Whatever the business you plan to start, you will need to line up certain external resources to keep your venture protected and managed. The Big Five professionals every entrepreneur should have on speed dial are an accountant, insurance agent, banker, real estate agent, and lawyer. Of course, any good bootstrapper will handle as many business issues on their own as possible, especially during the early stages, in order to maintain knowledge and control over the venture. But at some point your successful company will require the services of each of these outside professionals.
It is in your best interest to begin building relationships with each of these professionals as early as possible in the life of your business. Whether or not you will use their services right away, you can set yourself up for an easier road when you do need them. Often, the times you realize you need these professionals is when something bad is happening — your business gets sued, you run into a serious cash crunch, or your landlord breaks your lease. These are not the times you want to be searching for the right professional to handle your problems.
Generally, we recommend that you select your Big Five professionals during your planning and startup stages. Don’t rely on your cousin’s girlfriend’s brother-in-law to be the right guy for the job. Take the time to meet and interview several different people in each profession and do your due diligence to ensure they are the best choice for your business and where you want your company to go.
You don’t necessarily need any of these professionals to have 25 years of work experience, but you do need one who is knowledgeable about and specializes in whatever it is your business does. First and foremost, they should understand the issues in small business. Beyond that, every industry has its own particulars that your Big Five professionals should be comfortable with.
In the case of your business attorney, it can be better to go with a full-service firm than an independent boutique lawyer simply because the larger firms have partners that specialize in all different types of issues. Your banker, insurance agent, accountant, and real estate agent should all deal primarily with businesses of similar size and trajectory of yours and have more than a passing familiarity with your specific industry.
One important advantage of securing your big five professionals early in the life of your venture is the additional networking opportunities they can provide. However, if their networking skills are not up to par, they won’t be much help to you. Look for professionals who are reliable and consistent about getting back to you right away, answering your questions honestly and clearly, and are excited about your business idea.
Some bigger law firms have partners who do all the selling but very little of the work. Not only is it difficult to build a strong networking relationship if you don’t even know the guy who actually does your work, …
It has always been the American dream to start a business and have it become extremely profitable with little work. The fact is, it’s not only an American dream, but actually a world wide dream. Nearly everyone wants to find some way of making money without having to deal with bosses, schedules, or having to commute to work. People want to stay in the comfort of their own home and work as little as possible to be able to live life to the fullest.
In this article, I will let you know 3 simple facts to starting a business. If you play your cards right, it is very simple to start making a lot of money with minimal work and minimal costs.
The first step is finding or making a plan. You will have a very small chance of success if you jump into starting a business without a plan. One needs to know where they are going and how to get there. The best thing to have when starting a business plan is a coach. Someone who has been down that road before and that has become successful doing it.
It may be hard to find a coach or mentor that is willing to put their time and energy into helping you. If you follow the link below you will find that I have found someone that was willing to put his time and effort into helping you out. He has spent years upon years perfecting his plan. All you need to do is carbon copy what he is doing and you are sure to succeed.
The second step is to make sure you follow through with the plan. Do not make a plan and decide to quit. A lot of people get bummed out after the initial planning and give up. A lot of those people probably could have made a lot of money, but instead they quit. It can be a variety of different reasons. Maybe a friend or family member telling you that you will not succeed or maybe you think it will cost too much money. Whatever the case may be, you need to stick to the plan and execute it.
Step three is simply keeping the ball rolling. Lot’s of people start out with a great plan, continue to follow through with it, but somewhere down the line decide that they don’t wish to continue. A large percentage of these people are either impatient or they want the money to fall into their lap without any work whatsoever. I’m sorry to break it to you folks, but there is no “get rich quick” scheme. There is no way of making money without any work whatsoever. BUT there is a way to make a very decent living with minimal work so that you can enjoy life instead of working through it.…
Ralph was tired of his work as an engineer. The work was steady, but the income, though adequate, was limited. Like most, he was living month to month. So he quit his job and invested $20,000 on a credit card to open his consulting firm. He earned over $500,000 in his fourth year.
Jim had a dream, a couple of friends and a credit card with $300 left on it. Rather than despair, he decided to go into business for himself. He took his mother’s old green coat, a ping pong ball, a couple of sticks and made a hybrid cross between a hand puppet and a marionette. He called it a Muppet and named the lizard Kermit. (He later changed it into a frog.) The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Several people are facing the same issue Jim Henson did years ago. Faced with job loss and doubts, what will you do with your life? You can search for that elusive perfect job, and once again, but your future in someone else’s hands, or you can take control of your life and create your own future.
I don’t believe any small business consultant would ever recommend a client start a new business with only a credit card and no reserve of operating capital. I surely would not. However, history has shown that there is more to start up capital than money. Individuals with creative ideas, strong drive and a refusal to fail have proven that some can succeed on pure chutzpah.
For those leaving the corporate world, there is often some 401k money that can be rolled over into a new business. If set up correctly, you can fund your new business with retirement funds without paying taxes or penalties. Others may find funding difficult. I always recommend an individual’s first business be a franchise. The proven system, training and support often make the difference between success and failure for the new entrepreneur. But franchise fees alone can keep those with limited startup capital from opening a business. I often help those with limited funds find franchises that offer in house financing so new businesses can be launched on the proverbial shoe string. There are also national trademarked brands that can be joined without franchise fees or royalties and still receive the training and support usually reserved for franchises.
Whether you are considering a low cost franchise or a trademarked brand, entrepreneurism is not for the faint of heart. But with a solid system and strong support, even the shoe string business can thrive. Just add indomitable spirit.
“Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. May each of yours be that – having each of you as a child of mine has certainly been one of the good things in my life. Know that I’ve always loved each of you with an eternal, bottomless love. A love that has nothing to do with each other, for I feel my love for each of you …
Every new business needs a website, but simply posting a website and waiting for folks to find you doesn’t work. With the millions of websites floating around out there, simply uploading yours without marketing it is like leaving a business card on the moon — if nobody sees it, it might as well not exist.
Thus, it is essential that you incorporate constant marketing of your website into your day-to-day work. There are many free or cheap ways to drive traffic to your site, and the best methods fall under the term search engine optimization, or SEO. These tasks help the major search engines find and catalog your website under the appropriate search terms. Like most other marketing, SEO is only effective if it is an ongoing, consistent part of your overall marketing strategy. New business owners need to take the time to learn the basics, even if you ultimately decide to outsource the actual work.
One of the most critical outcomes of marketing your website is building linkbacks, as search engines place a lot of weight on good linkbacks. Linkbacks are live links to your website on other, reputable websites. Buying linkbacks is usually a waste of money — the link farms that take your money are identified and not counted by the search engines on a regular basis. Good linkbacks come from posting articles, responding to forums and chatboards, having other people love your site and linking to it from their website or blog, and trading links with relevant, appropriate websites. Writing and submitting articles on a regular basis is an excellent way to begin building linkbacks to your site.
Whatever your business is, there are plenty of topics to write article about. Think about what your customers need to know and use article marketing to get that message out. The better article sites will not let you submit pure marketing material (as in, you can’t mention your own company in the body of the article), but your website link can go in the resource box, along with a brief description of what you do.
Article marketing provides excellent linkback opportunities, especially if your articles contain useful information. Consider writing about how to select your particular type of product or service, what to look for and what to avoid. Describe how using a product or service like yours makes your customer’s life easier or better. Write about the features of a particular product. When those ideas are exhausted, dig into your target market research to see what other topics your potential customers are interested write about that.
Article marketing requires a steady, consistent effort. One or two articles aren’t likely to build much momentum, so schedule time to produce new articles on a regular basis. You can cover the same topic multiple times, as long as the final article is not a word-for-word copy of the others. Generally, writing a fresh article about the same topic will turn out different enough. Keep an eye out for new things …
More often today than ever before, people are realizing the dream of earning a living at home and firing their bosses for good. The internet is making this possible for both savvy business people and new entrepreneurs. The truth is that anyone can make a living on the internet if they have the right information and are willing to work hard now for a payoff in the future. Starting an internet business today is a great way to achieve financial freedom tomorrow.
There are some important rules to follow when starting an internet business and people who know and understand these rules will always do better than those who don’t take the time to learn them before venturing into the land of internet business.
When starting an internet business, especially if it’s a first online venture, the most important thing one can do is to learn from those who have already been a success on the internet. Becoming successful on the internet has required a lot of trial and error for a lot of people, but it doesn’t have to anymore. Many people who have been successful in starting an internet business now help others do the same thing they have done. People who invest in their business by seeking out help are far more likely to succeed faster than those who enter the world on online business blindly.
Another rule to follow when starting an internet business is to set aside time every day to work on your business. This can be difficult for those who work a full-time job and have other obligations, but taking time every day to do something to further an online business will ensure success in the long run.
When starting an internet business, it’s important to understand that patience is key. Things don’t always happen overnight and getting a business off the ground can be hard work. The key is to remember the reasons for starting an internet business in the first place. Keeping those goals in mind will help to keep the online entrepreneur motivated during the start-up process.
Another great rule to follow when starting an online business is to learn from mistakes. Savvy internet marketers and business people learn from their own mistakes, but they also learn from the mistakes of others. Taking the time to learn what’s worked and not worked for other people can save time and money. Investing in an online business by taking courses and reading books is a great way to avoid many of the pitfalls associated with this type of business.
The bottom line is that starting an online business is a great way to make money. Many people have realized their dream of making their own schedule and being their own boss. Anyone can reach this dream with a little bit of hard work and by utilizing the information provided by those who have already done it.…
If you are looking for a change of direction in your life and considering starting a new business, here are some factors that you may care to consider.
A� Being your own boss is a dream that many people aspire to. Not being answerable to anybody other than yourself when it comes to how much you earn and how many days leave you can have is usually extremely appealing to most people, just as it was, and still is, for me. However there are certainly many factors to consider and it is advisable that you give yourself sufficient time to think through your ideas.
A� It is important that a new business owner truly believes that he or she is on the right path and that the business will bring, among other things, prosperity and pleasure into their life.
A� There are serious considerations to deal with when starting a business as your business is going to be the predominant influence in your life from now on. It will give you pride and satisfaction and along with those attributes your business will bring you hard work and more than likely, some concerns. But, isn’t that what life is about; if everything were to go along smoothly for 365 days of the year one would more than likely become bored and look for greener pastures. So if you are ready to take on the challenge, I offer you my congratulations along with some tips to help you get started.
1. Passion:
No business will succeed unless it is built on and around passion. Those who are successful in business are operating or trading in a product or service that they are totally passionate about. Prime examples of how passion works in business can be seen just by spending a few minutes viewing television programmes where well-known successful business people are demonstrating their products or services, especially in the areas of cooking, farming, fruit-growing, dog training to mention a few.These people glow with pride and success and are absolute proof that great passion is behind every successful business. Therefore make sure that you build you business on your passion and not the passion of someone else who may want to lead you in a different direction.
2. Research:
Once you’ve established what your passion is it is essential that you research extensively to establish whether or not there is a demand for your product or service. If you intend targeting a certain locality be sure that there is a need in that locality for your forthcoming business. For instance, if you are hoping to start a business selling plants, seeds and garden tools you would look for premises in a locality that is not currently serviced for those products. In view of this you may need to travel a little further from your home to your business each day, but wouldn’t that be worthwhile if your business had the monopoly in a particular area?
3. Funding:
Of course there will be capital …
While a regular business is usually operated from an office, outside of the home, a home based business, as the name suggests, is essentially operated from the comforts of one’s home.
Most home based businesses have certain features in common, like –
– They are run within the family and primarily by the family members, who retain major share in the business.
– Usually a small operation that is run by one or more persons
– The initial financial outlay is usually very low
For those of you who want to start a business working from the comforts of your home, all you have to do is find an idea that suits your interest, is cost effective, and is lucrative enough to bring in the cash.
Some of the advantages are:
– You’ll save money on setting up a home office by using a spare room in your home
– You’ll save yourself the hassles and expenses of traveling to and from work
– You don’t have to worry about money for lunch
– Great place for those who may be restricted in their movement due to physical disabilities
– For parents who have small children you can work around your children schedule.
A good thought out plan, with adequate research on market demands and proper execution is all that is needed to make a success of your business. In addition, you are your own boss and do not have to worry about corporate layoffs, employee downsizing and pampering the boss’s ego!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a walk in the park. Just like any business enterprise, your idea must be viable, well planned, researched, and executed in order to make it successful.
Consider the following:
Just like any business write a business plan. The great thing about a business plan is that it forces you to take a good look at your business idea. It forces you to think it though. In this plan you will have to prepare several fundamental components that will clearly let you know if the idea you’re thinking about is doable or not.
You will have to spend time thinking about what the operational costs, when will the business become profitable, who are your competitors, marketing, sales and how your idea is different from what is already available, etc.
After organizing your business plan take a trip and visit a SCORE center. This is an organization that is run by retired professionals who will look at your ideas and advised you accordingly. And the service is absolutely free.
While making plans for your start-up, spend some time educating yourself on the subject, read, read, and read some more. Take some courses on Entrepreneurship.
Finally, know the products and the services you’ll be offering inside out.
Then move forward with your action plan.
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If you’re currently an employee, chances are at some point in your career you’ve thought about being your own boss! Entrepreneurship is the only way to become the employer, but it’s not for everybody, it takes hard work and dedication!
If you’ve decided to become an entrepreneur, starting a home based business online is the best way to be your own boss! Not only do you get to work from home and set your own schedule, but with the right opportunity you can establish a passive residual income that can have the potential to set you free financially. Before you begin, there are some important basic elements you must evaluate about the business opportunity you choose!
How “young” is the opportunity?
Is the company you choose a start-up? There are some advantages to starting with a company that is in the beginning stages, but you should still make sure they’ve been around long enough to establish a decent track record. Select an opportunity on the ground level, but make sure their growth has been stable for as long as they’ve been in business. Most online home based business opportunities have been around for a while, so be weary of brand new companies.
How will the company stand the test of time?
The long term feasibility of your business is very important. Top home based business opportunities not only adapt to changing times, they actually embrace these changes. With the myriad web 2.0 technologies emerging almost daily, companies capitalize on the internet and make it an integral part of their growth, choosing an online business opportunity is one of the best ways to ensure long term viability. Since the long term growth of your organization is determined by your effort, take the time to chose a company with a product or service that allows for your results to be easily duplicated.
How does the opportunity train its reps?
One of the keys to success in any business is training and support! The majority of people who start a home based business fail in their first year because of a lack of proper training, and a solid duplicable marketing system! The training and support the company has in place is essential to growth, it allows the business owner to learn from and network with top earners and executives. The Network Marketing industry is one of the best choices when starting a home business. Most companies in this industry take advantage of the internet for marketing and training, and focus more on self development, which is another key component to home based business success. It doesn’t matter how great your product or service may be, if you can’t market it you won’t sell it, and without a quality training system in place, getting your business off the ground can prove to be a chore!
How does the product or service stand alone?
When you start a home based business you commit yourself to provide prospective clients with a quality product or service, and …
There are a number of ways that you can substantially reduce or eliminate a number of the risks of starting a new business. Foremost, the best way to ensure that your new company will be profitable is to develop a highly focused demographic analysis that showcases the need for your products and services within your respective market. If you are thinking of starting a small business then it may be in your best interest to talk to local residents to see whether or not they need the products or services that you intend to sell. Prior to starting any business, you should complete an extensive competitive analysis that will allow you to understand how many other businesses are offering products or services that are identical or substantially similar to what you intend to provide.
One of the best ways to reduce business start up risk is to initially develop a website that showcases the services that you offer. You can then advertise this website by using popular pay per click programs to drive traffic to this website. If you receive a significant amount of inquiries regarding your services then you may be able to effectively start your company as a home based business before you move into a formal location. Many highly successful companies initially started as home based businesses. As such, if you are able to provide your services from your home then you will be in an excellent position to determine whether or not you should continue to grow and expand this business in a formal capacity. However, it should be noted that using this type of technique is only appropriate for new businesses that offer services.
Additionally, you can always hire a market research firm or business development company to complete an economic viability analysis on your behalf. These companies will essentially use a number of methodologies regarding whether or not a business will be viable from the onset of operations. It should be noted that the expense of using these types of services is extremely high. A formal opinion as to the potential profitability of a business can cost upwards of $5,000. However, this cost is small compared to the typical start up costs associated with launching a new business venture. Of course, it is important to note that very few businesses become profitable within the first six months of operation. These companies will provide you with expert advice as to whether or not there is a significant demand for the products and services that you will sell through your company.
If you are primarily engaged in the sale of products then it may be in your best interest to use a popular third party website that will allow you to sell your products without having to go through the expense of launching a traditional retail location. If you intend to sell products online then you can expect a highly competitive market. One of the ways that companies that sell products online have become successful is …
Three years ago I was not a runner. I was somewhat athletic but I certainly was not a runner. Now, here I was, approaching mile 22 of my first full marathon and self doubt was starting to creep in. “What was thinking? The longest I had ever run during training was 20 miles. What made me think I could get to the finish?” Every ounce of my body was screaming in pain. The worst part was the pain was so much more than physical; it was total mental and physical exhaustion beyond anything I had ever felt before.
So what could I do now? I had visualized myself finishing this race everyday for at least 100 days. I had given up so much of my summer fun to train and push myself to complete this challenge. I had recruited the support of my friends and family. So what could I do now that my body was screaming NO? I let my vision guide me through the pain.
With my little sister running alongside me, pushing and encouraging me, there was only one answer; just get to Todd. You see Todd is my husband and he was waiting for me at mile 22 so that he could “bring me home”. In preparation for the marathon, I had asked various members of my friends and family to run alongside me during consecutive segments of the race so that I would always have someone to help pace me. It turns out, Todd and Sarah’s job was about much more than pacing. They were great support to help me through the toughest physical and mental challenge of my life.
Why did I choose to run a marathon? It is simple, the search for constant and never ending improvement. I have learned to always keep challenging myself and to make big goals that both excite me and scare me at the same time.
For me, becoming an entrepreneur and starting my own business in specialty medical sales was one of the biggest and scariest goals I had ever set.
I was a nurse. I had transitioned to medical sales after a few years and I found that I was pretty good at it. I had a strong work ethic and I related well to the people I was selling to. But, I was educated as a nurse. I really knew nothing about starting a business. The self talk and self doubt were very loud voices in my head.
These voices are built over time from past experiences. These voices are there to keep us in our comfort zone. I believe most people listen to their inner voices when they have a big idea. A person might see a beautiful house and think “boy, I would love to have a house like that”. And then in the next thought they would have cancels that idea, with a negative like “I could never afford that”.
Well that’s exactly what I did at first. I pushed the idea …