Small Biz Ahead The Hartford

Episode Notes
What Customer Service Metrics Should Your Small Business Use?


Net promoter score: This score is generally on a zero to 10 basis. You ask your customer basically, how willing are they to recommend you, going forward in the future. They can choose zero, meaning not likely at all, or 10 meaning very likely.
Customer satisfaction score: For this you want to ask people how satisfied they are with your company, with your product, or with your service. You give them on a scale of one to five, or a scale of one to 10, and you can measure that as well.
The first response time metric: This applies if you have a call center, and is how quickly it takes to get to an issue when it's open and how many times an agent has touched that issue. And a resolution time, how long it takes to solve that issue.

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Episode Notes
Designing an e-commerce site has never been easier, especially with all the user-friendly platforms that we now have at our disposal. However, you’ll need more than a basic template if you want to create an online storefront that helps you stand out from your competition. In this episode, Gene Marks along with Yael Weiss Ayalon, the user relations manager at Wix e-commerce, and Oren Inditsky, the VP and GM of online stores at Wix, advise small business owners on how to build an effective e-commerce site that appeals to both search engine algorithms as well as their potential client base.

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Episode Notes
What Are 5 Prompts You Can Use for Your AI Software Application?


Ask your AI software to work on macros for you. Creating macros typically requires knowledge of formulas. However, these applications can help you create them quickly and easily.
Use your AI software to find out the best time to publish your content like blog posts. The software will read that blog and make suggestions based on the content.
Consider your AI software to be like an executive assistant. For instance, if you have a contract from a supplier, you can upload the contract to ChatGPT. It will read it and give you points of view.
Ask your AI software to create a business continuity plan. For instance, you can go on ChatGPT and say, "as a seasoned operations consultant, develop a detailed business continuity plan for my business in this industry."
Use your AI software to get pointers on customer service. If you have an unhappy customer, you can go to ChatGPT and ask it to coach you on how to create a tactful response to this customer email.

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Episode Notes
Business acquisitions are primarily seen as a way for aspiring entrepreneurs to purchase their own companies without having to start from scratch. However, did you know that a lot of established business owners will also acquire other additional companies to further expand their existing product lines and resources? In this episode, Gene Marks and Joey Korenman, the Founder of School of Motion and Co-Founder of Rolo, discuss the benefits of business acquisitions and how to negotiate the terms of your next acquisition deal so that you can take your small business to the next level.

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Episode Notes
Hey everybody, it's Gene Marks and welcome to this week's episode of the Hartford Small Biz Ahead podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. I wanna talk to you about the Corporate Transparency Act and some updates on it, which probably doesn't affect you in the end, but you need to know about it 'cause I'm getting a lot of questions about it. Now, first of all, just to go back a little bit, and I've written about this before and talked about it on the podcast, the Corporate Transparency Act was established a couple years ago actually, under a bill that was previously passed by Congress. It is being administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Basically, by the end of this year, 2024, you are going to be required to report all of the beneficial owners of your company or any other entities that you own.

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Episode Notes
Are you having a difficult time deciding on a business structure? You're not the only one. While having a formal business structure can provide you with significant legal protection and save you a lot in taxes, figuring out which one is most suitable for your small business can be a real challenge. In this episode, Gene Marks along with Christina Lewellen, a PhD, CPA and associate professor of accounting at NC State University, and Nathan Goldman, a CPA, PhD and also an associate professor of accounting at NC State University, discuss the different factors you need to consider when choosing the best structure for your new company.

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