http://www.ermainstitute.com – Supporting the Small Business Owner or Entrepreneur through the process of Starting a New Business or Helping an Established Business Grow by providing a comprehensive collection of services specifically designed to meet the needs of the Small Business Owner.

• Enhance Critical Skills of the Small Business Owner
• Respond to the Ever-Changing Business Environment
• Match Training and Coaching to the Unique Challenges Facing the Small Business Owner
• Act as a Support Unit for the Small Business Owner

• Identify and Understand How to Overcome the Fear of Sales
• Learn how to balance The Human Side of the Sale with the Business Side of the Sale
• Understand Your Products/Services Benefits
• Recognize your Customer and Tailor Your Sales Response to Each Customer
• The Importance of Follow-Through
• Grow Sales through the Customers Who Already Love You

• Overcome fear of sales: Being new to business field, it is very important for the entrepreneur to recognize and understand how to overcome the fear of sales.
• Balancing the personal sales and business sales: Many people tend to get confused with the human side of sales and business side of sales. The entrepreneur should know how to differentiate. This should be made possible with an effective sales training.
• Understanding the benefits of product/services: It is necessary to have a detailed study on the product or service you deal with. This is to make sure that you can face challenges that arise during any phase of the business cycle.
• Recognizing your customers: As an entrepreneur you should be able to identify your targeted audience. Only if you do so, you can choose the best suited marketing technique.
• Assess your strength and weakness: In order to compete in this highly competitive market, you should be able to identify your positives and negatives. Proper measures should also be taken to overcome the negatives to survive in the market. A good training program can make it possible.

About ERMAinstitute.com

http://www.ermainstitute.com/ offers high quality business training and solutions for small business start-ups.

About Ermainstitute.com:

• Enhance Critical Skills of the Small Business Owner,
• Respond to the Ever-Changing Business Environment,
• Match Training and Coaching to the Unique Challenges Facing the Small Business Owner and
• Act as a Support Unit for the Small Business Owner

Too Much To Do… Too Many Places to Be… Too Many Questions to Answer… Too Many Decisions to Make…

STOP THE MERRY-GO-ROUND OF "JUST DOING" and GET ON THE STRAIGHT ROAD OF PLANNED ACTION

The Small Business Owner/Entrepreneur is faced with major challenges when starting and sustaining their business. Small businesses can have a great idea or product, and still fail because of the lack of accounting, no business plan, no funding, no marketing strategy, or just the plain fear of selling. As the Business Owner, YOU must either know how to perform these tasks well or find a way to get them done.

A Business Owner is:

The Big Idea Person

It's Your Business, Your Idea, It's Your Responsibility to Keep the Ideas Flowing

The Strategic Planner

As the owner, it is you who must KNOW how to start, build or restructure your business for Success

The Money Magician

You are responsible for tracking the money, paying the bills, getting the loans, JUST MAKING IT HAPPEN

The Marketing Wizard

You have to market for customers to find you. As your company's Market Wizard you are in charge of image, public relations, advertising, promotion…

And That Still Leaves the:
# Sales Guru
# Human Resources Expert
# And Many More Hats….BUT WHO IS COUNTING

Let ERMA Institute™ help you understand how all of these BUSINESS HATS are essential to a Successful Small Business and what YOU AS A BUSINESS OWNER need to KNOW about each one of them.

Check Out Your Business DNA-
Is It Strong Enough To Beat the Competition?

Doctors recommend a periodic health examination to evaluate your current health situation. At the appointment they screen for risk factors and disease, and then provide preventive counseling interventions based on your age. The objective of the health examination and evaluation is to prevent the onset of disease or the worsening of an existing disease.

At ERMA Institute™, LLC we are dedicated to helping independent business owners perform a similar exam on their own company.

Why do some businesses grow and prosper, but others struggle and eventually fail? The real reasons for failure are not always clear, but success always comes from a combination of all three of the following key components:
• PASSION
• PREPARATION
• EXECUTION

These are three separate entities, but they are interrelated.  One is not more important than the other, because if one is consistently missing the business will struggle and ultimately fail. All of the essential elements of a successful business fall into one of the above categories.

We all know what it looks like when one of these key elements is missing.  You may see a person filled with PASSION who immediately jumps into action (EXECUTION) with little research, minimal information and often little support.  They find themselves in constant “crisis management” and eventually their PASSION falters.  Another person may have the same PASSION and spend countless hours and resources getting ready to start or expand a business (PREPARATION) but never put the plan into action.  The business never reaches its potential.  Some people work hard on PREPARATION and EXECUTION, but have no PASSION for the business and are unable to find the drive and energy necessary to start and maintain a business.  Each of these three elements needs to be functioning at optimal level.  That synergistic energy creates the engine that fuels a successful and growing business.

ERMA Institute™ is dedicated to helping business owners understand and implement strategies in all three areas -PASSION, PREPARATION and EXECUTION-in order to reach and consistently meet their strategic goals.

Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland, once said “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

You cannot fix a problem, if you do not know a problem exists. The following assessment is for both the start-up and established businesses. The questions are designed to help you diagnose the vulnerabilities of your business concept or your current business model. By completing this diagnostic tool, you can pinpoint what areas need your attention and implement strategies for success. By pinpointing your strengths and your weaknesses, you are able to effectively leverage and reinforce your strong points and improve your weaker points through learning, planning and strategic execution.

What is Your Profit Potential?

Whether you have a great idea for a business or you are working every day to make your business a success, complete this diagnostic test, receive our customized report and take an honest look at the true profit potential of your business.

Click here to take Your Business Wellness Questionnaire

Four-Letter Power Words for the Independent Business Owner

Words have impact. Words mean something. Often when we think of four letter words, we think of the ones that cannot be printed here. It is true those words may have a shock value; however, there are four-letter words that directly impact the success or failure of any business.

FEAR is a four-letter word that often prevents great business ideas, services and products to never happen. Fear paralyzes action, causes undue panic; it sets the stage for bad decisions. However, fear is actually a natural reaction to the unknown. We fear what we don’t understand, we fear what we cannot see, and we fear what we cannot change. Taking the time to actually define what we fear often gives us a broader view of reality. Once you can see the true picture of something, it is easier to develop a plan of action.

FAIL is one of the biggest words in the English Language. Unlike FEAR, FAIL is not an innate instinct. Babies learning to walk do not understand the concept of FAIL. Nothing deters them from learning to take those first steps. They may fall often, but they get right back up. As adults we have learned the dreaded word FAIL and everything that goes with it. The fear of failure causes us to stop trying, give up too early, lose our focus, stop thinking creatively, stop learning and stop finding solutions. It is these actions or lack thereof, that actually create the environment to FAIL.

The above four-letter words can destroy business success. The following four-letter words can spell victory for a business or in another four-letter word CASH for a business..

TELL – You have a great idea for a product or service. You want to make a business. A great service or product without a market has no value. Defining that target market is only one step in a complicated process. Some key questions have to be asked : “How are you going to TELL your target market about your particular product or service?” “What are the best information channels to TELL your target market about your product or service?” “Do you have a defined a concise a clear message to effectively TELL your market the benefits of your product or service.” What is the story of your product or service?

SELL – You may have a great product or service but how good are you at actually selling? Many people thing SELL is a bad word. It conjures pictures of “used car salesman with the checkered jacket, green pants and white shoes". SELL is the second part of TELL. TELL creates the INTEREST, SELL creates the BUSINESS. Making sales invokes a lot of anxiety for many business owners. There is the FEAR of failure, the FEAR of rejection, FEAR of loss. To SELL actually means to SHOW benefit. Showing the value of your product and/or service is the key element of a good sales plan. Are you using your entire sales force? Are you overlooking your SATISFIED customer base? Do you have a referral plan for your loyal customers to reward them for spreading the word?

PLAN – Taking the time to PLAN the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and HOW of your business is critical to initial and continued success of any business. WHO are going to be the key players in the business? WHAT exactly is your service or product and HOW is it unique. WHERE are you going to sell this product or service? WHEN will you begin to sell this product or service? HOW are you going to fund your business start-up, increasing technology needs, etc? Finding the answers to these questions and countless other ones is a requirement for success.

HEAR – Listening to the experts in the various fields that pertain to running your business successfully is a key to business success. Life-long learning is not an option, it is a reality. The business environment changes daily. The time window to implement positive change in business is getting shorter and shorter. “Doing things over and over again, expecting different results” is the definition of insanity. Running a viable business is a very complex endeavor, learning as much as you can BEFORE you make a mistake is much less painful and costly than learning FROM  your mistake.

RISK – Starting a business is a gamble under the best of circumstances. One only has to look at the statistics for business survival to realize that. However, RISK is an essential factor in running a business. RISK cannot be avoided, but it can be managed. However, RISK can only be controlled when you have true and correct information at your disposal. Do your financial records tell you what you need to know? Has your target market changed? Do you know what your competition is doing? What is the true cost of your product and/or service?

LAWS – Understanding all of the tax laws, zoning laws, licensing laws, employment laws add to this burden. However, the consequence of not understanding how various laws affect your business is a death knell for your business. Knowing not only what laws and regulations are important, but how they affect your business is also essential.

CASH – It is true-CASH is KING. Do you have the cash either in the bank or access through resources to not only start your business, but sustain it through its early years? Do you have a comprehensive financial system in place that not only tracks revenue and expenses, but provides the critical information necessary to make the right decisions for your business and its future? Do you have the documentation, i.e. business plan, financial reports necessary to apply for a business loan?

WORK – Most new and current businesses do not become successful just through another four-letter word LUCK. Another four-letter word BUSY does not necessarily translate in profit. If you are starting a business or trying to grow the one you own, are you prepared for the WORK involved? Do you have a concrete business plan? Have you identified your financial resources? Have you identified the personnel support you will need? Does your family support the time commitment that will be necessary in your endeavor? An old adage still remains true “WORK Smarter, NOT Harder.”

Click here to take Your Business Wellness Questionnaire

Are your financial reports giving you the TRUE picture of the financial health of your business?  What CAN your financial reports actually TELL you? Larger, successful companies rely on the accuracy and depth of their financial reporting to help them make key strategic decisions.  Those decisions may have to do with expansion, product development, employee hiring and/or compensation, marketing and advertising strategies.  If the financial information is incorrect or incomplete, a poor decision may result.If you have someone else do your books, you are still responsible for the final result.  Either you or your bookkeeper should be able to find out the following information from your financial records:

1. What is the TRUE cost of your product and/or  service?
2. What is your ACTUAL profit margin?
3. Are your COSTS still in control or have they been creeping up?
4. What is the TRUE cost of that new employee?
5. What is the ACTUAL cost of your advertising and is it a good return on investment?

This is only  a partial list of what your financials should be telling you.  Are you proactively planning tax strategies for your business? Are you throwing money away without even knowing it.  Are you missing business opportunities?

If you would like to unleash the power of your financial records, this seminar is for you.  There is GOOD and BAD financial reporting, however, if you do not do it correctly it will almost always get downright UGLY!

ERMA Institute believes once you have attended one seminar, you will be back for more.  So the first seminar you attend is FREE (up to $99.00) value.  Sign up today.  Call 303.945.2104.  Seating is limited.