A new survey from online compensation company, Salary.com, brings bad news to all business owners. According this group, employees waste 20 percent of their working day, or about 2 hours per day. The culprit is boredom and not having enough to do.

Instead of doing their jobs, these employees surf the net, gossip with friends, and conduct personal businesses.

For sure even you face this kind of problem with some of your employees. Below are some things you can do to enhance productivity and minimize gossips in your company.

Daily Feedback

Do not wait for quarterly or annual performance evaluation to pinpoint mistakes of your employees. If you see them doing something good or even bad, call their attention immediately and commend or reprimand their action.

No Middle Ground

Sometimes we are reluctant to fire people for different reasons. To be more productive, however, you must let your employees know that there is no such thing as middle ground. If they perform, reward them through incentives or promotion. If not, fire them. This might be harsh to some entrepreneurs but this is something you must do for the good of your business.

Make sure you gather all relevant information first before doing this big decision.

Embrace Technology

Provide and train your people with new technologies that will increase productivity. For instance, using email instead of calling meetings saves time and resources. This is not to say that you will rely solely on technology. You still need to mingle with your colleagues from time to time.

Via Entrepreneur Daily

When starting a business, we rarely think about failure or exit strategy. Maybe because of our overflowing self-confidence and passion to succeed, we completely forgot about this. We are often too busy raising capital, spying on the competition, and improving operations.

PowerHomeBiz asks 3 basic questions when starting a business. We must be fully prepared to answer the 3rd question:

If the business fails, how will it affect me and my family? As a family man with 3 kids, he always looks at the risks involved and the odds of his success. While he doesn’t believe in playing it safe, he also does not want to go blindly into something and lose everything his family has.

But why do small businesses fail?

Among hundreds of reasons, there are are two common ones: Lack of research and poor financial control.

Lack of Research

Without thorough understanding of the market and comprehensive competitor analysis, you can never compete competently and will miss important market trends. This will provoke you to take actions without thinking.

Poor Financial Control

Eager to gain more customers, we tend to overspend on our marketing and sampling initiatives. Eventually, it will lead to insufficient working capital and business closure.

Let’s say you have a product that is not clicking with your target market, despite your heavy marketing efforts. How will you solve this problem?

Traditionally, we will spend market research dollars on surveys and focus group discussions to identify the problem and prevent eventual failure. That means you have shell out more money to make this move.

Instead of you fixing the problem, why don’t you let your customers do it for you? How?

It’s time you learn about crowdsourcing or user-centered innovation.

This basically works by involving your customers in all aspect of your business operations from product development, branding, and even crafting marketing campaigns. While this will also cost you some money, there are times when it can be done for free. BNET explains why:

People will do many things for a business for free, simply because they think it’s fun. Products and companies can become hobbies unto themselves, and many consumers will derive satisfaction from feeling like an insider at a company they’re passionate about. In return, you should give them recognition, exclusive perks, the opportunity to interact with senior company managers, or free products.

Visit BNET to get a step-by-step instruction on using this new approach. You can also read BusinessWeek’s overview about crowdsourcing.

There are different bootstrapping options available to raise capital for our startup ventures. One of the methods is the use of credit cards. Startup Journal reports that this approach has gained popularity among entrepreneurs.

Card spending by small businesses on tax payments and preparation alone jumped by 80% in the 12 months ended February 2007, according to a report by Visa USA, based on data about spending on Visa cards by 600 small businesses during that period.

Now you’re wondering if this method is a practical solution to your startup needs. The answer depends on your objective.

When used to temporarily fill your financial gap, the answer is YES. Since many credit cards are not designed for small businesses, using this method is very risky. So, it must be used sparingly and only as a temporary solution to your problems.

Entrepreneurs usually resort to credit cards after being turned down by banks or other traditional lending institutions. Once you recover from your cash flow problem, try asking your local banks again for loans and refrain from using your credit card this time.

Welcome to the first edition of the Small Business and Startups. As many entries as possible have been including, based on my time to read through each. Here are the first 20 entries. If your entry is not here, it may appear in the next edition, unless it is either not relevant to the Carnival theme, promotes your services, or promotes specific affiliate products.

If you did make it in to this edition, please give a link back as soon as you can. Preference for subsequent entries is given to new bloggers (those not already selected in an edition) and those who have linked back to editions they’ve been in. If you submit regularly, and get in but don’t link back, then your own readers don’t benefit with opportunity of being introduced to other blogs - which is part of the reason for a blog carnival: networking.

Where provided, summaries of articles have been published here, though in future editions, I will try to provide my own summaries. Enjoy.

1. How to Start an Online Store by Ant of The Beef Jerky Blog.
2. The Lawsuit Risks of Having a Website by Michelle Cramer of Great FX Small Business Tips. “In a lawsuit-happy world, just having a website, an essential part of today’s successful business, can result in a courtroom battle. This post lists some things to look out for.”
3. 20 Ways to Add Value to Your Products and Services by Terry Dean of Integrity Business Blog.
4. How to Gain a Big Advantage by Being Small by Mason Hipp of SmallFuel Marketing Blog. “An article that explores the various advantages small business owners have over bigger businesses.”
5. John Assaraf and Murray Smith Interview by Scott Allen of About Entrepreneurs. “John Assaraf (one of the stars of “The Secret”) and Murray Smith (of Indian Motorcycle fame) talk with About.com Entrepreneurs Guide Scott Allen about entrepreneurial passion, success mindset, learning from failure, Law of Attraction, changing the world. Audio and full transcript both included.”
6. Get More Web Site Traffic, Increase Web Site Conversion & Strategic Customer Acquisition by Jason Koeppe of Jason Koeppe’s Strategic Internet Marketing Blog.
7. 7 Phrases Successful People Would Never Say by Edith Yeung of Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.
8. How a Failing Restaurant’s Rebound can Help You Build Your List by Leo Dimilo of Idiot Affiliate.
9. 10 Hot Blog Traffic Tips to try today! by Eve Lester of WordPress ReWorked.
10. 5 Best Ways to Keep Your Clients by Darrell A. Williams of Right-Hand-Man Virtual Assistant Services - BLOG.
11. Making a Great Impression With Customers by Krishna De of Biz Growth News.
12. How To Come Up With Good Business Ideas by Warren Wong of INTJ Personal Development.
13. Building a plan Part 4a: Get to know your team (New Hires) by Karl Goldfield of Coaching Sales Champions.
14. 6 Tips to Recovering From a Typo in Your Printed Sales Letter or Brochure by Jim Logan of BusinessLeaderCentral.com. “It’s a nightmare situation, one without explanation or excuse. You have a tight budget, little room for financial error, and somehow it happened. You spent the money to print 5000 sales letters or brochures and afterwards discovered a typo. After you kick yourself repeatedly, here’s what you can do.”
15. Discounts Abound for Small-Business Owners by George Courtney Jr of The Authentic Bartender Blog.
16. Business 101: Teaching Myself Entrepreneurship by Silicon Valley Blogger of The Digerati Life.
17. Create Your Treasure Map To Riches by Millionaire Mommy Next Door of Millionaire Mommy Next Door.
18. Find your Sweet Spot by Skip Shuda of The Cheap Revolution. Startup advice, free and cost-effective (cheap) resources and some deep thinking about technology entrepreneurs and their startups.
19. End-to-End Online Marketing by Chris Denny of Lead Optimize. Tighten up all aspects of your online marketing to turn your visitors into customers.
20. How to Make $100,000 a Year, $7 At a Time by CapForge of CapForge.

Note: Several of the submissions were good articles but they were about finding work-at-home jobs, which this carnival is not about. This carnival targets existing small businesses and startups, or entrepreneurs on the verge. What advice can you give them - business and technical - to help them towards success. There’s a wide spectrum of topics, including branding, identity, marketing, hiring, online efforts, success, productivity and more.

Other types of articles not included are those not relevant or promoting services or an affiliate product. If you have an article that you think fits in, please use the Blog Carnival submission form. One entry per person per week (Monday through Sunday), please.

What happens when you are burned out every single day yet your small business is still not performing the way you envision it to be? Frustration and fear of failure set in. Suddenly, you find yourself without motivation to work for another day.

At some time in our business, we all feel lost and without purpose. Even successful small business owners encounter low motivation. Do not worry for this is just a normal phase we’re facing as entrepreneurs.

In case you’re in this situation now, try to follow these tips:

• Kick back and relax. Take time out from your busy schedule, have time with your family or friends, go to retreat centers or spas. Do anything that will take your mind away from your business.
• Have a Break. If it is impossible now to spend some time off, slow down a bit by setting your own break time. More importantly, give your self enough time to contemplate in total silence. Working too much limits your mind on operations and these down times will help you visualize the big picture again.
• Have a goal. Moller Marketing has an interesting post how having a goal is strongly connected with self-motivation.

As small business owners, we are sometimes guilty of talking too much or dominating every business meeting. We might be carried away by our passion to delight our customers, or even frustration about our current business performance.

But do you know that listening is a good management style as well as a strong motivator to your employees? Leading by listening is a not new concept although it is not a common practice.

In fact, the 7th rule among the ten rules that worked for Sam Walton, founder of retailing giant Wal-Mart, is about listening to everyone and finding ways to get to talk.

The folks on the front lines — the ones who actually talk to the customer — are the only ones who really know what’s going on out there. You’d better find out what they know. This really is what total quality is all about. To push responsibility down in your organization, and to force good ideas to bubble up within it, you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.

So the next time you feel like talking, shut up and listen to what your partners or employees have to say. For starters, check out Tyner Blain’s post about ten active listening skills.

Entrepreneurship is all about survival. We face growing responsibilities every single day that are sometimes beyond our knowledge and experience. Yet, we struggle to make ends meet and deliver what we promise to our customers.

Young Entrepreneur shares some practical pointers about survival:

This will mean sacrifices. Maybe you have to take a part time job until you have enough money to support yourself. You also might need to take on clients who might not seem “ideal” at first. You can always fire them later on when you have a more solid base of support but money is money and you will need anything you can get your hands on when you are first starting a business.

Here are additional survival tips that you can apply to your business:

• Ask questions. You have so many things to learn only if you just ask the right questions to the right people. This can be other small business owners who faced similar problems you’re now encountering or reliable small business forums.
• Be flexible. Always keep an open mind whenever you’re observing your current process or strategies. If it’s not working, change it right away. In most cases it just requires some minor tweaking but be ready for a major turnaround if needed. Sometimes, you must go beyond your current business practice to differentiate your business against competition.

When asking for startup funding from several venture capitalists, having a great elevator pitch is very important. This is a very concise presentation about your company, products or services designed to draw attention to your business proposal. Just like an elevator ride, you must limit your pitch to a few minutes, or about 150 to 225 words.

Go BIG Blog recommends you pitch everyone, all the time, to improve your skills in this area.

Like practicing at anything, the more you pitch, the more you learn about the pitch itself. You learn how people are reacting to your value proposition, how they are digesting your message, and whether or not you even make sense. I’ve probably given the Go BIG pitch a thousand times, but every time I modify it just a bit to make it better.

Here are some additional tips:

• Use plain English to minimize misunderstanding.
• Use analogies to break down complex and technical ideas. Do not babble on the technical aspect but focus on the most important advantages.
• Be passionate when delivering your pitch.
• Establish your credibility as an expert in your chosen industry.

We often associate business plans with startup companies. However, this is a big mistake for many entrepreneurs - it is vital in managing your long-term growth as well.

Without a good business plan, you will likely react to competition instead of dictating the game. AllBusiness’ 60-second guide to managing growth highlights the importance of this plan:

Revisit Your Business Plan. Your business plan doesn’t go up on the shelf just because your start-up phase is over. Refer to it often to make estimates that accurately reflect today’s realities. Even subtle changes in the marketplace may require you to alter existing contingencies and develop new ones.

As you continue to boom you will face more difficult challenges and make tougher business decisions. Aside from managing growth, other advantages of updating your business plan include:

• Monitor progress by comparing your goals and objectives with the actual results.
• Adjust your strategies based on current and emerging trends
• Allocate your limited resources to critical areas
• Identify your strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats