Mandie's Desk : Can you see the target?

Are you easy to do business with?

This past week I heard a story that made me re-examine my business practices. A friend had tried to purchase a product from a supplier that had been recommended by a peer. WHen it came time to pay the bill, she mailed the supplier a cheque.

Unfortunately the cheque did not reach the destination in a reasonable period of time - and the problems began.

The supplier cheerfully reminded the customer of the bill and let her know she had not received the cheque. The customer, wanting to settle the bill, offered to pay by credit card. However the supplier did not take credit card payments. An email transfer was then offered but the supplier did not have a major bank that could accept credit card payments.

Finally the client offered to pay by 'Pay Pal' - but again the supplier did not have an account. The last and only options left were Western Union wire transfer or a UPS overnight letter mail. Both options would have cost the client an unreasonable amount of money to use for a payment under $500.

I cannot say for sure how many clients could be lost because of an inability to be flexible with payment options. Not only would it benefit the client but the supplier could have been paid much faster as well.

When I started my first business - I applied for merchant services after 6 months in business. My income doubled the first month after I offered credit card services.

If you do not currently have merchant services for your business - consider signing up for them. Roaring Women has a membership plan with reduced merchant rates available for members here.

FAQ about RW membership

I often get questions about how to best use your membership - so I have put together a list of questions I am often asked:

How do I access the member's areas? To access the members area, click on the 'login' tab at the top of the website. Your login is the original email address you signed up with. If you cannot remember your password, use the send password feature. If that is unsuccessful (hopefully it is not!) email our membership director - profiles at roaringwomen.com

What do you mean when you say we get a free workshop every month? Every month we add a 'webinar' to your members areas. This is under the 'file' area. Currently in the file area there is the following for all members:

How can I change my profile? If you are simply wanting to change your business description, email address, website or phone number - access your profile in the members area. If you would like to change some wording in your profile - cut and paste the profile into the body of an email, make the changes you want and email it to profiles at roaringwomen.com

I uploaded an event - why is it not showing? If you are a member, your event is uploaded immediately from the submit event tab in the members area. If you are not a member, we review all events before they are posted - and post them as soon as we are able.

Why am I paying a monthly fee for my membership? We changed membership payments to be spread out over a year because it is easier on our members this way. The membership fees pay for website upgrades, newsletters, research and additions of new services and benefits and promotion on the web via Google. The membership fees also cover development of workshops for the members areas.

Please note: Our membership fees are less than every Chamber of Commerce I have researched. We offer far more in terms of benefits than any Chamber of Commerce and we guarantee the membership fee you are paying will not increase for 5 years. Now that is value!

Not a member? Why not join us?

More services to support your business

I know we say it over and over again - but you need to work on what you do best first - and hire out the rest. But what happens when hiring our seems too expensive? And how do you know you can trust the provider.

Roaring Women have many service providers in our members - all you have to do is do a search in the members search box. Type in what you are looking for - real estate, natural foods, anything! A list of members will come up that provide those services.

Here are a few services we have available that we think every business should use:

Graphic Services - (prices are laid out for you)

Card sending program - no special knowledge needed

Appointment making program - no special knowledge needed

Publicity and Press releases - This should be part of your marketing plan!

Legal Services at a member's rate - Contracts, incorporation, NUANS searches etc

From the Legal Beagle - Doggone those rules!

• Determine specifically the work the contractor will do
• Set out conditions that must be present for the contractor to do the work
• Offer remedies if the contract is not fulfilled or payment is not made
• Set out circumstances and provisions for canceling the contract
• Confidences that must be kept and information that is protected

Check out these legal specials - offered to Roaring Women - yes, across Canada! If you are a contractor to any other company or person - please get to a lawyer and get a standard contract written for you that you can use with all your clients. If you do not have a lawyer who can do this for you - check out our Lawyer. This firm can offer contract writing for you virtually - so be sure to take advantage of this feature.