets and trends. We have reviewed many of the hot technology topics to bring you a primer on the state of business and personal technology for 2007.

It can be argued that the single most important software program to your business, no matter the industry, is the accounting software. This application will help you maintain your accounts, receive payments, pay your bills and manage your financial reports. Your business can’t run without it. So which is the right software for you?

Federal experts estimate that after a large disaster like Hurricane Katrina, 40 percent of small businesses shut down permanently. Dowling & O'Neil Insurance Agency provides tips to protect your business from just such an event.

Cape Business spoke with Peter Christie, CEO and president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, about the state of the dining industry on the Cape and his projections for the future.

Cape Business spoke with Rory Tagliaferri, owner of Chatham and Dennisport Natural Markets.

In addition to fostering entrepreneurship and providing networking opportunities for women, the American Business Women’s Association of Cape Cod holds education as one of its guiding principles. In that vein, each year ABWA raises money for local scholarships for Cape and Islands women.

Being in control of one’s future, having one’s own “little corner of the world,” is the dream of the entrepreneur. However, any successful business owner will tell you that the reality of owning your own business is a far cry from the dream. It takes awesome courage and blind optimism to defy insurmountable odds to go after the dream in the first place.

Reports of the death of classic marketing may be premature. So if you think Web advertising trumps print or that cable television leaves networks in the dust, you may have to take another look.

As a speaker at Cape Business Connect 2006, I will talk about “Growing Your Business: Critical Strategies to Increased Sales, Profitability and Business Value.” At last year’s Business Connect, I provided a broad overview of “The Four Ways to Grow Your Business.” This year, we’ll drill down and provide far more depth.

Cape Business consultant Beth O'Neal, Esq., of Masterman, Culbert and Tully LLP discusses tip-sharing pools, identity and eligibility to work, and maternity and partenity leave in this column.

New or old, startup or conglomerate, your business needs a plan.

One of the toughest business challenges is how to increase sales profitably. The task is all the more daunting in a slowing economy and a saturated market.

Willy Wetzel was born and raised in Indonesia. He could speak three languages. At 9 years old, he was recruited to help locate secret rebel training camps in return for fighting lessons. At 17, he joined the Dutch secret service to locate leaders of rebel factions.

The Bellezza Day Spa in Falmouth may look like a typical storefront beauty salon, until you walk inside. Its design and layout – as well as its $1 million renovation budget – are more characteristic of Manhattan than Cape Cod.

Last December, First Citizens’ Federal Credit Union was among eight credit unions that met at a company called Octant Business Services to sign an agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration that would ultimately allow them all to offer small business loans for the first time.

Margaret Earhart is a financial adviser who specializes in long-term care insurance. As an independent businessperson, she was looking for a competitive edge in a crowded field dominated by bigger, more diverse companies with national brands. Last year, she met Kathey Hickey Fulham, an Osterville-based CPA. Inspiration struck: What if they could join forces to offer their respective clients each other’s services? Bigger would be better.

Some businesses – like NeuEon Inc. – extend teamwork into virtual space. This new-age technology consulting company is here, there and everywhere – partnering formally and informally with scores of companies locally and beyond Cape Cod – all via the Internet.

Tradition and charm remains its No. 1 asset, but second-home owners, new businesses and technology alter Chatham’s economic landscape.

Chatham is a world unto itself – but that world doesn’t end with the sidewalks of Main Street. In addition to a thriving downtown area that attracts people by the scores, there are other parts of town that have their own charms.

Like their counterparts in surrounding Cape towns, Chatham businesses struggle with the challenges of a seasonal economy. While the busy summer months bring an influx of new and returning customers, year-round businesses also need the increasingly popular “shoulder seasons” of spring and fall. For some businesses, such as restaurants, the loyalty of year-round residents is key, and resorts cater to weddings and holiday events. While traditional advertising still works, an increasing number of businesses are using the Internet to draw people in – or in many cases, to drum up virtual business.

We interviewed Tom Bernardo and Gus Johnson, the former and new presidents, respectively, of the Chatham Merchants Association, about Chatham – its strengths and its opportunities. Johnson owns Christmas Joy of Chatham; Bernardo is founder of Chatham Business Assistance, specializing in assisting the small business community.

The arts clearly abound in Chatham, a town that is home to three dance studios, two theater companies, a number of galleries and a thriving Creative Arts Center, which offers classes and events all year.

Cape Business recently spoke with Paul Parker, director of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association in North Chatham, about the importance of the fishing industry to Chatham’s economy.