Newsletter: August 2006

A note from our director...

Are you having trouble reaching a business goal? Do you have a specific business area you need some advice on? Are you simply overwhelmed and don’t know what to do next to grow your dream?

Well, help is on the way. While enjoying light refreshments, on Wednesday, August 16th, from 4 PM to 6 PM, meet with a group of up to 12 of your peers – other SBDC small business owners who know your pain -- in the friendly and supportive environment of Loudoun County SBDC's offices. All participants will bring a wealth of life experience and knowledge to the table.

The group will divide into two teams (a maximum of six members per team). Each team will be moderated by a Loudoun SBDC small business specialist and will explore, in turn, the challenges brought to the table by the various participants. In the team setting, at one point every participant will concentrate exclusively on YOUR problem, and then at other times you will concentrate exclusively on THEIR problem! With this format, you are both a student and a teacher! Afterwards, each team will “report out” their activities to the group as a whole, and “lessons learned” will be highlighted.

To be eligible for this session, you must be a prior Loudoun SBDC counseling client (have attended at least one counseling session). Pre-registration is required. E-mail sbdc@loudounsbdc.org, and put “REGISTER PEER GROUP” in the e-mail subject line; the Center will confirm your registration. Only the first 12 qualified registrations will be accepted. No cancellations, please. Session will start promptly at 4 PM.

As always, we look forward to seeing you in counseling and at our seminars this month!

Sincerely, Robin Suomi Executive Director

Featured Business

GeoConcepts Engineering, Inc. www.geoconcepts-eng.com 703-726-8030

Once they had established a firm business foundation, this month's featured business has reaped the rewards of hard work and strong entrepreneurship!

GeoConcepts Engineering, Inc. (GeoConcepts) is a woman/minority owned business that provides professional geotechnical engineering, hydrogeologic, and environmental consulting services to private and public sector clients throughout the Washington Metro area. The range of services the company offers covers projects from the due diligence phase through design and construction. As an indication of the types of expertise available at GeoConcepts, its design services include subsurface investigations, soil laboratory testing, shallow and deep foundation analysis and design, slope stability analysis, sinkhole identification and mitigation, and geologic mapping.

Vivian and Ted Lewis initially came to the Loudoun County SBDC in 1999 for assistance in developing a business plan to aid in finding sources of startup capital. Through the Center’s aid, GeoConcepts refined its overall plan by creating sound management, financial, and marketing components. By the end of February 1999, GeoConcepts was able to take the business plan to several banks, and ultimately to secure a loan through the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority. By mid-March, the company was open for business in the Town of Leesburg. In 2001, GeoConcepts earned the New Business of the Year Award from the Town of Leesburg and was the Entrepreneur Finalist for Loudoun County. The company has now grown from the four founding members (Vivian and Ted Lewis, Paul Burkart and R. Drew Thomas) to over 65 employees with 11,000 square feet of new office space in University Center, Ashburn.

GeoConcepts’ success can be attributed to the unmatched quality and dedication of its service, and to its having developed from the start a sound business plan which facilitated implementation of a clear business strategy. Starting a business is not easy, but there are a variety of places like the Loudoun County SBDC than can help in this process and lead you to think of winning business and financial strategies that you may not have thought of on your own.

For further information, please contact: GeoConcepts Engineering, Inc. 19955 Highland Vista Drive, #170 Ashburn, VA 20194 www.geoconcepts-eng.com 703-726-8030

SBDC Report

Small Business Survival Statistics

Success can be yours as a small business owner. The SBA Office of Advocacy offers the following information regarding the survival rate for new firms:

Two-thirds of new employer establishments survive at least 2 years, and 44% survive at least 4 years, according to a new study. These results were similar for different industries.

Firms that began in the second quarter of 1998 were tracked for the next 16 quarters to determine their survival rate. Despite conventional wisdom that restaurants fail much more frequently than firms in other industries, leisure and hospitality establishments, which would include restaurants, survived at rates only slightly below the average.

Earlier research has explored the reasons for a new business’s survivability. Major factors in a firm’s remaining open include an ample supply of capital, the fact that a firm is large enough to have employees, the owner’s education level, and the owner’s reason for starting the firm in the first place, such as freedom for family life or wanting to be one’s own boss.

http://www.sba.gov/ADVO/stats/sbfaq.txt

Business Tip of the Month

Client Satisfaction-DELIGHT YOUR CUSTOMERS

Is your business delighting customers? Are they living the WOW!!! experience after receiving your services? It is very important to keep your customers delighted because:

• It costs 5 to 8 times more to gain a new customer than to get an existing customer to buy from you again

• A 5% increase in loyalty can increase profits by 25%-85%

• A very satisfied customer is nearly six times more likely to be loyal and to repurchase and recommend your product than is a customer who is just satisfied

• Only 4% of dissatisfied customers will complain

• The average customer with a problem tells nine other people

• Satisfied customers tell five other people about their good treatment

Start listening to your customers and exceed their expectations. Customers are a source of terrific ideas about how to improve your services. Do some unexpected things for them. By doing more and going the extra mile, you are telling your clients that you really care. You can also empower your staff. Teach them how to do anything that makes your customer service special, such as opening the door for a customer, or carrying heavy parcels to cars. Truly manage service problems and for sure your customers will come again.

The golden rule for success in business is to get your customers to believe that they are more important to you than anyone else—and they will become your loyal customers.

Sources: www.coaching-business-to-success.com and www.qualitydigest.com/sept00/html/satisfaction.html