Do you think it’s the equipment you use to create your product?

Perhaps you feel it’s your stellar ____________ skills, or your track record as a _____________.

One year ago I would have answered my finance skills and track record as an actuary, CFO and Investment Banker.

Boy was I wrong.

Join me in taking stock of the past year and discover your undervalued assets

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Almost one year ago to the day I had the wonderful privilege of attending Jennifer Lee’s Right Brain Business Plan™ Video Summit. Jennifer was a successful corporate executive before leaving and starting her own business. Her book, and her whole philosophy, embraced rather than suppressed her creativity and quirkiness.

Watching her successful book launch, and seeing the amazing response her book and her approach received, I realized a corporate (read stodgy) image was not necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. In Jennifer’s case, it was the fact she broke out of that shell that drove her success. This was truly a life changing realization for me.

The Right Brain Business Plan Video Summit is back again this year, and participating in the live streaming is free. Take the time to attend, I know it will pay off in your business through insights, inspiration or new easy to use tools. Click here for the details or on the image of her book (also recommended!).

Right Brain Unleashed – My First Unusual Asset

Instead of writing blog posts on the definition of economic recovery (oh yes I did, and its still out here!), I began to celebrate my quirky humor. Instead of bashfully injecting a few jokes, I plunged in whole hog.

Silly, irreverant, and (hopefully) chuckle worthy, I released my inner creative comic perspective on finance.

Do you have a unique skill or perspective that you aren’t using?

List out the attributes your friends and family love about you. How might you transfer those attributes to a business setting? Remember people do business with people, not companies. If it’s a trait valued by friends it could be a one used to build business relationships as well.

Sadly the video summit came to an end, yet I was craving more. I didn’t want to return to my gray, bland solopreneur existence.

Luckily I had found a community, a Quirkipreneur community led by Ringmaster Tori Deaux. In fact Tori was the one who introduced me to the Right Brain Business Plan™ Book & Video Summit.

Tori had created a business plan named Emmit, who took on a life, and Twitter handle, of his own. Emmit had such a pull, a weekly chat was started to cover issues facing creative entrepreneurs.

It’s still going strong, and new participants are always welcome. Information:

Fluffy the Finance Feline – My Second Unusual Asset

As I continued my involvement with the weekly chats I realized I had Emmit Envy. This illness causes one to want their own cool mascot, although not necessarily a clown. Emmit had personality. He was a perfect foil for Tori, and created a rallying point for her “right people”.

I needed a mascot who was approachable, relatable but not so over the top as to scare off my right people. Thus Fluffy the Finance Feline was born (yes that’s him right there).

He became so well liked the launch of my book How to be a Finance Rock Star included a #FluffySighting contest. And yes, I just gratuitously plugged my own book. Girls gotta make a living!

Mascots are universal. They build brand loyalty, and create a rallying point.

Does your business have a mascot? Why not?

As part of my rebranding process I created The Numbers Whisperer™. Intuitively I knew I needed something less intimidating, less stuffy, than my business name. Lucky for me the name attracted the attention of Tea Silvestre, The Word Chef.

Tea invited me to join the Word Carnival, from which some of the participants created a mastermind group. That group reinforced the need to embrace my new title, The Numbers Whisperer™ and they remarked upon my laugh.

My Laugh – Third Unusual Asset

I would be the first to say “Laugh” does not usually end up on someone’s list of core business assets. Yet for me it did!

Once I put on my listening ears (admit it, you watch Judge Judy reruns too late at night), I realized that my right people loved to hear me laugh. Descriptions ranged from infectious to soothing, yet they all had something in common. They all said they enjoyed hearing me laugh, it was part of the experience, a good part that helped reduce any anxiety created by their fear of finance or numbers.

What unusual or unique traits do you have? How are you using them in your business?

Previously I had tried to mute my laugh, thinking my larger than life guffaws were not in keeping with the topic of finance. Don’t miss out on something that could grow your business at no cost to you. Ask your top clients and trusted colleagues what traits they most value about you. Ask if you have any quirks they find endearing. You may be surprised at the answers you receive.

Want to hear me laugh? Check out my weekly radio show at Small Biz Finance on Blog Talk Radio.

Final Thoughts

What are your unusual assets? Has this post pointed out assets that were languishing in the background, just waiting for a chance to boost your business?

This post is part of the February Word Carnival — a monthly group blogging event specifically for small business owners. (It’s the most fun you’ll have all month!) Check out the rest of the fabulous carney work here.

© 2011 Small Business Finance Forum LLC | All rights reserved.

 

Taking our cue from successful stars, this is a launch party like no other. We will be streaming live starting at 4:30 p.m. February 23rd. Learn about QR Codes, win SWAG, and network in our private chat room.

What are you waiting for? It’s time to profit like it’s 1999.

Schedule of Events:

4:30 to 5:30 – Networking
5:30 to 6:00 – Learn how QR Codes can grow your bottom line
6:00 to 6:30 – Discover the secret to unlocking your business’ profit potential
6:30 to 7:00 – Nicole Fende will answer your questions live!
7:00 to 7:30 – Drawings held and contest winners announced

Finance Rock Star Book Tour 2012 Platinum Sponsor

© 2011 Small Business Finance Forum LLC | All rights reserved.
 

It’s as easy as spotting a Tie-Dyed T-Shirt at a Grateful Dead concert. Once you’ve ordered your copy of How to be a Finance Rock Star, simply forward your email confirmation or receipt to EarlyBird@FinanceRockStar.com
 

• One Month Free pbSmart™ Codes Standard Plan – Receive one free month of this amazing, easy to use, QR Code service offered by Pitney Bowes.
• VIP Invite Virtual Cocktail Party Launch – Join us live from the Historic Mounds Theatre for a book launch party like you’ve never seen. Streaming live. Invite only.
• Grow Your Business with Barter – eBook with insights from 9 small business experts.
• Productivity: How to Get Your $%@#^ Done – eBook with insights from 11 small business experts.
• The Lost Chapter of How to be a Finance Rock Star – Consider this the Side B chapter (for those who can remember vinyl!). Titled How to Look Big on an Itsie, Bitsie, Teenie, Weenie, Budget.
• The Money Honey Cocktail – Get the artwork and custom cocktail recipe in this PDF download. Created by Jennifer “Scraps” Walker of The Corporate Cocktail: Garnish Goes to Work exclusively for the Finance Rock Star Book Tour.
• Save $100 on FireUpBiz Toolbox – Eligible to receive the entire FireUpBiz Toolbox at the original LIVE event pricing, a savings of $100!
• Chance to win* Find Your Secret Sauce Workshop – Win one free seat in the (get your branding nailed down at last) Secret Sauce Workshop

Get them now by ordering your copy of How to be a Finance Rock Star.

• All the incentives listed above PLUS…
• 60 Days Free pbSmart™ Codes Standard Plan plus 20% Off Coupon – Receive 60 days free of this amazing, easy to use, QR Code service offered by Pitney Bowes PLUS a coupon code for 20% off the retail price of the Standard Plan.
• One Year Digital Dining Room Membership – Get this awesome membership that provides marketing help with a foodie flaire. One free year membership in the Digital Dining Room by The Word Chef
• Chance to win** original artwork by Tori Deaux – Tori’s painting of Moolah the Cash Cow will be awarded to one randomly selected winner.
• Chance to win* one year of the Business Plan Package by Blog Engage – Receive one full year of of the Business Plan Package / RSS Syndication offered by Blog Engage.
• Chance to win** FireUpBiz Toolbox – Receive the full FireUpBiz Toolbox, chock full of expert advice and practical solutions. Will be awarded to one randomly selected winner.
• Chance to win** one year of pbSmart™ Codes Standard Plan – Receive one full year of this amazing, easy to use, QR Code service offered by Pitney Bowes. Will be awarded to one randomly selected winner.
• Chance to win** one month of Peak Performance Profit Coaching – That’s right, you could win a month of one-on-one profit coaching with me, The Numbers Whisperer™. Will be awarded to one randomly selected winner.

 
**One entry to the raffle for every three copies of How to be a Finance Rock Star purchased. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Read official rules here.
 

Get them now by ordering your copy of How to be a Finance Rock Star.

Don’t delay. The early bird will fly away on March 2nd!

Finance Rock Star Book Tour 2012 Platinum Sponsor

© 2011 Small Business Finance Forum LLC | All rights reserved.
 

Photo Credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

And guess what? Your brand may actually be worth something. Have some equity. Some actual monetary value that — should you ever decide to sell your business — would help make up the total value of your company.

The challenge (or paradox) is that while your brand does have some sort of value, it’s very hard to pin down.
 

How do you figure out the value of your brand?

Let’s look at how purchases are made.

When you shop for groceries, you’ve got several brand options to choose from in every category. One of those options is usually a generic or bargain product.

Think about which you choose and why.

For me, it depends on the product. Sometimes — when price is more important and there is no discernible difference to me in quality, I go with the generic version. Other times, when I want to be sure that I get the full flavor I’m after, I’ll choose my favorite brand. And sometimes, when I find something totally new and I’m not sure, my brand associations may spill over into my decisions about purchasing this new item. If it’s a brand I trust, I may be more likely to buy it.

When we trust a brand and find it relevant to our lives, we select the products and/or services associated with that brand over those of competitors, even if we have to pay more.

And when a brand’s promise is so strong that it exceeds any one product (e.g. people will buy any product based solely on the name), the business that owns that brand has the power to leverage it to enter new markets or to charge higher prices. That is how a brand holds value. And in financial lingo, we call that brand equity.

Brand Equity translates simply to your ability to charge a certain price. If you can’t charge a premium price, then you don’t have any brand equity. (Not necessarily brand value, which is a different animal altogether.)

A simple comparison of two brands

As an example, let’s look at the difference between Coca-Cola and Cott (the makers of RC Cola):

Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at NYU Stern discussed how to valuate a brand at the L2 Innovation Forum in 2010. In particular, he compared Coke and RC:

“Soda is water with a bunch of sugar and a lot of crap thrown in. You can put whatever you want on the outside of the can, but there is really no difference between a cola and another cola. You may say that Coca-Cola tastes different — that’s what 100 years of playing with your mind does to you.”

For him, the cola business is all about brand perception, not the actual product.

At the time of his presentation, Damodaran valued Coca-Cola’s business at $79.6 billion, while the value of Cott was limited to $15.4 billion. Coke therefore, had a pricing premium of $64.2 billion total (the difference between the two brands’ equity). That’s about 80% of the company’s value.

Damodaran noted that the key number driving the valuation is the companies’ operating margins — Coca-Cola’s margin is 15.57%, while Cott’s is 5.28%. Typically, a company in that industry has an operating margin of 5-7%, so Coca-Cola’s margin was phenomenal.

The bottom line: If Coca-Cola suddenly lost its brand name, its operating margins would drop to around 5.28%, and it would lose $64.2 billion of value.

Factors that make up a Brand’s Value

Brand equity is just one of the factors that can increase the financial value of a brand. Other elements include (but aren’t limited to): changing market share, profit margins, consumer recognition of logos and other visual elements, brand language associations made by consumers, consumers’ perceptions of quality and other relevant brand values.

Did your eyes glaze over? Yep, me too.

Unless you’re in love with the numbers side of things, the process of figuring all this out can be a little overwhelming.

But what it all means is that in order to understand the true value of your brand, you need to look at more than just your brand equity. You also need to understand:

• Your investment for developing your brand visuals (the logo and other marketing materials). How much time and money did you spend? And how much would a business normally spend on this? (Did you spend more, less?)
• How much of the market share do you currently have? Is your market local or global?
• How well-known is your brand? If you were to survey a random sample of your target audience, what percentage would recognize you?
• How loyal are your customers? How large is your customer list and how quickly is it growing?

These are all factors of your brand’s value. But they don’t really give you a hard and fast number.

According to the entry on Wikipedia: “Brand equity and brand value are strategically crucial, but famously difficult to quantify. Many experts have developed tools to analyze this asset, but there is no universally accepted way to measure it.[9]

My best advice: Build a strong brand. Nurture it. Guard it. It’s your most sustainable competitive advantage.

And when you get ready to sell your business (you do have an exit strategy, right?), you can then enlist the help of a qualified valuation expert to help you determine your brand’s value.

A few branding reminders:

1. Word of Mouth is going to either rocket you into the stratosphere or kill your business. It all depends on what people are saying. (Give them something good to talk about!)
2. It’s all about the perception, not the reality. It’s about the intangible emotional connections your customers have with your brand.
3. You can help or hurt your brand by the company you keep. Think about what happened with Nike when the Tiger Woods scandal broke. It probably wasn’t something they ever anticipated happening. But it did. And they had to deal with it. Your sponsorships, strategic partnerships, referrals and associations all matter.

Final Thoughts

Focusing too much on the dollar value of your brand isn’t something I usually recommend. It’s much more productive to focus instead on building the strongest brand that you can.

About the Author: Tea Silvestre

Tea Silvestre is the founder of the Tastiest Small Biz Brand Awards (public votes are still being accepted) and a marketing consultant who helps her clients find and share their Secret Sauce with the world. Check out her online class (How to Find Your Secret Sauce) if you’d like to zero-in on how to make your business stand out from the crowd and attract new customers with an addicting brand.

© 2011 Tea Silvestre | All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

 

Do you believe that bartering “just doesn’t work”? Are you convinced only wannabe’s, noobs and criminals barter?

Think again!

Barter is a fantastic way to grow your business when cash is tight. It’s time to set the record straight on barter, and how you can use barter to prosper.

Debunking the bad reputation of bartering

Bartering is Different Than Paying Cash

Alternate Title: It’s all in your head!
Why is bartering different than paying cash? This is not a rhetorical question. Why do you believe barter is somehow different than paying cash?

What is money? I know, I know. You want to be a profitable biz owner, not a Buddhist Monk. Hang in there with me!

Perhaps a better question is why do we have money? Because people didn’t want to carry heavy bags of grain around. People also don’t want to be forced to pay 2 live chickens for something only worth 1.5 live chickens because you couldn’t possibly make change.

Money is simply a commonly accepted symbol of value. It represents your hard work, your services, your products. In fact money is nothing more than a go-between. You create a product that you value at $100. I sell a service for $100 so I can buy your product.

How is that any different than if we directly exchanged your product for my services?

It’s not. The only difference between paying with cash and using barter is in your head.

Bartering Doesn’t Require a Contract

Alternate Title: If you have poor business practices you get poor results.
I’ve often heard the complaint that a person didn’t get what they expected in a barter arrangement. Key word there is expected.

When I ask if they any type of written agreement the answer is always no. You can expect a lot of things, that doesn’t mean they will happen. What is important is a clear understanding between the two parties.

“But we talked about it!”

How many times have you “talked” about something with your spouse, friend, or kids and had them forget or have a very different memory of the conversation? I’m not saying it’s deliberate, it is simply human nature. Our memories are imperfect, and that’s assuming you both heard the same thing.

When an agreement is in writing it does two things. First it ensures you are really on the same page (literally!) in regards to all details of the barter deal. Second it creates a clear, permanent record of that agreement. So if a month later there is a dispute you can pull it back out to verify the facts.

It doesn’t need to be a complicated, lengthy document. A single page, or even an email can suffice. Just get it in writing!

We interrupt this program for a very important announcement.

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It’s coming February 2012!

Your All Access Backstage Pass to a profitable business.
Amazing pre-order incentives. Sign up for all the details.

*Leather pants and pink mohawks sold separately.

---

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Barter Clients aren’t Real Clients

Alternate Title: Client class warfare is a no win battle.
So do you have imaginary clients then? Do you do work for pretend people? I hope not!

This ties in directly with my first point about getting paid by cash versus services. You are performing a service for someone who IS paying you. In my book that makes them a client.

If you can’t treat your barter clients the same as the rest then don’t barter. If your potential barter partner gives any indication of seeing you as less than other clients, don’t barter.

Bartering is Too Complicated

Alternate Title: Because loan applications are soooo easy
This one confuses me the most. Name one way to raise capital for your business that is simple. Even robbing a bank requires a lot of planning if you don’t want to get caught.

In reality bartering is simpler than many forms of funding for your business. The complexity is only slightly more than a standard contract with a client. If you need cash now to grow your business bartering is one of the fastest ways to make it happen.

You may also want to read another post I wrote on all the different forms of barter, and how you can leverage them in your business.

Final Thoughts

Are you convinced that barter might be a solution for you? Have you used barter in the past? What was your experience?

This post is part of the January Word Carnival — a monthly group blogging event specifically for small business owners. (It’s the most fun you’ll have all month!) Check out the rest of the fabulous carney work here. And don’t forget to join us for our Twitter Chat on Thursday (Jan 26) at noon (Pacific). We’ll be tweeting up a storm under the #WordCarnival hashtag.

© 2011 Small Business Finance Forum LLC | All rights reserved.

 

Goodbye 2011 – Hello 2012

Thank you for a wonderful 2011.

I hope you laughed, learned and profited in the past 12 months. I know my life and business were more fulfilling because of each of you.

2012 is bound to present it’s own challenges and rewards. Some think the economy will continue to flounder, others optimistically predict that we will finally see serious growth. I’m excited to tackle the challenges, and help you reach your goals in the new year.

To enable you to grow your profits I’ve been hard at work creating new products and services as well as making the current ones even better. Some coming attractions to whet your appetite:

• My book How to be a Finance Rock Star will be released in early 2012. Sign up now to get in on all the pre-release VIP benefits.
• Rock Your Profits 2012 edition will be released
• A YouTube channel
• Official launch of our new website The Numbers Whisperer™
• And much, much more.

As we enter the new year, remember…

Profit is not a luxury.

© 2011 Small Business Finance Forum LLC | All rights reserved.