Do you have a skill or hobby you like to do, but have never had a business before? Would you like to learn how to start a business in your local community that fills a need in your area? Have you now graduated or still going to school part-time? It is a possibility, a good idea, might help local people and may contribute to your future! Then follow these simple steps:
1. See if any other businesses are providing the hobby/service you have in mind. What types of businesses exist? Are they locally owned? Are they franchises? Is there more than one business? Is there a business that has part of their business provide this product or service? Find out what advantages you may provide to these others? Check out how they provide their service? What prices do the service/products cost? If it viable maybe it can be done, if not maybe you can work in one of these businesses?
2. If there is a possibility it is viable then check with local town offices and chambers of commerce to see what information you can find out about running such a business. Try and get some statistical information. Find out what supplies you need. If you can’t find any information locally, check your state website. If this is not enough information check out your national resource site.
3. Once you have some viable information you should put it together in a business plan.
4. Next find out if you can get some information on funding your venture or how you are going to acquire your product or service through loans, leasing and shipping terms.
5. Start testing out your service with family and friends, focus on friends and friends of friends and get referrals written down or emailed to you that you can share with others to build you business.
In closing you can start a small business in your local community with the right resources, connections and help from local government or business referral assistance sources.
All the best, and happy adventures, you may never know where it leads you to or who you may meet and the stories you will learn from others. This is just a basic outline and tips, there are numerous resources online and in your local community.…
Are you tired of working for someone else? Have you been wishing you had more freedom and flexibility to work your day around your family or other responsibilities? Have you been considering starting a small business? Well, it is possible. There are more and more opportunities for people to live the American dream and make their hopes a reality. And there are many opportunities for prospective business owners to get the funding that they need to get their small business going.
Start up money is the biggest concern, and it is possible to obtain the start up from state grants through the government. There are also plenty of investors looking for a good place to put their money. And finally there are prior owners of businesses that will, in many cases, work with a prospective business owner to help them get established, take over the business, and have a set time period of which they will need to pay the business off in full.
But there are many small businesses that do not require much start up costs at all. Many businesses can be maintained and be run out of your own home. In this dot com age, there are many businesses that just require you to have a computer and a business license. If you have skills or talents that you can market, then it really will just be the marketing costs to get the word out there that you are in the business. Be creative with your marketing too and that will help keep costs down. For example if your business is an online business, then many other online businesses that are non competing will allow a reciprocal link to your site from theirs. This is a great way for online companies to help each other while helping themselves.
Once you have your small business going you want to have established clear cut goals for growth. Fortunately, there are many computer software programs that are designed for this very thing. Everything from payroll, to budget, to customer base for mail-outs can be found on good software that is made for the small business owner. Staying on top of what is going on with your business is key to your success. Write a mission statement before you even begin, post it where you can see it daily, and then proceed to do the things necessary to accomplish your mission to be a successful small business owner.…
“The Best Advice is always free”
Starting a small business requires bucket loads of wisdom. Financial wisdom offered through various media is not always inherently beneficial to the reader and their business.
The foundations for financial excellence are elementary and logical; here is a new perspective on financial insight to starting your small business. Making use of purely scenario planning this illustrated scenario would be a recommendation for all businesses that you intend financing.
The average cost of setting up a franchise and small business in U.S.A. is currently in the $300,000.00 to $ 474 000.00 marks, a sizeable sum taking into consideration the prevailing economic climate and business confidence levels.
Loans or Finance
In order to stimulate the economy, banks are eager to finance new business as this has a long-term stimulus on the economy and contributes to job and wealth creation.
Most individuals do not have the entire capital amount available to finance their new venture and financing becomes the preferred and logical route to market.
Taking into consideration the average price of a new franchise $474 000.00, the average cash portion of financing that particular business would be $ 153 000.00 which includes the initial, cash joining or franchise fee.
This would equate to a financing portion of $321 000.00 or 68% of the initial set-up cost of the business.
From a personal and statistical point of view, the gearing or debt ratio is too high and the minimum recommended debt ratio should never exceed 50%.
Why is gearing so important?
It is nerve-wracking and soul-destroying to build a business for you only to allocate the major share of your income and profits to servicing a loan and the commensurate interest payments. The strain on the cash flow and reserve funds is too great, and the business rapidly becomes a financial risk to the entrepreneur and the banks concerned.
“The Free Advice”
Total Cost
When using the above figures as our reference and benchmark, if the inclusive cost of the business is $474 000.00.
It would be prudent to assume that if shares were offered at $1.00 per share then the business would have 474 000 shares on offer.
Share Distribution
Taking my advice of a 50% gearing or financing ratio, the business when financed by the entrepreneur would allocate to the entrepreneur, 50%(237 000 shares) of the shares currently on offer (The portion he/she has paid cash for)
The remaining 50% of shares on offer would be the right and technical ownership of the banks or financing institution.
The Thinking Motivating This Strategy
As the entrepreneur pays off the loan, their ownership or share-holding increases exponentially.
Goals are easy to set, time and financing permitting the entrepreneur sees his/her goal of 100% ownership as achievable and desirable.
When the bank is essentially a partner in your business the relationship changes, the entrepreneur can take the banks perspective into consideration as they are a valuable share-holder, the logic of having a “you” and “me” approach becomes a …
How to start a small home based business? Many people ask this question every day. In fact more people are going into business for themselves now more than ever before. Read on to find out how to start a small home based business.
The First step is to Brainstorm
Sit down in a quiet area and really think about what you want to do. Ask yourself what are your likes, dislikes, and talents? What do you do well and not so well. What would you like your business to be about? What are your passions?
Now that you have a better understanding of what kind of business you want to start, you are prepared for this journey.
Why do you want to start a business
You have to make sure this is truly what you want to do. what are the reasons for starting your own company. The perks are nice but can you handle the responsibility?
Reasons most people start a business
More control of work hours, to make more money, being your own boss, controlling your destiny. They prefer working from home, the list goes on and on. Be clear about why you want to be your own boss
What kind of company will it be
Now that we have brainstormed some ideas and know why we want to start a company what kind of business do you want to start? Are you good at gardening? You can write how to garden ebook. There are a lot of people who can use your talents whatever they may be.
Write a plan
Your next step is to sit down and write a step by step plan. How can you get anywhere if you don’t have directions to get there? Once you have a detailed plan you will be on your way to financial freedom.…
Back in 1981, I was just starting my career in television production, and working as the Unit Manager on a location drama. One day, I learned a lesson that would serve me well some 20 years later, when I came to develop a small business. The lesson that I learned in 1981 was that any small detail can really screw up a production. This is how I described it in my book entitled “Don’t Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare”:
One day, one of the lighting guys wasn’t feeling well and left the set early. At the end of the shooting day, word was sent out to the set from the production office that the call time for the following day was being moved up from 7 a.m. to 6 a.m., because the production had fallen behind schedule, but the lighting guy didn’t hear the announcement because he had gone home early.
And you, as the Unit Manager, didn’t think of calling him at home to inform him of the scheduling change.
Ordinarily, that might not be a big deal, but this time, it was.
Because -the next morning, as the convoy of production vehicles was pulling out of the television station to make its way to the set – a small town about an hour north of the station -the huge lighting truck remained in place – and a bolt of white hot terror ran from the top of your head down to your toes, as you realized that the driver of the lighting truck was still in bed, because you hadn’t thought to call him to tell him about the change in call time.
Soon there would be 40 people standing around on the set while the lighting crew was waiting for the truck to arrive so that they could set up for the first scene- and whatever time they had hoped to pick up by virtue of the earlier call time would be entirely lost.
So you got into the truck yourself – and without a license to drive a rig that big or any idea of where the gears were – you willed the vehicle to the set – sweat pouring down your face -and you never forgot how that felt, for the rest of your career in television production – or the rest of your life.
The fellow whom I forgot to call was named Mike, and everyone called him “Mikey”.
Forgetting to call “Mikey” almost ended my career in television production before it began.
But the lesson that I learned stayed with me -and so, when I was developing my small business, which was a spa for men, I made a list of everything that I felt could go wrong – every single small detail that I could think of – that had the power to ruin my business.
And I checked that list every single day.
If you are developing a small business, or if you are already running one, ask …
There are a lot of ways to ‘skin the cat’ and start a small business. The Internet is no different although it offers quite a few options for the entrepreneur or want to be small business owner. For those of you that prefer to work out of the home and/or have a business that offers flexible hours, then a small business that revolves around an online, internet based model might be for you. In this particular article I am going to share five different options that you can choose from when considering starting an Internet business.
When I say Internet business that means a small business that is using the web as the business model to market, distribute and complete transactions. All of the marketing, distributing and selling of your product or service will be done via the online business model.
First we need to identify the problem and that is that people think that they are going to get online and make money in a flash or overnight. When in reality it’s going to take work and lots of it in order to get an Internet business off the ground or any small business for that matter. Maybe not as much as an offline venture and in some cases maybe more. You need to realize this up front and be prepared to put in the time, energy and money to get your small business up and running.
Here are five different options for you to look at should you choose to start an internet business:
1. Market and sell your own physical products or services via the e-commerce model. You’ll effectively have your own website and be able to have control off all aspects of your business.
2. Market and sell other peoples products through affiliate programs. This kind of model works well for those that like to sell and market but don’t have their own products yet. If you get excited about certain products or services and they offer an affiliate program, then basically what you will need to do is determine if there’s a market and then drive traffic.
3. Sell your product to other online retailers. They become resellers and all you do is provide the product or service to them. This is a great way to market but you’ll obviously need a product that is in demand if you are going to make any money.
4. Create, produce, market and sell info products through your own websites. This model works great for those that have information that can be beneficial to others. It works best when there is demand for the information that you have to offer.
5. Create and sell coaching, if you are an expert or specialist in a particular niche. If you are a people person and there’s a need that you see is unmet in your industry or niche, then coaching might be for you. Info products can also go hand in hand with this model of business. Keep in mind …
To work or not to work during ‘s a tough question for many entrepreneurs. There are two primary pulls either way — a full-time startup gets your full attention and shortens the time to making money, but working during startup keeps the bills paid and provides a back-up plan for the risk of going out on your own. The best option for you depends on a number of factors, and with either method it is essential that you manage your time and money effectively.
Business Type
The type of business you are planning to start is the first consideration in whether to launch full-time or part-time. There are some ventures that require you to be available during the standard workweek — 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. If your current job includes these hours, it may be impossible to get your business off the ground. The best option in those cases is to develop a complete plan for your business while still employed, including a full marketing plan, budget, and beginning to network. The more developed your business idea, the more clear it will be when the best time to commit full-time will be.
Available Capital
The amount of capital you have for your startup is another critical factor. If you haven’t developed a full startup budget yet, do so before you quit your day job. Startup costs are easy to underestimate, especially without working through the details of the business idea. In addition to the actual startup costs, you will need enough cash to keep your personal bills covered. Often, entrepreneurs discover the hard way that the few thousand they thought would be sufficient disappears rapidly once work starts on the they end up going back to work anyway. Set a realistic budget based on a realistic time frame for getting the venture off the ground before you commit to full-time entrepreneur status.
If You Decide to Start Part Time
If you do decide to keep a job while working on your business, your first priority is to get organized. You will have to master time and task management in order to make reasonable progress on your business idea. The odds are that your work hours aren’t the only time consumers on your schedule, so it is critical to establish dedicated blocks of time to focus on your startup. Eliminate as many time killers as possible and consider getting up a few hours earlier or staying up a few hours later to get the venture going.
Do not even consider using your time on another job to work on your startup. In the first place, it is disrespectful and probably a terminable offense. You won’t want your employees working on outside interests on your time, so you shouldn’t either. In the second place, most professional jobs include provisions within the employment contract that deem all of your work product as owned by the company. Thus, if you create a new or innovative product or service using company assets (even …
There are excellent reasons to start a business — and, of course, there are other excellent reasons not to. This is why it’s important to weigh the pros and cons for yourself, as your situation is unique, and advice that worked for one entrepreneur’s business may not be applicable to your own.
Let’s look at the general pros and cons of starting a business.
Starting a Small Business: Pros
Being your own boss has quite a few perks, as we will learn below.
Job Security: When you’re the boss, you’re never in danger of being fired.
Decision-making Power: If you decide to make any changes in your small business, there’s no one above you to tell you you can’t, and little to no red tape when it comes to implementing those changes.
Retirement Value: Building a successful business and then selling it at the end of your career can give you a boost in your retirement funds (in addition to the 401k many business structures allow you to open).
Self Fulfillment: Working for yourself gives you a sense of pride in your work, allowing you to feel personally and professionally fulfilled. You are the master of your own destiny!
Community: Owning your own business and putting down roots gives you a connection to your local community in a way that being an employee does not.
One important thing to keep in mind is that the fulfillment, security, and stability your role as a small business owner can bring you comes to fruition only with hard work, dedication, and perseverance.
Starting a Small Business: Cons
However, starting a business is no walk in the park. There are cons to starting your own business as well, which we’ll discuss below.
Financial Risk: Starting a small business involves some amount of startup capital, which will require you to find investors, take out a loan, or dip into your own account — neither of which is without its risks.
Workload: It’s been said that the decision to become an entrepreneur is not simply a career, it’s a lifestyle. This couldn’t be more true; if you believe that you’re going to confine your role as a small business owner to 40 hours a week, you’re in for a surprise.
Slow Initial Business: Statistics show that most new businesses do not begin to recover their investment for something like 2 years after they began. Are you prepared to go without an income during these uncertain times?
Decision-making Responsibility: Great for letting you make your own decisions on products or pricing; not so great when it comes to reprimanding or firing a friend or turning down a family member.
It’s clear that the decision to start a business or not to start a business is one that must be made carefully and thoughtfully, with family and future in mind, in order to determine if it’s a decision you’re prepared to follow through with and help through the rough patches.
With hard work and determination, your business dreams …
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 …