Gift Basket Business Blog

Loans for Small Gift Basket Businesses

I just read an article in Gourmet News, September, 2009, about Recovery Act monies that have been earmarked for small businesses. ARC loans (America’s Recovery Capital) are available for “small businesses with an immediate financial hardship”. Loans up to $35,000 can be obtained by small businesses that were “in the black for 2 or 3 years before the recession” and are in need of financial aid to “pay their principal and interest payments on existing and qualifying business debts”. Go to the Small Business Administration web site to get the facts about this loan program and to find out if you qualify.

If you’re interested in obtaining a loan for your business, you may also want to check out these resources:

• Small SBA loans in the category of $5,000 to 35,000 are also available under the Community Express and Patriot Express stimulus loan programs.

Add comment September 27th, 2009

Starbucks is Talking to Customers: Why Can’t You?

We used to call it a suggestion box. But now, Starbucks has taken the idea “high-tech” and is “getting ideas from customers via the Internet. The coffee shop chain launched the social web site “MyStarbucks-Idea.com” in March 2008. So far, it has received more than 80,000 suggestions through the site” – and actually implemented a few of these ideas in its stores. Full story.

Many companies are now using social networking sites to interact with their customers. No longer is this a “one-way” line of communication with the company promoting products and services. Now, companies are looking for suggestions from customers in an attempt to get some ideas regarding what will bring customers in and keep them coming back.

This doesn’t have to be complicated. If you have a web site, you might simply think about adding a link to your personal email address so that customers can communicate their ideas. Although many web sites have a “contact us” link, I usually think that those emails go to an empty room…does anyone really read those? Check out the Apex Gift Foods home page to see what I’m proposing. Then send me a message with your suggestions!

1 comment September 20th, 2009

You Can’t “Make” Your Employees Work Harder

Although you may be the owner of your gift basket business, and you sign the paychecks each week, you just can’t “make” your employees do a good job. Ultimately, we have no control of how others behave. Sure, we can ask employees to perform certain tasks, but their investment in doing those tasks to the best of their ability rests entirely with them.

So what can we do to “encourage” employees to do the best that they can? First, we can treat them as adults: with respect and honesty. We can recognize that they come to our businesses with a certain set of skills and experiences and we can honor them by asking for their opinions and considering their suggestions.

We can also remember that they may come to work with problems from home. While they need to put these issues aside while at work, we need to remember that their “bad moods” or “anxieties” are theirs to control. Depending on our own comfort levels, we can listen, but not offer advice. Sometimes by sharing our own similar experiences and how we dealt with them is enough to let the other person know that we understand….and sometimes that just enough.

2 comments September 15th, 2009