Small Business e-Report

December 19, 2000

Welcome to the 10th issue of the Small Business e-Report, brought to you by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry. This is a special end-of-the-year issue focusing on the holidays and looking forward to 2001. This is our monthly e-publication designed to provide insight and advice on operating a successful small business in today's nonwovens industry. Enjoy, and let us know what you think

IN THIS ISSUE …

IDEA 01 AWARD FINALISTS TO BE ANNOUNCED NEXT MONTH
We'd love to be able to give you a sneak peek at the finalists for the inaugural IDEA 01 Achievement Awards, which will be presented during the opening keynote session of IDEA 01, March 27, 2001 in Miami Beach. But we, like the Selection Committee, have been sworn to secrecy until the official announcement is made in the January issue of Nonwovens Industry. Even a fruitcake sent to our offices won't get it out of us. All we can say is, there sure were a lot of nominations ...

WHAT NOT TO DO ...
Here's one holiday gift-giving scenario to avoid (as written on the Entrepreneur.com website): "I'm very friendly with all my vendors, making sure I get to know each one of them personally. One vendor gave me a gift basket, which looked lovely from the outside, but when I opened it up, I found that to be entirely false. Not only had he filled it with sausages and cheese (we've had conversations about my strict vegetarian lifestyle), but it had a box of chocolates--the very one I had given him last year--that had been obviously left in the heat and had melted all together. Talk about a personal touch!"

WHAT TO DO ...
Instead, here are some gift-giving and holiday tips you can bank on:

Instead of physical present, make a donation in the name of a local or national charity in your customer's name. If you know them well, find out what their favorite charities are and donate to them.

Get your customers in the buying mood with seasonal décor. Make sure you're politically correct by sticking with lights, candy canes and snowflakes. If you have a home office where clients don't visit, decorate anyway. String lights, buy a mini-tree and make snowflakes out of used paper.

Kids on vacation and looking for some gift-buying funds? Hire them to stuff and stamp your business holiday cards.

READ THIS: HOLIDAY PARTY TIPS FOR ALL BUSINESSES
A generation ago, a business's recipe for a successful holiday party was simple: Stock up on plenty of alcohol, pour drinks freely, and be quick to overlook employees' inebriated mishaps. No more. The big change is, there's a lot less emphasis on booze.

Caution was the impetus behind this change. "Many companies have been held liable for actions of employees who became intoxicated at events sponsored by the business," says Michael Blickman, an attorney with Ice Miller Donadio & Ryan in Indianapolis. If a drunken employee is involved in an automobile accident after a party, watch out: Lawsuits may fly at you from the victim and possibly even the employee, and damage awards can quickly climb to business-breaking levels. "This is a real risk," says Blickman, who adds that too much alcohol may also lead to claims of sexual harassment. Circulating a memo about the booze-limits prior to the event is a good pre-emptive effort.

The good news is that as businesses have shifted the focus away from alcohol, parties have gotten more interesting. The big trend is that parties are getting more personal. Fewer businesses are holding events in hotels, for instance. More are holding parties in the home of an executive because that adds a personal touch. If the executive actually does the cooking, well, that adds even more personal.

Organized fun, in fact, is a popular party theme. More companies are playing games at their parties, with charades and scavenger hunts are high on the list. Games let employees see supervisors in a different light, and they also help make everybody feel comfortable.

10 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS
From the interesting website entreworld.com, designed for small companies, here's a list of 10 New Year's Resolutions for Small Businesses that will help you run your business more efficiently and, most important, help you make money.

  1. Get legal. When you have clients and suppliers calling you, a Web site to update, files to prepare for your accountant, and 12 other fires to extinguish, the legal structure of your business may not even be on your to-do list-especially when you're not even sure which structure you want. Business Filings Inc. can help you wade through the legalese so you can make an informed decision for your business. Once you've chosen your business structure, you can complete an online order form in 10 minutes. Then you can get back to those fires.
  2. Get the figures. How can you possibly not know how much your business is worth? Find out now-and for free-with USBX. USBX offers a free, industry-specific valuation of your business.
  3. Get in the network. Extra inventory is overflowing your stockroom, and you need the services of a marketing firm. Why not make a trade? At Lassobucks.com, you can barter your business's goods with other businesses using LassoBucks as currency. You don't have to make direct trades but can earn and spend LassoBucks when you need to; LassoBucks.com takes a 5% commission.
  4. Get to show off. You'd love to find a new audience for your product, but where do you look? Try a trade show. At TSCentral, you can search for trade shows, seminars, conferences and conventions. Of course, don't forget about IDEA 01 in Miami Beach, March 27-29, 2001. Make a resolution to be there!
  5. Get the sale. You want to optimize every sales effort you make, but you're too bogged down by paperwork and the minutiae of managing a sales team. Check into mynetsales.com, which allows you to organize your accounts, contacts, calendar and sales information in a secure online environment.
  6. Get some press. Why are all those boring companies getting all the press when you have such a fabulous story to tell? Why isn't your phone ringing off the hook with media queries? For $275, Internet Wire will distribute your press releases via e-mail in vertical channels to its network of more than 24,000 independent news professionals. Better yet, call Nonwovens Industry magazine at 201-825-2552 and ask to speak to one of the editors.
  7. Get your finances straight. At oneCore.com, you can manage all your financial activities, including business check writing, payroll, merchant services and credit services. Since they're all in one place online, you can have multiuser access 24/7.
  8. Get your Web site to the next level. Congratulations. You've built your company's Web site. Now what? With MyComputer.com, you have access to a suite of free and paid Web site management applications, including advanced site tracking and analysis tools, interactivity tools, and site promotion and marketing tools. In other words, no annoying IT person on staff.
  9. Get your shipping for less money with less effort. Of all the tasks you juggle on a daily basis, shipping should be the least of your concerns. With InterShipper, it can be. Find the best shipping rates for your needs by filling out a simple form that will provide a list of rates from all the carriers.
  10. Get your life in control. You don't even have 10 minutes to spare to complete just one of these simple resolutions? Then perhaps you should start here: Zkey.com is a free online calendar you can share with anyone you want. You can schedule appointments, create a to-do list, organize and store your contacts, and then share all this information with whomever you give your Zkey password to.

IDEA 01 TRADE SHOW TIP OF THE MONTH
When you turn the calendar at the end of this month, IDEA 01, March 27-29 in Miami Beach, FL, will be less than three months away. Time to gear up your planning. Here's this month's tip to getting the most out of your pre-show marketing efforts:

Hospitality means catering to the needs of guests before, during and after the show. To assist booth visitors with their post-show follow-up, connect them with your Web site. Attendees who have to report their show findings to non-attending supervisors can supplement their presentation with your Web site information. On your site, be sure to offer a list of your new products featured at the show as well as their key features and benefits. Keep this information on-line for several weeks after the show!

SMALL COMPANY FOCUS: MOGUL NONWOVENS
This month's look into a smaller nonwovens company that "thinks big" takes us across the ocean to roll goods producer Mogul Spunbond-Melt Blown Nonwovens, Gaziantep, Turkey. According to commercial director Serkan Gogus, flexibility and creativity are the keys to success for this smaller-sized nonwovens operation.

A Strong Technology Base: Under its official name of Mogul Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret ltd. sti , the company was founded in 1997. With an estimated $10 million in revenue for 2000, Mogul employs about 70 people and produces a range of products, including PP spunbond, meltblown and composite roll goods on two spunbond lines with an annual 7000 metric ton combined capacity. According to Gogus, the company also utilizes a 1000 metric ton meltblown line that uses proprietary technology with composite capabilities. To keep up with market demand, Mogul plans to install a new high capacity line in 2001.

Getting Over It: "Bigger companies have good geographical cover, which gives them a logistics advantage and they benefit from the economics of scale, which gives them a price advantage. We overcome this by finding niches we can compete in and giving our best and quickest service," he explained.

Key Competitive Advantage: "We produce colors and special treated fabrics which most big guys don't do."

Words To The Wise: "Companies must be more flexible and must create their own niches," he added. "There's room for small producers if they're creative and create value."

SMALL BUSINESS QUIZ
How would you complete this challenging statement: I trust

a. nobody
b. myself
c. my partner
d. a few key employees
e. my customers

The best answer is "b," because if you can't trust yourself, who can you trust. On the flip side, "a" isn't such a great idea, since you can't really go at it all by yourself. It is not a bad idea to trust your customers ("e"), and if you can't, consider looking for other customers.

THE BOSS FROM HELL: 2000
Speaking of people you can't trust, we leave you for the year with this little Internet survey that was looking for the true "Boss From Hell." The survey swears this winning entry in its Worst Boss contest is true: "My boss' dog died and he brought it into work ... he then placed it in the employee lunch room freezer until he had time to bury it. It was in there for a couple of weeks." Beat that!

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS
Happy Holidays. We'll see you next on January 15. Have a safe and happy holiday and watch the over-indulging at those holiday parties. We would love to hear from you, whether you have a thought you want to share with the hundreds of INDA members reading this newsletter, or if you want to tell others how you are a small company existing in a big world. Just email us at mjacobsen@inda.org and we'll pass it along.

See you next year. Enjoy.

Michael Jacobsen
Editor
INDA Small Business e-Report

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