Educational professionals have been talking about moving away from paper textbooks and static learning material for years. There have been significant efforts to incorporate classroom computers into daily instruction for over 25 years. These efforts have had some, but generally limited, success. Such recent efforts include the OLPC and 1:1 Laptop School projects in the [...]
Shift Blog

I recently polled a bunch of managers and small business owners on how many resumes they receive for every opening they put out there. The result was staggering – 50 to 200. Whether or not you have a dedicated person managing these incoming resumes, it can be quite daunting and counter-productive not to have some process in place to weed through the pile.

Here are four simple steps every small company can follow:

Get Backup for Your Inbox

Email is great. But you cannot open 100 attachments from your email and make notes in spreadsheets. How are you going to keep track and share important pointers within your team? Resumes are bound to get lost in the ever building pile. To start getting organized – sign up for an online recruitment software, which caters towards small businesses. There are web-based ones that have free trials, so you can see if they fit your requirements before setting up your process and paying for one. For an average need of a small business, a good one should cost you no more than per month. Here is a list of a few on google apps.

Get Candidates to Apply on Your Careers Page

Instead of simply putting an email address on your careers page, it helps to have a company overview and a job description. This gives the prospective applicant a more complete picture of what you are looking for. Moreover, you can have an application form under the description that asks for all the things you need to screen the applicant. For instance, instead of simply asking for a resume attachment, you can request a cover letter, linkedin profile and add a questionnaire as well.

How are you going to add this on your site? If you don’t have the IT resource, your above chosen recruitment software should be able to help you with this. Most of them provide a widget which enables you to display all openings, along with the form, on your website. All the information that comes in from the form will be organized on your recruitment software to help you screen faster.

Share the Fun

You may be the person assigned to screen all the applications, but you need to get the relevant inputs from all the hiring managers and stakeholders. Thus, if you organize the screening process using an online tool as described above, you can add team members to this system after the initial screening. Let’s say you narrowed down the 100 resumes for the ‘financial analyst’ position down to 15 by filtering for ‘CPAs,’ you can then move these 15 to stages which the Finance Manager can work on – either by adding her feedback or scheduling an interview. Having everything in one place gives a clear view to the entire team.

Find the Right Ear

When you create an opening, you can share its link on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Quora in the relevant groups and lists. If you want to receive the most fitting applications, you have to make an effort on pushing them to specific places where your prospects hang out. On the other hand, large job boards bring a lot of clutter with the cream.

Good Luck!

Email Overload Photo via Shutterstock

From Small Business Trends

Overwhelmed By Job Applications: 4 Ways to Manage the Madness

Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

“Getting good marketing help is one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses today,” according to Anita Campbell, CEO of Small Business Trends.  Anita acknowledges that, “marketing is more challenging today than ever” and “business success is all about finding the right outside service providers and using them wisely.”

A common theme with small business owners is that they can’t afford the expense of marketing help. I’ve learned that whenever someone says they “can’t afford” something it usually means they don’t see the value of it. Savvy owners and managers do see the value of good marketing help. The problem is: finding and qualifying it.

Referrals are certainly a logical way to do it. And, often times they work out fine. On the other hand, what’s right for one business may be wrong for yours. If you understand that a marketing service is only as good as the top person (or people) behind it, learning as much as you can about that person is one of the best ways to qualify a marketing service and see if they’d be a good fit for you.

Here are 3 ways to do that:

1)  Google them: This is the broadest most objective way to get the scoop on anyone. It’s a great way to get a full picture. I call it “G-cred” for Google credibility. Just be sure you’ve got the right person since there are probably tons of others with the same name. You can get around that by adding a key word or two to refine the search – like adding the industry or profession. You might also add a geographic location. Since the person you’re searching for is supposed to be a savvy marketing pro it’d better not be real hard to find them, regardless of their name. So, if their “G-cred” sucks, consider that a reason to rule them out.

2)  LinkedIn Profile: Since every professional has one, you can also search there. Again, there could be tons of others with the same name so be sure you’ve got the right one. LinkedIn will provide a good sense of where they come from and how professionally qualified they are to service your business.

3)  Website Bio:  If you’re checking out their website there should be a bio on it. Let me rephrase that. If you’re checking out their website, there’d better be a bio on it. That said, I’m amazed at the number of companies that don’t post any bio info about the company leadership. That’s pretty dumb because all it does is raise a flag. As mentioned earlier, a company is only as good as the top people behind it.  If a site doesn’t include a great bio of the boss you’ve got to wonder why.

Rather than viewing marketing as an ‘expense’ Anita Campbell says that “marketing is an ‘investment’ to help you achieve your revenue goals faster.” She adds that

“Not finding the right outside resource will probably hobble your business.”

Do these things and it’ll increase your odds of getting the right marketing help that your business deserves.

Potential Employees Photo via Shutterstock

From Small Business Trends

3 Ways to Qualify Marketing Help

Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a process intended to protect copyright owners from intentional and unintentional copying, sharing and pirating. With the digitization of all media occurring over the last several decades these issues of piracy, rights management and fair use are often being debated. The most recent example of this debate is the controversy [...]
Shift Blog

Several of our most recent posts discuss the trends in digital publishing and the shift towards electronic content consumption using tablets and ereaders.  Tablets are proliferating, sharing and accessing materials on multiple devices is getting easier, downloads are getting faster and controlling the way in which content is presented to the reader is getting slicker.  [...]
Shift Blog

Most employers do background check for security purposes and to acquire personnel that are trustworthy and deserving of a position.  A background check maybe costly but it is a reflection of a company that adheres to government laws and regulations.  It speaks of an organization’s intent to hire the right person for the job. In another aspect, it speaks of another thing.  A company that can acquire background check services is a company that is capable of giving the right salary for a given job.  Why would an employer do a background check when he cannot offer a promising career for an employee that is screened rigidly?  How could an organization expect loyalty and sincere service from their employees when they are not being paid right?  What reason would suffice the background check? It has to be a win-win situation that some employers fail to realize.  It is a fact that some companies ignore.
Warmstone

At 48, Ms. Whitney Houston died. My son, who is a fan, felt really sad about the news. He even has an organized archive of videos by Whitney Houston. After being enamored by Alanis Morisette‘s songs, he later discovered Whitney Houston and was so amazed by the talent that it is a puzzle to him why she turned to drugs when she had it all. It might sound odd that my son admires Whitney Houston but I say it is his choice of music. He is not a fan of loud and senseless music. He is not even particular of what music is hot right now. He finds some pop art songs, classicals, ballads, blues, and the like attractive. With that, I respect him because he does not try to mold with the times but finds joy in what he truly appreciates and what he chooses as his music, as his beliefs, and as his life. Back to Whitney, I have to say I really admire her and her talent. She was actually a total package. She was a beautiful icon in her own way. She was a benchmark. She was the voice. How sad that a big part of [...]
Warmstone

No, I am not speaking about ‘love ovens’ . We do not need ovens to intensify the fire in our relationships. I get off the subject about love for now. Tomorrow’s the day. The topic is about lab ovens. Yes, dear, ovens are not solely invented for your kitchen only. Ovens were also made for the manufacture of certain products that need drying, baking, sterilizing. evaporating, heat treating, annealing and testing. In some factories that have laboratories as part of their process, and especially for research purposes, lab ovens are part of the laboratory. They appear like cabinets that are heavy and durable. In some manufacturing companies though, these ovens are not found in a laboratory but in the plant and are part of the whole system. Ovens like these are much bigger and are stationary. Now in answer to your question why I speak about lab ovens.  The thought just came about how the heat in these pieces of equipment could be analogous to the the intensity of love expressions tomorrow.  Trying hard, I know, but I am afraid of the intensity that could override the Richter scale.
Warmstone

Pizza For Thought

Jubilant Foodworks has got us hooked on to pizzas. Next step: donuts

 

It’s 9.30 am, and the shutters are up at a Domino’s Pizza outlet in Noida’s Sector 110. As the floors are mopped clean, a team of eight workers shouts in chorus: “Who are we? Domino’s Pizza. What are we? No. 1. What’s our goal? Sell more Pizzas, have more fun.” It is not a patch on the All Blacks Haka, but the passion is right there. Outside, two dozen Domino delivery bikes are lined; they face off with the Pizza Hut nearby. At 10.55 am, the first order trickles in; it is not your typical “pizza consuming” time for the country. But over the past 15 years, Dominos has altered the way India consumes pizzas.

The mid-1990s saw Domino’s, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut walk in. Says Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant Foodworks, which operates Domino’s Pizza in India: “Pizza was considered a snack by many consumers… out here, there was no organised pizza or burger company.” Jubilant roped in AC Nielsen. “The first thing we realised was the consumer didn’t consider pizzas and burgers as an alternative to daal-roti even though 70 per cent of the consumption was happening at dinner or lunch time.” Dominos pushed hard. “In 2004, it came out with a campaign called ‘Hungry kya’. It signalled pizza as a fulfilling meal”. It paid off, and pizzas were out of the alcove.

In 2010, Domino’s sold 35 million pizzas, up from 21.74 million a year ago, and 8.99 million in 2007. The Bhartia brothers — Hari and Shyam — promoters of the -billion Jubilant Bhartia Group, hit pay dirt with the master franchisee rights for Domino’s in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal they bagged in 1996. In 2010, Jubilant became the first food and beverage (F&B) company in the country to go public with a Rs 392-crore initial float. In January this year, it teamed up with Dunkin’ Donuts (DD); the first store is expected to open by mid-2012. The Bhartias hope to do an encore. “They (DD) have a large portfolio of drinks and savories. India is mature enough to accept the product range,” says Hari Bhatia. His brother, Shyam, adds: “We took 15 years before bringing in a second brand. The idea was to bring success to Domino’s, make it pan-India and then move towards other brands.”

Hunger For Growth
Technopak Consultants puts India’s overall food services retail market at Rs 36,400 crore (both organised and unorganised). Year-on-year growth is seen at 11-12 per cent, and by 2015, it will be Rs 55,000 crore. Says Pratichee Kapoor, associate director, F&B, at Technopak: “Five years ago, there were not many quality suppliers, and out-of-home consumption was once or twice a week, more so as a family outing. But the dynamics of demand have changed dramatically.” Technopak estimates that the organised market will grow at 25-27 per cent a year to reach Rs 15,000 crore in 2014-15.

Domino’s wants to get more than a foot in the door. It has a 90-plus cover outlet in Bhopal. Globally, Domino’s thrives on home delivery; about 30 per cent is dine-in; while in India, it is a 50:50 split. But you have be smart to get your costs right. In Delhi, the average seating would be about 30, but in cities such as Bangalore or Pune, where real estate costs are lower, it would be 60. Domino’s has also built upon a side-meal portfolio; it accounts for a sizeable 15-20 per cent of sales — a mix of pastas, chicken wings and desserts. It also stands out in sharp contrast to competition — share of the pizza delivery space stands close to 70 per cent, while in the overall pizza market, it is 50 per cent.

A quick comparison with competition gives a sense of Domino’s scale of operations. Papa John’s has 30 outlets; it plans to add another 30 by fiscal-end. Chicago’s Pizza remains a niche take-away format player; Sbarro (with 13 outlets) premium-priced pizza slices didn’t appeal to the Indian market; it has seen a few closures over the past few months. Yum Brands’ Pizza Hut, with its dine-in and delivery format, has 124 and 59 outlets, respectively. Kaul keeps a close eye: “Any company that goes back and forth is not sure where it belongs. The consumer will get confused if you offer 50 other things.” He takes a dig at Pizza Hut.

“In FY06, Domino’s operated 106 stores, and has today touched 400 leaving competition far behind. Over the next two years, we anticipate the number to touch 540 easily,” says Sunil Sehwani, analyst at GEPL Capital.

Even though international chains have shown growth, Domino’s has expanded rapidly, “If you look at chains, such as Mc Donald’s Pizza Hut and even KFC, same-store growth remains equally strong, but expansion of Domino’s has been more aggressive,” says Deepak Laxmi, director (research) at Mumbai-based Mape Securities.

Source: Suneera Tandon, Business World.

Tags: Dominos Franchise, Pizza Hut Franchise, McDonalds Franchise, Pizza Franchise, Fast Food Franchise, Food Franchises In India, Dunkin Donuts Franchise, Indian Food Industry, Papa Johns Franchise,

India Food Franchise Blog

This list of contests, competitions and awards for small businesses is brought to you every other week as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com.

Also, if you’ve entered and won a contest or award listed here, let us know so we can share your news.

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* * * * *

Fulton County PA Excellence in Small Business Award
Enter by February 17, 2012

The Awards Committee of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is accepting nominations of local businesses for the 2011 Excellence in Small Business Award. The award will be presented at the Chamber-Tourism’s Award Celebration. The category provides public recognition for the accomplishments of small businesses, those employing ten or fewer full-time employees. This category requires demonstration of growth, overall stability, a positive community image, leadership and civic involvement. Nominees do not have to be a member of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, but must be a Fulton County business.

Connecticut Innovations TechStart Fund
Apply by February 22, 2012

The TechStart Fund was created to spur technology innovation at its very earliest stage. The fund provides entrepreneurial or student teams with initial capital so they can determine whether a technology concept and business are viable and whether future funding can be obtained to launch a new business. Teams applying for TechStart funding will need to participate in a 10-week program, during which they will be provided with mentors and various professional resources offering strategic guidance in launching a new business. The initial 10-week pilot program will be held at CTech@Science Park at Yale in New Haven and will begin in March 2012.

See website for more details and entry requirements.

Office Depot’s Small Business Makeover Contest
Enter by February 27, 2012

The Small Business Makeover contest is designed to help small business owners augment or adjust their business in order to save time, grow and prosper in 2012 and beyond. The contest will award three small businesses a makeover from Office Depot, which includes a one-on-one financial coaching session with Jean Chatzky, office furniture, and supplies featuring Jean’s line of Mead financial organization products, available exclusively at Office Depot.

Small businesses can enter the contest by visiting Office Depot’s Facebook page and submitting, in 100 words or less, why their small business is in need of a makeover.

The Amazing Entrepreneur
Enter by February 29, 2012

The 2nd Annual Amazing Entrepreneur Business Plan Competition is an initiative by Gwinnett Chamber Economic Development and The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to foster new business development in Gwinnett County, GA. The contest is open to individuals who own or manage a small business, which has been in operation less than 36 months, in Gwinnett County.

The Grand Prize winner will receive 00 cash to be used solely for the business entering the contest, a trip to Sage Software’s Customer Conference in Nashville, TN (airfare, hotel stay, conference fees), one-year membership to Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, one-year participation in the Chamber’s Gwinnett Business Institute program (0 value), a consultation with an attorney from Arnall Golden Gregory (00 value), and research assistance from Chamber’s economic development department

2012 Small Business Online Marketing Contest
Enter by February 29,2012

For the second year, Chicago-area small businesses are being recognized for their marketing success. Constant Contact kicked off the 2012 Small Business Online Marketing Contest today in partnership with the Chicago City Treasurer’s Office. The contest will award more than ,000 in cash and prizes to businesses submitting winning entries in “Best Business Email Marketing” and “Best Overall Users of Social Media” categories, including “Rookie Awards.”

CoolCalifornia Small Business Award
Enter by February 29, 2012

The CoolCalifornia Small Business Awards recognize California small businesses that reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, promote climate friendly practices and integrate the tools on CoolCalifornia.org into their business operations.

There are two award categories: CoolCalifornia Small Business of the Year Award, and CoolCalifornia Climate Leader Award.

S.T.A.R. Mom Entrepreneur Award
Enter by February 29, 2012

Are you {or someone you know} a S.T.A.R. {successful, tenacious, accomplished, remarkable} Mom Entrepreneur? If so, Market Mommy wants to honor you for your continued dedication to your business and your family!
Not only will this award garner you the respect you deserve, it also comes with an unprecedented prize package! We’ll be giving away more than 00 in prizes. Visit our Sponsor Page for a full list of prizes and their sponsors. Once you’re nominated, you’ll be listed in our S.T.A.R. Mom Entrepreneur Award photo album on Facebook. There, your supporters can endorse you with their ‘likes’ and comments!

Brother Small Business Grant Program
Enter by March 2, 2012

StartupNation has collaborated with Brother, a leader in small business technology, to bring you
the 2012 Brother Small Business Grant Program.

The grant program will award a total of ,000 to five small business owners who submit the most original and creative business plan.

Verizon California Small Business Makeover Contest
Enter by March 2, 2012

Verizon wants to hear about Southern California small businesses’ technology challenges and will award a business makeover worth more than ,000 to the company that best tells its story. Register and submit an essay, of no longer than 500 words, describing the technology challenges facing your business. Small businesses also have the opportunity to win a 0 American Express Gift Card if they view quick, informative videos about Verizon Small Business solutions on the contest website.

A panel of judges will determine the grand-prize winner and four semifinalists. The grand prize consists of ,000 in cash; an HP Laptop; a Verizon Wireless 4G LTE LG Revolution Smart Phone; the Intuit Website Design Services Package; and Mobile Pay and Google Personal Support for Google Products. The semifinalists will each receive custom business-technology recommendations valued at 5.

Staples Give Your Small Business the Push it Needs Contest
Enter by March 14, 2012

Staples has launched its “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest, which will offer five small businesses up to ,000 in free television advertising in their home market.
Small businesses can enter the contest by submitting a 15-second video about their company on Facebook.com/Staples by March 14. Five winners will be chosen to receive 15 seconds of advertising in a 30-second Staples television ad to run in their local market. Winners can have ,000 in advertising or ,000 in advertising and ,000 in cash.

.Biz 10th Anniversary Contest
Enter by March 31, 2012

Today, there are more than 2.2 million .biz domain registrations and Neustar is taking part in celebrating SMBs that dared to stand out in a crowd.

Businesses can visit http://www.my.biz/10year/ and share how they used .biz to increase the reach of their brand image. Once SMBs have shared their stories, visitors will cast their votes. Winners will receive awards and a Best of .Biz seal to recognize their website.

Leading Moms in Business Competition
Enter by April 16, 2012

Everybody knows one. Like a super hero, she balances running a family with the heroics of running her own business. We’re talking about moms in business, of course. And now, StartupNation is conducting its third annual ranking of these astonishing entrepreneurs and the businesses they run.

Over the next few months, it’ll be your daily votes that determine the top 200 Leading Moms in Business. In addition the judges will determine special awards and accolades for moms within the top 200 who deserve special recognition.

Inc 500/5000
Enter by April 30, 2012

There are nearly 7 million private, employee-based firms in America. Only the very best are awarded the distinction of being named to the Inc.500 | 5000, the gold standard of entrepreneurial success. You’ll be listed with other leading companies at Inc.com, and your company may be featured in the September 2012 issue.

If you are proud of your company’s growth over the past three years, you owe it to yourself — and to your employees — to apply for the Inc.500 | 5000.

To find more small business events, contests and awards, visit our Small Business Events Calendar.
If you are putting on a small business contest, award or competition, and want to get the word out to the community, please submit it through our Small Business Event and Contests Form (it’s free).

Please note: The descriptions provided here are for convenience only and are NOT the official rules. ALWAYS read official rules carefully at the site holding the competition, contest or award.

From Small Business Trends

Take a Look: Small Biz Awards and Contests

Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends