Have a listen to my latest mini-podcast that asks the question “Does Your Business Have Permanence?”

My take here is this: if you’re just starting out in business, don’t be something you’re not. Don’t tell your customers that you have a 10-person support staff when it’s just you in your basement doing all the work.  Be yourself, and be honest – yeah, it’s just you bootstrapping your business. Your customers will appreciate your hustle.

However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an awesome storefront, an great-looking website, and top-notch customer service.  You can look like you’ve been there for awhile. I had my website built by experts to look good and operate smoothly. Besides having great customer service and a painless buying experience for your customer, it’s quite important to project confidence and “permanence.”  My example at the end of the podcast… when I see a restaurant have a custom neon sign made with their restaurant’s name, I know they mean buisness!

To me, those are the restaurants that I give a better chance of surviving.  So often, consumers are followers, and if they don’t think anyone’s going to your restaurant, they may think it’s not going to be around much longer.  They then might just assume that your food is no good.  And they might not come in.  I encourage all small business owners to budget for “permanence” – a great website, a remarkable sign out front, a clean store – care about your product and your customer service, but care about these things too.