I remember the conversation vividly. An entrepreneurial couple came to me for help because of a chronic problem with late payments from clients and the impact was, of course, their own financial struggle. I listened to what was happening and suggested they change their business model to require payment up front.
They said “Oh we couldn’t do that – no-one would pay us up front. No-one in our field does that.” I asked why and they didn’t really have a good reason other than being afraid that they would lose business if they asked for payment up front.
What I suggested next, however, brought on an immediate gasp and even more fear. But in fact, when they got past that fear and implemented this strategy, they easily got payment up front AND converted more prospects to paying clients.
The answer was to require payment up front AND include a guarantee. The word “guarantee” for some reason, makes a lot of entrepreneurs fearful. They are deathly afraid that if they offer an guarantee, they will end up refunding money to client after client.
But in fact, that’s just a fear. If you are 100% confident in the product or service you provide as a small business owner, offering a guarantee should be a no-brainer. Here’s how:
Guarantee the results:
If you have a track record of proven results in business, and you are confident in your ability to help your client achieve the result, then there’s no reason you couldn’t guarantee that result. One of my clients is a makeup artist. Having done hundreds of brides, she was confident in guaranteeing natural, flawless makeup application that lasts throughout their wedding day. That’s a result her clients are always looking to achieve, so it was a brilliant focus for her in converting prospects to clients.
Guarantee the service:
If service is of high importance to your client, it could very well be the thing to focus on in your guarantees. It can be the level of service you provide. For example, you can guarantee that your client will always get a response from you within a certain time frame.
Guarantee the experience:
Depending on the type of product or service you offer, you can also guarantee the experience your client would have. It’s similar to the service guarantee, but focused on what your client would experience after having done business with you. For example, if your clients tend to be afraid of the hassles in your industry, you can guarantee them a hassle-free experience.
Guarantee that they’ll be fully equipped:
For some services that depend on the client’s commitment to taking action, it may not be possible to guarantee the results. That’s because you have no control over how much action they take. However, you can certainly guarantee that they will walk away with everything they need to achieve the precise result they were seeking. For example, when I do a live workshop, I guarantee that my attendees will walk away with …
Starting your own business can be an exciting investment. Whether your business is your passion, or just a genius plan that you developed, it is important to know the facts about starting a business before you invest. Many people have misconceptions about what starting a business entails. In order for your business to have a fair shot at success, you should be aware of what to expect. To help clarify things, we’ve compiled a list of myths and facts about opening a small business.
Myth: If all goes well, my business should start turning a profit in 6 months.
Fact: The sad truth is that even successful businesses do not start making a profit until several years after start-up. Because overhead costs for most businesses require large loans or investments that must be paid back, even a booming business will not make a true profit until all the initial start-up costs have been paid off. Typically, a successful business will begin generating pure profit after 2 to 3 years.
Myth: The government gives out special grants to small businesses.
Fact: This is just simply not true. There are no federal grants that go directly to small businesses. The best way to pursue financing your business is by contacting your local Economic Development Corp (EDC) office.
Myth: I can pay myself as much as I want!
Fact: Unfortunately, this isn’t part of the deal. While you theoretically could pocket large sums of money at the beginning, you will most likely only be hurting yourself in the long-run. Most of the money that comes in should be reinvested in the business, or used to pay off expenses. Even if your business has been booming for a decade and all expenses have been paid off, the IRS includes a clause that does not allow a business owner to pay themselves an “unreasonable compensation.”
Myth: My product/service will sell itself.
Fact: This is a very dangerous attitude to have when starting a business. Products do not sell themselves. Marketing is a crucial component to any business’ success, even if your product/service is the best thing to enter the market since sliced bread. Talk with a marketing professional who can assist you with building a website, creating a logo, printing business cards, and spreading the word about your business.
For more information about business law, consult the Texas business attorneys at the law office of Slater, Kennon & Jameson, LLP.…
Starting an internet business can be tricky and as anyone who has become successful online can attest, making mistakes is a part of the process. In order to reach success online, there are going to be some failures along the way. How someone deals with those mistakes and failures is going to determine whether or not they will ultimately reach success in their venture.
One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when starting an internet business is not taking the time to learn everything possible before getting started. Making a living online is much different than making a living in any other way. There are a lot of people who have found a great amount of success when starting an internet business. Learning from those people can help new internet business people to avoid many of the other mistakes associated with online earning.
Another mistake that people make when starting an internet business is to ignore the huge benefits involved in social media. Internet marketers who don’t involve themselves in social media are missing the boat. Social media has taken over the internet – one only has to look at statistics for sites like Facebook and Twitter to understand just how important these types of sites can be to the success of an online business. Taking the time to learn how to leverage sites like this from someone who has already done it is a great idea when starting an internet business.
Not having a comprehensive marketing plan is another error that many people make when starting an online business. Just like in offline businesses, marketing is key to overall success. Online, there are even more websites and businesses that are clamoring for the attention of customers than in the "real" world. Creating a marketing plan that works and sticking to it is crucial in the overall success of any online business.
Giving up too quickly is a huge mistake that people make when starting an internet business. Becoming a success on the internet will take time and it will take some hard work. For most people, it’s fun work but it’s not always easy. Giving up before a business has had a chance to succeed is quite possibly the biggest reason that new businesses fail online.
Failing to get involved in an online community of like-minded people is another common mistake when starting an internet business. No one is an island and making a living online can be a lonely place if there is no one to talk to and get advice from. Smart online business people find a community of like-minded people to talk to, share concerns with, and get advice from. This can make the difference between loving the online world of earning and giving up in frustration.
Starting an internet business isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. Everyone is going to make some mistakes along the way. How someone chooses to deal with those mistakes will determine their success or failure …
If you are thinking of starting a business online then it could be one of the best decisions you ever make as long as you are prepared to work hard and learn what is required and don’t treat it as a get rich quick scheme because it isn’t. Making money online is feasible for anyone willing to learn, and the earning potential can be huge for those who do it well.
There are a few methods you can use to start and run a successful online business without spending much money. Most, if not all online businesses will have a website of some sorts. A good place for you to start with this would be for you to get your own blog. You can set up a blog very easily and for free through sites like and . A blog can provide a perfect platform to base your online business around and to sell products from.
Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are becoming very powerful tools for online business owners to use. You can brand yourself and quickly develop a large following if you use these sites correctly and they can help you market your business very effectively.
Article marketing is another effective method of building your online business. If you are able to write a quality article of around 400 words about a subject that people are interested in then you will be able to make some money using this method. By placing a link at the end of your article then you can drive traffic to anywhere you want such as your Blog or a product you want to sell.
Affiliate marketing means to sell somebody else’s product from which you will earn a commission. You do this by creating an affiliate link to the product you want to sell, in that link will be a code that is unique to you so when somebody buys through that link you receive them commission. You can use your blog to put your affiliate links on and use article marketing to send people to your blog.
These methods are incredibly affective and are used a lot by successful internet marketers every day. They are easy to set up and the whole process is quick to learn and implement.…
Starting a business from home can be both scary and exciting at the same time. In today’s economy many people are going into business for themselves and want to be the boss and earn the money that they deserve. This Article focuses on 9 important tips that can help you have success with your new venture.
Tip #1 – Check with you local business agencies or the sba to see if you need any license or permits to run a venture from your house. Some states do require these licenses and without them you can face fines and have your business shut down.
Tip #2 – Build you venture around the skills that you have, if you are a great graphic designer, then make sure to offer that as a service. Trying to learn a new craft and making a living off it is very difficult and it is not recommended at all. Your goal is to start making a living right away from your new venture, use your skills that made you some money in your former job.
This may sound funny but some folks try to build a new business around new skills that they have not polished yet and it ends up costing them their business, clients will leave you quickly and the complaints can build up quickly too.
Tip #3 – Make sure to have a website with a catchy domain name, if you are a graphic designer then make sure to include those keywords in your domain name. This will tell your clients what your business is all about, this builds branding right away.
Tip #4 – Build or have someone design you a professional website or blog. Image is everything and a sloppy looking site or blog will simply tell your clients that your business is sloppy too. If your site looks like a site from the 90s, then forget about having clients take you and your venture serious.
Tip #5 – Check on your competition and see what they are doing and how they are running their business. You will want to do this for sure, see how their site looks. Look at their products and services, see how much they are charging and what their unique selling propositions are.
Smart business owners do this all the time, they get tons of information from their competition and use it to their advantage and build a stronger more profitable business.
Tip #6 – Make it easy for your clients to order from you, do not make it an obstacle. If you plan on selling online then simply add a PayPal button to your website and make sure that your shopping cart works without any problems.
Tip #7 – Make sure that your site is not too heavy on the graphics and flash banners, slow loading sites will drive visitors away and this can reduce your sales drastically.
Tip #8 – Offer great customer support and make sure clients can contact you if they have …
If you have been thinking about starting your own home-based business, there is no better time to start than today! It has never been easier to start your own business from home than it is today with the ease of the internet and the fact that it is widely used across the world. While it may seem like it will be easy, you should realize that it is in fact a real business, so be sure to attack it with plenty of motivation, desire, and determination. There are a few really great ways to make your income, some of which can be very lucrative if you know what you are doing and are ready to work hard.
Here are three ways you can build a legitimate home-based business in a relatively short period of time, they include:
1 – Selling affiliate products
While this can mean many things, basically being an “affiliate” means you are selling someone else’s product and receiving a commission every time you make a sale. This is the fastest way to start selling something, however it is not the most lucrative, since you do not get to keep all of the profits from the sale. If you are not interested in creating your own products or offering a service, this might work well for you.
2 – Your own information products
If you have some knowledge or expertise in a certain area, you can create ebooks, audio courses, and video courses, and then sell them on a website. While this may take some time to put together the products, the reward is well worth the time since you only create the product once and then make money from it for years and years to come. If you do have some expertise in any certain area, this type of business can be very lucrative and is worth consideration.
3 – Consulting
Do you have a lot of experience in something that others will pay your for? If you do, you can start a consulting service and help people 1-on-1 via telephone, email, or even face-to-face. While this type of business may take more of your time since you must be there to consult, it can be very lucrative since people are willing to pay big money for others to help them with the topic at hand. If you are an expert in any field, you should strongly consider this type of business. You can even do a combination of #2 and #3, creating products to help others as well as offering your 1-on-1 consulting as a high-ticket item.
Whichever form of business you choose, be sure to explore the pro’s and con’s of each, choosing whichever fits your personality best.…
Starting a business in Australia is an undertaking that many ambitious entrepreneurs decide to have a go at these days. Due to this, starting a business in Australia is no longer a long and complicated process. There are several online companies that offer generic legal documents and same day issue of company registration (ACN) with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). In addition to this the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have developed there own online application system where almost anyone can apply for an Australia Business Number (ABN), Tax File Number (TFN), or tax registrations such as GST.
Given this information you could be forgiven for thinking that starting a business in Australia could be quite easy, that’s because it is!! (The only hard thing about starting a business is getting your business to make money!) It just seems difficult because there are several different agencies or commissions that you need to deal with in order to setup your small business.
It when people get to this stage it all begins to seem a little hard and start to ask themselves.
Which agency do I need to apply to first?
What do I need from that agency?
Why do I need it in the first place?
How do I make an application??
After looking into this process it became obvious that the issue didn’t lie with the individual application processes at each professional agency. Most of the applications have detailed help with easy to interpret information throughout the process. The issue lied in tying all the applications together to construct a business. With that in mind below is the order, which any entrepreneur would need to follow when starting a business in Australia.
1) ASIC
Company registration and attain CAN Number
2) ATO
Apply through the ABR website for the following
ABN Number
Tax File number
GST (Maybe)
PAYGW (Maybe)
3) Bank Accounts
You will need your ACN, ABN and TFN to be eligible to open a business bank account. By law all you need is a photocopy or printout of your ACN registration to open a bank account. However depending on the bank and how up to date they are its best just to take all three numbers in to avoid frustration and a second trip to the bank.
4) Insurance
Which insurances you need (if any) will be specific to your business. Some of the more common ones are public liability and workcover insurance.
5) Accounting Systems
Depending on the size of your business you may choose to use a bookkeeper or accountant to look after your books. There are also computer accounting software such as MYOB or Quickbooks that enable you to look after you own books as well as integrating the information with you financial professional as well.
Completing the above 5 steps should generally take you anywhere from a day to a week. The ASIC and ATO registrations should usually be completed within a day, the only thing that will potentially draw the process …
How To Start A Business
Ever dream of being your own boss? Believe you might have what it takes to set up on your own? Don’t dream on!
There’s a reason why you have been looking for information on How To Start A Business. Maybe there’s an idea you’ve been kicking around for a while. It could be anything from running a corner shop or setting up a small community enterprise with a friend – to spotting a brand new business opportunity with a product or service no-one else is providing. You can!
The very first step towards starting your own business needs to start with you. You and your business are intertwined. Your business reflects you and your personality, skills and approach to life; your own personal objectives drive your business objectives. For success you need to be confident, focused, those attributes of entrepreneurs that you read about.
But you can’t just jump right in and launch any old business. The market these days are so saturated with everyone trying to make some extra money. Redundancies being made left, right and centre, so people are using their skills to set up small businesses and offer their service to the targeted market which means that competition is going to be fierce and there is not much room for error.
More and more entrepreneurs are being born out of necessity and not out of choice. Petrol prices are going up, food is going up, everything just seems to be increasing yet our salaries are staying the same. So we are now pushed into making it on our own, calling out own shots and putting 110% effort into making our lives successful.
To make it out there in the business world you need to understand that when it comes to starting a business, the starting line is you! No matter what resources, products, services your business has, without you it doesn’t exist. You can’t win a race if you don’t compete; you can’t win the lottery without a ticket; you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs; just like you can’t have a business without you.
You are the starting point for anything in your business – whatever your stage of business, whether you are starting, growing or diversifying. The starting point will always be you. So let’s look at what you is and just exactly what you do bring to your business.
You and your personality are made up of your good points and your bad points. For your business to succeed, you need to make the most of your good points: your strengths; and minimise the effects of your bad points: your weaknesses. So you need to recognise what these good and bad points are. You need to develop your self-awareness; identify your good and your bad points so you can make the most of the good and develop coping strategies for the bad. You need to brutally honest with yourself. Be brave and find out how others see you.…
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “How can I be sure my new business will succeed?” There is no crystal ball that can accurately answer that question. However, if you are serious about starting a business there are five steps you can take that will begin to give you a clearer picture. By following these steps you will gain tremendous insight into what lies ahead. Whether this reality-check convinces you to dive in, or hold back, you’ll be well served by what you learn. While we are huge proponents of founders developing a well written business plan, the steps below can be followed even before you start your small business plan.
Step 1: Write a simple elevator pitch to see if your business idea is compelling to others. If you haven’t created an elevator pitch before, you can stitch together the essentials very easily. Write a one sentence answer to each of the following questions. What problem will your company solve for its customers? Who has this problem and how large is that group? What will make your business unique so that customers will buy from you instead of a competitor? Finally, what are your qualifications to run the business? If you force yourself to write and re-write the very best one sentence answers to each of these questions, you will have the elevator pitch you need for this purpose. Now, try out your elevator pitch on 10 people you trust and respect to get their feedback and reaction to your well-formed business concept. This is the warm up for steps two and three.
Step 2: Talk to would-be customers to find out if there is a true need for your product or service. When you are thinking about starting a business, you obviously feel there is a void in the marketplace. Don’t wait until you open your business to find out if the need for another business is real or imagined. Armed with your elevator pitch, go have face-to-face discussions with future customers. You are not going to them to sell, or pre-sell. You are doing market research. After describing your business by generally following your elevator pitch, go into “ask and listen” mode. To get the information you are seeking, ask questions like, “How are you currently meeting your needs for (insert the products or services your company will provide)?” Listen carefully-this is the voice of the customer. In step one, you spoke to friends and respected colleagues. In step two, you are talking to people who currently buy products or services like those you will be selling. Select individuals who will be focused on the content of your ideas and less concerned about simply wanting to be encouraging.
Step 3: Become an expert on the competition. Identify 5 other companies that are already doing what you plan to do. Learn as much about them as you can. One of the best things to learn is if they expanding or shrinking. You want to …
If you are looking for financial independence, there is no better and low cost, sometimes free, way than starting an internet business. However, without the right plan and approach, you may not realize the financial freedom you are looking for. The plan below will help you be successful with your online business.
What type of internet business should you undertake?
There are many types of online business you can undertake. You can either sell your own product or sell someone’s. Selling your own product will take you some time as you will have to identify the product, have it developed, develop the shipping mechanism and initiate a marketing campaign.
On the other hand, when starting an internet business, you can decide to sell someone’s products as an affiliate. Here, you will only have to get customers to buy the products and for each sale, you will be given a commission. Starting and internet business as an affiliate is much easier than starting to sell your own products.
Is there a market available for the product or service you are offering?
When starting an internet business, find out whether there is demand for the product or service you want to offer. You can use various tools to know whether your offer has a demand in the market. Also, find out trends in the media on what people are looking for. The best way to get a winning product or service is to offer a solution to problems many people are facing.
Do you have the necessary equipment to carry out the business?
When starting an internet business, you will need an internet enabled computer. Apart from this, you will also need things like a phone for live support, different computer application software, a printer, web hosting company, domain name among others. Unlike traditional business models, you do not require an office as you can work from home. You will save a lot on things like taxes, rent, electricity and other overheads associated with traditional business models.
What is your marketing plan?
Starting an internet business also required you to think of your target customers. Your business will not survive if customers cannot find you on the web. You have to come up with a marketing campaign for your products or services. You can use a combination of free and paid marketing strategies to reduce your cost and increase your leverage.
Before starting an internet business, you should understand the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) to your online business. Adopt different SEO to ensure your target customers get to your website.
When starting an internet business, have the above plan at hand and you will be on your way to a long term recurring income and will be able to achieve financial independence.…