An Amazing Deal for Small Business Owners

This is an amazing deal for small business owners that I just had to share. Here is the deal:

For a limited time only Siglat Mobile Apps is offering free iPhone app development for small businesses. 50 businesses who respond to the offer, will receive a FREE marketing iPhone app. Siglat Mobile Applications allows your customers to purchase your product directly from their mobile device.

Simply create a Video or Power Point explaining how your business could use an iphone app!

Siglat Mobile Apps specializes in providing custom Direct Purchase iPhone Apps for small businesses using PayPal's Mobile In-App purchasing API. We currently have two application templates to choose from depending on your product type.

The basic template is a grid display similar to the one used by the Mimosa iPhone app. Mimosa features custom images of your product that the user can touch to get more detailed information before a purchase.

The second template is a display which lists your products by category and allows users to "drill down" until they find the product they need. Your customers are then presented with an image of your item, detailed product information, and the option to purchase.

We recommend using the first template for customers with up to 15 items, and the second template for customers with more than 15 items. Using these templates allows for Rapid-Application Development of your app. The process usually takes less than 1 month – including the wait for App Store acceptance. Specialized applications can also be arranged for businesses with products that require a different purchasing format.

For this promotion Siglat is also waving its normal purchase charge of 30% per item to only to 10% per item! So not only will you get a free app in the App Store, but the purchase fee on what you sell will be decreased for the life of your app. Create your video and act now before this offer expires!

Visit http://siglat.com/.

Siglat Mobile Apps
2351 Sunset Blvd. STE 170
Rocklin CA 95765
Phone: (916) 672-8134

iphoneapp@siglat.com

Creating the Intra-preneurial Spirit

I recently read an article about encouraging employees to display the same entrepreneurial fervor as the biz owner; it’s obviously got a great variety of benefits for all involved:

1. The owner transfers responsibility for a number of tasks and business functions from her/his head to those of capable and trained employees.

2. The owner gains – with smart training – a group of empowered employees who’ll think and decide with the company benefit at heart (not really – they have their own benefit in mind and the degree to which the smart entrepreneur ties these benefits together is the degree to which you get loyal, committed employees).

3. The owner adds tremendous value to her/his company, thereby improving the long-term reward (read: profitable sale) s/he’ll enjoy when ready.

4. The owner adds a level of creativity and new possibilities for the company by taking advantage of all the different lenses through which each employee views the company procedures.

5. The owner gains more free time to do what s/he wants, whether with this company, the next company, the next vacation or whatever s/he wants.

Anyway, while reading this article, I was reminded of my first 2 lessons with internal entrepreneurship (which I call ‘intra’-preneurship), both of which happened at the same employer; take a look below and tell me what lessons you get here.

Story #1: Way back in the 80’s, I worked for a great, entrepreneurial subsidiary of a huge American corporation. Each company had broad name recognition and each had radically different corporate cultures. The parent recognized this and maintained a hands-off demeanor for 2 decades. As a result, the subsidiary became hugely successful with the entrepreneurial spirit encouraged by its own company president and it contributed significantly to the happy story its parent told in annual reports. However, the very entrepreneurial, shoot-from-the-hip spirit encouraged at the subsidiary soon dwarfed, in the mind of the parent company, the great financial success its unit brought it. So, within 2 years of my own departure, the entrepreneurial spirit was shot down, every senior-level executive that had helped the unit thrive was gone and a family member of the parent was throned.
Moral of the story: It’s important for a company principal to be completely objective about what they seek with its employees’ creativity because ego and self-image can over-power almost anything – even profitability.

Story #2: In that same subsidiary company, the president understood it takes more than conferring responsibility on a willing internal entrepreneur (which he called, and I’ve since adopted “intra-preneurs”); you have to give them authority and resources as well so know they have the confidence and ability to take action, with the necessary support, to execute their ideas. During the 10 years I was very happily employed there, I was given almost carte blanche to take an idea which had begun to show fruit (and conceived by others) and leverage the heck out of it so it became a model of sky-high profitability and success; and hey, I’m not modest: each year’s profit eclipsed the prior year’s revenue.
Moral of the story: 20 years later, I still enjoy giving a client’s employees the means and encouragement to dream and do big because it’s the model of the perfect win-win scenario: the employee is encouraged to excel at what s/he does well, thereby enjoying a sense of empowerment and success to do it again; and the company reaps the added productivity, creativity, revenue (or cost-savings) rewards.

Two different views of intra-preneurship; which will work for you and how will you get there?

Investing In Women Unveils Contest Promoting Women Owned Businesses

Small business owners are banding together to support new and struggling entrepreneurs with a new contest offering business resources. Every month on Investing In Women they will be offering a variety of different prizes to help your business grow and fun prizes to lift your spirits.

This October you can win a registration to become a certified coach, free ghostwriting services, and a vitamin supplement to keep you going strong. It is free to enter the contest. Winners and their business will be announced on the site at the end of October!

Enter the contest October 1- 20th here:
Investing In Women

Investing In Women is a free online community of business owners with a focus on success through collaboration. Started in 2008 as a business resource site and grant program ..... entrepreneurs can now network, upload videos and product photos, and get involved in building the site with valuable resources.

Sponsors for the October contest are .....

* Cathy Liska; a master certified coach at Center For Coaching Certification

* Deb Lamb; a freelance ghostwriter at Your Everything Services

* Kathy Adams; a retail owner at Market America