Round Peg for Round Hole: Jon Nichols
Small Business Week: October 2 to 7
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Tony Faber, Jeff Mastroberti, and Catherine
Moscarello were prepared for the September 27, 2000 edition of U.S. 1
Newspaper.
All rights reserved.
Building a Strategy For E-Commerce
The Internet offers explosive opportunities to small
businesses, but only if they are willing to commit the necessary time,
money and resources to the undertaking. “I can’t tell you how
many small businesses I speak to who plan to have their web site
designed
by a cousin, neighbor or someone else on the cheap,” says
E-commerce
expert Bernadette Tiernan. “Businesses often rush just to
get a site up. But a business owner must be fully in charge of
integrating
E-business strategies into its overall plan of success.”
Tiernan will speak on “Managing E-commerce — can you
successfully
market and distribute your product, service or new idea on the
Internet?”
on Monday, October 2, at 10:30 a.m. on the James Kerney Campus of
Mercer County College, at North and Academy streets in Trenton.
Admission
is free, part of Trenton Small Business Week, and is sponsored by
the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC). For more
information go to www.smallbizweek.com or contact Nat Bender at
800-432-1565.
Tiernan’s seminar will feature a self-assessment questionnaire, which
will focus on how much time, money, and other resources a business
is willing to commit. She notes that businesses often overlook such
steps as hiring a professional writer (if necessary) or generating
professional quality photographs or illustrations. Furthermore, the
process can’t just be delegated, or done once, and then ignored.
“I
tell people that they should devote as much time an energy to it as
if they were starting a new division of their company.”
Tiernan is a graduate of Merrimack College and has a masters degree
in industrial psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She
worked as a human factors engineer for AT&T until 1986, when she
started
her own business, Tiernan Associates. Today her company does
consulting
for small businesses and E-commerce companies. Tiernan has written
a book on the subject, E-tailing, sold through Dearborn Publishing,
and is also the lead E-commerce consultant for the NJSBDC and its
“Managing E-commerce” program, which offers no-cost consulting
to small businesses.
While a successful web site requires a company’s full resources,
Tiernan
notes that there are simple, inexpensive ways of testing the waters.
For instance, an easy way of discovering the demand for a product
at a given price is to offer it for auction on eBay, which has a
Business
Exchange section just for business-to-business sales.
Another way to sell products without going to the trouble of designing
and promoting one’s own site is to associate with an online mall or
larger company such as Yahoo Shopping. In such a case, the business
pays a monthly fee and gets to sell its products using a
straightforward
Yahoo template. In some cases, eBay or an online mall is the only
web presence a company really needs.
For companies that already have web sites and are looking to improve
their results, she warns against these most common pitfalls:
Too much text. Consumers don’t want to be instantlyassaultedby a massive amount of information. What may work in a booklet orbrochure may be too much text for a website.The site loads too slowly. A consumer will leave if asite doesn’t download right away. Don’t include too many bells andwhistles, such as photos, complicated graphics and streaming video.The site should download almost instantly on a 56K modem.Failure to get the word out. The site should be registeredwith all the search engines, and the web site should be prominentlyfeatured in all company advertising and promotion efforts. Everythingthat contains the name of the company — brochures, business cards,etc. — should carry the web site address as well.Insufficient customer service. It should be very easyfor customers to contact the company with questions, and responsesto E-mails must be prompt. A good FAQ (frequently asked questions)section is not enough; a company can never anticipate all the thingsa customer may ask.Not understanding what will sell. Sales should be trackedover time, and the company’s hottest and best-selling items shouldbe prominently featured. In fact, a company need not sell every singleitem over its web site that it sells in its brick and mortar stores.It may be more efficient just to sell the company’s hottest products.Not paying enough attention. A business can’t put up asite and think that it’s done. In addition to tracking sales andhavingthe proper product mix over time, the site should constantly be lookedat and re-evaluated for possible improvements.This last item is perhaps the most important, since beyond thespecific characteristics of a web site, the greatest pitfall Tiernanobserves is that of complacency. A business owner must view E-commerceas an ongoing division of the business, as opposed to a project thatis completed once and then never revised. The design and productofferingsof a site can never allowed to become stale. “You can never standstill,” cautions Tiernan. “You must always be ready toadapt.”— Tony FaberTop Of PageRound Peg for Round Hole: Jon NicholsFor an organization to be effective, it must understandand develop its talent, says Jon Nichol, human resources directorat Rhodia Corporation. “We’ve been aggressively trying tounderstandour talent base for the last couple of years,” says Nichol.”We’vebeen doing a lot of analysis and categorizing of people.”Nichols will give a workshop on developing organizationaleffectivenessfor the Human Resource Management Association (HRMA) on Monday,October2, at 8:30 a.m. at the Nassau Club in Princeton. Under the generaltopic, “The Future of Human Resources: Challenges &Solutions,”the meeting also include workshops on “Recruiting & Retention”by Robert Humes Sr. of American Re-insurance; “Leadership,Development & Coaching,” presented by Diane Allen of theHibbert Group; and “HR and the Internet” led by DarrylHume of Cendant Corporation. The HRMA is a chapter of the nationalSociety of Human Resources Management. Cost: $15. Call Thyra Houckat 609-737-0426.A native of Iowa, Nichols went to Iowa State and spent 13 years withMonsanto, the mega chemical company that was acquired by Rhodia (thenknown as Rhone Poulenc) in 1986. He has been director of humanresourcessince 1995 (E-mail: Jon.Nichols@US.Rhodia.com). Based in Paris,Rhodia Corporation is a $6 billion chemical manufacturing companywith its United States headquarters on Prospect Plains Road inCranbury(609-860-4808). It has more than 3,300 employees and 32 manufacturingsites throughout the United States, including one on Jersey Avenuein New Brunswick.Nichol’s interactive presentation will share how Rhodia upgrades itsorganization and elicit feedback on how others have achieved similargoals. “It’s quite challenging in this type of environment tobe attracting good quality people,” he says. “One way to dothat is to ensure that you hire the best to work alongside some ofthe best.””If we can share some of the things that we’ve done to raise ourperformance standards, that may be helpful to another organizationthat’s trying to see how they can make a cultural transformation intheir business.” In addition to helping his colleagues, he islooking forward to hearing their ideas. “We think conceptuallywe have a good process and some good tools but there are probablyother `best practice’ ideas out there that we could learn from.”What to do with a misplaced employee? “First, categorize peopleas being profitable, well placed, or not well placed.”Well placed individuals are good contributors and provide value tothe organization. “This is clearly where the majority of theorganizationis.”Those not well placed either don’t have the skills to do the job orthey have the skills but are in a job that does not allow these skillsto emerge. “In that case, we will look to redirect thoseindividualsinto jobs where they could be stronger contributors. `Not well placed’does not necessarily mean that an individual is not a satisfactoryperformer,” he says.To make a change, the employee must take the initiative:Monitor the internal posting system that allows employeesto see if there is another job available that might suit them better.Network internally. “We encourage employees to talkto their managers as well as the HR manager, go out and network withother managers and departments that you might be interested in. Dothe same kind of networking internally that you would do outside ofthe company to get a job,” says Nichol.Get counseling. Every month, says Nichol, he counselsemployees but he can’t see everyone. “The company is going toshepherd just a very small percentage of the population through theircareer because we’re really focusing on key jobs and highly criticaljobs.””We really subscribe to the idea that you, the employee,manage your own career. The company can provide some tools, processes,and job opportunities, but you have to be the one to take theinitiative.”— Jeff MastrobertiTop Of PageSmall Business Week: October 2 to 7Small businesses in New Jersey have powerful influence,if you look at the latest statistics — from 1998. They show thatof the 221,500 businesses in New Jersey, approximately 98 percentwere small businesses employing fewer than 500 people. Small businessaccounted for a net total of 12,900 new employees between 1995 and1996, nearly 53 percent of private non-farm employment growth in thestate.Entrepreneurial economic power has indeed been recognized, and alllevels of government are trying to help the small business person.For the Seventh Annual Trenton Small Business Week, Monday to Friday,October 2 to 6, various trade groups and government organizationshave scheduled nearly two dozen events at various locations. Theyoffer business to business networking, hands-on learning seminars,and one-on-one consulting.For instance, business owners can sign up for one-hour consultingsessions at the Trenton Business & Technology Center at 36 South BroadStreet. Sessions continue all week, but reservations must be madeby Friday, September 29. Go to www.smallbizweek.com or call609-396-7246.Top Of PageBusiness Law: Robert KennyIn the practice of law, “the answers are easy,”says Robert Kenny, attorney and CPA. “It’s the questionsthat are hard.” Finding out what questions to ask could save thesmall business owner a world of headaches and quite possibly somemoney.Kenny will present some insight on asking the right questions as partof the Trenton Small Business Week on Tuesday, October 3, at 5:30p.m. at the Trenton Business & Technology Center, 36 South Registerat www.smallbizweek.com or call 609-396-7246.Kenny is considering renaming a class he gave recently for MercerCounty Community College’s Small Business Development Center.”It’scalled `How to Form Your Own Corporation’ but right off the bat thatjumps to a conclusion. It doesn’t ask the right question. Maybe thebest thing to do is not to form a corporation at all. Instead, someonemight be better off considering an LLC, limited liabilitycorporation.”Based upon his professional experience in tax audit defense, businessformation and estate and tax planning, Kenny wants to help businessowners spot the issues that may become problems. A 1968 graduate ofManhattan College, Kenny received his J.D. from NortheasternUniversitySchool of Law in 1973. He is an adjunct associate professor at RiderUniversity, teaches for MCCC’s Small Business Development Center andalso taught at Seton Hall University School of Law. He is a memberof the bar in four states, the federal tax court, and federal districtcourts for New Jersey and the northern district of Illinois. Hisofficeis at the Carnegie Center (E-mail: taxdefender@attymail.com).Coming up with the right questions to ask involves these caveats:Don’t do your own brain surgery. Trying to form and runa business without competent legal advice is asking for trouble.”Finda professional who is cognizant of your particular business issues,almost like searching for a specialist in the medical field.”Prevention is better than a cure. “You wouldn’t draftyour own insurance policy on the chance that you might leave somethingout,” Kenny says. “Just knowing what options are availablecan often help the business owner become proactive in problemsolving.”Recognize the differences between big business and smallbusiness. Fortunately, the more modern trend is to “carveout”exceptions for small business in tax laws, labor relations law, andvarious statutes. However, “there are still many bureaucraticburdens for small business that apply to a Mom-and-Pop candy storeas well as to the Fortune 500 company.”The key,” says Kenny, “is to realize that you are not anexpert but you can know how to tap into alternative entities.”— Catherine MoscarelloPrevious StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
