Hispanic Business Owners Ready to Restart after Pandemic

Commiserating at the recent Hispanic Chamber of Commerce reception are Fernando Garcia, Creavista; Danilo Melan, SHCCNJ membership coordinator; Massoud Ansari, Domino’s Pizza; Luis O. De La Hoz, chairman of the SHCCNJ; Antonio Perez, Site Drainer; Lisbeth Castillo, SHCCNJ, and Nelson Bohorquez, Allesig Group.

Alejandra Giron of Valley Bank chats with Vincent Vicari of the NJSBDC in Ramapo College at the SHCCNJ networking event.

A couple of hundred members of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (SHCCNJ) beat the heat last Friday afternoon and spent a few hours commiserating with friends and colleagues about business and sharing best practices at the group’s Summer Networking event at Dos Cubano Restaurant in West New York, NJ.

With the pandemic apparently ending or slowing down and restrictions easing or disappearing completely, this group of Hispanic business owners is eager to return to their commercial endeavors because, as Luis O. De La Hoz, chairman of the board of the directors of the SHCCNJ, told me, they don’t have any alternative. They don’t have a plan B to survive because their businesses are their livelihoods – their lives.

“Entrepreneurship is how we overcome poverty,” De La Hoz said.

The Hispanic chamber of commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in the Garden State, according to him. It has 5,000 members and represents more than 120,000 Hispanic business owners. It annually records $20 billion in gross sales.

Fortunately, none of the members were forced out of business due to the pandemic though early on they did comply with the regulations to temporarily close their doors.

Among the problems faced by Hispanic businesses, De La Hoz said, are access to capital, access to new markets, access to networks, and the digital gap. In order to help bridge the digital gap, De La Hoz said the chamber would organize an on-line Business Expo on July 20.

Among the attendees was Vincent Vicari, regional director of the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Ramapo College, who was ready to provide advice and guidance to the Hispanic entrepreneurs.

For membership information, visit the SHCCNJ website at https://shccnj.org/.

To get in contact with Vince Vicari regarding NJSBDC assistance to small businesses, contact him at https://njsbdc.com/njsbdc-at-ramapo-college/.

Marketing & Foodservice Insights as Businesses Reopen

I came across these interesting news items for small businesses as their owners begin the reopening process.

Without a doubt, all businesses need marketing in order to reach their customers and prospects. However, if you decide to select a spokesperson for your product make sure that you vet your candidate before you put him or her in front of a camera or on an advertisement.

Business owners select a marketing spokesperson because his or her positive notoriety will reach a receptive audience with an effective message about your product and company.

What makes a good spokesperson? They must be knowledgeable and conversant on script as well as off script. An effective spokesperson must have a wide knowledge of the product, issue or organization that he or she represents. An effective spokesperson will approach every media event or interview with a plan that you have created.

The spokesperson plays an important role in getting information about the organization and its product out to the public while you control the flow of that information. He or she works closely with brand managers and public relations professionals to craft statements and press releases, ensuring that information is relevant and timely.

At least that’s the theory.

But be careful because everything can abruptly turn south and cost you money as UEFA sponsor Coca-Cola learned during the European soccer championships in early June. The inadvertent culprit was Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, a well-known health enthusiast, who wasn’t even a spokesperson.

At a press conference during the tournament on June 14, Ronaldo visibly pushed two Coke bottles away from his spot at a table before taking questions in Budapest, ahead of a Group F game against Hungary. The Portuguese team captain then held up a bottle of water and touted it as the better alternative. “Beba agua!” he intoned in Portuguese. “Drink water!”

Coca-Cola’s market value sharply plunged by about $4 billion in what was deemed a dive that coincided with Ronaldo snubbing the Euro 2020 sponsor during a press conference at the tournament. Its stock price dipped by 1.6% almost immediately after the gesture, according to Business Insider and Reuters. That dropped its overall market value to $238 billion from $242 billion.

Ronaldo also boasts the most popular Instagram account on the planet, with more than 311 million followers and words count – especially celebrities’ words and gestures.

French star Paul Pogba also sparked an uproar by removing a bottle of Heineken, a tournament sponsor, from the table at another news conference the next day. Pogba is a practicing Muslim who does not drink alcohol. I couldn’t find a dollar figure for the snub.

Be careful who you choose as your spokesperson and make sure you precisely instruct him or her what can be done and said while under contract.

Foodservice

With small and large restaurateurs returning to their operations, they must be prepared for a wide range of possible situations from pricing, customer interest, health and safety. As a former editor of a publication for foodservice distributors, I know every well their value to their operator-customers. Consequently, if you have questions about the menu, products, pricing, etc., turn to your distributor sales rep or marketing association for guidance and answers.

One such national organization, Legacy Foodservice Alliance, Glen Allen, VA, has been on the forefront of helping operator-members via its StreetWise® since its launch in 2010.

Using hands-on events featuring mentoring, seminars, and interactive demonstrations, as well as online resources, StreetWise® offers sales associates learning channels to better their product knowledge and approaches to selling to their customers.

In 2021, StreetWise® expanded its ability to connect with salespeople by taking advantage of online platforms and other digital media. StreetWise® 365, as it was re-branded at the start of the year, is designed to engage with the sales associate in their environment all year long.

Deb Winter, Legacy Foodservice Alliance executive vice president, said, “Salespeople are on the street taking care of customers, solving problems, and battling the competition. They don’t always have total control of their schedule. When they do and can block out time, that’s great. But when they can’t, we need to have solutions for them to get information, education and details to allow them to maximize their opportunities.”

In addition to in-person events and information located on the group’s website, https://legacyfoodservicealliance.com/, StreetWise® 365 has created a series of online member meetings taking advantage of mobile technology for the on-the-go sales and marketing teams.

Have questions about your foodservice business, turn to your distributor or marketing group.

Trouble Ahead for Travel Business

Whether you’re planning to open fully your travel business or partially, it behooves you to plan for rough times.

As they say, in turbulent times, plan carefully for unavoidable disruptions and you may reach calm waters.

A United Nations report warns that international tourism could suffer similar losses in 2021 as last year.

The collapse of international tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a loss of more than $4 trillion in global GDP over the years 2020 and 2021, according to a report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published at the end of June. The report was presented jointly with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

International tourism and the sectors that depend on it suffered an estimated loss of $2.4 trillion in 2020 due to the direct and indirect impacts of a sharp drop in international tourist arrivals.

A similar loss could be recorded this year again, warns the report, which specifies that the resumption of tourism will largely depend on the massive distribution of vaccines against COVID-19 on a global scale.

“The world needs a global vaccination effort that will protect workers, mitigate social damage and make strategic decisions about tourism, taking into account potential structural changes,” observed Isabelle Durant, acting secretary-general of UNCTAD.

As vaccination rates are uneven, with less than 1% of the population vaccinated in some countries and more than 60% elsewhere, the report notes that tourist losses are greater in developing countries.

Thus, three, more or less pessimistic scenarios were presented for the year 2021, the most optimistic evoking a reduction in tourist arrivals of only 63 percent on average.

According to the UNWTO, industry experts do not expect to return to usual crowds before 2023, or even later, the main obstacles being restrictions on travel, the slow containment of the virus, weak traveler confidence, and an unfavorable economic environment.

In uncertain times, even as some regions are dropping restrictions and allowing businesses to open fully, the road to recovery is bumpy. On the one hand, your creativity and market knowledge will help you survive. On the other hand, there are official sources of help for small businesses such as yours. In these circumstances, I recommend that you get in touch with the Small Business Administration and specifically in New Jersey the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers. Visit its website at https://njsbdc.com/ to find your regional center.

Even Small Businesses Need Help with Human Resources & Social Media

You’re never too small for growth and you’re never too small to launch initiatives to grow your business or to ask for help.

Two projects come to mind – human resources and social media. The former deals with your employees, considered by some your internal customers, and the latter pertains to your outreach, how your present your skills, goods and services to your external customers.

Human Resources

In today’s economy, small businesses have a great impact on America’s economic health and significantly contribute to the country’s gross domestic product. In 2016, 28.8 million small businesses’ contribution to the national economy stood at 99.7%. That same year, small businesses employed 56.8 million workers or 48% of all American employees.

Small business owners every day deal with a long to-do list of tasks and obligations, and they must wear many hats. As a result, small business owners are under painstaking pressure to find enough time in a day to rotate those hats and get their jobs done.

As practice has shown, very often small business owners put all their efforts into growing their businesses and revenues but they put little or no attention at all to have their human resources matters up to date and making sure that everything in their human resources area is in line with federal and local laws.

Frequently, many small business owners, after hiring the right person for the job, relegate human resources tasks to the bottom of their lists. All businesses have to have in place mechanisms for making all aspects of their companies work together successfully. Human resources management is one of the most vital areas of any business, even if the company has just one employee.

Human resources entail a lot more than just hiring the right people. HR engages many business segments – from people management to employee relations – and many points in between. Not paying attention to human resources could have the dire consequence and put the business and its owner at risk for legal consequences.

One of the common mistakes small business owners make is not thinking of the hiring process as a complex series of steps that are important for the company holistically and financially. The hiring process for small businesses should have the same components as hiring for a big company. It should start with recognizing hiring needs and then follow a clear job description.  A job description should include duties, responsibilities and other essential qualifications for the position.

Human resources management is probably one of the more complicated aspects of running a small business but it is vitally important to the existence of the business. Employees are one of a company’s greatest assets and it is absolutely fundamental to protect and manage those assets, according to regulations and set of laws.

Social Media

Social media have become the leading means for individual and group communications and networking, perhaps more than e-mail and traditional public relations. Of the major venues, such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., there are serious ones and frivolous ones, some favored by youth and others by adults and professionals. The best option, in my opinion, for businesses is a combination of Twitter, Facebook, the website, and traditional outreach venues like mail and press releases. I will discuss the important value of a blog later in this outline. The outcome of a well-planned and executed outreach campaign would be to establish the business and its management as thought leaders for customers, vendor-partners and other stakeholders.

A proactive outreach campaign won’t work without content. Consequently, in order for the company to be visible in cyberspace or the marketplace, it needs to create content, projects or ideas that could be promoted regularly. Regularity and frequency are fundamental principles of outreach and outreach. Content such as news, produces and services, ideas, observations, events, projects, goals and activities can then be disseminated by the social media.

Proactive outreach also can’t succeed without an audience. The organization must promote its social media and invite its members to participate via its regular mailed correspondence. Such an invitation with the appropriate logo can appear at the bottom of letters, statements, invoices and passbooks.

The institution’s management, with my assistance, would develop a series of events and other occasions that can be promoted and then re-promoted recurrently to promote the mission. Re-promoting and retweeting are important concepts because not all of your followers are on line at the same time so in order to reach as many people as possible, the content must be re-promoted, retweeted and re-posted several times a day with slight variations in the wording. This also teaches the audience to return regularly for more information. In that manner you build, cultivate and nurture of community that is interested in what you have to say.

The well-rounded outreach campaign includes Twitter, Facebook, website, blog, newsletters, etc.

Recent history has shown that serious and regular attention to social media have resulted in an increase in support and awareness about the mission, project or business. In other words, the small business can generate more leads and the nonprofit can attract more advocates. While social media may sound frivolous to some because of its prevalence among youth, it is a powerful marketing venue that must be used wisely by serious businesses and civic leaders. Infrequent or rare posts, tweets or updates after launching social media will confuse the cyber-audience and marketplace and cause unintended harm than intended good.

Frequency, regularity and consistency are keys to social media outreach success.

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