It can be easy stay motivated when you are getting your business off the ground. It`s later, when things become more tedious, that it`s hard to keep going sometimes.

Small business owners have the bad tendency to work constantly. Your business is your baby and you`ll find that you are tempted to keep tweaking and working even when you are supposed to be resting.

The best way to maintain your business motivation is to take a break. It doesn`t have to be a weeklong getaway in Fiji, just making sure that you have one day a week when you don`t answer your emails and just take the time to actually relax and not think about the business will work fine.

If you think it`s impossible to step away for a day, then you might want to start thinking about outsourcing some of your work. Have a writer do the writing for you and take the time you would have spent on it to relax. It`s important to keep your motivation up.

Search engines have nearly ruined customer service. It seems that everyone wants to be No. 1, but few people want to act like No. 1. Here’s a good article that represents what I mean.

Ask yourself if doing business with your company is easy from the customer’s point of view. You can have the best search engine optimization in the world and if your customer service is lousy then it won’t matter. You can have the sleekest web design in your industry, but if customers can’t navigate or have trouble finding what they want then it won’t matter. If they have trouble finding your phone number or reaching someone to answer their questions when they call then it doesn’t matter that you have a pretty website ranked No. 1 on Google for the most valuable key term.

The most important thing in business, even a Web business, is customer service. Make the customer happy and you’ll keep them long term. Frustrate them and they’ll find your competition.

It can be hard planning a small business motivation session. You want your employees to be motivated and to get pumped up about working with you, but you just can´t afford to take them on a big retreat or to a business seminar . . . so what CAN you do?

Lots, actually! You don´t have to be a huge corporation to create some small business motivation in your employees. Whether they work for you full-time or part-time, you can encourage them and let them know just how much you appreciate having them work for you.

Small Business Motivation Ideas

• Gift baskets. These don´t have to be particularly expensive, you can put them together yourself, even. A gift basket that is tailored to your employee´s tastes will have even more impact.

• Birthdays. Remembering your employees´ birthdays and giving them a card and a gift certificate or small gift can really go a long ways toward motivating them to stick around.

• Company picnic. Invite everyone who works for you and their families to hit the park for a picnic. You provide the food, which can be pretty simple, and they just have to show up. Want to really impress them? Make it a regular work day that you turn into a holiday.

• Brainstorm meeting. Make your employees feel part of the business by including them in a brainstorm session a couple times a year. Invite them to your home or another location, provide lots of sugar and carbs and sit around brainstorming ideas to make the business better.This can be beneficial for everyone involved.

• Employee of the Month. Offering special recognition for those who are doing their job very well is a great small business motivational technique. It´s very simple to implement and gives some warm fuzzies to those who have been outstanding.

I´m sure you can come up with even more great ideas for motivating your employees. Small business motivation might not require a big budget, but that doesn´t make it any less effective!

Small businesses often have difficulties finding and keeping good employees. A smaller business simply can´t compare with the big multi-million dollar companies with massive benefits and vacation time. However there are a few ways you can a small business can provide motivation for employees to stick with the company.

Offer ownership. Giving your best employees a share in your company can help create an invested interest in the business. They´ll work harder for something if they know they can take part in the improvement.

Pay commissions. Commission in addition to regular wages can really motivate sales. If you find that your employees are not very interested in helping customers, but don´t want to fire them, implementing a commission that is based on a sliding scale of percentages can be an excellent way to pick things up.

Hold competitions. Creating a fun competition between employees can create a more exciting work environment and is a great way to boost productivity. Even if the prize is just getting their photo on the Employee of the Week wall, you´ll find that this technique can really be motivational.

Small businesses can motivate their employess with any of these methods. Or, talk to your employees and find out what would help them enjoy working with your business more. They will no doubt come up with plenty of good ideas for motivation.

Sometimes as a business owner, you need a shot in the arm. Thanks to our fellow marketing friend David Frey, I found this motivational video on his site a few weeks ago and it quickly became one of my favorites. (Beyond this great clip, he always has fantastic and inspirtational ideas that are really worth checking out!)

Whenever you’re having one of those tough days, just remember to keep pushing yourself a little further….you’ll be amazed when you turn around and see where you started!