Yoel Wazana Provides Business Owners 5 Ways to Stay Ahead of the Competition

As a business owner, you already understand the importance of knowing your competitors and customers, creating a product that will sell, and continuously targeting new markets. But what else can you do to stay ahead of the competition? Yoel Wazana, president and founder of Micro Solutions Enterprises, provides five small, yet highly effective marketing tips for you to utilize.

1. Expand your current offer

In other words, think of what other related products or services your customers would be interested in. Your focus shouldn't necessarily just be on promoting a product, but rather on branding and promoting your company. What else does your company have to offer? Also, think about the little bonuses you can provide that will grab the attention of your audience. For example, many cafés today provide free Internet to customers.

2. Offer freebies to boost sales

Who doesn't like a free product? A great way to keep the interest of your current customers and attract new ones is by offering complimentary products. This is the perfect way to show potential customers what your company is about and why your products and/or services are worth investing in. Free products also give existing customers a reason to want to stay with you. Also, word of mouth travels fast and customers will have a lot to say about a company that offers free products.

3. Update your company logo

Have you ever noticed how companies will update or enhance their current image or logo? Companies like Domino's, JCPenney and Twitter recently upgraded their company images. Even the smallest changes, such as a new logo color or font, definitely stand out to customers.

4. Create future scenarios

A lot of businesses focus their attention on previous work and ideas when they should be thinking about what they should do for future success. Your goal should be to stay ahead of the game. Focus your attention and time on developing future marketing strategies and how you can beat your competitors. Be sure to follow consumer trends, invest in new technology, and have a clear vision of where you want to be in the next few years.

5. Don't underestimate the importance of financial planning

While you want your business to succeed, don't ignore your finances. From paying employees to purchasing technological devices, you spend faster than you may think. You should prepare a long-range financial plan so that you know how much you are able to spend and can avoid any dangerous situations.

Business Incentives for Recycling

The government, on both the state and federal levels, offers businesses incentives to make recycling a part of daily operations. Yoel Wazana, president of Micro Solutions Enterprises (MSE), a recycled toner cartridge company located in California, urges business owners to look into federal and state recycling programs so that they can save money and help the environment. Below are some different ways that your company can get involved.

Check out Tax Programs

Some states offer sales tax exemptions for companies that purchase various types of recycling machinery and equipment. Other states offer discounts on this type of equipment, sometimes making companies pay as little as 1% in sales tax. Some states even offer property tax exemptions for companies that recycle. Visit your state's business bureau website to see if you qualify for any tax breaks on your business's property, sales, or income tax.

Create an Internal Recycling Program

Many companies also create unique recycling programs internally to motivate employees to live more eco-friendly lifestyles. Over 80% of office trash can actually be recycled, and more and more businesses are catching onto that fact. To ensure the greatest cooperation from staff, business owners and managers should talk with employees and encourage them to participate.

Have a Special Committee

Most company owners will establish a recycling committee within the company. Individuals on the committee should support the sustainability message and also work to motivate co-workers to live a greener lifestyle. A kick-off party is a great way to inspire passion, encourage people, and ramp up the program. It's important to stress the importance of recycling and how, as a company, you can make a huge impact on reducing everyone's carbon footprint. Create a goal for employees to work towards -- have milestones and once they're hit, reward employees with things like free lunch, extra PTO time, etc. Get creative and your staff is likely to buy into the program. 

Make it Easy

It's also important to make recycling easy for everyone in the company by conveniently locating recycling bins throughout your locations. If you work in an office setting, start by getting enough recycling bins for each major area. People are more likely to recycle if it is convenient for them. Yoel Wazana suggests involving your staff and encouraging them to offer suggestions on how the program will work, so they feel invested.

Being green as a business is important because you create a larger carbon footprint. This footprint can be greatly diminished by getting involved in a recycling program and encouraging others to do so as well.

Micro Solutions Enterprises: A Success Story

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? For one thing, it takes a ton of dedication. Take the dedication Yoel Wazana infused into his then blossoming business of remanufacturing toners. He now owns his own company, Micro Solutions Enterprises, which is located in Van Nuys, California. 

There are tons of incredible places to visit in Van Nuys, such as CarneyMagic, The Aerial Classroom, the Big Worm's Sherwood Scare, and much more. Van Nuys is located in Los Angeles, which is literally minutes away from iconic Hollywood. It makes sense; after all, Micro Solutions Enterprises has won many awards which might as well be considered Emmys. 

What has Yoel Wazana done that is so worthy of praise and awards? He started a remanufacturing business, which makes sure that toners are recycled and then repurposed for functional reasons.

However, it wasn’t easy starting his first job as an entrepreneur. Yoel Wazana had to slave away all day and night in his apartment working on toners. He got to a point where he was losing more customers than he was gaining, which was a frustrating experience. In order to get where he wanted to go, he gave his brother Avi Wazana a call. 

They discussed plans for Micro Solutions Enterprises, and Avi agreed to give Yoel a small loan. If his business didn’t succeed, Yoel Wazana would have to pay it all off—but Wazana was ready for the challenge. He took Avi’s money and produced one of the greatest remanufacturing companies out there: Micro Solutions Enterprises. 

Thanks to Micro Solutions Enterprises, consumers can receive unbeatable deals on toners for their printers at an extremely high quality. Over 900 people have jobs thanks to Yoel and Avi Wazana, and the company has demonstrated repeated success. It’s only a matter of time where Micro Solutions Enterprises will go next.

Micro Solutions Enterprises: Still Standing Strong

Yoel Wazana is best known for his company, Micro Solutions Enterprises. Founded in 1994—originally as a reseller—Yoel Wazana has since experienced tremendous success, due to his innovative business idea. The idea of selling remanufactured toners was a new one at his time, and he has made it big. 

He brought his company to Van Nuys, which is a remanufacturing firm based in Van Nuys, California. Van Nuys is located in the San Fernando Valley, which is referred to as “The Valley” by some. 

It truly is a good idea to recycle toners, and to remanufacture them is an art itself. There are numerous benefits to recycling toners. For one thing, it helps to preserve precious environmental space. 

Micro Solutions Enterprises has made outstanding achievements ever since it first began. Take the year 2012, for example.  In 2012, Micro Solutions Enterprise participated in a survey conducted by Cameron Consulting Group. The purpose of this survey was to assess the attitudes of independent dealers on quality and outlook.  Out of 200 dealers, Micro Solutions Enterprise received the highest rating for quality and dealer confidence. 

Additionally, Yoel Wazana’s company has received recognized for having the best new product, expert customer service, and incredible toner quality.

The story of how Wazana first began is kind of a funny one. He was originally working as a delivery driver and during his time at that occupation, he came across an opportunity to fix a printer. Once he fixed that printer, Yoel Wazana was convinced he could remanufacture toners as well. 

Once he learned the art and the craft of remanufacturing toners, Wazana started his first business inside his apartment. He wasn’t getting many customers, and had to ask his brother, Avi, for assistance. Avi Wazana is now a CEO of Micro Solutions Enterprises as well, thanks to the hard work and faith he put into Yoel Wazana. 

Today, Micro Solutions Enterprises stands strong as a company: one with a profitable future in remanufacturing.

2014 Resolution: Reduce Plastic Use in the New Year

While we're still in January and people remain focused on resolutions that they intend to keep throughout the New Year, it's time for individuals and businesses to commit to reducing their plastic use. While most resolutions are beyond challenging sometimes even unrealistic, cutting down on your plastic usage is a realistic goal. 

Yoel Wazana, president of Micro Solutions Enterprises (MSE), urges companies to try to be eco-friendly this year. MSE takes steps each and every day to reduce the amount of trash that their company uses. Sustainability through less plastic should be everyone's focus in 2014. Here's why it's important and how to be successful at it.

Why Use Less Plastic?

Americans use so much plastic that recycling all of it has become nearly impossible. As a result, plastic is polluting our earth, killing our wildlife, and leading to more of those unsavory landfills that no one wants in their back yard. It's up to individuals and businesses to be more conscious of the amount of plastic they're using and make better choices.

How to Use Less Plastic

BYOB

No, we're not talking about beverages here! We're talking about bags. Jump on the recyclable bag bandwagon and make it a personal goal to never use disposable plastic shopping bags. Millions upon millions of one-time use bags are made and used every day, and they only add to our landfills. Treat yourself to some colorful and stylish bags and don't forget to get them out of your car before going into a store. Many businesses have started taking part in this craze by offering recyclable bags with the company logos on them and you can too! It's a great way to market the business and do something good for the environment at the same time.  

Become One with Bamboo

Because of its sustainability, bamboo is now being used to create countless products. Why are products made of bamboo great options? Bamboo is an extremely renewable resource. After all, certain types of bamboo can grow as much as six inches a day; most trees take years to reach their full height. The material is also incredibly versatile, and can be used to make such diverse items as flooring, clothing, cabinetry, furniture, and other household items. 

Simplify

A "less is more" mentality goes a long way when you're trying to conserve. Seriously consider whether the items you're buying are really necessary for your life. By buying and using less, you can easily create a lot less plastic waste in terms of products and packaging.

Change the Way You Drink

Way too many people drink water, soda, and other beverages out of single-use plastic bottles. Ditch the plastic and invest is a reusable container that beverages can be poured into. There are many stylish and unique options out there to please everyone in your family. Or your company could give them out as an incentive.   

Yoel Wazana advises that once they get into the habit of using less plastic, people will start to feel good about it and urge others to join in. The ripple effect of that idea could be the thing that changes the world for the better.