Times Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

Tarot Reading in Modern Times

Tarot reading has always had a mystical aura to it. But there is a strange connect and mind game to it which only the sub conscious understands. Nowadays such apps are becoming big hits in the Google Play Store and Apple Store. But how much insights do these free tarot readings provide the users with? Let’s delve into the nitty- gritty of this.

To make such apps or soft wares a programmer has to code the expertise and knowledge of a tarot reader using which he/she reads the faith of a person into a computer program. If this is possible then these apps would save a lot of innocent people from the clutches of fake and fraud tarot readers out there. These free readings could help hundreds and thousands of people who are troubled in life and is seeking a solution. But is it possible for a tarot reader to communicate the knowledge base and analyzing method used in this ancient divination method to an android or iOS programmer to make a tarot reading app? Well, there is a certain amount of human interpretation and expertise which is needed for an accurate tarot reading.

Two major methods are used in tarot reading across the world, considering the methods of analysis and interpretation. The basic difference between these two methods is that the first will have fixed meanings for each card and in the second method the tarot reader makes up assumptions and interpretations from the card chosen by a client. The second method depends a lot on the divination ability of a tarot reader. But if a app of this kind has to be made it would be based on the first method, as the meaning of each card is fixed. We can also differentiate tarot reading based upon the questions asked by the Tarot reader. Most accurate method would be the first one, because here there is some sort of divine communication which happens between the tarot reader and the cosmos to find a solution for the issue a client is facing.

Websites and portals which are run by expert tarot readers or which employs such great resources can use these psychic reading apps to showcase the expertise which they have. These free tarot readings will obviously attract prospects to try out a more personalized session with the tarot readers who are available online. Some of these apps provide more than just free readings, they also provide the users with the option to consult expert psychic readers online which is mostly a paid consultation service. It is great to see such ancient divination methods adapt to the changing modern times. But businesses and websites should understand the fact that they would only be able to sustain their success if they are offering anything of value. Tarot reading is a great ancient occult, it should not be maligned by rolling out bogus apps which give out free readings without any logic.

Brand: You, Creating and Self-Marketing Yourself to Find a Job During Tough Times

A career brand is an image that portrays you as an expert in your field, attracts your ideal employer, and reveals how you can help their business. How can you promote your career brand effectively, to stand out among increasing competition in the workforce? Self-marketing!

Before you begin self-marketing, you need to understand:

1. What you are going to market about yourself

2. Who you are going to market yourself to

3. Why you are going to market yourself to them

This article offers some important tools to develop your career brand and understand your self-marketing plan.

Goals of Self-Marketing

1. Provide direction to help eliminate trial and error. As a result, save time and money.

2. Network with key industry players.

3. Identify your transferable skills. Marketing these skills, not just job history and accomplishments, puts you in higher demand (i.e., more interviews).

4. Determine what other industries your transferable skills fit into. The industry you are in affects the success of your career. Market yourself in growing industries (green-collar, biotechnology, nutrition, IT). Steer away from dying 5. industries (textile, printing, newspapers, steel manufacturing, etc.).

6. Resolve any setbacks that hurt your career and prevent you from getting interviews. Fix your resume so it does not portray you as “a job hopper”, “lacking education”, or “unable to advance at a company”.

Create Your Own Mission Statement

Just as mission statements provide direction and purpose for companies, individuals can benefit from having their own personal mission statement too.

Your mission statement says what is important to you. Write yours before starting a career to get on the right path and connect with companies that have similar values and beliefs. You can revise it or write a new one at a career crossroads. Its sense of purpose is great motivation!

What to include:

1. Goals – Aspirations in life (short-term and long-term)

2. Core values – Who you are and what your priorities are

3. Successes – Professional, personal, etc.

4. Offerings – How you can make a difference for the world, your family, employer or future employers, friends and community

Integrate Assessments into Your Career Branding

Career and personality assessments reveal consistent patterns in your traits, characteristics, strengths, preferences, and skills. The assessment results may lead you in a new career direction. If you have an established career, they tell you how well your traits and branding messages align with your career path.

Present your distinctive and noteworthy traits to your targeted employers. Remember that not all recurring patterns contribute to good branding (e.g., introversion). Disregard any pattern you feel is not really you.

Incorporate the assessment results into your career branding materials: resume, cover letter, elevator speech, interview responses, portfolio, business card, etc. Convey a consistent branding message throughout all of these materials. But you can use different branding statements for different industries.

Tag! You Are “It”!

Self-marketing is not just about selling your specific skills. Everyone has skills. They get you in the door, but not necessarily get you the job. There can be 100 or more applicants per job posting, and they all have the same or better skills as you. How can you stand out as “the one”?

Develop a tag-line. A great tag-line tells people exactly what a product is and how they will benefit from using it. This is what employers want to know about you! Specifically, how you will help them make and save money. Tell them how much money you helped a previous or current employer make or save on a given project, sale, or time period.

Dear Career Journal…

Did you have a diary or journal when you were young? It helped you express feelings when no one else would listen, or when you did not want anyone else to listen! Similarly, a journal can help and guide us in our professional adult life too.

Writing in a career journal allows you to set aside time to think and learn more about yourself and your career. Just as when you were younger, using a journal allows you to express emotions (good and bad) about career progress. When you read past entries, see how far you have come!

Use your career journal to:

1. Write your personal mission statement

2. React to self-assessment tests

3. Do a SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analysis

4. Evaluate your current situation

5. Reflect on your successes and failures

6. Devise career goal ideas (breaking into a new career, as a volunteer or consultant)

7. Think about career alternatives

8. Establish daily or weekly career-related objectives or tasks

9. Develop action plans to achieve your objectives and tasks

10. Make checklists

11. Record network contacts, job interview results, etc.

12. Develop job correspondence material (cover letters, resumes, thank you letters, etc.)

13. Practice job interview questions and answers

14. Gather salary information

15. Jot down ideas and information you like and want to use in the future

16. Record things you want or need to learn, skills to improve upon

17. Discover and explore your workplace values

18. Record your job-related likes and dislikes (and employers’ likes and dislikes)

19. Note lessons learned

20. Develop ways to improve the workplace

21. Review job-search trends

22. Develop plans for achieving promotions

23. Document the career paths of your peers that you want to emulate

24. Prepare for job performance reviews

Do not keep your career journal at your workplace. Keep it at home on your computer or in a notebook. Try to set a regular time of day to work on your journal, maybe right after work. Maybe before work to get yourself motivated and focused on what you can achieve that day!

Your journal is always ready, and no matter where your career path leads you, you can continue to use it throughout your professional life.

Key Marketing Tools:

Strategic Marketing Plan

Your plan answers these questions:

1. What have I accomplished, where am I now, and where will my career be if I do not take action?

2. Where do I want to go with my career?

3. How do I get to where I want to go?

4. How do I put my plan into action?

5. What do I need to change if I am not getting success?

Market Research

Understand trends in your career field. Consult resources such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. Interview industry professionals. Study the companies you would like to work for. Use this information for your cover letter, resume and job interview.

Marketing Mix

You are probably already familiar with the 4 P’s of marketing, or the “marketing mix”. The 4 P’s are product, promotion, place, and price. Translate these in terms of you and your career for job search success.

Product

You are the product with unique characteristics, features, and skills. Expose your “product features” in your tag-line and resume. Let employers know your work experience, leadership experience, professional memberships, technical skills, education and training.

Make sure that your on-line marketing tools (i.e., Facebook or Myspace) are cleaned up and employer ready. You do not want a potential employer to see something on your personal networking sites that will land you in trouble.

Do not forget “packaging”, to properly present yourself and your credentials to potential employers.

Promotion

This is your cover letter, resume, phone calls, correspondence and interviewing. Promotion tools include anything that you can use to get a job interview and ultimately get a job offer.

Be memorable by utilizing multimedia marketing like email, follow-up phone calls, or try using regular priority mail envelopes to send resumes, cover letters and other “marketing materials”. This increases your career brand and distinctiveness.

Place

This includes everywhere employers can access you. How are you reaching employers or people who can connect you with employers?

1. Internet job-searching and applying to job postings

2. Cold calling

3. Networking with current and former coworkers, colleagues and alumni

4. Speaking with recruiters at staffing and employment agencies and company HR departments

5. Visiting your university career centers and alumni offices

6. Attending professional association meetings and seminars

Price

Price includes all aspects of the compensation you can receive from potential employers, as well as your strategies to get the price you want, and that the employer feels you deserve. Your price not only includes salary, but also insurance, benefits, paid time off and perks.

Call in the SWOT Team!

Performing a SWOT Analysis, used in marketing planning, is helpful to use in your career planning. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It answers:

1. What are your Strengths and Weaknesses (in your internal environment)?

2. What are Opportunities and Threats in your career field (external environment)?

Strengths

Internal, positive aspects which you can capitalize upon, such as:

1. Work experience

2. Education

3. Technical skills and knowledge (e.g., computer skills)

4. Personal characteristics (e.g., superior work ethic)

5. Strong network of contacts

6. Involvement with professional associations and organizations

7. Enjoying what you do

Weaknesses

Internal, negative aspects that you plan on improving, such as:

1. Lack of work experience

2. Inconsistent major with the job you are looking for

3. Lack of specific job knowledge

4. Weak technical knowledge

5. Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)

6. Weak job-hunting skills

7. Negative personal characteristics (e.g., no motivation, indecisiveness, shyness)

8. Weaknesses identified in past performance appraisals

Opportunities

External, positive conditions out of your control, but you plan to leverage or add value:

1. Field trends* that create more jobs (e.g., globalization, technology)

2. Field needs your set of skills

3. Opportunities for advancement in your field

4. Location

5. Strong network

Threats

External, negative conditions out of your control, but you may be able to overcome:

1. Field trends* that diminish jobs (e.g., downsizing, obsolescence)

2. Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree

3. Competition from college graduates with your same degree

4. Competitors with superior skills, experience or knowledge

5. Competitors who attended better schools

6. Limited advancement in your field (too competitive)

7. Limited professional development in your field

8. Find hiring/employment trends in your field. Go on-line to ABI/INFORM, Business News Bank, and Lexis/Nexis.

After completing your SWOT Analysis, add the results to your Strategic Marketing Plan. Also, use your SWOT results to develop the following in your Plan:

1. Career goals

2. Marketing strategies

3. Action plan with deadlines

The Elevator Speech

The Elevator Speech is a clear, concise introduction that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator from the top to the bottom of a building. It can be as short as 15 seconds or as long as three minutes. Write down your Elevator Speech, and practice it so it comes naturally. Be ready to deliver it!

Use it at:

1. Networking events (including “unconventional” ones, like shopping)

2. Career fairs

3. Cold calls to employers

4. Voice-mails

5. Your current workplace, when you encounter the higher-ups

6. Job interviews when asked, “Why should I hire you?” and “Tell me about yourself”

Your Elevator Speech includes:

1. A greeting

2. Your name

3. Your industry or field

4. Accomplishments, background, qualifications and skills

5. If you are graduating soon, what school and what degree

6. What you want to do and why

7. Why you enjoy what you do or want to do

8. What interests you about the listener’s company/business

9. What sets you apart from others

10. Your tag-line that you developed!

11. Your mission statement that you developed!

Finally, capture their interest and request action.

1. At a career fair: “May I have your business card, and give you my card and resume? Can you add me to your company’s interview schedule?”

2. Networking: “What advice do you have for me? What employers do you suggest I contact?”

3. On a cold call: “When can we meet to discuss how I can help your company? May I send you my resume?”

Hard Times For Surety Bonds

The surety bond market is currently a very conservative market. Contract and commercial bond departments throughout the nation have tightened up their underwriting practices due to enormous loses throughout the industry. Many sureties have had to close their doors, other have had their ratings drop to a level where they can not write the same business they could in years past. Obviously this leaves the bonding companies that are still operating with a very conservative outlook when it comes to their underwriting guidelines.

One thing that many do not understand is while the current surety bond market is tough, it is considered a more traditional underwriting approach. Contractors are being angered by decreases in their bond lines, or in worst cases are now being deemed “not bondable”. Business owners seeking commercial bonding such as license bonds to run their business are not only finding it harder to obtain an approval, but are also seeing rates much higher than years past.

Why such a drastic difference? A couple years back the industry saw the softest bond market ever, which caused a backlash to what is now today’s hard market. The surety bond market is cyclical, a member of the Surety Bond Forums commented on the cycle stating:

Vicious cycle:

We need more profit from you – write more business

We need to write more business, loosen up underwriting

We’ve loosened up underwriting – oops- losses

Losses? Sorry, you aren’t contributing to the bottom line – watch it

Tighten up underwriting – less premium – but losses still come in from previous underwriting

Losses increase – loss ratio increases due to smaller premium and more losses

Sorry – we are closing down surety operation and sticking to profitable lines

While at another company – lots of business out there due to company a getting out of business – go pick it up we need more business so we can get more profit and on and on and on

What is a 6 letter word for “doesn’t learn from the past”

S _ R _ T Y

The good news for anyone looking to obtain a bond is that the market will become more liberal in time. The bad news for agents is this will not be the last time that accounts scramble in mass looking for a new agent that can offer them what you previously were. Fortunately for agents, in general they will find very similar offers from agent to agent, as our industry is smaller than most realize.

Serviced Apartments Are the Trend of the Times

Serviced Apartments are basically the fully furnished apartments that are made available to the public for short term and long term stays. It includes various amenities like housekeeping and various different services for the guest and the taxes are included in the rental price itself.

These types of apartments offer the guest much like the services and amenities of a traditional hotel, but with some added convenience, space and privacy like at home. One can enjoy the feeling like living at home while travelling somewhere.

What can one expect from a serviced apartment?

• A kitchen that is fully equipped with things like a dishwasher, dryer

• One or more individual bedrooms designated as sleeping area

• Living space

• Bathroom with all the amenities

• Television

• WiFi

• All the latest in room technology

• All utilities like the water, electricity included

• Weekly or daily housekeeping service

This term the serviced apartments is little known and used outside the corporate business sector. The online booking sites, mostly used to offer them as one of the booking options and not under a special category. These kind of apartments give the guest the kind of home feel by offering certain facilities that may give the guests the personal feeling of staying at home. They should include along with the above mentioned facilities also access to the gym, restaurants, meeting space, and other hotel like service for making the guest feel comfortable.

This sector has an impact on leisure travel as the travelers are finding these as the cheapest and best alternatives to the high end costly hotels. These are treated as economical for longer stays, family trips. These can give you all the in house facilities and entertainment and thus allowing you to live like a local in an outer place.

Types:

Serviced Apartments:

These are the self contained apartments usually built within a building. There may or may not be the staff on site. The operator may offer keys on arrival to the guests or may also provide keyless entry access through smartphones as well. Guest can access a 24 hour helpline.

Aparthotel:

These are the kind of apartments that can be seen in a dedicated building. These apartments offer hotel like services with 24 hour reception.

Corporate Housing:

It is basically a fully furnished house that is made available for rent or lease for a certain period of time. These kind of accommodations offer the visitors the more like a normal living, allowing them to cook, relax, plan their time as they like.

Staying Positive In Corona Times And V For Vaccine?

It sounds incredible that only three months back the old world still existed and went about its ways, except for a small area in China. Since then it’s been an immense struggle to stay positive, locked up. During this time the world has managed to learn precious little about the invisible invader. It’s one of the most mysterious enemies humankind has ever encountered. Nothing is known about its basic nature; why its virulence is so variable; why it selects some countries with a vengeance and why it’s deceptively kind to others. In any case, we just don’t know what would be its future course-even in countries that have seemingly thwarted its invasion. China, the origin of the attack, and now in apparent control after a 76-day lockdown, fears a rebound. Some experts even say there is no guarantee that a cured person develops immunity to re-infection. However, we must stay positive and live on hope.

The behavior of fellow human beings disappoints us a lot. Why can’t they understand lockdown is basically to save their lives by making them stay home safe and to break the chain of infection outside? Why can’t they understand that lockdown has to be a temporary measure only to buy time and prepare for the worst, if it comes? But no! They want all their lost benefits and pleasures in a hurry; they want to join their friends for the daily chatter: they want their favorite dishes, sweets, cakes at any cost. They even attack doctors, nurses and the enforcement authorities who are out there at great risk only to protect their lives. Except, perhaps, for the immense human tragedy involving millions of stranded migrant workers in India most of these human beings are fairly well-off: have homes, jobs, money and opportunities to work from home or engage in other creative activities. But no! They keep on buying essentials, much more than the household requirements, just for the chance to go out again and again. In India, there have been widespread violations of social distancing and other norms in various parts of various states. The killer virus might just be lurking round the corner to capitalize on such human follies. But we must stay positive and encourage as many others as possible to stay positive. Quality family time is one asset to ponder upon for all us busy bees.

The unpredictability of the virus causes one more hurdle: it doesn’t allow our minds to rid our obsession with it and focus on other productive things. We keep on listening to the news and updates, what the experts say and tracking its impact the world over. However, we must still try our best to divert our minds and stay positive. Daily workouts and sessions of meditation are very necessary for this as morning or evening walks are also prohibited.

The economic damage COVID-19 has already enacted and the looming threat of an absolute ruin is another major concern that’s been tormenting our minds continuously. Numerous forecasts are being made about negative growth rates in most countries of the world. Well, negative rates can be reversed once the recovery process starts. But, recovery can be made only when the killer virus leaves us or is fully controlled. It’s been said that by September, 2020 Coronavirus is going to go away while it’s also been said that during the winter it may come back, more virulent. Scary thoughts must not be allowed to generate negativity in us; we must stay positive hoping for the best.

Economic reason is the driving force for exiting lockdowns at some point of time, sooner always the better. However, an exit cannot be outright; it has to be executed in a phased manner. India has started this process of easing out curbs in safe and safest zones. And here, we feel aghast and disgusted seeing how our fellow human beings react to this. Like the burst of foam from an uncorked Champaign bottle they rush out of homes in ecstatic insanity to break norms everywhere. More nightmarish thoughts creep in. This is only a partial easing of curbs with the lockdown is still in force. What would happen after a full exit? After living through the horrors Italy is considering a full exit; if they’re successful thank heavens for that. For an overpopulated country like India how would the governments ensure social distancing: in the sprawling slums where a single toilet is shared by hundreds and 8-10 people live in 10/10 ft cramped tenements; in the overcrowded local trains, metro rail and buses, still unable to cater to the surging crowds in most cities; in the congested offices; in cinema halls, malls, hotels-bars; in marketplaces and in hot favorite public spots? It’s believed, it could require at least 6 months of observance of safeguards in normal conditions or till the virus becomes dormant whichever is earlier. Now, if the business establishments are asked to ensure seating on strict social distancing rules how would they continue to be viable in business? The developed countries may not have many of such limitations, but the habits and lifestyle compulsions of people there can compromise the observance of safeguards as well.

We, the people, must realize that only we can make this battle against Coronavirus successful; the authorities can only guide us for that common objective. The onus in on us, and so we must strive, make maximum efforts and move forward painstakingly, but positively. And, there is the final key to success for all of us: a COVID-19 vaccine. US President Trump said the vaccine will be achieved by end of this year. If we don’t feel right to go by Trump, considering all his bombastic or bizarre utterances or contradictions and his ultimate election desperation, we can easily take solace in the numerous projects going on in earnest across the world for which world leaders have shown solidarity by raising a fund of over $8 billion, fully backed by World Health Organization. A few of them, the ones in UK, Germany and India, have promised a market-ready vaccine by September, 2020. So, time is still with us, and hope is not running out. It’s all the more reason to stay on positive and breathe an equally infectious air of optimism around us.

The Other 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) – More Business Tips For Tough Times

With the economy still undergoing a lot of uncertainty, rather than throwing in the towel at your small business, especially if you are in services, you can instead extend the same principles the environmentalists recommend – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – to what you offer clients and keep the dollars rolling in.

The strategy of reducing doesn’t just apply to the office products you use or how much space you occupy; you need to also look at how to reduce what you offer without taking away from your value proposition. That means never reducing your price, but instead looking at ways to chop up what you do, so that clients can still buy from you while leaving your value proposition untouched.

For example, depending on the work you do, instead of covering the whole project from soup to nuts, you might do the front-end planning while they supply the labor and premises to execute the tasks. Or, they gather the information and then you come in at the back-end to do the analysis and provide the recommendations. The beauty of reducing is that it still leaves you performing the higher-perceived-value tasks out of your overall offering. It doesn’t mean you can’t do entire projects if clients still have the budgets; of course you can! But for those customers who are cutting back, you can tailor to the funds available. As they say, no-one is ever remembered for their prices but they are for their value.

This leads to the second part of the formula, Re-use. In this case, while you can go on making good use of your paper clips over and over, it also means looking outside your four walls for ways that can help your clients. One form of “re-use” is putting people to work that your clients might otherwise have to lay off. Perhaps a client has always wanted to undertake a major nationwide survey, but has never had the budget? Or, they want to do some business development work but didn’t have the feet on the street? Rather than paying the much higher costs, which include markups, to an outside firm such as yours, they instead have you act as manager of an in-house team and put their surplus people plus your expertise to work. This way, your client will see you as even more indispensable to their business while the customer teams you manage will get the job done.

Even if you’re already recycling waste paper and other items at the office, you need to also look at how to recycle past work you have done for clients. While any such initiatives must avoid betraying client confidentiality, especially if you have signed agreements to this effect, by taking the generic parts of existing client work, perhaps even from past work for several clients, and finding ways to recycle these as products you can sell, you will meet two goals. One is, you will generate some revenue and two, you will have found another way to introduce prospective customers to your services. You might want to bring out a series of reports or your First Annual Survey of X about a market in which you do a lot of work; if you have done such work over the last 12 to 24 months for large corporate clients, finding ways to recycle this information to small businesses will introduce you to a market segment that you might normally not serve.

While no one likes a shaky economy, by using the 3 Rs to your advantage, you will be better able to weather the storms and position yourself for the fourth R – Recovery – when that happens!
Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer

Save Your Small Business – 10 Crucial Strategies to Survive Hard Times Or Close Down & Move On

If there were ever a timely business book, “Save Your Small Business: 10 Crucial Strategies To Survive Hard Times or Close Down & Move On” by Ralph Warner and Bethany K. Laurence is certainly it. Promoted as a road map to small business survival, Warner and Laurence provide simple, no-nonsense, steps that can make a huge difference in running, saving, or if needed closing, your small business. Running a small business has always been hard, but currently it can be brutally agonizing, if not downright scary. This guide may just provide you with the information to make today’s bad economy, or bad economies in the future, opportunities so that in good times your business will be poised to thrive.

The book starts out saying it will be your small business companion, and recommends you create a business survival plan, prepare a current profit-and-loss statement and cash flow analysis, and establish an advisory board. It the delves into chapters that will provide the tools to help you decide whether it makes sense to continue, hibernate, close, or sell your business and offers some strategies you can implement to get your business back on track.

Chapter One: Can You Save Your Business? This chapter discusses topics such as planning for short and long term, selling your business, putting your business in hibernation, and saving your business. It also looks at some special considerations for retailers, services, construction, restaurants, wholesalers and importers, and franchises.

Chapter Two: Don’t Ignore Bad News. Why you can’t wait, cutting costs, changing direction, quitting and selling are addressed. There are also strategies on determining how much to cut expenses and acing slowly to reverse cutbacks.

Chapter Three: Control Your Cash Flow. This area can be one of the most important, especially for the small business. Topics include: Keeping paying your bills on time, how to create more cash, and what not to do, such as using merchant cash advances, maxing out credit cards, and borrowing against your house.

Chapter Four: Minimize Liability for Your Debts. Are you personally liable for business debts? Liability for jointly owned debt. What can creditors do if you don’t pay? Prioritizing debt payments, including payroll, taxes, utilities, and many more.

Chapter Five: Concentrate on What’s Really Profitable. Face it, the goal of a business is to make a profit. This chapter looks at getting a quick profits plan on paper, making money in a service business, and making money in retail or manufacturing. It is a short chapter, but if it gets you thinking about making a profit, it has done its job.

Chapter Six: Innovate on a Shoestring. Invention, Copying, Serendipity, and Making Innovation a Continuous Process are addressed in this chapter. This chapter may inspire you to brainstorm the next wonder gadget that every household must have. Depending on your business, this may be what you need.

Chapter Seven: Identify Your Customers. Before you can create an effective marketing plan, you need to know who your likely customers are. This chapter discusses aiming at the bull’s eye and filling in your target. Topics include current customers, need, price, access, and experience.

Chapter Eight: Don’t Waste Money on Ineffective Marketing. If we only knew which of our marketing efforts were producing the best results. This chapter helps you determine things about your marketing such as: Marketing the right products or services to the right people, not spending big dollars on advertising, asking long-term customers for support, encouraging customers to recommend your business, using paid listing effectively, marketing on your own website, and holding a “trying to stay in business” sale.

Chapter Nine: Handle Layoffs Fairly – And Keep Your Best People. Laying people off is often one of a business owners most dreaded tasks. This chapter provides guidance in this area by looking at: Making a wise layoff plan, the logistics of a layoff, and keeping the great people you hire. Some very good advice for this unfortunate part of business.

Chapter Ten: Don’t Work Too Much. What? If your business is floundering, you must work more, right? This chapter tackles the subjects of the importance of a sane schedule and how to work less and make more. Priorities and delegation are the keys the authors discuss.

Chapter Eleven: Work With Your Best Competitors. The four areas this chapter covers include: Treating competitors with respect, getting business from competitors, working for competitors, and working with competitors.

Chapter Twelve: How to Close Down Your Business. Most people don’t ever want this to happen, but the reality is that it does. This chapter offers some good strategies if you decide it is time to close the business and do something else. Topics include things like creating a closing team, looking at contractual obligations, dealing with landlords, collecting bills and selling off inventory, notifying and paying employees, liquidating assets, notifying creditors and customers, paying your debts, paying taxes, and dissolving your business entity. This is not a pleasant topic, but unfortunately an important one if you find yourself having to go this direction. The book provides guidance in the process.

Chapter Thirteen: Dealing With Debt: Bankruptcy and Its Alternatives. Introductory chapter on these topics with some good advice, but you will need more resources if you choose to go down the bankruptcy path, or better yet, seek counsel from a qualified professional.

Appendix A provides guidance on preparing a profit and loss forecast and a cash flow analysis. There are more complete references on these out there for sure, but this short bare bone basics on them will get you started and at least help you determine where you are at.

“Save Your Small Business” is a good guide for the struggling small business owner, and also provides information for the small business owner who doesn’t want to fall into hard times. Educating oneself regarding business is crucial for small business success. This is one more Nolo title that will help small business owners hopefully survive, but also liquidate and close with less pain if that is the course that must be taken.