Ready to be at the wheel?
March 10 and 11, 2018 gave aspiring and budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to connect and collaborate. As the best and brightest minds came together and brainstormed on on how to fuel their business growth. It is the most important aspect in any of the business. The conference at IIT Mumbai brought together the best breed of entrepreneurs, innovators, venture capitalists, business model creators, consultants, policy-makers, academicians, and business practitioners to present and discuss innovation and success under the aegis of entrepreneurship for Small and Medium Businesses.

Over the past decade or so, in the dilemma between joining family owned businesses and higher studies. The scales have been tipping towards entrepreneurship and joining family owned businesses.

Let us explore the genesis and the reason why:

The Genesis
Today, family-owned businesses account for two-thirds of the world’s businesses and generate most of the world’s economic output, employment and wealth. In many regions of the world, family companies dominate the economy. “Family-controlled firms now make up 19% of the companies in the Fortune Global 500,” states The Economist. In India alone, 67% businesses are family run. McKinsey forecasts, that by 2025,there will be more than 15,000 companies worldwide with at least $1 billion in annual revenues, of which 37% will be emerging-market family firms.

The need
There is a need for Family Business Management Programs whether you are in a successful family business or you are into a business facing challenges and trying to bring about a changeover.

Successful family business:

Successful family businesses are successful because families see important changes in their industry. Simply put, successful families are entrepreneurial. Also,families succeed because they invest in productive activities, emphasise growing assets, and consume relatively little of their wealth. These families maintain a culture that encourages family members to create things of lasting value. It’s not surprising that these families encourage entrepreneurs. Furthermore,successful families remain reasonably united, keeping supportive members loyal to one another and to the family’s mission. Over generations, as families become more diverse, it is likely that only a few relatives per generation will directly work in the business.

Outside-the-business members might still support family philanthropic efforts or social activities, and sometimes that level of involvement is enough to maintain family unity. But investing in family entrepreneurs can also keep talented members contributing to the broader family’s wealth and mission. Investing in family entrepreneurs has to be done objectively based on the feasibility of their business plans, and also fairly within the family. Even if some entrepreneurial projects don’t succeed, these investments will help you spot talent to keep your business growing. And you are sending an important message: this family is committed to creating value.

Family businesses – facing challenges
While family businesses on average are stronger performers than other types of enterprise, they face distinct challenges that need to be managed. This constraint often kills the family business.

This creates the need for a course of study in Family Business Management that helps students understand how to capitalize on the strengths, navigate the challenges, and guard against the weaknesses of the companies and the families that own them.

How is Family Business Management program different from an MBA in Entrepreneurship?
Both Family Business Management and an MBA in Entrepreneurship prepare you for setting up and gearing your own business. However, there is a subtle difference. Unlike MBA in Entrepreneurship which prepares students for a setting up a business, the Family Business Management programme is targeted at family business owners looking to sustain, scale and grow their businesses. The content and pedagogy includes concepts of entrepreneurship, business sustainability, market trends which thereby lead to portfolio expansion and business growth. The program would help you evaluate the state of your family businesses and gear you towards accelerating your business to the next level.

Colleges/Institutes for Entrepreneurial Management
Xavier School of Management (XLRI),Jamshedpur, offering a full-time six-month Post Graduate Programme for Certificate in Entrepreneurship Management (PGPCEM).

Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Gandhinagar,offering a two-year, full-time, residential Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Business Entrepreneurship (PGDM-BE).

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research – Mumbai,Start Your Business Certification Program (SYB), Grow Your Business Certification Program (GYB), The Entrepreneurial Manager (TEM).

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies,Mumbai,M.B.A in Social Entrepreneurship

Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship – Bangalore, offering one year Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP)

Nirma Institute of Management,Ahmedabad,offering regular two-year MBA specialising in Family Business & Entrepreneurship.

Amity Business School,Noida, offering two year M.B.A in Entrepreneurship

IIM, Bangalore, specialization in Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses.

IIM Udaipur, Management Development Program for Women Entrepreneurs.

National Institute for Entrepreneurship & Small Business Development (NIESBUD), Delhi
The NIESBUD is an apex institute in the area of entrepreneurship and small business development under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. It oversees the activities of various institutions and agencies engaged in entrepreneurship development, particularly in the area of small industry and small business. It also provides numerous training and development courses for budding entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Making the right choice:
In the world of family business, the entrepreneurs we celebrate are usually founders of companies. If you wish to be a founder of a company, start your new venture and learn how to navigate, go in for a pure MBA in Entrepreneurship. However, if you wish to join your family business and are supposed to take care of and grow the founder’s creation, you are not expected to be entrepreneurs but to understand and carry forward the vision of the founder,an MBA in Entrepreneurship would be more helpful.

Therefore, it is imperative that you make the right and informed choice…

Are these mutually exclusive?
If this makes you think that family business management programs are incompatible to entrepreneurship. The reason is because they are for students who are in family businesses that are usually tradition-bound, multi- generational. Let me tell you, we need to blur the lines here. The family businesses need to be more entrepreneurial. They need to pass on the entrepreneurial mindset and capabilities. To create new streams of wealth across many generations- not just pass the business on from one generation to the next. We need to come up with the concept of ‘family entrepreneurship’. When a leadership transition occurs in a family business, the new generation of leadership should be careful to maintain and build on the networks and knowledge of the former leaders, while expanding their own networks. This will insure that the business can continue to be entrepreneurial into the future.

For a small business to grow into a big business, it needs a loan unless it has exceptional sales and profit margins. A small business owner has quite a few places where he/she can go with a loan request. Banks seem to be one of their options on most occasions. What these owners might not realize is that banks have recently developed a reputation for rejecting small business loans. It seems that banks are more interested in financing large businesses due to their benefits. A bank can come up with a variety of reasons to reject loan approval for a small business. Some of the common reasons are as under:

Reasons for Banks to Reject Your Small Business Loan

Credit History

One of the barriers between you and the business loan is credit history. When you go to a bank, they look at your personal as well as business credit reports. Some people are under the impression that their personal credit does not affect their business loans. But that’s not always the case. A majority of banks look into both the types of credits. One of the aspects of credit that matter a lot to the banks is credit history. The length of your credit history can affect your loan approval negatively or positively.

The more information banks have at hand to assess your business’ creditworthiness, the easier it is for them to forward you the loan. However, if your business is new and your credit history is short, banks will be unwilling to forward you the desired loan.

Risky Business

You must be aware of the term high-risk business. In fact, lending institutions have created an entire industry for high-risk businesses to help them with loans, credit card payments, etc. A bank can look at a lot of factors to evaluate your business as a high-risk business. Perhaps you belong to an industry that is high-risk per se. Examples of such businesses are companies selling marijuana-based products, online gambling platforms, and casinos, dating services, blockchain-based services, etc. It is imperative to understand that your business’ activities can also make it a high-risk business.

For example, your business might not be a high-risk business per se, but perhaps you have received too many charge-backs on your shipped orders from your customers. In that case, the bank will see you as a risky investment and might eventually reject your loan application.

Cash Flow

As stated earlier, your credit history matters a lot when a bank is to approve your loan request. While having a short credit history increases your chances of rejection, a long credit history isn’t always a savior too. Any financial incidents on your credit history that do not favor your business can force the bank to reject your application. One of the most important considerations is the cash flow of your business. When you have cash flow issues, you are at risk of receiving a “no” from the bank for your loan.

Your cash flow is a measure for the bank to know how easily you return the loan. If you are tight on cash flow, how will you manage the repayments? However, cash flow is one of the controllable factors for you. Find ways to increase your revenues and lower your expenses. Once you have the right balance, you can approach the bank for a loan.

The Debt

A mistake that small business owners often make is trying out too many places for loans. They will avoid going to the bank first but get loans from several other sources in the meantime. Once you have obtained your business funding from other sources, it makes sense to return it in time. Approaching the bank when you already have a lot of debt to pay is not advisable at all. Do keep in mind that the debt you or your business owes affects your credit score as well. In short, the bank does not even have to investigate to know your debt. An overview of your credit report can tell the story.

The Preparation

Sometimes, your business is doing fine, and your credit score is in good shape as well. However, what’s missing is a solid business plan and proper preparation for loan approval. If you haven’t already figured out, banks require you to present a lot of documents with your loan approval request. Here are only some of the documents you will have to present to the bank to get approval for your loan.

Income tax returns
Existing loan documents
Personal financial documents
Affiliations and ownership
Business lease documents
Financial statements of the business

You have to be exceptionally careful when these documents and presenting them to the bank. Any discrepancies can result in loan rejection.

Concentration of Customers

This one might come as a surprise to some, but a lot of banks consider this aspect of your business seriously. You must not forget that loans are banks’ investments. Businesses that approach the banks are their vehicles to multiply their money in the form of interest. If the bank senses that your business does not have the potential to expand, it can reject your loan request. Think of a mom and pop shop in a small town with a small population. If it only serves the people of that town and has no potential to grow further, a rejection is imminent.

In this particular case, even if the business has considerable profit margins, it relies on its regular customers for that. The bank might see it as a returnable loan but not as an investment opportunity.

Conclusion

The good news is that you have a lot of funding options as a small business owner. Today, banks are only one of the many options for you to fund your bank. You don’t necessarily have to apply for loans when you have crowdfunding platforms actively helping small business with their funding needs. If you are seeking a business loan from a bank, that’s fine. However, if the bank does not approve your request, it should not worry you much.

20% of your local optimization efforts will give you 80% of your results.

Wondering how?

With Google My Business.

Google My Business (GMB): A free listing of your business’ operating information, reviews, posts, images and much more.

Google My Business

Most of the people you’d come across; consider GMB as just another place to display information about the business.

But that’s not true!

If you haven’t used Google My Business to its core, you are leaving money on the table.

If used correctly, Google My Business is such a powerful tool that can bring you more and more business!

How?

Here it is…

1) Ensure The Information Is Complete And Consistent
Don’t let your audience guess or assume about you. Make sure your listing details communicate enough facts. Try to provide as much information as GMB asks for.

If you’ve just entered NAP (Name, Address, Phone) on your listing and waiting for wonders to happen, then let me tell you, this is a complete waste of your time.

Also,

Ensure the information you’ve entered on the listing is EXACTLY THE SAME as on your website.

Inconsistencies in the information will negatively impact your search ranking.

Google-my-business2

2) Verify Your Listing (If You Haven’t Done It Yet)
This is the key to unlock all the GMB features.

To verify your listing, you’ll be required to submit a code that is sent to your business address.

If you’re expecting some business through GMB, it is highly important to verify your business. With so many fake business registrations every day, a user would not prefer to make a purchase from an unverified listing.

After verification, you’ll need to keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Google My Business Listing, for any emails from Google. Google may unverify any listing if it determines that the account is inactive for a significant duration of time.

3) Google My Business Descriptions ARE BACK!
Google My Business had descriptions back in 2015-2016. They were suddenly gone and since then businesses had no descriptions; which left the users assuming your products and services.

Well, the good news is…

Business Descriptions are back!

With Google My Business descriptions, you have the chance to describe your business to your audience and explain what makes you different from your competitors.

Google My Business Descriptions come with a character limit of 750. So, you can get your message conveyed to the people and simultaneously optimize the listing by using relevant keywords.

Optimize Google My Business

4) Get More And More Reviews (And Respond To Them)
As described by Neil Patel in one of his articles,

Good reviews = sales. More good reviews = more sales.

90% of people read reviews before purchasing because everybody likes the second opinion.

Ask your customers to review your business. But just gathering reviews won’t help. You need to acknowledge them.

All of them!

The positive ones, the negatives, the neutrals.

5) Update Your Business Hours And Payment Options
Make sure your business operating hours are accurate. Update your working hours for any special events. Make sure that you don’t lose any customer because of incorrectly listed business hours.

Also, update your listing for any changes in the payment options.

Also read: 7 Reasons Why Businesses Need To Invest In SEO 2018

6) Choose Best Google My Business Category For Your Business
Be specific while picking a category for your business. Consider your targeted keywords.

Be careful though. Don’t stuff your listing with keywords.

Remember to be specific. Don’t put “Cosmetology” if you run a “Nail Salon.”

7) Pictures, Pictures, And More Pictures
Pictures speak volume!

According to Google, businesses with photos see 35% more clicks to their website and 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps.

Adding photos of your business is a great way to let your customers get a “behind-the-scenes” look at what your company is all about… AND it can go a long way in promoting your business.

People don’t want to see stock images but the real face of your business – who you are, what you do and where you’re located.

The most important image in your GMB listing that gets the most exposure and has the most impact, is your ‘Profile Picture’.

However, the cover image is also of paramount importance, as it shows up front and center on your listing. You can also add other pictures based on the business you operate in; this might include pictures of interior and exterior of the business, goods and/or services your business, your staff or employees or any other picture that can summarize or describe your business.

8) Google My Business Videos
You can also add videos. Videos must be:

30 seconds or shorter
100 MB or smaller
720p resolution or higher
Unlike images, videos are not a ‘must have’. However, adding one will make you stand out among other businesses.

Creating a video will not take you any extra equipment or any video editing software. Just pick up your smartphone; take, save and share the video. This video must be taken at your location. Any commercials or advertising videos will be removed.

9) Add Posts To Share Business Updates
Google launched its ‘POST’ feature on all businesses in 2017. With this feature, you can post updates and offers to your listing. You can advertise the latest offers, share updates about new products/services or any special event for free.

Google Posts allows you to add text, photos, gifs, and even call-to-action buttons like ‘Buy’, ‘Sign Up’, ‘Learn More’, ‘Get Offer, ‘Reserve’, etc.

You can create posts only after you’ve verified your Google My Business Account.

However, Google My Business Posts disappear after seven days unless you set a shorter time frame. So, be time specific while crafting the post.

Conclusion:
Google My Business presents your business information to potential prospects. It gives you an opportunity to interact with your customers.

Not optimizing your Google My Business listing is like not opening door to a customer knocking at your door.

It’s an opportunity!

Local SEO takes time but can give you a big payoff. On the top of everything, it’s FREE!

If you need any help with your Local SEO or wish to optimize your Google My Business Listing, you can contact us.