25 Under 25 One Year Later

A year ago we were so proud to accept The 25 Under 25 Award from Thinking Bigger Business Media, Inc as one of the top 25 small businesses in the KC metro.

In the time since we’ve expanded our services to include a better website, large format printing and a brand-spanking new printing center. There’s nothing better than when your success means you can offer more to your customers.

Every day small businesses compete with big-box stores for their customers. You might think it’s a losing battle but most small business owners think of it more as David vs Goliath, if Goliath was a giant entity that paid less taxes, not-so-great wages, and spent less time on customer service issues than they do on stocking multi-roll paper towels.

We win this battle mostly on how we do business. Going above and beyond for us is just business as usual. My staff and I know the names of our customers; we hear their stories and give them advice. And if we’re lucky enough we’ll print both their business cards and their baby announcements.

Since we were given this award we’ve been more visible and it’s opened up new opportunities for us. But one thing will never change and that’s our commitment to our customers and their success. And whether that’s superbly printed business materials, a direct mail campaign or a mile-wide banner welcoming a returning service member, we think of happy customers as our real award.

Small Businesses Need Good Printed Material

As a small business owner you know that without proper marketing materials it’s very difficult to promote what you do for your customers. But if you’re not in the marketing business it can be difficult to make the best use of your hard won dollars when it comes to materials.

The Santa Statistics

As we get closer to Christmas and a little more crazy we thought you might enjoy a bit of information on the specific weights, measures, time, biology and science of Santa Claus.

This information is for amusement purposes only and not to be shared with anyone under the age of 10.

The Colorful History Of Wrapping Paper

My college roommate used to buy gifts at the last minute and then wrap them in the comics section of the newspaper. It was cute until he turned 30 and then it just became lazy, although he claims it’s the same as recycling.

Whatever the reason it made me curious so I investigated the origin and tradition of wrapping gifts.

Some Budget-Friendly Holiday Shopping Tips From The UPS Store

In case you hadn’t noticed Christmas is headed our way. The holidays are a wonderful time for friends, family, food and blowing the doors off your credit card balance.

Can you tell which one of these is a bad idea?

Musings On Customer Service

One of the things I love best about what we do is the people we serve. Small business will always succeed at customer service better than the bigger chains because we have more invested in making things right.

Great customer service is an art form. And it’s fun.

Local businesses depend on our customers, every single one of them. Our lifeline is in the thousands, not the millions, so we need to make sure every single one of our customers has a positive experience. We’re not expecting balloons and thank you notes; we count our successes in seeing the same people over and over again.

Small business is like a hometown, you know your customers, and recognize them when they walk in the door. One of the things that’s always bugged me is even though I might go to the same big box store more than once, I never see the same people.

Contrast that to our store. Even though we bear the UPS name we’re an independently owned small business. We offer shipping services, mailboxes, printing, banners, and more but the best thing we offer is great customer service.

I read a really great line in the Harvard Business Review about small business customer service that I really love:

The two best customer service practices are sincere empathy over indifferent calmness and common sense over standard operating procedure.

This basically means that at our store we banish the blank look a customer might get when they have a problem, whether it’s a need they need fulfilled or (shudder) a problem we caused. We also don’t have to follow a strict company policy or ask the corporate office for permission make an out of the ordinary decision.

If a customer needs a bit of extra service we’re glad to offer it. We love the chance to go above and beyond, it’s fun for us.

The other side is true as well: if we make a mistake we own up and try our best to make it right. We’re in this for the long haul.

So when you find yourself wondering, “Where should I have this printed?” Or, “I wish I had a mailbox in a safe place and someone to email me when I get a package.” Or even, “I need a banner, a really, big one.” Just call or come by The UPS Store, Oak Park Commons. We’re looking forward to your business.

Jerry Amaro

Owner/General Manager

The UPS Store, Oak Park Commons

Can You Really Mail A Coconut?

At The UPS Store, Oak Park Commons, we’re sometimes challenged by the things that people bring us to ship. Most of the time we can handle it. Sometimes a little adjustment might need to be made, maybe better wrapping, maybe it just needs a bit more protection. But all things considered, we can pretty much send just what you need right where you need it to go.

I started thinking about the history of mailing stuff. And after some poking around I found some interesting information.

Some amazing things that have been mailed:

Harry Winston mailed this beauty to the Smithsonian Museum.

The Hope Diamond: this large, 45.52-carat diamond was sent from New York City to Washington DC by registered mail. Which may not seem unusual until you realize this thing was 300 years old and worth over a million dollars (200 million today, kids). It arrived safely and you can now picture it on Kate Winslet’s neck in our nation’s capital.

An organization called Improbable Research collects and, unsurprisingly, occasionally conducts, improbable research. They decided to test the parameters (and patience) of the United States Postal Service by mailing a variety of items to see which would make it all the way to their recipients.

• $1 bill. Sealed in clear plastic, label attached with address and postage. Days to delivery, 6.
• $20 bill. Days to delivery, 4.
• Football. Days to delivery, 6.
• Rose. Postage and address were attached to a card that was tied to the stem. Delivery at doorstep, 3 days, beat up but the rose bud was still attached.
• Sound-emitting toy. A monkey-in-box toy that, upon shaking, shouted, “Let me out of here! Help! Let me out of here!” Addressed in big letters to LITTLE JOHNNIE. Sound toy was equipped with a new battery. Delivery at doorstep, 6 days.
• Hammer. Card was strapped to hammer handle; extra-large amount of postage was attached. Never received.
• Can of soup. Never received.
• Brick. Mailed at street corner box with ample postage for weight. Never received.
• And lastly the stories are actually true: The USPS will, indeed, mail a coconut as long as it contains a proper address label and sufficient postage.

Where would you mail a coconut?

If you have coconuts to mail, multi-million dollar diamonds you need to get to a museum, or even just a package for your college student, let The UPS Store, Oak Park Commons do it for you. We’ll pack and ship just about anything you need and make sure it arrives safe and sound. We can ship anything that fits in a 12 inch box for just $5.99! We also have mailboxes so if you’re the proud recipient of a rose or even a hammer we’ll not only sign for it, we’ll email you that it’s here.

The UPS Store Is Your Small Business Headquarters

Sometimes our customers confuse The UPS Store with the larger corporate entity known as UPS. We’re actually very different. A really great article in The New York Times last month highlights the differences as well as expanding on just what your (very) local UPS Store can do for small businesses. It also has some good stuff to say about a new national campaign promoting the UPS Stores. They’re kind of awesome.

Small Business Is Ready For Mobile Technology

Do you have a smartphone? Do you use it to make actual telephone calls or do you just play Angry Birds or Words With Friends? Smartphones are everywhere as any flight attendant will tell you but as a small business owner are they worth the investment and ongoing expense? After all, you can only become Mayor of El Taco Loco so many times.

Bank of the West recently funded a survey conducted by Harris Interactive showing that 88% of small businesses use mobile technology on smartphones, including apps and software. However 58% aren’t happy about the lack of targeted technology for their industries or small business in general. They’re feeling a bit neglected in favor of apps that tell you how long the line is to Space Mountain.

Small business is waiting for more mobile technology.

The report also found that 94% of the small businesses owners think that marketing is the best use of mobile technology so far and that’s mainly what they’re using their smartphones for. After that smartphone use was mainly for making payments (82%) and customer relationship database management (63%).

Small business owners are not early adopters of mobile technology-they mainly use their gadgets for the usual tasks of voice calls, email, texting and instant messaging, calendars and scheduling. And they wait until apps or programs have been around the block before giving them a try. Sort of like when your dad told you never to buy the first model of a new car or a Yugo.

One of the reasons why is because of security fears. While 90% of those surveyed have had no serious issues, such as data coming under attack, more than half still worry about comprised security of their business as well as customer information.

The survey highlights the growing need for pointing mobile technology in the direction of small business. They are just waiting for the attention of developers. Of the SMB owners asked, 65 % said smartphones are essential for their success as a business now and 74% think they will be useful in the future. And 65% said they hadn’t seen their smartphones since their three-year-old found it.

As the recession slowly begins to fade it will be small businesses that will lead the way out. They will be doing the hiring and growing and they need technology to do it. The field is wide open for developers and marketers to take the advantage.

The UPS Store, Oak Park Commons, is an award-winning small business and our focus is on helping both consumers and other small businesses succeed. We understand small business because we are one, we know how important customer service can be, how the extra mile and attention to both cost and deadlines is so critical. Whether you need business or promotional materials, banners or yard signs, a mailbox or fast, secure shipping The UPS Store can help.

Let’s Give It Up For Women-Owned Businesses

Let’s talk about the ladies, man. Did you know that women-owned businesses generate $1.3 trillion in revenues annually? That’s up 58% over the past 15 years. And it’s more than the combined market cap of Apple, Microsoft, GE, and Sony.

Women owned businesses are vital to the US economy.

And when the private sector was bleeding jobs between 1997 and 2007, women owned businesses were creating them to the tune of 500,000. Here’s another factoid for you: By 2012, female entrepreneurs employed 7.7 million people.

I found these stats over at the American Express Open Forum website, which if you’re a small business owner is a daily must-read. They just did a study, The State of Women-Owned Business , naturally and it’s worth a spin around.

According to the study, healthcare is where women entrepreneurs are really succeeding, with ownership of 53% of the firms in this sector. They also killed it in education with 45% ownership.

I’ve always had great respect for anyone who sets out on the very scary journey of business ownership. It’s a gamble that not only includes the business-owner but often families, friends, total strangers, and occasional calls to whatever deity is handy. It’s not for the faint hearted.

Women entrepreneurs are very willing to be mentors, teachers, or just givers of good advice to anyone who asks. They will share their experiences, successes and even failures in the hope that it will help another entrepreneur succeed. They also tend to own and nurture businesses that they would want to work for and manage them in a way that allows both professional and personal growth.

Interestingly, the Amex study found that women-owned businesses funded their start-ups with less debt, only 5.5% used a loan compared to 10.7% of all firms. I wonder if this was from a desire not to be burdened with debt or because of lack of financial institutions willing to fund a woman owned business. What do you think?

So if you know a woman who owns a business, drop in from time to time. Recommend them whenever possible. We all know they’re wiser than us on most things anyway.

At the UPS Store, Oak Park Commons we support all small businesses. They’re what moves this country forward and keeps us on track. Neighborhoods benefit from small businesses and more of your money sticks around your community when you patronize them. So stop by and see how we can be of service to you.