by eclewis | Aug 24, 2015 | Business News
Be a Customer of Your Own Business
Two years ago, a study found that 81% of consumers perform research online before making a major purchase. That figure rose 20% from the previous year, and has likely continued to rise.
More and more people take a look online before even visiting a business. They want to be sure that they have what they are looking for, that the prices are reasonable, that the service is friendly, and ultimately that they are not wasting their time. This can be more nuanced depending on the type of business of course. For example, if you have a restaurant or bar, then people probably look online for your menu, prices, and maybe some reviews or photos of the place took get a better idea of the atmosphere. I know I do. These themes can still apply if you are selling goods from a home-based business or performing digital services too. Are your products or services of good quality? Do you have good customer service? What is the overall experience like?
For answers to all of these questions, people look online. So if you are trying to see what is going on in the minds of your potential customers, you should trying being a customer of your own business. Google your business name or some keywords a customer might use (preferably in a different web browser or at least signed out of any profiles you use and with all of your temporary internet data like cookies and history cleared—this way your results are less likely to be tainted by your own usage) and see what comes up. Is your website at the top? If it is that’s great, and you can move on to looking at your homepage. Is the key information someone needs readily available like phone number, location, a summary of what you do, etc.? Try to be critical, and this can open up areas that you can improve for your website or Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Beyond your own website in the Google search results, what else do you see? Are there Google Reviews for your business? Did Yelp or another review website show up? What about social media pages for your business like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? It’s important that you regularly take a look at what a new potential customer might see when searching for your business or others like yours.
Look and see if there are bad reviews out there, if your social media pages or website’s blog haven’t been updated for a while, or if there are other red flags concerning your business. These issues can make potential customers second-guess trying your business or even scare them away entirely. These insights can offer you key items available for enhancing your business’ online presence and marketing message to be sure that customers are having the kind of experience you want them to have.
If you’ve done all these things and are satisfied with the message and experience that your business is offering to the public online, then maybe it is time to start getting more feedback from clients. Try talking with regular customers or implementing a survey to see what people think your business could do better.
If you need legal advice on making a change to your business, or are ready to start a new business of your own, then don’t hesitate to reach out and contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, P.C., home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
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by eclewis | Mar 25, 2015 | Business News
Appreciating your Customers and Clients
It cannot be put any more simply than to say that without your customers and/or clients, your business could not survive, so lets talk about ways that you can show your appreciation to them and increase their loyalty to keep them coming back again and again.
You can always consider sending out a handwritten thank you to your top clients to let them know how much you appreciate their business and that you are here for them if they need anything else. You may also think about hosting a client appreciation day of some kind where you offer to take them out to lunch or send out small gifts to them. Sometimes simply reaching out to them for a less formal check-up may be appreciated as a way of showing that you care about how they are doing personally and professionally.
If your business is “customer” rather than “client” based, consider issuing some coupons available for customers to get a discount when they come back next time. Not only are these incentives a relatively small effort on your part but also they can go a long way in forging long-lasting relationships. Such incentive programs do not have to be a drain on your business either; in fact, they can be a large source of long-term growth through customer loyalty and repeat business.
Speaking of customer loyalty, if you are ready to make a bigger step than offering one-time discounts, it may be time to consider developing a customer loyalty program. This could include offering discounts or free products after satisfying a particular number of purchases in a period of time or after meeting a certain dollar amount of purchases. These kinds of programs can be implemented with a variety of smartphone applications available for small businesses, so you do not have to develop one by yourself. This can be a great way to not only increase the quantity of your sales but it can also increase the quality of the overall experience for your customers. This will likely not only increase their customer loyalty, but it will also increase the likelihood that they will bring in their friends and family, write positive reviews online about your business, and tell others about your business.
Whatever you decide to do for your clients or customers, think about it from their perspective. If you were a client or customer, what would you appreciate and what would make you want to come back to that business or refer it to your friends and family? These ideas do not have to be expensive or complicated, but instead, they simply demonstrate how sincerely you value your patrons and want to keep them coming back.
If you need legal assistance for your small business, or if you are ready to start your own, do not hesitate to reach out to the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, PC, home of your Denver Business Attorney, Elizabeth Lewis, at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Nov 6, 2014 | IP Law
After you have researched whether or not your business name or idea is being used by anyone else, see How to Research Your Business Name and How to Research Your Business Idea, it is important to take measures to protect it appropriately.
If the idea is an invention, or improvement to an existing one, that is useful, novel, non-obvious, adequately described or enabled, and claimed by the inventor in clear and definite terms, then it may be patentable, and you should speak with an attorney right a way to discuss the patent application process. You may also consider applying for a provisional patent, which can protect your idea for the first twelve months and allow you to use the phrase “Patent Pending.”
If the idea is of the artistic or creative variety such as a painting, novel, or movie, then you should sit down with an attorney to discuss whether or not it is protected by copyright and whether or not it is a good idea to have the copyright registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. This is usually a straightforward process that can be done electronically.
If your idea is a name, slogan, symbol, sound, or other identifier for your business or its goods and services, then it may be protectable as a trademark. Trademark protections can exist under common law, state law, or federal law, so you should be sure to discuss what is most appropriate and cost-effective for your business with an attorney. Federal trademarks can be especially difficult and expensive to obtain and keep, so this will require some careful deliberation. You may also need to consider whether or not your business needs to be formed a particular way or if a trade name should be filed in order to help protect the name or aspects of the business idea.
If you are thinking about discussing or pitching your idea to others, you should seriously evaluate whether a Non-Disclosure Agreement or other form of confidentiality protection is suitable. These can help protect you from having your idea copied by those you discuss it with, but it can be a delicate issue to raise in front of friends, family, or potential business partners.
Remember that if you do not protect yourself, you could wind up finding yourself in a lengthy and costly court battle to stop someone from profiting off of your idea, and you still might lose. This business idea could be the livelihood of you and your family, so why risk losing it? Do not let this happen to you.
If you have questions about or need help with protecting your business name or idea, contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis, 720-258-6647 or email her at Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Sep 29, 2014 | Business News
If you are thinking about starting a new business, or just thought of an idea for a business, many people think someone out there is already doing it and that they should not bother. Instead of stopping there, why not spend just a few moments putting this idea to the test? By taking some simple steps, you can get a basic answer to the question of whether or not someone is doing the idea that you thought of. Be sure and also take a look at How to Research Your Business Name.
Step one is easy enough, run a few searches online, with your preferred search engine, of your business idea, to see if there is someone out there using it already. If you do find something similar or related to what you had in mind, it is important to take note of just how alike these findings are to your idea. Also look at whether or not they are actively using the idea and what areas of the country they are located in. If you do not find anything using broad terms or find too many results to manage, consider narrowing your search with more specific terms or with geographical terms, to give you more precise results.
Step two is a little more tedious, but it can give you some of the most important information of all. Visit the U.S. Patent Office website to search trademarks and patents, to see if anyone has any federal protections on ideas for slogans, symbols, inventions, and others.
To search through the trademark database, go to http://tmsearch.uspto.gov and run some Basic Word Mark searches. If you find something similar to your idea, follow this up with a normal online search to see if they are still an active company. You want to look and see whether or not they are actually selling or doing whatever it is they claimed is associated with the trademark. This is only the federal registry, so you will also want to take a look at your state’s registry too. Colorado’s can be found at http://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/BusinessEntityCriteriaExt.do, and this will search business names and trademarks. Remember that when it comes to trademarks, there are federal, state, and common law protections available to be considered.
To search the federal patent register, go to http://appft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/ and click on Quick Search under Patents. Now try running different terms based on your business idea to see if someone has already patented what you had in mind. Remember that in order to be patentable, the idea must be an invention or improvement to an existing invention that is useful, novel, non-obvious, adequately described or enabled, and claimed by the inventor in clear and definite terms.
Copyrighted works can also be useful things to search through if your business idea involves any creative works. You can visit http://copyright.gov/eco/ and search their database. This database will only search the national registry, meaning someone must have registered their copyright for it to be here (which is not required), so it is important to note that this search is not exhaustive. However, this is still an important place to check regardless.
If you do not turn up any results that are similar using the various search engines and techniques described here, this is good news, but keep in mind that these are basic searches and it is recommended that you speak with an attorney to discuss if more thorough searching is necessary. Nevertheless, the information you obtained will still be helpful in determining what your next step should be.
On the other hand, if you did find someone is already doing what you had in mind, do not give up! Start thinking about a different approach to whatever the existing business is selling or doing, so you can continue refining your entrepreneurial ideas. Keep in mind that you can always consider sitting down with an attorney to explore the level of differences necessary to move forward with your business and protect you against related businesses already operating.
If you have any questions about your findings or you are ready to take the next step in starting your business or protecting your business idea, contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis, 720-258-6647 or email her at Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
