Small Business Financing Concepts

There is a saying that the pen is mightier than the sword, and history has proven it true. The ball point pen was invented in 1938 by the Hungarian journalist Laszlo Biro. Since then, it has been responsible for changing the annals of history. Wars were won and lost because of a pen. Deals were made and broken because of a pen. A single pen made businesses flourish although for some, it sealed their doom. But most importantly, a pen can spread love or hatred among people. A pen is that personal. It is used by everyone, everywhere. The business of making and selling personalized pens is always a good idea. This is a money making venture where you make a specific design or look for a pen that fits a certain person.

1. Personalize Your Business

In any business success, the key is to know what your customer wants and give it to them. For your shop to flourish, you need to know what makes a personalized pen really personal to an individual. Your personalized pen shop should have specific guidelines to know your customer.

2. From Whom, For Whom, And For What?

To make a personalized pen unique, you should first know your customer and who they are buying the pen for. Also, determine the reason why your customer would like to give a customized pen. The pen can also be personalized for the customer himself. The most common market for this type of business is people who are looking for the perfect gift.

2. Personalized Pens As Gifts

- Birthdays
- Anniversaries
- Truce / Make Peace
- Congratulations

3. Pen Design – The Ultimate Mark of Personalization

Now that you know the reasons behind the transation, you proceed to the design and type of pen. Personalizing your pen is the fun part of this business. Here are possible specifications that you need to know. It is advisable for this business to have all types of pens refillable so that the pen can be used for a longer period of time.

a. Type of pen
Ballpoint pen
Fine-line marker pen
Artist’s pen
Fountain pen

b. Color
c. Size
d. Shape
e. Ink Color
Red
Blue
Black
Multi-colored pen

f. Scented or Unscented Ink

Scents:
Rose
Apple
Strawberry
Lemon

g. The budget

Lastly, you need to know what your customer is willing to spend. By doing so, you can adjust the personalized pen’s design so that it could fit your client’s budget.

Small businesses that have a voluntary health and safety program in place have fifty percent less accidents and reported insurance claims than that of their counterparts according to OHSA stats. Most small businesses fall below the legal requirements for having a formal health and safety program in place due to number of employees on staff. Sixty eight percent of reported accidents are in the service industry which shows even businesses such as retail establishments are not free of accidents.

Setting a health and safety program in place will reduce costs. Having a program will reduce accidents and will lead to lower company worker’s comp premiums; further business insurance companies prefer their customers to have health and safety programs. These insurance companies might even discount the premium if a program can be proved to exist. The average cost of an accident is $68,000. Direct costs in accidents such as worker’s comp and fines levied can close a business. Indirect costs such as low morale of employees, legal fees, and retraining can be as costly if not more.

A working program will:
1) Improve employee morale – Shows care in their well being
2) Reduce revenue loses – Fewer accidents keeps all employees at work
3) Give a boost to the customer – Makes sure business is operating optimally

A health and safety program can be started by writing a health and safety policy; this is simply values that a company wishes to convey in its work processes. Secondly, is how communication between all employees and owners will function. And lastly, put procedures in place to ensure safe practices.

To find unseen hazards and unsafe practices, an audit needs to take place. Take a hard look at the workplace and record all factors that may lead to injury. These hazards might be dangerous chemicals or as simple as a letter opener. Identifying these hazards will lead to procedures to controlling them. Controls such as “Don’t run with scissors in your hands” are effective. Write all procedures in a manual.

Implementing these health and safety procedures will be done with behavioral change. Some programs become weak and non effective because of:
1) No definition of safety practices – No written processes
2) No teamwork – Safety is communication from the top to bottom and vice versa. A well written plan will describe what roles everyone plays in safety policies.
3) No effective goals – The “accident free days” poster will come as a result of sound safety processes.
4) Wrong incentives – Money as a reward does not work well. Health and safety should be fun and worth employees effort. The right incentive plan can be cost effective and have obtainable goals. Incentive plans can include movie passes or simply “free coffee on the boss.” The insurance industry reports for a dollar spent on health and safety yields four to six dollars in savings.

Once all of the hard work of developing and implementing the health and safety program is done, set aside some time each month to review the workplace. Record what is found; this is a good practice to see dangerous trends that might occur such as a fire exit constantly being blocked. On the quarters of the year post a meeting with employees. These meetings are a great way to get vital feed-back from employees and keep them involved. At least once a year, do an audit to make sure your health and safety program is current with present business operations.

A health and safety program is about as exciting as putting on a new roof and it is as important for your business. Knowledge of hazards in the workplace and how to control them will keep everyone safe.