I just finished reading Steve Pavlina’s new book called Personal Development for Smart People.  It boils down the teachings of hundreds of self-help books into one framework based on the idea that an individual should consciously strive to live with the three core principles of truth, love, and power.  The book is full of practical, down-to-earth ideas about how to develop and apply these principles.

There’s no question that in any small business, the personal effectiveness of its core members is hugely important.  However, I find that thinking of an organization like a separate individual can produce helpful insights.  Let’s take a look at how thinking of the principles of truth, love, and power as applied to a small business can give you ideas to improve.

Truth:
- What external sources can you learn from?  e.g. advisors, blogs, books, similar businesses
- Do all the important people in your company regularly talk directly with customers?
- Do you have easy access to the numbers on the trends for your sales and expenses?
- Do you have easy access to find out how much inventory you have and where?
- Do you have checks and balances in place for your decision-making processes?

Love:
- Do your company’s workspace and culture provide a positive working environment?
- Do your employees feel valued and work together well?
- Does your company build a strong enough bond with its customers to make them want to talk about it?
- How can you further build your company’s reputation and exposure to your target market?
- Is your company socially and environmentally responsible?  What contributions can you make in the community?

Power:
- How quickly can you perform common tasks like invoicing customers?
- How is the financial health of your organization?
- Do you have sufficient cash or credit to invest in new initiatives?
- Do your employees have the right tools and skills to be fully productive?
- How powerfully are you able to respond to change from your customers or competitors?

This multi-dimensional way of thinking can help you identify often neglected aspects of your business that could be improved.

Here are 2 options for a 1-year magazine subscription:
A)  Web only subscription - $59
B)  Print & Web subscription - $125

Which one would you pick?  A study shows that 68% of you would pick option A, and 32% would pick option B.

OK, how about if we add in one more option:
A)  Web only subscription - $59
B)  Print only subscription - $125
C)  Print & Web subscription - $125

No, there’s no typo.  Option B and C are the same price, but option B is missing the web access.  Now which one would you pick?

Surprisingly, by adding in a dummy option with the same price, the study says that only 16% of you would pick option A, none of you would pick option B, and a whooping 84% would pick option C.  Want to know why?  In short, because we often judge value relatively.  A choice is good because it is better than the other choices, not because of the intrinsic and objective value of it.  Think you can use this to your business advantage?

Find out more about these sorts of psychological quirks in this book.

Compare these two sentences:

“In the author’s opinion, it is in most peoples’ best interests when excessive verbiage is avoided by people who are engaged in the act of writing.”

“Don’t fluff up your writing.”

They say the same thing, but the second one is much more direct and memorable.

Whether you’re writing website content, instructions, or an important email - every word costs your readers time and energy.  If it doesn’t pay off quickly, you will quickly lose their attention and potential business.

Pack a lot of content into a few words.

If you’re not convinced, here are some illuminating resources:
- Mark Twain said “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
- Google cuts words mercilessly.
- If you add 100 words to your website, people will read less than 20 of them.
- A book On Writing Well

The internet is great for finding little bits of information quickly, but for most people, good old-fashioned books are still the best way to learn things in depth. You’re holding back your business growth if you don’t learn from reading the best; but you also don’t have time to filter out all the junk. To help, here’s three recommended books that changed the way we think about things:

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. This isn’t really a business book, but helps guide you towards habits and mindsets that will make you better at accomplishing whatever you want to do. Habit #7: Sharpen the saw. Constantly working yourself to exhaustion will leave you like a dull saw - ineffective. You need to occasionally sharpen the saw - recharge and strengthen yourself by spending time with loved ones or relaxing with a good book.

2. Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. This book teaches you 6 characteristics that make your ideas more memorable and contagious. The first characteristic: simplicity. The book quotes a successful defense lawyer saying “If you argue ten points, even if each is a good point, when they get back to the jury room they won’t remember any.” Unify your message into one core point.

3. Good to Great, by Jim Collins. This book is the result of 15,000 hours of research into the question “How does a good company become great?” They identified 6 main differences. The second difference: First Who… Then What. Good companies will set a business strategy, then hire people to get the job done. Great companies focus on hiring great people, then let them figure out a strategy.

Do yourself a favor and pick up one of these books now. If you’re just starting your business or thinking about it, pick up the 7 Habits. If you’re trying to get the word out, grab Made to Stick. And if you’re thinking of growing or hiring people, read Good to Great. Each one has incredible teaching value for your time and money investment.

If you sell products, you may want to take advantage of their barcodes to let you take orders and receive goods faster and more accurately. If you’re selling a product, just scan what you’re selling, then print out an invoice and have your inventory automatically adjusted.

It’s much easier and cheaper to get this going than most people think. All you need besides your computer is a barcode scanner and some compatible software.

A basic barcode scanner sells for about $100, and you can get used ones for even cheaper than that. Don’t be overwhelmed by all the choices out there; a basic USB barcode scanner will work with just about any computer and will suit the needs of most small businesses. Your biggest decision will be whether or not you want to pay more for a wireless scanner.

Your local computer stores may also carry barcode scanners, or here’s a few possible places you can buy them online:

· International Pre Owned Barcode

· Barcode Superstore

· Barcode Discount

You also have various options for the software. If you run a retail store, a point of sale (POS) system may suit your needs. You can also buy add-ons that add barcode capability to Quickbooks. Or inFlow Inventory is a complete small business system that lets you manage inventory and take orders using barcodes. It even has a Free Edition you can download and use with no time limits.

Do you know someone who might want to start using barcodes in their business?

Next time you need to invoice a customer, the quickest thing to do might be to open up Microsoft Word, find an invoice template, and fill it out. But by investing a bit more time into setting up some business software for invoicing once, you get the following 5 benefits as free side effects forever:

1. Save copies automatically - Instead of printing and filing extra copies of your invoices every time, have them automatically saved for you.

2. Quickly search old invoices - Is a customer calling and asking about an invoice? Instead of fumbling through papers to find it - search electronically by customer, date, or invoice number and find it right away.

3. Track payments - Track payment status right with the invoice instead of keeping separate books.

4. Get reports on sales history - How much money did you make last month? How did your sales in April compare to March? Get these answers right away, without tedious calculations.

5. Automatically track inventory - If you sell products, why enter your invoices in Word and then update your inventory somewhere else? Have it all done for you in one package.

What can you use to get all these benefits? Two common choices are the Quickbooks Accounting Software and Microsoft Office Accounting. Or we designed inFlow Inventory to be a better choice for both non-accountants and people who stock and sell products. You can download the Free Edition right now, which allows you to send out unlimited invoices for free!

Do you know an entrepreneur who might want to improve their invoicing habits?