To all our readers who are sales folk, just kidding about the “cranky” and we know that you never whine . . .  Moving right along, the next tip offers the suggestion that the responsibilities for booth staffing are not confined to the hours that the exhibit hall is officially open. . .

When setting up your display at a trade show and before the doors open to the conferees, you may, from time to time, get interrupted by someone just walking around looking.  That person could be a future sale and is worth receiving a personal invitation to come back and see your product when your display is completely set up.

– John Conti, President, Continental Covers

or when you are within the boundaries of your exhibit:

No matter if you are in the booth or not, any time you spend at the show dressed in your company’s attire – you represent your company.  This includes your breaks, lunch etc.  I have made many quality contacts while on lunch or in the break/smoking area, just by initiating regular conversation.  This leads to the inevitable question: “What does your company do?”  I always use this as an opportunity to invite people back to our booth.

– Kris Magnotti, Hahn RaceCraft

The theme of creating an inviting and comfortable environment for your guests runs consistently through all the readers’ tips about booth staffing.  The thought is nicely expressed by this reader:

Make sure to dress appropriate for the conference or show - too dressy or too casual may not work for the type of show you are at.  You want your attendees to feel "at home" in your booth. Remember to always invite attendees into your booth with a warm smile and friendly greeting; the rest will take care of itself if you are prepared. Just be yourself, relax and remember its okay to have fun. We always have a big jar of chocolates in our booth – no one can resist!  We find it’s a great way to start a conversation.

– Jan Wyatt, MECO Engineering

We close with another sentiment that has been expressed by many people who have sent us their thoughts about succeeding on the show floor:

Love what you are selling. The client or customer can tell if you are faking it. Be knowledgeable about all areas of the business, not just your product. You never know what questions you might be asked.

– Kate Getty, Stephens College

Posted on 3/13/2008

Where to find Money for Your New Business

There's goods news and bad news when it comes to locating startup capital for a new healthcare company.  For example, if you own a healthcare vendor business, such as a temporary nurse staffing agency or a medical transcription service, PRN Funding can help fund your company by purchasing your accounts receivable.  Selling your invoices to a factoring firm is just one way you can bypass commercial bank's stricter lending restrictions. 

Businessweek.com offers some more ideas in their recent articles, Busting the 'Free Money' Myth and Little Lenders: Small Banks May be Your Best Bet.

Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that entrepreneurs can tap government grants and interest-free loans to use for their startup companies.  The article, Busting the 'Free Money' Myth, explains that although the U.S. government gives grants to help with small businesses, most of that money goes to local governments, state agencies and nonprofits--not individuals.  The articles also explains that loans coming from the Small Business Administration (SBA) often carry a higher interest rate that a loan from a conventional bank because of the risk involved with a startup company.

Moreover, the article, Little Lenders, shares some interesting statistics supporting the fact that smaller community banks generally are willing to lend money to small businesses as compared to the larger commercial banks.  Quoting the president and chief executive of the Independent Community Bankers of America Camden R. Fine, "Community banks focus primarily on small businesses, mom-and-pop operations and consumers because the footprint [of these banks] is a single town or small cluster of towns, they know their customers really well."  Even with their loyalty to the smaller companies, many community banks are still tightening their lending standards because of the credit crunch.

So the bads news is it's harder to gain access to capital via conventional means.  The good news is that there are some alternative way of financing startups.  Accounts receivable factoring and payroll funding are just two alternate ways to create a positive business cash flow. 

What are some other ways you can think of to help finance your new business?

Posted on 3/3/2008

Is Franchising Right for You?

There are a growing number of people who are finding viable and attractive business paths in franchsing, according to the cover story, Franchise Enterprise, in the February edition of The Costco Connection.  In fact, according to the International Franchising Association (IFA), there are more than 760,000 U.S. businesses that generate $1.5 trillion annually and supply one out of seven jobs.  With impressive numbers like these, it's hard for a smart entrepreneur to pass up the idea of franchising a medical staffing company or a medical transcription service.

Aside from sharing the success and failure stories from business owners who have decided to franchise, the article shares some of the advantages and drawbacks of opening a franchise.

Of the many cited advantages, the Small Business Administration (SBA) points out that "franchising is an attractive choice for many entrepreneurs because it eliminates the painstaking work of starting a business from scratch.  When you buy a franchise, your new venture comes with systems in place to help run it, including marketing, accounting, business training and coaching on how to retain employees."

However, franchising also has some not so tempting drawbacks.  The biggest disadvantage--Although you are the owner, you don't control your business.  Business owners have to follow the processes and procedures without variation and contracts usually last for a whopping 10 years or longer.

So the bottom line is whether you are looking for a way to grow your nurse staffing agency or increase the profits of your medical transcription service, franchising involves an element of risk, so make sure to do your homework.

Check out the article here: Franchise Enterprise.

Posted on 2/27/2008

Expanding Business Owners Should Learn to Let Go

According to members at the Edward Lowe Foundation, a Michigan non-profit organization dedicated to helping second stage entrepreneurs, one of the biggest reasons why business owners cannot transition into the next level of operations is because they don't want to delegate job responsibilities.

In our line of work, PRN Funding comes across a number of startup health care staffing companies, growing medical transcription services and medical coding companies trying to get ahead in their respective industries who open their doors with 1-3 people.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with this when you are just starting out, but if you ever want to make it to the next level of operations, the Edward Lowe Foundation says it's madatory to hire additional people and delegate the responsabilities.

To learn more, visit BusinessWeek.com and read: Are You Losing Control of Your Business?

Posted on 2/22/2008

Public Relations for Entrepreneurs

For those of you entrepreneurs who are local to the Cleveland, Ohio area, there is a series of courses offerdc by Tri-C's Corporate College that targets small business owners. 

For only $39, the Public Relations for Entrepreneurs course will deliver 12 Insider Tips to Attract Free Publicity for Businesses.  Although designed for any business entpreneur, we thought it might be of particular interest to our temporary nurse staffing readers, medical transcription service owners and outsourced medical coding companies. 

According to an e-advertisement, Public Relations for Entpreneurs will teach small business owners how to:

Click here to learn more about the Cleveland Corporate College Small Business Course.

Posted on 2/21/2008

10 Tips for Attracting New Business

Scott Wintrip from StaffingU delivered another great tip sheet in last week's Net-Temps e-Newsletter.  This topic included tips to help business owners attract new business, which we thought would be interested to our current clients as well as readers who own their own medical staffing business, medical transcription service or medical coding company. 

1. Work less
2. Always ask for what you really want
3. Automate, delegate, or integrate
4. Pay with your business card
5. Continually add value to your services
6. Make yourself a resource for referrals
7. Maintain a strong support system
8. Install upgrades often
9. Have a vision and clear goals
10. Fully express your sense of humor

Click here to read the entire tip list: 10 Tips for Attracting New Business.

Posted on 2/18/2008

Tips for Starting a Business

Scott Shane, author of The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, shared 10 tips on BusinessWeek.com for starting a new business.  We wanted to share some of the information with our business owner readers, including nurse staffing entrepreneurs, medical transcription service owners and medical coding business owners.

Pick the right industry. Entrepreneurs "tend to choose industries in which they are most likely to fail," Shane writes. Many never look outside the industry they used to work in, even if they don't have any competitive advantage over their former employer. Pick a sector with a growing market where you can differentiate yourself from the competition.

Evaluate your ideas. Research shows "42% of new-business founders decide to start a company before they have identified a business idea," Shane writes, and 28% never consider more than one idea. Think through lots of opportunities and pick the one most likely to succeed.

Start with a team. More than half of new businesses are started by individuals, "even though the performance of new businesses founded by teams is better," writes Shane. Going in alone lowers your chances of success.

Sell to businesses, not consumers. "Most startups sell products or services to individual consumers, even though 90% of the fastest growing private companies in this country sell to businesses," according to Shane. Founding a business-to-business company will raise your odds.

Launch full-time. Even though there's lots of evidence that full-time ventures are more likely to survive, profit, and grow, Shane says, most entrepreneurs launch their companies part-time.

Click here to read the rest of the tips: A Better Way to Start a Business.  Click here to the BusinessWeek article on Scott Shane's book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship.

Posted on 2/7/2008

Advice for When a Client Files for Bankruptcy

Karen E. Klein of Businessweek.com wrote a small article giving some advice on what to do when a client files Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Given the recent events with Ensemble Chimes Group (Chimes) declaring bankruptcy, we thought it might be useful to our readers.

Some key advice from the article is here:

"You should not do any more work for the larger corporation until you've got a payment for the outstanding amount and a new contract directly with the big firm, says Donald King, a bankruptcy attorney with Odin, Feldman, Pittleman in Fairfax, Va. You should also ask for administrative priority in the subsidiary's bankruptcy case, meaning your claim will get higher priority for repayment."

Click here to read the entire article: When a Client Files for Bankruptcy.

Posted on 2/6/2008

2008 NNBA Conference Changes Location

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to speak with Pat Bemis, president of the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA), and she gave us the inside scoop on the new location for the 2008 19th Annual Education Conference.

Previously set for Orlando, FL, the conference has been moved to Daytona Beach, FL.  Contrary to previous years, the NNBA has negotiated discounted room rates in two side-by-side hotels, The Plaza Resort and Spa and The Plaza Ocean Club Hotel.  (The conference will take place in the Plaza Ocean Club Hotel.)  Although the conference is scheduled for November 8-9, 2008, group rates apply from November 5-10.

If you are a nurse entrepreneur or if you have ever thought about starting your own nurse staffing agency, we encourage you to attend the NNBA meeting in November.  Not only will PRN Funding be in attendance, our company's president, Phil Cohen has been asked to speak to attendees about the financing options available to nurse staffing startup businesses.

Posted on 1/31/2008

Can you Increase Cash Flow with New Way to Sell Receivables

Imagine a world where the owner of a nurse staffing agency could offer his/her receivables to a dozen different invoice factoring companies at one time and then he/she gets to sit back and watch a bidding war unravel as factors compete to win the nurse staffing firm's receivables.  In the end, the business owner walks away with the advance rate and factoring fees that meet his/her expectations. 

That is precisely the scenario that could be played out on The Receivables Exchange (TRE), a new accounts receiveable marketplace set to launch in the first quarter of 2008.  Founded by Justin Brownhill and Nic Perkin, TRE's goal is to increase competition among factoring companies to make it easier and cheaper for growing companies to raise working capital.

"It's almost like Ebay--post you invoice and let everyone bid on it," Larry Cheng, a partner with Fidelity Ventures, who has invested heavily in TRE's operations, said in an article that ran in the January edition of Inc. Magazine. 

In theory, TRE would work best for companies looking to "spot factor" receivables.  TRE proposes that business owners stop wasting time and energy shopping factoring firms when it only has one aged receivable and instead turn to the bidding marketplace to receive cash fast.

Of course not all of the kinks are worked out so early in the game, and business owners and factors alike have their reservations about TRE.  Check out the entire article: Short on cash? There's a new way to sell receivables: on an exchange, and let us know what you think about it!

Posted on 1/25/2008

AHIMA Offers Webinar on HIPAA Security

On Thursday, January 17 at 1:00pm ET, 12:00pm CT, 11:00am MT, AHIMA is giving a webinar entitled, "HIPAA Security: What Everyone Should Know."

Intended for privacy officers, security officers, HIM directors, IT personnel and compliance officers, the 90-minute presentation will cover the following topics:

• Structure of HIPAA rule
• Overview of HIPAA security standards
• Required vs. addressable specification
• Organizational and documentation requirements
• Administrative, physical and technical safegaurds
• Policies and procedures
• Compliance program elements
• Auditing

The cost is $179 for AHIMA members ($229 for non-members), and each attendee receives two AHIMA CEUs.

Leading the webinar are Angela Dihn, MHA, RHIA, manager of professional practice resource at AHIMA, and Tom Walsh, CISSP, president of Tom Walsh Consulting, LLC.

Click here to register for the webinar conference, HIPAA Security:What Everyone Should Know.

Posted on 1/14/2008

Free online business courses from BusinessWeek

Time is extremely important to any business owner.  This statement is especially true for nurse staffing business owners, medical transcription service owners (mtsos), medical coding entrepreneurs and medical supply company owners. 

Luckily, BusinessWeek has designed a multitude of free online courses for fellow business people to learn about the latest trends in networking, motivating, selling, etc.  If you're a BusinessWeek suscriber, we highly recommend taking advantage of what this powerhouse has to offer its members.

Click here to see a full list of BusinessWeek's Free Online Courses.

Posted on 11/20/2007

New Trends in Outsourcing

Temporary nurse staffing, medical transcription, medical coding, even locum tenens--All of these kinds of companies come to mind when you think of outsourcing in the medical world.  But what if I told you there was a new form of outsourcing that involves direct patient care?

According to a post in the Advance Perspective blog, Offshore Outsourcing: Is Your Critical Care Next?, there are already three Swedish Medical Center hospitals located in Seattle using this "telemedicine" to monitor patients in ICU.

The blog goes on to explain this eICU in more detail:

"According to the company, an eICU center is staffed with an intensivist-led care team that can monitor and care for hundreds of patients at the same time. Likened to an air traffic controller, the monitoring physicians use software alerts to track patient vital trends and intervene earlier-before complications occur. The care team has audio, visual and data connections to the patients and their rooms. If they see a problem developing, they can speak directly with the patient's hands-on caregiver."

Q: Do you think this is the next big thing in outsourcing?

Posted on 11/8/2007

Wilson Cole Shares The Secret to Successful Collections

In the world of medical vendors who service hospitals and nursing homes, collecting on invoices can sometimes be a bothersome task.  Some business owners will tell you that having a client who routinely pays within 30 days is actually a good thing when you consider the fact that it's normal for some healthcare facilities to stretch out their payables to net-60 or net-90.  (Click here if you would like to read why hospitals and nursing homes have a hard time paying their vendors.) 

Wilson Cole, founder of Adams, Evans & Ross (AER) collections agency, wrote an article in Recruiting & Staffing Solutions Magazine (RSSM) which discusses the warning signs oft a company who is about to close its doors.  Click here to read Cole's article: The Secret to Successful Collection and learn about the four stages a company typically goes through before it closes its doors for good.

Posted on 10/31/2007

You are not on the preferred vendor list: 5 ways to earn their business anyway

Scott Wintrip, Founder and President of StaffingU, contributed an article to the July 31 issue of Net-Temps InFocus Recruiter News Newsletter giving advice on how nurse staffing firms can respond to the inevitable phrase, "You're not on our list" when calling on new prospects.  Excerpts of the article, "You're not on the list! Five strategies to earn their business anyway" are written below:

How many times have you heard, "We can't use your services because you're not on our preferred vendor list?" Whether you are a small independent firm or part of a larger organization, it is inevitable that you will not be on someone's list at some time.

The growth of our industry and the resulting number of account managers and recruiters calling on prospects is one reason for the growing popularity of the preferred vendor list. In polling companies that use staffing services, most indicate that it is not unusual to receive ten or more calls a day from different firms. Frank, a hiring manager in Jacksonville, Florida, counted 54 sales calls from staffing companies on a particularly busy day last year.

It is still possible to do business with a company even when you are not a preferred vendor. During my tenure selling staffing and recruiting services, I lost track of how many times I was told we were not on the list. The good news is, I did business each year with at least a dozen or more of these same prospects using the strategies outlined in this article.

In addition to using these ideas to earn their business, you may just find that you like not being on the list. Carla, a staffing professional from Tennessee, found this to be true. "Being on a preferred vendor list comes with a price. Typically you have to lower your price to be on the list. Yet, most often you have to work harder to meet the expectations of these clients to maintain your spot. By not being on the list, I can be there when the others can't get it done. I get to charge full margin and deal with fewer hassles!"

Used individually or in combination, here are five ideas that may just earn you a company's business even when you're not on the list:

1. Spot buys and purchase orders

If ABC company needs a certain type of paper, and their preferred office supply vendors do not have it, do they go without? Of course not. They find another provider who can fill that need.

Carla indicates that this is her number one technique. "I simply ask them a question like, 'What if we handled this as a one-time spot buy or use a purchase order?' You'd be amazed at how many hiring managers have been struggling to get something filled and did not think of that one."

2. Have exactly who they need

A little research goes a long way. On a number of occasions, I kept tabs on how long it was taking the "preferred vendors" to fill positions at a company. How? Both newspaper ads and Internet job postings gave me the insights I needed as to how those vendors were performing.

After a week or two of a position going unfilled, I simply had to pick up the phone and skill-market a candidate who fit the bill. Did it always work? No. However, it was not unusual to get a return call within an hour from the hiring manger who needed that position filled yesterday.

3. Find who's feeling the most pain

All too often it's human resources, vendor relations, or a similar department shutting the "you're not on the list" door. Finding and going right to the manager that needs that person and needs them now can be the key that unlocks the door. If a spot buy or one-time purchase order is going to happen, then it's typically the person feeling the most pain that will pave the way.

4. Keep showing up

One of the best success stories about lists is Greg. Greg was Mr. Persistence on the sales team I managed. When Greg decided that he was going to break into an account, there was no getting in his way.

At least a few times a month, he would come into my office and say something like, "XYZ Company, 17." He'd then smile, turn around, and walk back out. What this meant was that after his 17th call to XYZ Company, he landed his first deal, even though we weren't on their list.

What was Greg's secret? He knew that if he showed up enough times, chances were the company would have a need that they were struggling to fill.

5. Let it go

My favorite definition is of the word insanity: Doing something over and over again and expecting different results. If you've called on a company dozens of times and gotten nowhere, it's probably time to do something different. Letting go is one option.

Letting go is not a permanent condition. By doing so, you are simply acknowledging that the timing is not quite right for doing business with a company, for now. Your job is to keep tabs on them through networking and research for any changes in your favor. These include a new hiring manager joining the company, a large project being implemented, or any other factors that could produce a strong need for your services.

An additional benefit of letting go is what you gain. Since there are only two types of companies, clients and candidate sources, you've now gained a great place to network for quality talent.

So next time you hear those magic words, "You're not on the list," remember your options. You can take those words at face value or decide that you will earn their business and do so in a way that works well for you!

-Scott Wintrip

Scott Wintrip, PCC (scottw@StaffingU.net) is Founder and President of StaffingU, the leader in providing relationship-building techniques guaranteed to grow your business. For information on StaffingU's programs and services, including TeleClasses (live telephone-based classes), Virtual StaffingU (web-based courses), individual and group coaching, on-site training and speaking, and consulting visit www.StaffingU.net or call 866-SU-WORKS (789-6757).

Posted on 10/31/2007

Net-Temps: Three Questions for Every New Client

This brief article was featured in the August 7 Net-Temps: Infocus Recruiter News.  We thought the Three Questions for Every New Client would be interesting to our readers:

The client called me and said he wanted me to fill a position in his firm. "Hey, cool," I thought to myself. "This business really works." I tried not to sound like a babbling idiot and attempted to shield my excitement so I came across like these types of calls happen to me all the time. When you do get this type of call, it’s important to quickly and smoothly bring that call to the next step: taking the search assignment and confirming the fee.

But before you can make that transition, you need to keep your composure. How do you respond when you get this sort of call, or when a client you are talking with about other candidates tells you, "We’re not looking for someone like that, but we are looking for a . . ." When the client tells you that, yes, they have a search, and yes, they want to give it to you, make these three questions your ‘automatic response’ so that you keep your cool and keep that warm relationship moving forward.

This is how you respond. "Bob, that’s great. I’m glad you would think of me to tell me about the search. Let me ask you three questions. . ."

1. What steps have you taken to fill the position?
   This question determines whether or not you are wasting your time or investing it wisely. Did they give the search to fifteen other firms and post it on Monster? Or did it just come open yesterday? I remember spending three weeks recruiting on a search and wondering why the client never returned my phone calls when I had candidates to present. I finally figured out that he had given the search to about seven other firms. Each call I made to candidates for the position was almost a total waste of my time. Once you spend your time in an area that fails to yield fruit, you will never get it back. It is gone forever. Think strategically when you spend your time and you will increase the likelihood of getting a return. This one little question can save you three or four weeks of agony and bitterness.

2. What are the events that led up to the position being open?
   Have they cycled through four managers this year in that position? If so, there could be a leadership issue up the food chain that you don’t want to have result in a problem search for you. I’ll never forget a search I took for the worst company in the world, one with rumored ties to the Russian mafia. Every candidate I spoke with about the job responded with a mix between a chuckle and a groan when I told them who it was. It was no wonder that the three people I placed there lasted no more than a year. If I had asked this question and probed a little further, I would have avoided the misery of having this client’s bad management problems become my frustration.

3. What is the criteria of a search firm that you would want to partner with?
   The first time I ever heard this question was at a Gene Rice and Jeff Cohen seminar. It was probably the turning point for me on my desk when I learned to find out why the client would buy, and sell to that. This is like getting the answers to the test. You are finding out from your prospective client what is important to them in choosing a search firm, and you just sort of go down the list when you tell them about yourself.

This business is tough enough. Don’t risk those precious few search leads by not preparing to sound like a professional. To help you integrate these questions into your desk, practice using a role play with your peers in your office at your next meeting. Just like in sports, you always perform the way you practice. If you follow these three questions when dealing with new clients, you’ll always sound like a professional and always get the business.

-Scott Love

Copyright © 2007 Scott T. Love

Scott Love improves the performance of recruiters and the margins of search firms. His recruiter training site, www.recruitingmastery.com, has become one of the internet’s largest free training resources for the search and staffing industry.

Posted on 10/31/2007