Tweet

Is Your Small Business Too Cheap?

Guest post by: Jessica Swanson

Article Overview: Small Business Professionalism on a Shoestring Budget.

Is Your Small Business Too Cheap?

It’s time to take my little Chihuahua, Lexie, to her annual check-up. For the past few years, I‘ve gone to this exclusive vet practice that is incredibly expensive; in fact, they’re the priciest practice for miles around.

Even though I’m not one who wants to sacrifice good vet care, I’m also not a big fan of dishing out hundreds of dollars for a simple rabies shot. So, I decided to try a vet who is known to have the “best prices” in town. In fact, this guy is 50% less than my pricey vet.

It took me about 30 seconds to figure out why he’s so cheap.

First of all, when you walk up to his little building, it’s dirty and drab and begging for a fresh coat of paint. The grass is overgrown and running amok with knee-high weeds.

It doesn’t get much better once you get inside. The 1970 wallpaper is peeling off the walls and it looks like the waiting room hasn’t been cleaned for a couple of years at best. (The clumps of big-fur balls trapped in the corners are the clue.)

And that’s not all. This vet doesn’t have a nurse so he personally checks you in. And, of course, he doesn’t have a receptionist or a computer. He just types up the bill on his old, electric computer. You have to admit, this guy knows how to save a buck or two!

Now, putting all this “cheapness” aside, he actually is a good vet and knows what he’s talking about. He’s been in business for over 35 years and has pretty much seen it all.

But, even if this guy was James Herriot himself, while I’m sitting in his dirty, run-down office, I don’t feel too confident about the entire experience. It just seems like he’s cutting too many corners. And so, despite his competency, I’ll probably look for another vet who is not so – cheap.

Obviously, when you have the lowest prices, you’re going to have to give up other things as well: repainting your walls, hiring a cleaning service or investing money back into the growth of your small business.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an online business or offline business, there is a point in which you can be too cheap and sacrifice of the overall success of your small business.

So, what’s the solution? You need to find that happy medium.

If you‘re running an offline business then you need to paint your building, take down the peeling wallpaper and get a cleaning service. You should buy a used computer (And while you’re at it, put up a Facebook Business Page). And, in order to pay for all these new bells and whistles, you may have to raise your prices just a bit.

And, if you are an online business you can fall into the “too cheap” trap as well. You don’t want your prospects coming to your site only to feel uncertain about your professionalism. You need to invest in a professional-looking website, pay for hosting that keeps your website online and purchase a shopping cart.

You’re a small business owner on a shoestring budget, so you certainly don’t have to dish out a lot of money; but, you do need to find that happy medium.

Related Articles
  Sometimes, price is an attitude
  Cheap Promotional Products
  Good, Fast or Cheap
  Do Cheap Bookkeepers Save Money?
  Enhance your website security with cheap SSL certificates
  How To Start An Online Business For Under $100
  What to Do When Your Competitors Cut Prices
  What to avoid when cold calling – words to avoid
  Cheap 800 Numbers for Small Business
  How to Make the Custom Stickers, Cheap?
  Comprehensive Online Printing Solutions for You
  Advertising - is it for you?
  Healthcare is an essential human need. Just as important is finding an insurance company that will give you the great healthcare that you deserve. With so many different healthcare companies sprouting up today, each with its own gimmicks and offers, it can actually be difficult to choose between them all. One health insurance company that you owe it to yourself to take a look at though is Aetna HMO.
  How does a Sales Manager teach people to sell their product without giving away the farm?
  Why Your Own Internet Marketing Website Is A Must
  MeetCheap is the only choice for reliable, feature rich cheap web conferencing
  6 Common Myths About Cheap Franchises
  World Class Airports at Denver
  Dont But Heads With Customers
  E-mail Tip #13 - Don't Take Cheap Shots

Article Tags: Jessica Swanson, shoestring marketing, small business marketing, small business success



Related Forum Posts
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
These maybe the coldest franchises out there: - Here are the worst 15 performing franchises in regards to having the highest Small Business Administration (SBA) loan failure rates. The list is dotted with sub sandwich shops, fitness centers and car shops. WORST FRANCHISE LOAN FAILURES Failure % 1 OBEE'S SOUP SALAD SUBS 55.56% 2 LADY OF AMERICA 41.94% 3 COUNTRY CLUTTER (BED & BREAKFAST) 41.18% 4 COPY CLUB 36.36% 5 ALL TUNE AND LUBE 35.71% 6 PICKERMAN'S 35.71% 7 PHILLY CONNECTION 35.59% 8 ROLY POLY ROLLED SANDWICHES 34.78% 9 COTTMAN TRANSMISSION 34.48% 10 HAIR COLOR EXPRESS 33.33% 11 LEE MYLES AUTOMOTIVE TRANSMISSIONS 33.33% 12 GODFATHER'S PIZZA 33.33% 13 SMOOTHIE FACTORY 33.33% 14 BLIMPIE 31.39% 15 GOLF U.S.A. (RETAIL GOLF EQUIP.) 30.77% Source: Small Business Administration, SBA Loan Performance Within Franchise Code for the Period of FY 2001 - 2005
Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Re: Biz Plan Competition - i just wanted to say that posting Small Business Events on CanadaOne is a great resource. Thanks Julie!
New Small Business Topic - Hello everyone, I'm on the lookout for new topics to add to my site. We just launched a Franchising section and are planning Human Resources section. Do you have any thoughts for a new section? Here's a list of what we currently have: Angel Investors Branding Bank Loans Business Coaching Business Plan Franchises (New) Insurance Legal Marketing Public Relations Sales Small Biz Loans Venture Capital


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

When Living the Dream isn't enough!

How to Set Sales Goals that Work

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.