Do the long hours you put in as a small business owner make you happy?  Does worrying about your business’ sales and profits bring you peace of mind?  Or are you ready to throw in the towel and call it quits?  A recent Gallup Poll just might change your mind. 

Between January 2 – August 19, 2009, Gallup interviewed 100,826 adults in various occupations to measure their well-being.  Gallup uses the data to create the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index as a way of determining

People’s well-being at the close of every day based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health as not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being.

Interestingly, the results of Gallup’s Poll showed self-employed Americans have the highest overall well-being and the highest satisfaction with their work environment.  Their well-being scores beat out the next highest groups of professionals and managers/executives. 

On its own these results are not too shocking.  However, combine this finding with another recent Gallup Poll showing that this same group works the most number of hours in a typical work week.  Almost half of self-employed Americans (49%) report that they work over 44 hours in a typical work week.  Only 38% of those employed by a private business report working over 44 hours per week.  Longer working hours = increased well-being? 

Is there a correlation between longer working hours and higher well-being?  Probably not.  A better explanation of these two polls is that there are other factors present in owning your own business (e.g. being your own boss) that significantly offset the detriment derived from working longer hours.  Working longer hours does not significantly reduce the emotional well-being gained from owning your own business. 

The emotional well-being results are even more shocking when you realize that the study was conducted during the heart of one of the deepest recessions America has ever seen.  And business owners are among the hardest hit.  Other surveys show small business owners’ optimism to be at all-time lows due to falling sales and profits.  It appears that worries about falling sales, profits and weathering the recession also do not substantially offset the emotional benefits of owning your own business.  Or do they? 

What do you think?  

Visit the Arvest Small Business Resource Center for other helpful articles, online tools and calculators.  To learn more about Arvest business services, please contact a local business banker today. 

One of the most frustrating things in business is when you know what needs to be done, but don’t know how to do it. With the launch of its Small Business Resource Center, Arvest is helping business owners and managers bridge this gap.

Arvest has dedicated a section of its website at www.arvest.com to providing professional insight on many of the most pressing questions small business owners face daily. Through interactive workshops and articles in the Learning Center and the Information Library you can find solutions to issues critical to the success of your business. Issues like – How do you gain customers? How do you create a buzz around your company or product? How do you write a business plan? What questions should you ask an applicant for employment? How do you create financial statements? How do you generate referrals? These questions and many others are addressed in the Small Business Resource Center.

The Arvest Small Business Resource Center also has a business calculator page.   This page puts some of the best small business calculators available at your fingertips. The calculators are easy to use and help you evaluate key decisions like – How much is my business worth? Or should I lease or purchase some necessary equipment? They also provide detailed graphs and table for easy reference. 

Another feature of the Arvest Small Business Resource Center is the ability to find and contact an Arvest small business banker to help you discover personalized solutions to meet the financial needs of your business. Or if you have a general small business banking question, you can simply submit that question for an expert answer. 

Do yourself and your business a favor. Take some time today to check out this free resource provided by Arvest. 

I feel like the incredulous, adoring boy looking up into the eyes of Shoeless Joe Jackson after his confession to a grand jury of fixing the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.  “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”  My incredulity, however, is with a different Joe – a cup of Joe.  More particularly, a Starbucks cup of coffee. 

With last week’s launch of its new instant coffee, Via Ready Brew, I can’t help but wonder if Starbucks has turned to the dark side by betraying the hip message it has convinced many of us to believe?  The perfect cup of coffee is a product of the right beans, the proper grinding technique, a precise brewing procedure, and trendy ambience.  Right?!  According to Starbucks, apparently not.

As Starbucks leaps from the windows of its trendy coffeehouses into the outdated world of instant coffee, it is gambling that it can change the way you think about and experience drinking instant coffee.  The gamble is not lost on Starbucks’ CEO, Howard Schultz.  According to Schultz,

"It took a lot of courage to say that even though instant coffee is the worst cup of coffee you can have, we are going to reinvent it.  We’ve taken a lot of time with it because we know it could undermine the company if we don’t do it right."

Outside observers agree with Schultz that Starbucks’ experiment has the potential to undermine everything that has made the chain successful.  National food and restaurant consultant, Clark Wolf, said,

"If instant is as good as handmade, then all of Starbucks isn’t true; then you didn’t need that barista to begin with.  This is an example of a product where taste really does matter.  If it tastes like Nescafe, then it becomes the New Coke."

Emotions aside, this decision does have at least one of the trademarks of a sound business decision.  While it may appear contrary to common business sense, Starbucks is not blindly entering the instant coffee market.  Starbucks decision is a good example of a sound business principle – the power of leverage.  With lagging sales, Starbucks is turning to its valuable intangible assets like market expertise, customers, distribution channels, corporate image, and product expertise.  Instead of looking to purchase greener grass elsewhere, it embraces what it possesses and leverages it for growth. 

Starbucks has successfully built a brand, with a loyal customer base in the coffee business.  Starbucks knows coffee and coffee drinkers.  Instant coffee represents a sub-segment within the coffee-drinker market.  It is not a foreign market like clothing or furniture.  Starbucks is leveraging this market knowledge to tap into the $20 billion global instant coffee market of which Americans represent only 4 percent.  They know that unlike Americans the majority of coffee drinkers outside the U.S. use instant coffee. 

Likewise, they are leveraging their product knowledge.  Starbucks has spent two decades researching and tinkering with instant coffee in order to create a product that CEO Schultz claims most internal baristas cannot distinguish from their regularly brewed coffee. 

Another asset Starbucks is leveraging is their distribution channels.  With over 16,000 company-owned and licensed stores in 47 different countries Starbucks has a well-established means for selling its instant coffee. 

Finally, Starbucks is leveraging its customer base and knowledge of those customers.  It knows its customers are on-the-go and love Starbucks coffee.  So, they created a product that you can enjoy when stuck in a place without a Starbucks café (plane, bus, train, campout) that tastes (hopefully) exactly like its best-selling coffee. 

Leveraging your best intangible assets is a powerful way to grow your business.  Take personal inventory of your business’s intangible assets.  Ask yourself, how can I leverage them for growth?  Are there any untapped markets related to my core products?  Once you have identified those assets, create a plan to leverage them.  With your plan in hand, you must then muster the courage to act.  Courage to move ahead like Starbucks even if it seems to undermine the very values and customer experience that you have worked so hard to create.  Is leveraging risky?  You bet!  The line between success and failure is finely drawn.  But that’s what makes owning a business so much fun.  
 

David Potts recently covered financing options for businesses in a recent blog entry for City Wire online, a news resource in the Fort Smith area.  Featured in his look at options for businesses who need financing was a discussion with Arvest's Kyle Gilliam, president of Arvest's Equipment Finance division.  Here are some excerpts:

"Leasing is an option to finance equipment. According to Kyle Gilliam, president of Arvest Bank’s leasing division, leasing has several advantages for businesses when compared to a commercial loan. First, a lease lets you finance 100% of the cost of your equipment, no down payment required. In a growing business with large demands on cash, this is a definite advantage. Gilliam said other advantages include flexible payment terms, preservation of existing lines of credit, possibly a lower cost of money, quick turnaround, and even a faster tax write off."

"It is common for banks to finance a business customer’s needs through a line of credit. A line a credit is a loan where the business borrows and repays money as cash flow permits rather than on a fixed payment schedule. The amount the bank allows the business to borrow is generally tied to a percentage of its accounts receivable balance and a percentage of its inventory value. Many businesses will use their line of credit for all financing needs, including the purchase of equipment. By leasing equipment a business could preserve the line of credit for other cash flow needs."

Read the entire blog entry here, or visit Arvest Equipment Finance to learn more about financing options for your business.

Remote Deposit Capture can help you save time handling your checks by sending your check deposits to the bank remotely—allowing you to focus on your business and submit deposits on your schedule. With Remote Deposit Capture you can:

•    Convert paper checks into electronic images, which have the same legal standing as the physical checks
•    Deposit scanned checks online, enabling funds to more quickly move from the check originator’s account to the depositor’s account
•    Scan checks received for deposit to your business account, using a check scanner available at setup
•    Ensure image quality with the system’s courtesy/legal recognition software that automatically prefills dollar amounts and reduces key entry
•    Verify and approve the deposit, and submit to Arvest Bank for processing at or before the daily cutoff time. Deposits are then credited to your account.

Arvest Remote Deposit Capture is ideal for your business if you deposit large dollar checks, make frequent deposits, cannot leave during the business day, are not physically located near an Arvest Bank location or if you have trouble meeting deposit deadlines.  A common misconception is that only large businesses can use Remote Deposit Capture, but in fact even small businesses can benefit from this time-saving tool.

View an online demo for Remote Deposit here for a visual presentation.

Visit our website to learn more about Remote Deposit, or contact your local Treasury Management sales associate to sign up today!

Did you know that we have an enhanced credit card for businesses to use for their purchasing needs? That’s right, we do! For several years we have offered business our Corporate Card, but in 2008, we rolled out the Arvest Purchasing Card, with great success. 

Today, more than ever, businesses are trying to manage their cash position, control expenses and look for ways to become more efficient. Our Corporate or Purchasing Card can help in each of these areas. 

Arvest's Marta Morrow is featured in an article on International Banking services published by the Daily Oklahoman.

"If an Oklahoma business owner has a problem in Pakistan or trouble in Thailand, Marta Morrow may be the banker of choice.  Morrow worked for 13 years at Bank of Oklahoma before she was hired early this year by Arvest Bank to launch and lead its international banking department as a senior vice president. Globalization of business is growing, and Arvest wanted to offer in-house services to its local customers who need help in their efforts to venture abroad. Previously, Arvest would contract for international services it was unable to provide."

Read more of Don MeCoy's article online here. 

For more information on International Banking, you can visit the Treasury Management section of the Arvest webstie, or ask your local Arvest lender for more info.

Has your company been a victim of ACH Debit Fraud?  Are you aware that the occurrences of ACH Debit Fraud are on the rise?  What is ACH Debit Fraud? 

ACH Debit Fraud is the act of fraudulently using another entity’s banking information to electronically withdraw funds from its accounts.  You might think that you could not fall victim to this type of fraud because you do not allow other entities to electronically debit your account.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Consider this…  every check that you write and distribute has the information needed to commit ACH debit fraud – the account number and the banking routing number.  Those pieces of information are displayed on the front of every check that you write.If that information gets into the wrong hands, your hard-earned account balances could be at risk.  As more entities make the option available to pay by electronic check, either on the Internet or by telephone, the potential for this type of fraud continues to increase.

How can you protect your company’s accounts?  Arvest Bank offers ACH Fraud Blocker that only allows the entities that you have authorized to electronically debit funds from your business accounts.  If you do not allow any entities to electronically debit your account, Arvest Bank can code your account to block all ACH debits.Implementing this service is quick, easy and inexpensive.  For only $8.00 per month per account, you can be rest-assured that your business accounts are being protecting from this growing type of electronic fraud.

For more information, please contact your local Treasury Management Representative.