5 DO'S and DON'TS When Dealing With a Small Business

It's very likely that at some point in your life (whether you knew it or not) you've worked with a small business.  On the surface, we may not seem all that different from the big guys.  We may have employees, most of us take credit cards and we may have a big facility.  The similarities end there.  Most people have no idea just how hard it is to keep a business up and running.  A small business owner generally puts in about 80 hours a week and wears many different hats.  Here are just a couple of pieces of advice when dealing with a small business.

DO:  Deal with a small business over a large corporation.
While it is true that some small business are more expensive than their corporate giant counterparts, the fact is that most of the time small business are less expensive.  Really we have to be to stay alive.  It doesn't make sense for us to have less advertising power, a small territory and higher prices.  Even if the initial price is higher, often you'll find that the long term investment will save you money in the long run.  For exampe, I recently had to purchase a new DVD writer for my computer.  I did comparison pricing at both Best Buy and a little computer store.  The little computer store was a little more expensive, so I bought from Best Buy.  Turns out, the DVD writer from the big guy was missing a very important power cable.  I checked with the little guys and they told me that not only did they include the power cable (for free) but they offered a serpate warranty in addition to the manufacturer's.  So basically I could've have spent $5 more and ended up with a single trip, an extended (2 more years!) warranty and helped out my local economy.  I go to the small guys now.  Not to mention, I had to do all the work myself at Best Buy.  I told the clerk what I needed from my writer and I may as well have been speaking Greek to the guy. 

DON'T:  Try To Haggle With Us!
Believe me when I say that we price our products/services the way we do for a reason.  We're not trying to screw you over.  We're trying to cover our cost, overhead and make a little profit.  If you don't like the price, check somewhere else.  Most of the time you'll be coming right back.  We do everything we can to be competitive and if a small business isn't competitive, they will close.  Rest assured, we understand competition brings life to the economy and business.  One more thing.  Stop asking us to wipe the sales tax for you.  Taxes are one of the most expensive parts of running a business.  Sales tax is only one of the many taxes we have to pay, so help us out and pay it like you're supposed to.  If you have a problem with sales tax, talk to your Congressman, don't bother use by being cheap.

DO:  Tell Your Friends and Family.
That's right, we want you to tell everyone you know.  Heck, tell people you don't know all about us.  This includes the good, the bad and the ugly.  A good business owner understands that word of mouth is the most important and effective method of advertising out there, and we rely on it.  If a small business has done you wrong, tell people about it!  If they're smart they'll remedy the situation and make sure you leave happy and satisfied.  If they don't then they shouldn't be in business.  The consumer is the driving force in our economy.  If someone is doing bad business, then they should close.  Simple as that.  If someone is doing good business, then the whole world should know.  Take time to recommend a good business.

DON'T:  Act Like You're Our Only Customer.
We understand you want your stuff now.  The problem is, so does everyone else.  As a small business we have to keep all of our customers happy.  This means that we try to take care of everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Please, make it easier on everyone and wait your turn like your mother taught you.  Nothing is more annoying than a customer acting like a child because THEY WANT IT NOW!!!  Belive me, it says a whole lot more about you than it does about us.  Sometimes things go wrong.  Every small business is well acquainted with Murphey's Law.  You have a right to be upset and/or frustrated, but please treat us with respect.  We never want to purposefully make you wait.  If you're polite and respectful about your complaint, we will usually find a way to make it up to you.  If for some reason we don't make it up to you, see the previous DO.

DO: Ask Us What Form of Payment WE Prefer.
This is one of the more important facts that the public is generally unaware of when it comes to dealing with a small business.  There was a time when everyone preferred cash, but sometimes it's not the case anymore.  Some businesses prefer to have a paper trail rather than save on card fees.  Some businesses refuse to take personal checks anymore and if they do it still makes them nervous.  One thing is for certain, if you're paying with a debit card, ask us if we prefer to run it as debit or credit.  We know you want your points, but let's be honest.  This little transaction won't get you that many and it will cost us quite a bit of money.  Card processing rates are usually much lower to run a debit card than a credit card.  Mine for example is 6% on a credit card and about 60 cents for a debit.  So if I run a $100 transaction as credit, it costs me $6.00.  If I ran the same transaction as a debit, it costs me $0.60.  See the difference?  Run your credit card to get your points at the big, corporate guys who can afford it (and often get a lower fee from the card processsing companies!)

DON'T: Come in Just To Talk To Us Or Our Employees.
Humans are social animals, but there's a time and place.  Think about it, you can't generally just go into a big store and cut up with their employees for two hours, so why would you do it with ours?  Productivity is so important to a small business owner because if the employees don't get around to it, guess who gets to do it after hours?  If you have a question for us, we're more than willing to help you out.  Heck, a little chit-chat never hurt anyone either.  However, there's a differnence between small-talk while being productive and coming into the shop and telling us everyone you've done from 1968 onward.  Time is money, so please respect that.

DO: Ask Us Questions About What We Do.
A good small business owner doesn't start a business for their health.  We do it because we are passionate and we feel like we can better serve our community as leaders rather than as an employee.  We love what we do and we love to talk about it.  That being said, ask us ANY questions you have.  We also love having happy and informed customers.  Asking questions before you buy a product or service doesn't make you look stupid.  Actually it does the opposite.  We know that you, like us, work hard for your money and we want you to be happy with your purchase.

DON'T:  Call Us Honey, Son, Boy, Gal, You Get The Idea...
This particularly applies to younger business owners.  If a person is in their 20's and starting a business it means they've accomplished something that a vast majority of the public (any age) will never do.  We are living the American dream and we don't need condescending comments like this.  We don't ask for special treatment, but do recognize that we do deserve respect.  These names aren't all that offensive to the average person, but kids don't start profitable businesses and it's unprofessional at best.  So show us the same respect we show you.  We have names, and if you don't know them Sir or Miss will suffice.

DO:  Participate In Social Media With Us.
There has been a great and rapid change in the way businesses advertise.  Wesites have become the norm, but sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and so many other social media sites are becoming cornerstones of online marketing.  Small businesses love them because the initial services are free, the advertising is cheap and we reach a potentially infinite number of potential customers.  Simply Liking a Page or writing a review, or even saying something positive on a social media site is a very powerful action that takes you mere seconds.  So please take a break from posting funny cat pictures and help out a small business that's done right by you. 

DON'T:  Assume That We're In It For The Money.
Don't get be wrong.  Everyone works for money, but if all we wanted was money we'd just go get a J-O-B.  Most small business owners had a J-Word and it's become so taboo for them they just created their own.  We start businesses because we love what we do and we want to be THE person to do it.  Small businesses have to fight to survive when they first open and rarely become profitable within the first 5 years.  We put in 80+ hours a week starting out because we can't afford to pay other people to help us.  Start-up costs are staggering for even the smallest business.  Believe me, we would love to run our business for free because we love it so much.  There are just these little problems called food, shelter, taxes, transportation, overhead, cost, materials, labor, supplies, insurance and all sorts of troublesome things we have to pay for.

Quick Update

Hello everyone!  I thought I'd just post a quick update and bring everyone up to speed.  First off, the Luke Robbins web teaser is finally done!  You can watch it here, but please direct your friends to our You Tube channel as we can get more ad revenue that way.

We're finally pending iTunes approval and just playing the waiting game.  Amazon sales will be coming soon, but now we still have Ebay and the Vision Video online store. 

Speaking of Vision Video, our website will be up and fucntioning within the next few months.  Check back often because we'll be adding a lot of cool services for everyone over the next year (even some free ones!)

Probably the largest update is we have the first script finalized for our web series.  We have our head writer and most of the casting done.  We have the first 6 episodes planned out and we're getting the scripts started.  I have to say, the show's going to be better than I thought.  We have so many creative and talented people involved, it's gonna be great.

Lastly, I got another piece of good news the other day.  They've finally set a release date for Green Lantern: The Animated Series along with the return of everyone's favorite DC Universe animated shows.  I'll be updating later so be sure to check back!