Estimating your assets value:

Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.

Compensation and Expenses:

Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.

A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.

In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.

In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.

In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.

In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.

What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.

Auction Expenses:

In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.

All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.

Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.

Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.

Buyer’s Premium:

What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.

The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.

It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.

Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.

Pre-Sales:

We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.

As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.

Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.

A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.

It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.

When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.

Why use a marketing calendar?

Most likely you would have heard or read the phrase ‘marketing is everything’ and as a determined business owner you have prepared your marketing plan. Now that you have your marketing plan in hand, how do you make sure it is implemented at the right time and with sufficient attention on your part?

Keep in mind that the most important tool for your success and business development discipline is your own marketing calendar! Using a marketing calendar will crystalize your focus and attention to what needs to be performed and when it needs to be done. Running with your marketing calendar will prevent a common marketing lapse that results in the ‘feast and famine’ syndrome of many a small business.

You have limited resources and your marketing calendar is the tool that will keep you on track and within your budget! It will allow you as the small business owner to organise, categorise and prioritise your marketing efforts to give you that foundation for success!

What do you include in your marketing calendar?

The first thing you must do in preparing your marketing calendar is to select and use a proper calendar application. I highly recommend you use Google Calendar or either Microsoft’s Outlook or Apple’s Calendar applications. It is possible to use an Excel spreadsheet but it will just make life more difficult for you in managing your own calendar.

With your selected calendar you must now input all public holidays including regional and local holidays where you operate as you will have to consider these days in your scheduling. Before you enter any marketing dates make sure you block out the dates that you are planning to take a break for your vacation time. Yes, that too is very important for your own well-being!

Using your established marketing plan and communication mix list down the various marketing campaigns, programs and tasks that you need to schedule on a weekly basis for the next 12 months. Some of these programs will be recurring so space these recurring tasks out over the next 12 months. Enter all your campaigns and programs into your calendar with sufficient time for preparation & testing, implementation and very importantly a review or a post-mortem for each of your marketing campaigns and programs. This is a crucial step as measuring and tracking the response for your campaigns is a key factor in learning from the experience and fine-tuning your next iteration to achieve better marketing results.

Now review your calendar and adjust for seasonal activities that you need to consider in timing with your marketing campaigns. For the consumer space these are prime retail seasons like Christmas, Easter, Valentines and Halloween (like it or not it is growing as prime retail season). Include school holidays as well. Any seasonal conditions that affect your business must be considered. The potential impact is that you either move forward or push back the dates to take advantage or avoid those dates depending on your business environment and target markets.

If you are including print or broadcast advertisements make sure you consider the deadlines for the submission of artwork and materials for these publications or broadcasters.

Make sure to include both traditional and digital marketing programs appropriate to your operations. The following list is not meant to be exhaustive only general examples that might be applicable for your business:

Marketing events like roadshow, seminars and workshops
Direct postal mail, letter box drop distribution
Marketing and sales collateral (i.e. brochures, flyers, video)
Digital push programs like email promotions, eNewsletters and SMS campaigns
New product or service launch
Engagement and updating your web, blog and social media channels
Networking sessions
Search engine marketing (i.e. organic optimisation or paid per click advertising)
Mass media broadcast advertising (i.e. print, radio or television)
Periodic updating your marketing plan
Others that may be applicable to your business and target markets…
The next step is to check if there are any gaps in your calendar. If you have the capacity and resources this should be an opportunity to add an addition marketing campaign to your calendar. If not, it will allow you to rebalance activities so that you are not swamped by multiple marketing campaigns that may be bunched up during a particular period in your calendar.

Following these steps will ensure that you have a well-structured and thought out marketing calendar.

The last step in your marketing calendar is to designate responsibility for the scheduled tasks and activities. The assignment of names per tasks is necessary for accountability and responsibility to complete the task within the timeframes specified. Tasks can be assigned to the business owner, internal staff and external contractors that might be contributing to a specific program or campaign.

How do you manage your marketing calendar?

You do this with discipline and strong time management as your commitment to grow your own business. Plan to have a fixed block of time every week dedicated to your marketing activities. I allocate Monday of every week for my marketing work. You can help your own efforts by using the calendar’s functions to assign tasks with alerts or reminders for these tasks.

What is important is to find the system that is comfortable and works for you and your business. Perhaps you are extremely productive morning person and your marketing would benefit if you time your efforts during the morning part of the day. You have your environment, culture and resources to consider as you find the day and time of the week that works best for your vital marketing work.

Active task management per your marketing calendar will keep you on track and allow you to control unnecessary expenses outside your planned budget.

Your marketing calendar is your foundation for success

Remember marketing is always about business development. Your conscientious efforts in working your marketing calendar for your business is essential to grow your business revenue while at the same time saving you time and money.

What is your primary aim for starting a home based business? Identifying it exposes your driving force which will determine your success in business. It is that which, more than anything else, gives you a sense of direction and purpose, motivates you to your highest levels of energy, and sustains you over the long haul. This article gives the need to discover your innermost reason for starting a business.What gets you out of bed and makes you work all day? There are numerous possible answers. It could be financial or personal freedom, status, power, competition, possessions and celebrity, influence, getting ahead, recognition, security and success, happiness, fulfillment or your children’s future. The list can go on and on. Understanding your driving force gives you the ability to actively shape your life rather than passively accept whatever joy and whatever pain happens to come your way.Many people worked towards success, attained it only to discover they are still unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Yet, there are others who, whether successful in the conventional sense or not, experience deep satisfaction and fulfillment. The difference being that the latter built his business with the primary aim on focus. Your driving force should lead you on how to choose a home based business.Your primary aim is centred round your core values, beliefs, and desires. Look inwards; check your emotions and feelings to discover what it is that propelled or are propelling you into starting a home based business. It is the force that will spur you on to stellar results, wise decisions and strong business relationships. It is a driving force that, when harnessed in your work life will make you more skillful and efficient and let you enjoy work more.Furthermore, your primary aim is the source of the vitality, the commitment, the vision you need to get the most out of your life and to create a remarkable business in the process. It drives you to take steps to enjoy and maintain personal freedom.Building home based business without the primary force is the reason why many people quit before achieving their goals. A search for your primary aim for business is the first step to how to keep on going with your online home-based business when you feel like giving up.I encourage you to stop working now, first discover your driving force and continue from there today. Acting immediately will crown your effort with satisfaction and fulfillment.