PROPRIETARY INFORMATION: HOW TO PROTECT TRADE SECRETS Proprietary information, also known as trade secret, is information that a company wishes to keep confidential or protect from those outside the company. The Uniform Trade Secrets Act defines trade secrets as “information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known,...
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IMPORTANCE OF A VERTICAL MARKETING SYSTEM A vertical marketing system (VMS) is one in which the main members of a distribution channel – producer, wholesaler, and retailer – work together as a unified group in order to meet consumer needs. In conventional marketing systems, producers, wholesalers, and retailers are separate...
USING ANNUAL REPORT AS A MARKETING TOOL Annual reports are formal financial statements that are published yearly and sent to company shareholders and various other interested parties. The reports assess the year’s operations and discuss the companies’ view of the upcoming year and the companies’ place and prospects in their...
THE IMPORTANCE OF INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Industry analysis is a tool that facilitates a company’s understanding of its position relative to other companies that produce similar products or services. Understanding the forces at work in the overall industry is an important component of effective strategic planning. Industry analysis enables business owners...
HOW A FACTOR COMPANY CAN BE A USEFUL SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS Factoring is a form of financing in which a business sells its receivables to a third party or “factor company” at a discounted price. Under this arrangement, the factor agrees to provide financing and other...
HOW TO DEVELOP YOURSELF THROUGH DELEGATION You should never become so busy developing others through delegation that you neglect your own development. While the delegation process is an education in itself and will free your time, it can be reinforced through formal instruction. Improving Performance Delegation involves some of the...
REASONS WOMEN BECOME ENTREPRENEURS Women have owned and operated businesses for decades, but they were rarely recognized or given credit for their efforts. Often, women entrepreneurs were “invisible” as they worked side by side with their husbands, and many only stepped into leadership positions when their husbands died. But a...
DECIDING WHETHER TO HIRE A CONSULTANT A consultant is an individual who possesses special knowledge or skills and provides that expertise to a client for a fee. Consultants help all sorts of businesses find and implement solutions to a wide variety of problems, including those related to business start-up, marketing,...
KEY ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS PROPOSAL Business proposals are documents that attempt to persuade targeted clients to buy a particular service or products. These documents, which are used in academia and government as well as business and industry, nay range from relatively short (a few pages) proposals to “formal” documents...
REASONS FOR BUSINESS FAILURE Business failure is defined as the closing of a business that results in financial loss for at least one of the business’s creditors. An associated term, business dissolution, refers to the formal termination or closure of a business as well, but with dissolution, financial loss (for...
