Good Small Business

The 5 Habits Of Highly Successful Smallbusiness Owners

2009-03-03T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Salim Omar

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a business that consistently grows and another that struggles just to make ends meet? Or why a business that was started in a basement of a home can outperform some of the best-run "big" companies in sales and profits?

Two businesses, operating in the same marketing arena and selling the same products or services, can have extraordinarily different results. How can one business continually grow and prosper, while the other struggles? How can one business owner run a highly successful business while still spending a good portion of his or her time away from the business on trips and vacations with the family, and another owner work day and night only to see his business fail?

Such questions have always intrigued me. In my quest to answer them, I sought input from successful business owners. I became a student of business. I read every business book I could get my hands on. I enrolled in seminars and courses across the country. I listened to audio and videotapes of some of the greatest minds in business.

What I learned has been truly transformational. In this article, I will impart to you some of what I have learned. For the most part, there is no such thing as a successful or unsuccessful business; there are successful or unsuccessful people, entrepreneurs who run businesses. Becoming a successful entrepreneur requires a certain self-image, a certain mindset. I like to refer to this mindset as the

"5 Habits of Highly Successful Small Business Owners."

Here they are:

Habit #1: Have a clear vision of their business, and commit their vision to paper

"A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing."

Charles M Schwab, American stockbroker

The chances of your small business' success improve substantially if you have a clear vision of what you want your business to look like, and what you want it to accomplish for you in the future. Your vision is your dream for the future of your business and it should delineate the path you will take to turn that dream into reality. You need a crystal-clear vision, one that you can communicate clearly, with vitality and a strong sense of commitment. Everyone involved in your business must comprehend your vision and, even more important, must believe in its success as much as you do.

Setting direction and guiding the business toward reaching your vision will make it successful. Vision is the owner's business philosophy. It's his "double vision" his ability to keep the business' long-term dream in mind while micro-managing the business on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis.

Successful entrepreneurs commit their vision to paper. In all my years in business, I have found that not doing so is the single most fatal error a business owner can make. There's a direct correlation between having a well-thought-out, written vision statement and the success of your business.

Your vision should be a written statement of what your business will be when it is complete. It is a detailed picture of the future what your business will look like, act like, smell like, feel like, and how it will perform when it is fully developed. Some of the things your written vision statement should include are: (1) the line of business you are in, (2) your company size, (3) the markets it will serve demographics and psychographics, (4) the number of employees you will have, (5) the number of locations that you will operate from, and (6) what competitive advantages will differentiate your business from your competitors'.

Habit #2: Put the proper systems in place

You need systems to be able to deliver a product or service in a predicable and consistent way. All successful businesses have a "how we do it here" manual, also referred to as a "policy and procedures" manual. Standardize your procedures so that everyone knows what they are and how to do them. These procedures involve production systems for your products or services, systems to deliver those products or services, systems to track new customers or clients, systems to help you keep up with your finances, systems to hire and train new employees, and the list goes on.

Look at the systems that operate within the McDonald's chain. A McDonald's in the Bronx operates exactly the same way as a McDonald's in Palm Beach. It runs just as predictably and profitably in either place. Why? Because there is absolutely no area in which procedures are not specifically spelled out through documented systems. Every procedure is outlined so clearly that anyone can be put into the system and taught to function at an extremely efficient level in a very short time.

Documented systems can make a difference to your own time, as a business owner. Without such systems in place, everything depends on you. If something happened to you, even for a short period, the entire business would be thrown into chaos. With properly documented systems of management and organization, a key employee (even you!) could leave suddenly, and the business would not suffer. You could replace the employee with minimal disruption. As new problems come up, you can adjust the systems you have in place to accommodate the needed changes.

If you set up the right systems from the start, they help run the business. You can be free to spend your time however you wish: more personal time for yourself, more time for your family, your community, and more time to enjoy a richer, more balanced life.

Habit #3: Know what they don't know and then quickly get the help to fill the void

Most small business owners don't realize that having an occupation or skill does not necessarily equate to building a successful business around it. It takes different skills to build a business. Let me give you an example. A personal friend of mine, John Chang worked as an engineer for 12 years before he started his own engineering firm. He was considered to be one of the best engineers in his firm before he went on to start his own engineering company. But John had never run a business before, and he did not have the knowledge and skill to operate his new company successfully, despite his engineering expertise. There is a lesson to be learned. The sooner you, the business owner, develop entrepreneurial skills, the sooner you will turn your expertise into business success!

You will need a number of different skills; financial, marketing, management, and customer fulfillment skills are among those required if you want your business to run like a finely tuned machine.

Can you imagine an athlete training for the Olympic competition without a coach? Of course not! Nor can you develop these skills without qualified help. A business coach will help you think in a new way, show you how to stay on track with your plans, and ultimately achieve your vision.

Habit #4: Have a mindset of preeminence

Preeminent (adj.): excelling others, outstanding.

The business owner has to have the mindset to view his business as a product not the product or service he is producing, but his whole business as the product. It's an entirely new way of thinking, and as soon as such thinking is adopted in any business, the business begins to make massive leaps forward.

As the business owner, you have to learn how you can give your customers or clients the best possible experience; to enable others to see your business as a trusted, valued, respected, and expert advisor. This mindset can be applied to any type of business. You have the responsibility and the obligation to provide guidance and direction to your customers, and to give them the best short-term and long-term outcome.

Many times, I have seen business owners make one simple, but momentous, mistake. Instead of "falling in love" with their customers, they fall in love with the size of the company, growth of the company, number of employees, or the market share. The way to greatness today is to transfer your ultimate passion away from products and services, and toward people! By doing so you will begin to look at your business as a whole, and any interaction that the customers have with any parts of your business, as part of an overall experience. If you as the business owner are focused on making it the best, most rewarding, most fulfilling, most enjoyable experience for the customer or client, you will dominate everyone else in your business sector.

A strategy of preeminence of excelling along with the approach of looking at your business as a whole, is truly transforming. If this is the only idea from these 5 habits that you take to heart and adapt and implement, you will see a significant improvement in your business.

Habit #5: Work on their business, not just in it

The successful small business owner understands the real value and reward that is derived from working on the business rather then just working in the business. She understands that working on the business means viewing her business as a whole. She sees her business made up of various parts that integrate seamlessly to function as a whole.

Working on, instead of "in" the business is strategic work. It is the way businesses transform themselves from vision into reality. It requires asking strategic questions and then doing everything to find answers to those questions.

Smart entrepreneurs do the necessary strategic work, and regularly ask the following questions:

What is my market share?

Who is my ideal customer?

Where is my industry headed?

Who are my competitors?

What are my competitive advantages?

What are other successful businesses in my industry doing?

How do they market their product or service?

What are other successful businesses outside my industry doing?

What is the "experience" my customers are having with my business?

What is the "experience" customers are having at my competitor's place of business?

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." --Albert Einstein

Salim Omar, CPA is the author of the newly published book, Straight Talk About Small Business Success In New Jersey.

More free information can be accessed on his website http://www.OmarGroupCPA.com

Mobile Detailing Vs Fixed Site Detailers

2009-03-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Mobile detailers will find themselves with lots of competition even if they do not see them around town. There are also many fixed site detailers who specialize in wholesale detailing or the retail detail or both. Many fixed site detailers have accounts with new and used car dealerships. This provides them with lots of work. If they are good, they usually do prep work for all new cars at all the local dealerships or share the work with a couple of other detail shops, additionally there are always lots of used trade ins at new dealers and used car lots. If the shop is totally busy, obviously they: Have a great location, or Do extremely great quality, or Have very competitive rates, or all of these.

Many detail shops hire grunts to do the work and have a salesperson/manager to book the jobs. Sophisticated shops call this person a service writer. Service writers use catchy slogans, phrases and scare tactics to sell services. They have to; who wants to spend $160 plus on their car? If they don't back it up with beyond expectations quality, the people won't come back or worse will tell friends that they were under whelmed. Subsequently, they will either go out of business or be very slow.

"The detailing industry is full of promise and opportunity (like the car washing industry), but someone has to size it up and take advantage of it." - Bud Abraham, 1997, President of Detail Plus Car Appearance Systems.

Many fixed site detailers look down to the mobile detailing crowd because they feel they cannot do as good of a job outdoors in an uncontrolled environment, which has some truth to it. Additionally many mobile detailers cut price and therefore hurt the volumes of the established fixed site detail shops.

Lance Winslow

Why You Need To Visit Whois

2009-03-02T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Jim Degerstrom

Recent case studies of 5 small business owners who had their web sites disappear from the internet may be the subject of an upcoming eBook. The situation happens more frequently than some people realize, so the following advice is being released now. Free domain registration information is easily retrieved and should be reviewed by any site owner who is unfamiliar with the term "WhoIs".

Many web site owners may not know what WhoIs means, so here is the short version and action plan. Do this today!

Web sites disappear for a variety of reasons, and small business owners are particularly susceptible to this problem because they are too busy running a business to learn about risks involved with a www domain or hosting.

Here is an outline of the basic cause in each of the 5 case studies:

1. Inactive Administrative Contact Email Address
2. Hidden Registrar and Incorrect Registrant
3. Expired Credit Card for Hosting
4. Hijacked Domain and Identity Theft
5. An Example of an ISP Shown as the Registrant

Learn from the mistakes that others have made, and in a few easy steps you can prevent this unfortunate surprise. Advice includes a cast of characters that may not be familiar. Let's introduce them first so you understand the difference between registry, registrar, and registrant.

Registry - the worldwide authority that controls issuing of www domains to avoid duplicates

Registrar - a service company authorized to register or renew domains with the registry

Registrant - the entity, person or company, who owns the license for a particular www domain

* Note: No one owns a domain. Registering is an exclusive license for a set period of time.

Most web site owners acquire a www domain for personal or business use through a registrar who acts on your behalf and applies for your domain with the registry. Approval is usually received within 24 hours. Your registration information is then kept on file with the registry. This is long forgotten until a problem occurs, usually by surprise!

The solution: Using any major search engine, do a search on "whois" and follow the links to access a whois database. Most have a search box for entering your www domain name, and once you hit enter or the go button the report is retrieved in a matter of seconds.

Reports may vary in format, however, all should display key information including registrar, registrant, administrative contact, technical contact, and perhaps billing contact. Confirm the accuracy of each, however, if any ONE piece of data is critical it is the administrative contact. It should be you, and it should list a current active email address. If either is untrue, it needs to be corrected. Next, let's explore the importance of the administrative contact.

The only recognized authority for controlling your domain, including changes, is the administrative contact, but wait. Changes can only be made by email correspondence, therefore your name as the registrant (or admin contact) does not make you the authorized person for changes. It is whoever answers the email listed under administrative contact, so an old or invalid email address will not work. The admin email address needs to be yours, and it needs to be kept current.

Review your registration information. Problems? Begin with your internet service provider to learn how to have entries corrected. You may need to contact your registrar, also.

Jim Degerstrom offers custom web site design at http://www.jimdegerstrom.com with 100+ examples of custom artwork for marketing in print or online, plus a 5-star directory of 200,000 truly free stock photos.

Pressure Washer Cleaning Equipment Preventative Maintenance Tips For Winter

2009-03-02T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Many small pressure washing and high-pressure hot water contract cleaning companies are located in areas, which may reach sub zero temperatures with wind chill factor. It is important to make sure your equipment does not freeze, as the water left in a pump will expand and crack the casing, unloaders or coils. With equipment running around $10,000 for a good skid unit, one has to be very careful to keep it in good running order as replacing it does not come cheap.

For those of you that live in colder climates and keep your truck in an unheated garage there are a few things that you should consider. We have found that as an alternative to running antifreeze through your pressure washer you can turn the halogen lights on the top of your truck or wash rig trailer on and focus them onto your pressure washer coil cover to protect the coils.

You can usually do this and then I have one more work light that you hang on the side of the skid above the Honda or Vanguard engine and focus this light down into that area to protect the pump. This setup has worked quite well so far and can actually get things pretty warm.

Obviously this setup would not work if you keep your truck outside although I have heard of people that have had good luck with covering their pressure washer with a tarp and putting a heater under it but I don't know that it would be worth the risk. You probably better off just going with the anti freeze in that situation. But, never the less never let your pressure washer freeze over, unless all the water is completely drained. Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Yahoo And Google Local Search Can Help Your Small Business

2009-03-01T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Skye Conroy

Recently both Google and Yahoo released new local search capabilities. In yahoo's case it indicated that it was definitely moving in the direction of replacing the yellow pages. Yahoo feels it can offer much more to it's users. It can provide a map with directions, the phone and fax numbers and a web page or web site that the business owns.

According to Yahoo their research shows that internet users look for information on the internet and then look for a local place to purchase the item or service.

The Yahoo developers are apparently drawing on existing yellow pages information as well as local experts and their own smart pages to build the local search information. Combined with maps and directions they hope users will find all the information they need on the internet to buy from or visit local businesses.

For the small business owner it looks like this will be a good thing. If you have or are developing a web site or page about your business you will be able to arrive on your customers desk top or cell phone screen with all the information you can provide about your product or service. The potential customer will then be provided with a map and directions to your location. Yahoo is offering its mobile local search for selected cell phone providers.

When you think about local search and how it can benefit small business you have to view it's benefit to the potential searcher. Who are the people who will use it and how can your small business get the rewards?

The cell phone aspect brings to mind a business traveler in or near your area who needs anything from gas for the car to a pizza for lunch. They might also need a copying place to fax documents or make copies. They might need a motel for the night.

In the same type of category is the person who may be planning a visit for fun and or recreation. They want as much local information as possible. Good prices on hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions. The travel web sites, Travelocity, Hotels. com and Price Line. com have begun to expand into this type of information but their main business is to sell hotel rooms so they limit themselves on the local area information. This is where Yahoo and Google come in and offer all the information you can handle. Why? so you will begin to go to them first.

Another potential local search user is the person who is seeking local information as it relates to history, or their own family genealogy. The internet has made the search for your heritage much easier and many people are taking advantage of it. Scholars of course use it but average people seeking their roots are also looking for more and more ways to refine their searches.

Finally there are the locals themselves, looking for a new dry cleaner , a flower shop that sells English ivy or even someone who wants to buy or sell a used item. Classified ads in local newspapers are a large source of revenue, but think about a local search that allows ads for used items. Household products, clothes, power tools, garden equipment. Unlike Ebay, no shipping costs to pay. Another search locals themselves might use is a search to find out what is going on in their area. Festivals, special events, concerts, store sales.

The question now is what will it cost for small businesses to take part. Right now Yahoo and Google are drawing on their in house information to provide search results. So basically if you are in their index or directory, and have local information on your web site you will most likely show up in local search results. But test marketing the local search in some cities is being based on bids for various neighborhoods as defined by so many square blocks. So it looks like you will eventually be competing against your own local market. This is where a clever local can get the jump on his competition, if he uses internet skills. If you have a local business setup your web page or site and include a customer review/feed back section. Let your customers provide testimonials or award stars for your performance. Keep those up-to-date and posted on your web site. That will offer your prospective customers immediate ratings for your product or service and your competition may not be so forward thinking. Your business can stand out as one with good buzz. If you were a potential customer, who would you choose? the business with the reviews and ratings, or one without?

Skye Conroy works for websitedesignpartners.com, a web site designed for small businesses. It provides free resources, help, reviews of products, business plans, free artciles and ecommerce information.

Small Business Plan What Is Your Value Proposition

2009-02-28T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Peter McLean

In the value based business, the successful business owner or manager concentrates on the unique value that his or her business offers to its customers. This 'uniqueness' is discovered only through depth of thought and rigorous analysis of the reason and purpose that one is in business for in the first place.

It involves listening intently to what customers are saying and understanding their particular needs. Engaging customers at this level creates a close bond between the business and the customer. It creates opportunities for working with and through customers in a way that delivers results that are mutually agreeable.

Deep critical reflection is demanded to arrive at effective decisions that will deliver what the customer really wants, and not just what we may want to sell to them.

The three key elements that must be adopted to ensure customer focus, create value and transform both the value-based business and its relationships with customers are:

Adopt a 'Customer Needs' Driving Force
The mindset required for establishing a 'customer needs' approach must be imbedded in an understanding of the vision of the business, through a clearly articulated statement about what drives the business.

Such a driving force must be chosen by the business owner as part of setting the strategic agenda of the business. This then ensures that strategic choices are aligned to business capabilities, customers and markets and that these are properly differentiated and segmented within small business plans.

Adopting a 'customer needs' driving force results in products and services being developed by the value-based business around the current and future needs of its customers.

Build Strong Customer Relationships
Helping others get what they want builds strong customer bonds.

Use your business capabilities to help your customer strengthen their position in the market. This means tailoring your products and services to the needs of the customer, within the bounds and context of a mutually beneficial and trusting relationship.

This approach also applies to the internal environment of the business. The value chain of the business that extends to customers in the external environment begins in the internal environment as a series of processes.

People accomplish these processes. Seeing employees as customers, along a continuum of service, focuses business activities at the highest level in all its dealings with each other and external customers.

"What do you want to achieve?" and "How can we help you achieve what you want?" should always be the first words out of our mouths in addressing the needs of the people around us, both in our business and to the customer in the external world. Such questions display a degree of emotional intelligence in business.

Customer requests, feedback and complaints provide the opportunity to improve products and services by incorporating the valuable information that they contain.

Develop Strategic Partnerships, Alliances and Networks
Successful business owners join up processes between their companies and those of their customers in order to build an interdependent network of relationships that delivers greater returns to everyone.

When we work with and through others, we add value to what is on offer. This continuum of service and product delivery expands the reach of the value-based business and the customer.

Strategic partnerships, alliances and networks must never be entered into lightly. They must be built on a firm foundation and a shared value base. This is critical to ensure that products and services that are offered are not degraded or watered-down, in any way.

When forming such relationships it is paramount that the Mission, Vision and Values of the business are not compromised in any way. A partnership matrix framework that aligns these elements between prospective partners must be generated, as part of the business policy development process.

Business alliance and partnership relationships must be evaluated diligently before they are entered into. They require sound skills for negotiation and must be reviewed regularly as part of the business planning cycle.

Peter McLean is a highly experienced Coach, Senior Manager, Consultant, Business Owner and Company Director. He successfully coaches top Executives in some of Australia's leading multi-national companies. One such Senior Executive recently won an International Award for Excellence within his particular field. In addition, Peter works extensively in the Public, Private, Commercial and Not-for-Profit sectors, delivering outstanding results for his clients. To learn more of how you can benefit from Peter's experience, visit the Essential Business Coach web site!

Free Credit Card Processing For Business Owners

2009-02-27T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Shane Penrod

Would you like to upgrade your company's operations by taking advantage of free credit card processing for business owners? There has never been a better time to locate banks offering this service and make the best possible deal for your interests. Financial institutions are eager to work with you in opening a merchant account, and they sometimes offer attractive incentives to get entrepreneurs' business. If you like the idea of free credit card processing, start shopping at your community banks and credit unions to see what type of deals they can offer.

Free credit card processing for business owners is an attractive perk, since some companies impose fees of perhaps 15 to 25 cents per transaction or a monthly percentage fee overall of between 1% and 2%. Being able to get free credit card processing for business owners could save you a significant sum of money each month, and over time, those savings could increase even more. Your customers will love the ease with which they can make online credit card payments, and you will appreciate the time-saving benefits of handling credit payments electronically rather than by employees who require regular paychecks.

It is a good idea to sit down with your financial institution and discuss the precise terms of the free credit card processing for business owners deal. Will you have to pay an application fee? Will annual membership fees come due each year? Are there other embedded costs that you should know about up front? Even if your credit card processing is free, other start-up expenses could add up to cost even more than the transactions would. You will want to make the best possible deal before signing an application or contract to be sure you don't get trapped into paying unexpected high costs later.

Keep in mind that free credit card processing for business owners may not be the best perk to ask for when applying for a merchant account. In addition to start-up fees that could be imposed and perhaps increased in lieu of the free credit card processing option, you also may have to pay expenses like a statement fee, a minimum fee, a discount fee, and a license fee. These could add up initially to more than you will pay for transaction fees. Even if the free credit card processing option appears to save you money at first, is this a limited time offer? When reinstated later, will transaction fees be difficult to add to the company budget since you did not start the process with them?

You might want to get a second opinion on weighing the benefits offered with various merchant account deals. You could even ask the customers via an informal survey about the type of credit processing they are most interested in and then see how promotional offers for opening a merchant account may impact customer interests. Of course, you can always check out the benefits of paying no transactions costs, and if permissible, switch to another system later if costs increase more than expected with free credit card processing for business owners.

Shane Penrod is the founder of http://www.Merchant-Account-Quotes.com Specializing in allowing merchants the ability to shop and compare multiple quotes from national merchant account providers. For free quotes on merchant account rates and fees, please go to http://www.merchant-account-quotes.com

11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Girl Scout Cookies

2009-02-27T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Handler

1. Train The Girl Scouts use cookie sales to teach important life skills. Take advantage of the opportunity to develop your team membersor hire a coach to help you.

2. Start Early The best cookie sellers start knocking on doors the first day, and deliver their cookies as soon as they arrive. "The early bird gets the worm" seems to work everywhere.

3. Know Your Value Girl Scout Cookies taste good and you get to help kids in your community. Make sure you provide similar great value to your customers.

4. Remember Your Manners As you learned as a girl (or boy), always say "please" and "thank you"to customers (even when they don't buy), vendors and your team members.

5. Dress The Part Brownies and Girl Scouts take pride in wearing their uniforms. Make sure everyone in your small business knows they only get one chance to make a first impression.

6. Go Deep Girl Scouts reach out to family, friends and, of course, their parents' co-workers. Ask everyone you know for referrals to expand your prospect list and grow your business.

7. Up-Sell Did you know Thin Mints and Caramel deLites are impulse buys? As you learned in that first retail job, always ask the customer if they would like a belt or tie with that shirt.

8. Differentiate Girl Scout Cookies are available once each year, and you can freeze them. Can you express what makes your products/services stand out in 13 or fewer words?

9. Rehearse Young girls are taught to practice their sales presentations in front of family and friends before meeting neighbors. Make sure to practice yours before and selling opportunities.

10. Be Prepared The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts share this motto. When asked, "For what?" Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell replied, "Why, for any old thing." Good advice.

11. Be Careful Crossing Streets Pretty basic, yes? Keep your eyes focused on the essential parts of your small business. There are lots of cars out thereand they move really fast!

The Coach, David Handler, is the founder of Success Handler, (http://www.successhandler.com), and specializes in helping small business leaders find clarity and take action. He understands the challenges of running a business, because he's been there as a small business owner, franchisee, franchisor, corporate leader and trainer. Much like sports coaches, his coaching will show you how to compete on a level playing field in your industry.

Starting A Pressure Washing Business

2009-02-26T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Are you thinking of starting a small pressure washer business to help clean up the world and make a little money? You might be surprised how many mobile pressure washers companies there are in the United States; approximately 45,000 of them. And since God made dirt on the Third Day; Genisis 1:9 1:12. Obviously since God created the dirt it keeps getting all over everything and thus a business was born. Starting a Mobile Pressure Washing Business is not as difficult as you think. It is important to decide what types of things you would like to wash and specialize in a few. Here is a list of potential items to wash, think about it. What do you want to wash today?

INDUSTRIAL AND SPECIALIZED SERVICES

Aviation Fuel Tanks

Aircraft Hangers

Air Cargo Containers

Air Conditioning Units

Air Crushing Cardboard Containers

Antique, Classic Cars

Automobile Dealerships

Auto Detailing

Airport Runways

Amusement Parks

Amusement Rides

Animal Kennels

Apartment Complexes

Army

Asphalt

ATV's (All Terrain Vehicles)

Awnings

Backhoes

Banners

Barrels, Giant

Bathrooms, Beaches

Bathrooms, Parks

Bathrooms, Schools

BBQ Trailers, Etc.

Bicycles

Billboards And Signs

Blimps

Block Walls

Booths

Brick

Bridges, Concrete

Bridges, Graffiti

Bridges, Steel

Buildings - Brick, Stucco, Wood, Plastic

Buildings, Portable

Bulldozers

Cable Dispensing Trailers

Cages, Zoos

Camping Grounds

Canopies

Car Frames

Car Washes

Car Waxing

Carnival Rides

Carousel Rides

Carpet Cleaning

Cemetery Headstones, Etc.

Chimneys

Churches

City Hall

City Sidewalks

Colleges

Common Areas

Concrete

Condominium Complexes

Concession Stands

Containers

Convalescent Hospitals

Cranes

Dairy Equipment

Decals Removal

Detailing

Docks And Boat Slips

Dog Runs

Doors, Loading Docks

Doors, Storage Yards

Drilling Equipment

Drive Thus

Driveways

Drain Cleanouts

Drainage Ditches

Duct Cleaning

Electric Cars

Electric Companies

Engines

Excavating Equipment

Farming Equipment

Fast Food Restaurants

Fences

Fire Damage

Fire Hose

Fire Planes

Fire Trucks

Flag Poles

Fork Lifts

Gas Tanks

Gazebos

Glass, Holiday Window Paint

Glass, Store Fronts

Go Carts

Golf Carts

Golf Courses

Government Offices

Graffiti Removal

Grading Equipment

Grease

Greenhouses

Gun Removal

Gutters

Hand Ball Courts

Handicap Ramps/Signs

Hangers

Helicopters

High Schools

Highway Signs/Markers

Historic Buildings

Hoods, Restaurants

Horse Stables

Horse Trailers

House Prepping

Ice Bins

Incinerators

Industrial Conveyor Belts

Industrial Hoists

Industrial Jet Engines

Industrial Machinery

Industrial Presses

Jeans

Kitchens

Landfills

Lockers

Mail Boxes

Military

Missions

Mobile Homes

Monster Trucks

Monuments

Motels

MRI - Mobile Units

Navy

Neon Signs

Nurseries

Oil Companies

Oil Wells

Outdoor Decorations

Paint Prepping

Paint Removal

Park And Rides

Parking Garages

Parks

Patios/Furniture

Pavement Sealers

Phone Booths

Pipe Companies

Plastic Pool Covers

Plastic Toys

Playground Equipment

Pool Decks

Port-A-Potties

Private Schools

Produce Stands

Property Management Companies

Public Parking Lots

Public Transportation Services

Public Utilities

Pumps, Irrigation

Racing Cars/Trailers

Racquetball Courts

Railroads, Equipment

Rain Gutters

Restaurants

Retaining Walls

Retirement Communities

Roof

Rust

R.V.'s

R.V. Parks

Sandblasting

Sandstone

Satellite Dishes

Schools

Screens

Scuba Equipment

Septic Tanks

Service Stations

Shopping Carts

Showers, Beach

Sidewalks, Shopping Centers

Skateboard Parks

Stadiums

Stain Removal

Store Fronts

Studios

Super Markets

Swimming Pools

Tanks, Water

Tennis Courts

Tile

Tire Companies

Toll Bridges

Tract Homes

Tractors

Trash Areas

Trash Containers

Trash, Schools

Truck Dealers

Ultralights

Upholstery

Utility Companies

Vacuum Cleaners

Vacuum Trucks

Valet Parking Lots

Vending machines

Vertical Blinds

Visitor Centers

Walls

Walmarts

Warehouses Water Damage

Water Trucks

Window Washing

Wineries

Wire Wheels

Wind Generators

Yard Services

Youth Centers

Did you think of more not on this list, most people who read it do; well I am glad to report you can wash those to. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Indiana Mobile Car Wash Business

2009-02-25T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Do you live in Indiana? Are you looking for a small business to run; one, which is simple and easy to operate? If so, I sincerely hope all is well, in the Great State of Indiana and I have an idea? Have you considered starting a mobile car wash business, in which you would be the sole proprietor?

When is the best time to start such a business? Probably in March as the weather gets better. Not in October thru February, which I would say is a bad time to consider such a launching date, as the mobile car wash business would have issues with weather that a busy season fixed site car wash would not. Generally you run into problem with water freezing at under 17 degrees even with continuous flow or bypassing in pressure washers system. Even if you heat the water, at 12-degrees, the towels freeze to the windows and the soap makes ice-sickles.

It you were in the Southern part of Indiana, you might be able to get away with starting late in the season, but could expect at least 22-35 days of inclement no-work weather. Which is tough on a fledgling business, when you need the revenues to drive your business into profitability you see?

There are no franchises you can buy in the United States to start such a business, but there are a few companies which sell equipment. My company in fact is not selling franchises right now as we are enjoying the ability to keep all the money for our company and avoid the litigious-ness of the franchising industry. By setting up our own units we can avoid the brain dead regulators who think they know about business and free enterprise, most of which have an axe to grind on society. Probably because they have never worked an honest day in their lives and spend more time at the coffee machine than actually working.

With that said, no you cannot buy a franchise from us, and there are no mobile car wash franchises in the United States to my knowledge. There is one in the UK and one in Australia, but I am pretty sure none have registered or notified the State of Indiana to sell franchises there. You see the State of Indiana in all their glory in sports and auto racing is a pathetic excuse a free market model and thus for franchising of a mobile car wash operation. In fact if you are Black and attempt to run a mobile car wash business in Indianapolis, it is said that the iron fist of the law will come down on your business. The City of Indianapolis came down hard on mobile washers after the fixed site businesses complained they were taking away their business and were allowing wastewater to enter the storm drains. There are several news articles on this, as the State of Indianapolis does treat black Americans as secondary citizens and the record speaks to that point.

Whenever you start your own business, you need to know the truth and looking into the business climate and regulatory abuse before you sign the dotted line for a loan to go into business, think on this. The state of Indiana is a loser for a small business in my opinion.

Lance Winslow

Celebrating A Small Business Milestone

2009-02-24T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Caroline Jordan

There are many milestones on the long road of business ownershipone of the most important milestones is the five year mark. Many businesses never make it to that milestone, somewhere along the way they fall by the wayside. Other businesses make it to the five year mark barely hanging on. Those who make it to the five year mark with a strong, healthy business and their own sanity, have something truly worth celebrating.

And so it is with great pleasure that I celebrate a milestone for my own business, founded five years ago today. My business is strong and growing. My cash flow is positive. And (arguably) I remain in full possession of my sanityopinions may vary.

Here are some of the valuable lessons I learned along the way:

1. Life (and business) is like a compost heap. The more you heap on it, the richer it gets. Mistakes, successes, new skillskeep mixing them in and you end up with a powerful mixture that helps you and your business grow.

2. Focus relentlessly on the problem you solve for your customer. No one will hire you or buy from you just because they like having you around. Find ways to solve their problems and they'll keep coming back for more.

3. Develop relationships by making other people look good. Saying something positive about another person or business is a great way to make friends. That web of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances is the core of your business. Enjoy it. Nurture it. Spread it around.

4. Attract friends. When you describe your business to others in your marketing activities, speak to the people you want to work with. Imagine the person you want to attract to your business is your best friend. Working with great people is a lot better than working with people who make you nuts. How you talk about your business is a key factor in attracting good customers.

5. Know thy numbers. The finance part of your business is critical to your success. Knowing what your breakeven number is, how to manage receivables, and the basics of taxes are all a part of building a successful business.

6. Plan your business based on where you want to be 5 years from now. Most business owners toss about all day in stormy seas, never charting a course for where they want to be. Consequently, they never make to smoother sailing.

7. Act like the success you want to be. If you want your business to the leader in your industry, act like the owner of a company that is the leader in your industry, dress the part, reflect that in the way you treat your customers and employees, make decisions for your business that reflect your goal.

8. Make being a business owner work for you. One of the main reasons we become self employed is to have more control over our lives. Then, we promptly fill our days up with every imaginable task only to find ourselves even more exhausted than when we worked for someone else. It doesn't have to be that way!

9. Learn (or hire) the skills you need to succeed. None of us gets up the mountain alone. Running a business today is more complex than it ever has been in the history of humankind. To really succeed you'll need a team of professionals to guide you along the way. Lack of professional expertise will cost you far more in the long run than spending a bit now.

Caroline Jordan, MBA helps small business owners improve cash flow, attract customers they love, and build businesses with real staying power. For more tips and articles to help you build your business visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com. For help with improving cash flow visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com/mastering.html.

Invoice Factoring How To Finance Growth Without Banks Or Debt

2009-02-24T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marco Terry

There are few bigger challenges for business owners and managers than waiting 30 to 60 days to get paid by their customers. Although large businesses can usually afford it, smaller businesses can't afford the wait. As a matter of fact, waiting to get paid on their invoices can create cash flow problems that affect the owners ability to meet payroll or pay the company's bills. This problem can be more frustrating if the business has a number of orders that it cannot fulfill because its cash is tied up in unpaid invoices.

How can invoice factoring help you?

Invoice factoring, also known as accounts receivable factoring, is a financial tool that allows small business owners to capitalize on the power of their slow paying invoices. It allows you to turn your invoices into immediate cash, enabling you to fund your business operations. Although it is not a well-known fact, invoices from strong credit worthy commercial clients are excellent collateral, especially for factoring companies. Although most banks won't take invoices factoring companies are more than willing to provide you with financing based on them. This makes it an ideal financing vehicle for small and mid size businesses, as well as knowledge-based companies and employee intensive firms.

How does invoice factoring work?

As opposed to most banks that lend you money against hard collateral, invoice factoring companies buy your invoices outright. The factoring company buys your invoices and provides you with funds immediately, while they wait to get paid by your customers. Factoring is best described with an example:

1. Let's say that you sell services to Company A and Company B. As soon as you provide the services, you invoice them.

2. At the same time, you send copies of the invoices to the factoring company, who buys them and provides you with an advance payment for them.

3. The factoring company waits to get paid by your customers. Once paid, any remaining funds are remitted to your company.

The invoice factoring process can be repeated every time you invoice, providing you with a flexible line of financing that grows with your business.

How much will an invoice factor advance my business?

Factoring transactions are commonly done as a two-installment sale. The first installment is called the advance and is paid to you as soon as you submit the invoices. Advances can range anywhere from 60% on the low end up to 90% of the gross value of the invoices. The average advance is about 75%.

The remaining installment, called the rebate, is remitted to you once the invoice is paid. Factoring fees are deducted from the rebate.

The cost of invoice factoring

The cost of a factoring transaction is determined by three criteria. First, the credit worthiness of your customers. Second, the length of time that your invoices take to get paid. Lastly, the monthly factored volume.

Your cost, actually called a discount, can be as low as 1.5% or as high as 12% per transaction depending on how you fit the previous criteria.

How can I determine if invoice factoring will help me?

Generally speaking, invoice factoring will help you if you have a business that has reasonable profit margins or is growing quickly. Mid size companies with 20% or more profit margins or large companies with 15% profit margins can usually do well with accounts receivable factoring.

Invoice Factoring Group

Invoice Factoring Group and its business factoring subsidiary can provide you with factoring and purchase order financing quotes at no cost to you. Marco Terry, its president, can be reached at 866-730-1922.

Business Debts Damage Sme Cashflow How Do You Manage Late Payers Effectively To Keep Solvent

2009-02-23T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Adrian Pepper

Somewhere in the first three months of running a small business, most people find that chasing late payments is a fact of their life. It is unpleasant and expensive to take non-paying customers to court. What is more, the drawn-out process distracts you from building your business. As bad debts lead to reduced cashflow and eventual bankruptcy, I take care to teach my start-up clients these easy steps to avoid late or missed payments.

Know what you are expecting to be paid for

The foundation to minimising bad debts is to ensure that every invoice that you issue helps your customer to pay promptly. At the time of making a sale, find out when their monthly accounts are closed and when their payments are processed then you can time your invoice to fit their payments cycle.

Your invoice should show: your business name, your contact details, a description of the products and services supplied, the quantity and type of goods, the price charged, the VAT (or sales tax) amount and your settlement terms. If the invoice is clear and carries the appropriate detail, you can quickly agree with your customer what they owe you when you deliver the goods.

Watch your customers' accounts

As you issue invoices, add these to your accounts so that you can regularly check what money you are owed by each customer. Be aware when any payment is overdue from a customer.

As you network in your business community, listen out for news about your customers. Similarly, when you deliver goods or visit your customers, show an interest in their business. You need to know if your customer is struggling with an overwhelming workload, or if your customer is missing payments to other businesses because their business is failing. Such situations could be a call to action for you.

Chase payments promptly

You must always chase your debtors promptly, usually with a polite letter or e-mail to remind them their payment is overdue. Then you need to talk on the telephone to the buyer, the managing director and the business owner to straighten out any misunderstanding about your intention to be paid what is due.

I advise my clients to keep a record of every letter, e-mail and phone call through their Customer Relationship Management system. Having these details readily available can help you to manage your overdue accounts and can be used in court if necessary.

If your invoice is contested, hire a mediator. (In England and Wales, mediators are regulated through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.) Using a mediator to pass judgement on the claim can help extract a fair payment.

Collect all bad debts keenly

In England, there are a range of debt collection agencies registered with the Credit Services Association. Some agencies will save you time and hassle by chasing your bad debtors, others will factor or buy the debt off you and foreclose on the debtor themselves. In most cases, when a customer triggers the need to collect their debt, you will lose all future expectation of business with them.

When court action is called for, get the advice of your company lawyer, check that your customer is still in business (in England through the Insolvency Service) and then use a Small Claims Court to chase debts under £5,000. Should your debts exceed this figure, you will need a lawyer to represent you at a higher court but the monies recovered often only cover the legal fees.

Treat payment management as a process

With the right attitude, many small businesses rarely suffer from bad debts. Part of that attitude arises from having a process within which to manage poor payers. The use of a payment process will usually encourage most customers to clarify misunderstandings about their payments at an early stage - possibly when you can still recover your (unpaid for) goods.

Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties, helping companies figure out what to do, how to move forward and what to get organised. You can contact him through Help4You Ltd, through his website at http://www.help4you.ltd.uk or by phone +44-7773-380133. At http://feeds.feedburner.com/help4you, you can listen to his podcast for small businesses.

11 Things Small Business Owners Can Learn From Will Rogers

2009-02-23T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Handler

1. "Never miss a good chance to shut up." As the saying goes, you never learn anything while you're talking. Make sure to listen moreto your customers, employees and advisors.

2. "If you're riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there." Always remember, the definition of a leader is someone who has followers.

3. "You've got to go out on a limb sometimes, because that's where the fruit is." Always playing it safe will keep you from achieving all you're meant to in your small business.

4. "Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." What's done is done. Learn from the past, then let it go, so you can accomplish greater things tomorrow.

5. "You must judge a man's greatness by how much he will be missed." Obviously, America missed Will Rogers tremendously. If tomorrow never comes, what will friends say about you?

6. "Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n puttin' it back in." New initiatives. Great opportunities. More products/services. Consider them all, and never lose your primary focus.

7. "Chaotic action is preferable to orderly inaction." Many small business owners get trapped in "Ready, aim, aim, ready," and never fire. Don't just sit around. Go flyin' instead.

8. "We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by." This is a good lesson for you and your small business employees. Somebody has to do the work.

9. "An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out." Knowledge is an advantage, especially in selling, where you should always know more than your competition.

10. "It's not what you pay a man, but what he costs you that counts." Hiring someone for less than market value sounds like a good ideauntil you hire the wrong person entirely.

11. "We are all here for a spell; get all the good laughs you can." Everyone should see life as Will Rogers saw itfinding humor in all we observe, and still making a difference in the world.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

2009-02-22T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Shawn Jooste

As part of my recent excursion to Knysna, I popped into an art gallery. The artist had many very beautiful paintings from the area. There was one painting in particular of the lagoon, with the heads in the background, but at night with a full moon, and some clouds. The clouds created a bright outline, which reflected on the lagoon. This picture grabbed me, I don't know why, it just did. But in trying to express to someone what I saw and felt when I saw this picture was just about impossible.

You see, we all perceive things differently, very very differently. This difference in perception can create a few problems for us when we try and express things to people, and even more problems when we try and sell stuff to them.

In some of the scenarios I have encountered, people have tried to explain to me verbally what they perceived. As they explain I have the opportunity to ask questions to get clarity.

When someone tries to explain things to me in writing, often it would take them many pages of carefully detailed wording, to bring across a clear message of what they are trying to tell me.

But when someone shows me a picture of what they are trying to sell me, I instantly know what they are referring to.

This is very very relevant in business. You see, we all have a product that we are trying to sell - OK some have a service - and we are trying to get the message across to our audience.

I have seen a number of websites that have a lot of text trying to explain to people what the features and benefits of their product are. They also go into great detail trying to explain how their gizmo's can be used on a day to day basis.

What I would like to suggest is that we use images a little more. Instead of telling you what I am talking about I'll let you have a look at some images:

http://www.gallery.menalto.com

Adding a gallery to our websites can greatly increase the visibility of our products. Some ideas for adding images to your product gallery include:

- Showing customers the day to day usage of your product
- Showing customers the manufacturing process, and how you conform to quality and standards
- Showing customers your gizmo's in action

The end result is simple, you can display your products to your clients and convince them that this is what they want and need. It will also save you, as a small business owner, a huge amount of time. You can upload photo's and create albums in a matter of minutes, and you won't need to spend hours writing, and trying to convey to your customers what you are trying to say.

I'm not saying that there is no need for quality copy on your website, there is and it is very important. But adding a gallery, where you can proudly showcase your gizmo's, and gadgets, will add an interesting and intriguing dimension to your site.

In closing, I just want to add, that we need to constantly be working on our online presence. In order for us to thrive in an online market, we can never be satisfied with what we have. We need to strive to make it better and more relevant.

Shawn Jooste is a Small Business Technology consultant. You can find more on his websit www.shawnsweekly.com

9 Things You Must Do To Maximize Your Chances Of Obtaining A Small Business Loan

2009-02-22T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Neil Best

To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria. To vastly increase your chances of a successful funding application, you will need to present the following information:

1. The reason for the loan. The lender will be looking for something that fits within the normal range and expertise of your business. The amount may cover a number of items, so you will need to cover each.

2. The amount required, and the repayment term of the small business loan you want. (e.g. $10,000 term 5 years, payable quarterly).

3. Details of how you will repay the amount borrowed. For example, "From the increase in profits of reduced running costs of the Whizzbang Go4It"

4. Details of security you will be able to offer to the lender. This will act as reassurance for the lender. If you're not prepared to put up some aspect of security, then why should they?

5. You will need to include your business plan which will serve to answer essential questions relating to management capabilities, information about the market you operate in. What kind of business you are in etc.

6. 3 Years financial statements. You will need to present quality financial information from your accounting software, preferably signed off by your accountant or tax advisor.

7. Latest Set of Management accounts. Again produced from your accounting software.

8. Accounts receivables (debtors) and payables (creditors) ageing reports.

9. Principals financial statements. Particularly required if some form of security is necessary.

If you are a new company, the emphasis is going to be on your business plan , and the security (also called collateral) you or your business can provide against the loan.

You must take the time to practice presenting your case to the bank or lender to iron out any glitches. Practice on your colleagues and family (you never know, they might be so impressed, they'll invest or lend!). It may help to role play the lender and come up with as many pointy questions as possible. The more time you take the better your chances will be. (But remember, don't fall into the analysis paralysis trap!)

Good luck!

About The Author

This article was written by Neil Best, an accountant with over 15 years experience in business finance. The article and other useful business finance information including sample business plans Sourcing and applying for small business grants and how to approach potential investors can be found at Small Business Finance Tips

It Consulting Determining Your Rates As A Startup

2009-02-21T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

In IT consulting, people charge various rates. Some charge at the zero level, others at the $25, $35, $45 an hour level.

Starting an IT Consulting Business: What to Charge?

Probably a lot of you want to start charging, and should be, in the $75, $85, $95 an hour level to build up a reputation for your IT consulting business. Don't start out with much less than that.

IT consultants working with larger small companies generally charge $100 - $125 an hour and up, depending on how deep their specialty is, whether they're in a certain vertical industry, or depending on the metro area they're in.

Adjusting Your IT Consulting Business Rates

Many new IT consulting businesses underestimate their true expenses and as a result, end up charging way too little for their IT consulting services. The big question they often ask is, "Can't I adjust it later?" The answer in most cases is no.

It's very difficult to adjust rates later with your existing customers and clients. The only thing you're usually left resorting to is fixing rates going forward, and then you end up with a whole bunch of people that are grandfathered in at these rates you can't afford.

The Problem with Raising Rates

When you grandfather rates, half or a quarter of your IT consulting business essentially becomes worthless because it's not profitable. It can be really hard, if not impossible to get your existing clients to agree to substantial rate increases.

The Bottom Line about IT Consulting

As a start-up IT consulting business, if you charge too little, you may end up having to dump your client list and start over, which could put you out of business really fast. It doesn't have to be that way.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg can help you grow your computer consulting business, the RIGHT way! Sign-up now for your free audio training program that features field-tested, proven Computer Consultants Business Tools.

Small Business Marketing Strategy The Importance Of Customer Commonality

2009-02-20T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Craig Lutz-Priefert

Cliché but true: customers come in all shapes and sizes. Just check out any grocery store or gas station: you see a cross-section of society, right? You find people from many walks of life and all income levels. But underneath the surface these people share something in common: for some reason--known or unknown to the store's owner--they all made a choice to shop at the same place.

Here's the small business marketer's primary puzzler: why do they come to my store? What do they have in common that makes them my customers? Once I know that, then I can discover (and reach) more of them.

If you are fortunate enough to have a customer database then you can integrate known data, primarily purchase data, with psychographic or demographic data you acquire from outside. You can then combine both the internal and the external data to construct a composite of your customer base.

However, if you are like most retail stores, you will have to rely on other types of data, such as survey data and research data, to establish your customer profile.

This type of research can get expensive. Very expensive. Frankly, top-drawer research data is often outside the budget scope of many small businesses. Yet, as a small business marketer you know that understanding your customer is a key to gaining a competitive advantage over your competition.

We suggest two sources which are far less expensive than traditional research. Of course, if you have the budget, by all means spend a portion of it with a reputable research firm. But if you don't here are a couple of sources that can give you some insight.

First, look to your peers in your industry. Your trade association and your trade publications both have general information on your industry's customer base. Granted, this isn't primary research specific to your individual business. Plus, this is data typically compiled at the national level. Yet, you can combine this industry material with your own common sense and your state or city economic and demographic data. Once done you will have a localized picture of your industry. This can yield some good, if general, facts about your customer base.

A couple of half-days spent in this type of research often can yield insights that can't be acquired without extensive (and expensive) research that is hired out.

The second asset: employee research. More on that in our next article.

Remember: Brand (who you are) + Package (your Face to the Customer) + People (customers and employees) = Marketing Success.

Craig Lutz-Priefert is President of Marketing Hawks, a firm providing essential marketing vision for small business. Marketing Hawks also sponsors the ongoing small business adventures of entrepreneur Crystal Trino at the JourneyToday website.

How To Prepare To Apply For A Small Business Loan

2009-02-19T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jo Ann Joy

Before lenders will grant a small business loan, they want to be sure that the loan will be repaid. Every loan is a risk, but banks and brokers want to take as little risk as possible. They look for businesses that show promise, and they award loans to businesses that have solid personal and business backgrounds and are committed to the success of their businesses.

(u)(b)What are the first things the lender will look at? (/u)(/b) The following are the five basic items that all lenders look at before they will approve your business loan:

1. (u)Credit history(/u) One of the primary factors lenders look at is the condition of your personal and business credit. This is generally reflected in your credit score that is obtained from the three credit reporting agencies. Your personal credit score is associated with your Social Security number, but business credit reports are tied to your tax ID number. Before you even start shopping for a loan, request a copy of your credit report from all three major reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Review it carefully and correct any mistakes before you start the application process.

2. (u)Your Investment(/u) Business loan applicants should have a reasonable amount of their own money invested in their business. Lenders want to know that you will be motivated to work hard to make your business a success. When they see that you have invested a substantial amount of your own money in your venture, they will assume that you will work hard to make it a success. The amount of your required investment may vary, but it should be at least 20% of the amount you need for the business venture.

3. (u)Working capital(/u) Working capital consists of your current assets minus your current liabilities. Working capital can also be thought of as cash on hand or what is available to pay current debts and keep your business running. A lack of adequate working capital increases the risk that your business will fail and makes lenders much less likely to approve your loan.

4. (u)Ability to repay(/u) Banks want to see two sources of repayment: (b)cash flow from your business(/b) and a secondary source which is typically (b)collateral(/b). Lenders will look at your past and projected financial statements. They will want to see your personal financial statements, personal tax returns for the past two-three years, business financial statements for the past three years or for three projected years, and accounts receivables and payable aging. If your business has consistently made a profit or you can reasonably project a profit, you are more likely to get approved. If your business has not been consistently profitable, you can increase your chances of getting a loan by including detailed information of new opportunities, new contracts, or other information showing that your company's future will be profitable.

Most lenders require collateral to secure the loan. Collateral is required for all SBA loans. Collateral can be business assets and personal assets. If you plan to purchase equipment and other assets with borrowed funds, these assets will be used as collateral for the loan. Lenders will also require you to personally guarantee the loan.

5. (u)Experience and character(/u) Lenders will expect you to have experience in the type of business that you plan to run. If you do not have that experience, lenders will expect you to hire people who have experience. Even if you do not have experience in this type of business, you should at least be able to show experience in other businesses and managerial experience.

(u)(b)What documents will lenders require?(/u)(/b) In order to expedite the process, the following four documents should be available for the lender to review:

1. (u)Business plan(/u) A business plan is particularly important for new businesses, as they lack a track record for lenders to review. Your plan should convey all important facts about your business in a concise manner. A professional business plan will be at least 20 pages long, plus financial projections. The business plan will include:

(b)Balance sheets, Profit and loss statements, and Cash flow projections(/b) from the last three years or for three years' projections. (b)Accounts receivable and payables aging(/b) breaking your receivables and payables in to 30-, 60-, 90- and past 90-day old categories. (b)Market data(/b) showing demand for your type of business (b)Research on competitors(/b) including their customer base and price points

2.(u)Loan request(/u) This can be included with the business plan and should detail the amount of money requested, how the loan funds will be used, the type of loan, the amount of working capital you have, the collateral that will secure the loan, the personal guarantees of the loan, and how the loan will be repaid.

3.(u)Personal financial statements(/u) You will need to provide personal financial statements for anyone who owns 20 percent or more of the business. The financial statements must include a complete schedule of assets, debts with balances due, payment schedules, maturity dates, and collateral used to secure other loans.

4.(u)Other documents(/u) Lenders may also require articles of incorporation, taxpayer ID number, legal descriptions of real property, leases, equipment inventories with serial numbers, proof of insurance for collateralized items, and letters of intent showing that commercial accounts intend to do business with you.

(u)(b)What is the loan process?(/u)(/b) Some lenders like to prequalify potential borrowers to determine how much they can afford. This also gives you and your lender an opportunity to see which loan program would be most appropriate for your needs. After the lender gathers basic information and your application is received, a loan officer or processor will review your credit reports, the amount of available collateral, and your income.

The loan officer will determine if any additional documentation is required. If you are purchasing real estate, you may also need to submit preliminary environmental reports, area maps, title reports, property appraisals, and lease summaries. Next, your commercial loan package is submitted to the decision makers -- either a loan committee or underwriter. During the underwriting process, you may need to furnish additional documentation.

After the underwriting process, you will receive a letter of intent or term sheet. A letter of intent or term sheet is a formal document intended to put all parties (the lender and your company) on the same page. The letter of intent will include the names of all parties, amount of financing, type of collateral, and other key terms. After all underwriting conditions are satisfied, the final loan package is resubmitted to the loan committee for final approval.

At this point, the lender will issue a final full loan commitment. If your loan is approved, you will receive closing documents and they may be handled by a title company. The title company will record deeds and mortgages, order title insurance, coordinate the exchange of funds, and arrange for you to sign the loan documents. At the closing, the lender funds the loan with a cashier's check, draft, or electronic wire transfer.

Being prepared and organized can save time and help your loan get approved. Be prepared to have all required information ready to submit if your lender requests it.

Jo Ann Joy, Esq., MBA, CEO The future of your business starts here!

You may contact Jo Ann by phone at (602) 663-7007, by fax at (602) 324-7582, by email at joannjoy@Indigo Business Solutions.net, and by mail at 2313 East Ocotillo Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85016. I have many published articles, and I will send any article to you free of charge. Most consultations are free.

Discover the secrets to success and grow!

About the author:

Jo Ann Joy is the CEO and owner of Indigo Business Solutions, a legal and business consulting firm that is a "one stop shop" for businesses. We provide legal and business services and all professional services to businesses, and they will not be "referred out" to other professionals.

Jo Ann has a law degree, an MBA, and an Economics degree. She is a strategic business attorney who works closely with businesses to improve their performance and their chance of success. Her background includes commercial, corporate, contracts, real estate, accounting, financial planning, mortgages, marketing, product development, banking, and business planning and strategies. She ran a successful business for 10 years and writes and gives presentations on many different legal, tax, and business subjects.

Please visit our website at http://www.IndigoBusinessSolutions.net for more information on business, legal, and tax topics and for free copies of articles and EBooks.

7 Cash Flow Secrets Your Accountant Never Told You

2009-02-18T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Caroline Jordan

Looking for ways to boost your cash flow? As a small business consultant, I make these recommendations to my cash strapped small business clients:

1. Shoeboxes are for shoes, not business records.

Pardon my candor but, you will never have a successful business if you don't systematically track your income and expenses, who owes you money, and who you owe money to. This is absolutely crucial. You don't have to have a big expensive computerized system, although a computer program like QuickBooks certainly does a beautiful job. You can keep track of everything with a pencil and paper if you like. But, you've got to track basic information in a systematic manner. Without this vital information your business cannot flourish and your cash flow will always keep you up at night.

2. Getting your customers to "show you the money".

The best way to get your customers to pay what is owed is to remove every possible excuse for nonpayment. Don't extend credit unless it's absolutely necessary. Establish credit policies to help determine who will get credit. Get an invoice into the bill payer's hand as quickly as possible after the work is done or the product is delivered. Don't be afraid to send a letter or statement or make a phone call reminding your customer his bill is due. Never be rude. Always be firm. Focus on preserving the relationship. If a customer has a legitimate gripe about your business do whatever you can to fix the problem.

3. Budget is not a four letter word.

Repeat after me, "Budgets are our friends." Seriously! A budget is a plan. It helps you stay focused on what you need to achieve. For example, you can use your budget to help you achieve sales goals, determine how much you need to spend on advertising, how much you'll need for materials, and if you can afford to pay overtime. Having a budget for your business is the difference between piloting a plane with instruments or flying blind in a fog.

4. A customer in the hand is worth two in the bush.

My very first customer is still with me. Over the life time of our relationship, she will be worth at least tens of thousands of dollars. Actually, she's worth far more than that because she refers business to me regularly. It's easy to get caught up in the search for new customers. But, never forget the ones you already have. What other services or products can you offer to them? How can you get them to refer their friends and colleagues to you? You can build a successful business around a small number of customers by providing them with excellent customer care and a range of solutions. Loyal customers are money in the bank, they're easier to work with, and it's less expensive to keep them happy than it is to find new customers.

5. The most powerful number in your business.

If you know only one number in your business it ought to be your Breakeven Point. Your breakeven point is the moment in time when your income equals your expenses. If your income is higher than your expenses, you have a profit. If your expenses are higher than your income you have a loss.

Why is this such a critical number? First of all, to find your breakeven point you need to know what all of your expenses are. How much does it cost you to produce your product or deliver your service? That includes how much you need to pay yourself. If your business isn't able to support you, you're not breaking even. Once you have your total expenses, you have a place to start. What do you need to do to achieve a level of sales high enough to cover your expenses? How many customers do you need to serve? How many products do you need to sell? If you can't reach that income level, what can you do to cut your expenses?

Your whole business plan can flow from that one number. You can use your break even point as a powerful business tool to make decisions about marketing, strategy, plans for expansion, hiring a new employee, etc.

6. How to make friends and influence check cutters.

Once upon a time, I worked for a corporationyes, me, the quintessential entrepreneur. One of my jobs was working in Accounts Payable. All day long I got calls from vendors. Not friendly social calls, mind you. Angry calls. Irritable calls. Annoying calls. Vicious calls.

And then there were the friendly vendors. The ones who took a moment to treat me like a human being. Guess who I knocked myself out for? Guess whose checks made it through the labyrinth of bureaucracy and out the door? Uh huh. The vendors who treated me with respect. Is that fair? Not at all. But, it is human nature.

Take the time to get to know the folks that cut the checks. Don't be afraid to build bridges and establish relationships. You meet lots of interesting people and your cash flow will improve. One of my friendly vendors hired me away from the Cubicle City. I spent the next three years improving his cash flow from the other side. You just never know.

7. Why paying taxes is a cause for rejoicing.

The strategic approach of many small business owners is to have as little profit as possible at the end of the year. Otherwise, you'll have to pay taxes. So year after year, small business owners make decisions in their businesses based on intentional lack of profitability.

Now, for the majority of small business owners, what the IRS considers to be profit is in actuality your paycheck. Are you working to lower your paycheck? Would you put up with that from an employer? By putting up with it from your own business, you condemn yourself to a life of poverty just to avoid having to pay taxes.

I won't tell you that writing checks to the IRS is my favorite thing to do and I make sure I take every legal deduction I can, but if I'm paying taxes, it means I'm making money. I like making money. The bottom line is this: If you're paying taxes, it means your business is making money. Go out and make more! Don't let the thought of taxes hold you back. Think about it this way, even if you're paying fifty cents of every dollar to the government, that's fifty cents more in your own pocket. That's a good thing!

A word of caution: don't boost your earnings and spend it all. Make sure you plan ahead for the tax bill!

Caroline Jordan, MBA is a small business consultant and author of Mastering Cash Flow: A How-To Guide for Solving Small Business Cash Flow Problems. For more business success tips visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com. To get in touch, call Caroline at (207) 583-2630 or send an email to TheJordanResult@adelphia.net.

The Next Revolution In The Accounting Industry

2009-02-17T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Amir Morani

Every industry goes through its natural phases of transformation. As time goes, new technology becomes available, and new processes are developed. Internal and external factors contribute to the transformation process of all industries. Accounting industry is not an exception.

Only a few years ago very few accountants used software to prepare tax returns for their clients. Some even considered it a pride that they were smart enough to prepare tax returns without using software. Within a few short years, almost every accountant in the country uses some kind of tax preparation software to prepare tax returns. Now it is not a question of whether an accountant uses software to prepare tax returns, but of which software the accountant is using. Times have changed significantly in the accounting industry. Observant accountants may notice how fast things changed in their industry.

Unlike only a few years ago, it is almost unimaginable how any accounting practice could function and survive without computers and accounting software. There is probably not a single accounting practice in the country that operates without computers and software for tax and accounting. Only a few years ago, a large number of accountants did not consider computers or software as something that would be able to enter their industry. They thought nothing would replace their ability to prepare a tax return. They thought nothing could replace their ability to balance a trial balance and prepare financial statements out of it. Their denial has turned into widespread acceptance within a short time.

Accountants are now in a new phase of denial. This time they deny that it is ever possible for an accounting practice to operate without papers. They deny that it is ever going to be possible for accountants to operate without papers, period. There has been a lot of talk about paperless offices coming for years. Numerous articles have described how the world will change with paperless business operations. However, the predictions have not come true at the speed people were expecting. The topic lost its attraction over time. Thus, the denial of accountants that there could ever be a paperless office for them is justified.

The fact is that the paperless office is sneaking up on us. The technology that is required to convert business operations into paperless operations has become remarkably affordable. Small CPA practices can now go paperless with an investment of as little as $2,000, on their own. Times have changed significantly in this area but unfortunately, accountants are not noticing this trend.

The technology is available, affordable and quick. Yet there are thousands of accountants in the country, who are not even aware of this change coming in their industry. Just like it is unimaginable that an accounting practice could operate without computers and software today, within a few short years, it will be unimaginable that an accounting practice operates WITH PAPER.

The nature of this change is such that it could be devastating for many accounting practices. When accounting and tax software came about the process of adopting the change was not that difficult. You could go forward with a new way to operate very easily. You would purchase the software, train yourself and start using it, going forward.

Going paperless, however, is a culture change of a great magnitude. It brings about major changes in the way the offices work. It requires a major change in work flow processes. The conversion process also requires good planning and implementation. Conversion is not difficult but it does require special planning and attention. There is a significant revolution brewing in the accounting industry, unnoticed by many, which could damage and kill many small accounting practices, while make fortunes for others. It is the paperless revolution that could bury a few accountants under their own papers.

Amir Morani CPA CMA CFM MBA is the author of 10 Steps to A Paperless CPA Office The Simplest Guide to Make Your Practice Paperless. Visit the blog at http://paperlessofficeforcpa.blogspot.com

Electronic Franchise Disclosure And Esignature Future For Investors

2009-02-16T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

It has been discussed allowing Franchising companies to electronically disclose franchise documents to the public and prospective franchisees. If the Federal Trade Commission wants to make UFOC information available electronically through email to catch up with the newest technologies then it will get complaints and make up another rule saying no unsolicited UFOC maybe sent through email.

This is because the documents have gotten so large they amount to what would be considered an email bomb. The franchisors will have to document who emailed them and asked for information. Yet one cannot document incoming emails, because people use free-mail accounts and disguise their identity, even the Federal Trade Commission does this when phising for information about franchisor targets they wish to entrap, usually based on a letter from an attorney or a fake complaint coming from a competitor disguised as a consumer coming into the FTC's website.

The FTC is likely to look at electronic distribution through websites rather than emailing the disclosure documents. And then who is paying to keep it updated and which one do you put up if there are 12 registration states, multiple Canadian Provinces, notification states and the Federal Trade Commission version, all different. And web people last time I checked still do not work for free yet. So where as it might be theoretically cost effective and save trees (less paperwork) it will cost more in enhanced IT expenditures and web-services. Right now we see the US Government and the US military with their own needs and many of those who would work for franchisors in this regard are working elsewhere thus the supply and demand of such technological folks is dried up and the cost is through the roof. You are making a rules that will hurt the consumer and trees. All this cannot be considered "Cost-Effective," even though a recent franchise rule making report declared the over disclosure in modern franchising to be cost effective.

Most workers at the Federal Trade Commission, I have heard rumors at the Starbucks across the street, are quite liberal and even consider themselves in the Tree Huggers camp. Either you are for America, trees, consumers and free enterprise or you are for continuing this crazy tact in enacting more inane rules. Whose team is the Federal Trade Commission Franchising Division on anyway, well we know that it is safe to assume they are on the lawyers side, after all many are lawyers, aspire to be lawyers or cannot wait for the day they can get out and MoveOn into a cushy job with a private law firm.

Rules simply to make rules, with no real goal in mind and no end to the upcoming rules this will add in the future, provides no end game or solution. Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission wishes to fund the rule by paying every franchisor $37K or their estimated cost to print these documents for the next year or perhaps the Federal Trade Commission could contact the IRS for a tax credit on all money spent in UFOC printing as long as it was through a bonifide franchised print shop? Perhaps the Federal Trade Commission might start a "Shred It" franchise so they can recycle all the unused UFOCs, which will now have to be thrown out if this rule is enacted? Maybe they can make a paper me shay tree in the lunch room to worship as their new pagan god or make it into Christmas Tree and place under it new rules and regulations thus providing the gift of perpetual job security?

The Federal Trade Commission ought to lead by example and not send mixed messages to industry or force over regulation and minutia piling in disclosure laws. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Give Your Online Business A Super Boost

2009-02-15T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Carter

If you have an online business and it isn't making any money, perhaps through a lack of hits, you can give it a real boost, by writing articles.

So how does that work? It's easy, and it costs you nothing. First of all, write some articles, and that's not difficult. They can be about anything, and I mean anything, from tuning a piano, to the effects of nuclear fallout at Chernobyl, to running a small business magazine from home. Anything. Of course, it gives credence to your written work, if you have some knowledge and expertise in your subject, but we all have experience of something.

Perhaps you were a student once, however long ago. Perhaps you still have your study notes. Dig them out and knock them into shape. Perhaps you have accountancy experience, or of managing a business, or maybe you are an expert fisherman, or a cricket umpire, a driving instructor, a great swimmer, a whiz at metalwork, anything. We all have talents and expertise in some areas, it is just a case of recognising the fact, and making the most of them.

Once you've found your subjects, write away, ideally around 500 words each time. If you have long stuff, break it up into more manageable chunks. You cannot include within the article blatant advertising or promotion for your business, nor write a press release publicising any business, web site, or event, but never fear, you will benefit, and this is how.

At the end of the article you can include a biography section, perhaps three or four paragraphs long. It might include something like "James Parkes was an accountant for twenty-two years and you can find details of his services at www.jamesparkes.com " (don't fret that's a dummy address.) But you get the drift. You can include three or four different website addresses in your biography section, and they all lead directly back to you, and your enterprises.

So where do you go then, with these articles? You upload them to an article exchange. There are dozens of these about now, testament to how successful they have been. I like ezinearticles.com, one of the first, and still for me, the best. And no, I have no financial interest in this site, nor am I an affiliate.

It costs you nothing to upload your articles, and you can upload as many, or as few, as you like, and once their moderator has passed them as acceptable, your articles go live on their database. They currently have over 150,000 live articles running on every subject under the sun, and that attracts a huge viewing audience. Google "article exchanges" to find many others.

I have forty plus articles running at present, and over 15,000 people have viewed my articles worldwide, I kid you not. Every article has its little hit counter for you to monitor if you so wish. If only one in twenty of those viewers clicked on one of my web site addresses in my biog section, then over 750 people have viewed my stuff, and that's 750 potential customers I didn't have before, and it has cost me nothing, other than a little bit of time.

But it doesn't stop there. Anyone, and I mean anyone, can reproduce those articles free of charge, in their newspapers and magazines, on their web sites, and within newsletters and ezines and ebooks, right around the world. And they do. There is a hunger out there for fresh new writing on every subject, and the articles are picked up, and reproduced, time and time again. The publications and web sites reproducing these articles may do so as often as they like, providing they publish the article in its entirety, exactly as is, including your biog paragraphs at the foot.

So your messages are now being carried free of charge all around the globe by third parties you don't even know. Literally so. My articles have appeared dozens of times in American, Australian, Canadian, Indian, and New Zealand media, to name but a few, so eventually you have no idea how many people actually see your scribblings, but that doesn't matter, providing it brings additional new viewers to your sites. Last time I looked, I had over 500 copies of my articles running worldwide, and how many viewers are seeing them? A huge number, that's for sure, and that publicity has cost nothing. If I can do it, anyone can.

As we all know, hits make sales. What's the point of having a great website that no one ever sees? This way, an almost unlimited number of viewers can be driven to your site, for free. It really does work.

Never consider paying to have your articles published, as some exchanges will try and do. That would defeat the object. And why pay per click either, when you can have clicks for nowt? Try and write a new article every week. That way, you will continually refresh your viewers and audience, and build up greater content available. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to make your websites successful. Give it a try. Be successful. You can do it, you really can.

This article first appeared in the English home business magazine "The Mill".

David Carter's latest published work is SPLAM! Successful Property Letting And Management. Splam! contains over 240 pages of hints and tips on how to start your own property business on a limited budget, and how to successfully let residential property. You can view actual extracts of the book at http://www.splam.co.uk and order a download or a hard copy at this site, or you can go direct to the publishers at http://www.lulu.com/dc. He also runs a holiday cottage website where you can access over 7,000 holiday cottages, apartments and villas worldwide at http://www.pebblebeachmedia.co.uk. Don't you deserve a holiday this year? Well of course you do! You can contact David on any matter, any time, at supalife@aol.com

Fleet Washing Operations Manual Sample Outline

2009-02-14T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

In the Truck Washing Business every single type of vehicle is washed differently. If you are going to run a mobile onsite fleet washing business with multiple trucks in multiple cities you will in fact need a comprehensive manual to keep your crews and equipment running at an optimum. Below you will see a sample outline to assist you in constructing a washing procedure manual, which will include many different types of fleet vehicles.

Feel free to print this outline and modify it to include all the types of fleets you expect to be washing, cross off those you either do not care to wash or feel you may never be asked to wash by current or future customers. Once your outline is completed and modified write up four paragraphs for each type of vehicle using your vast knowledge. After completing this exercise you will find your rough draft of fleet washing procedures is nearly 20 pages long. Now type this up and format your document for double spacing and think and remember when you last washed each type of vehicles and how you maximized your time, what you did right and the mistakes you had made, be sure to put bullets by the positive methods and warnings by the mistakes. Next find some graphics on CDROM or on the Internet and then you will be able turn your hard work into a near perfect manual, to distribute to each manager and crew team leader in your company.

I. FLEET WASHING PROCEDURES

A. Trucks (Exterior)

1. Soaping

2. Wheels

3. Grease

4. Gas Tanks

5. Undercarriage

6. Brakes

7. Front Axles

8. Bugs

9. Top

10. Back Of Cab

11. Safety

B. Trailers (Exterior)

1. Backs

2. Fronts

3. Sides Of Top

4. Sides

5. Wheels

6. License Plate

7. Bobcats

8. Cleanouts (Boxes)

C. Buses (Exterior)

1. Fronts

2. Tops

3. Backs

4. Advertising Signs

5. Ribs And Lines

6. Windows

7. Wheels

8. Leaking

9. School Buses

10. RTD

11. Charter Buses

12. Tour Buses

D. Limousines (Exterior)

1. Soaping

2. Tires

3. Whitewalls

4. Rinsing

5. Chrome

E. Limousines (Exterior)

1. Vacuuming

2. Windows

3. Carpet Spots

4. Fragrance

5. Counters

F. Delivery Vans/Step Sides

1. Ford, Dodge, Chevy

2. Step Sides

3. Soaping

4. Rinsing

5. Logos

6. Drying

G. Gas Trucks

1. Perfection

2. Cost

3. Reclamation

4. Soaps

5. Overview

H. Garbage, Refuse Trucks

1. Soaping

2. Grease/Fires

3. Image

4. Handles

5. Turco Products

6. City Yards

I. Sanitation (Pump) Trucks

1. EPA Laws

2. Triple Traps

3. About Water

4. Soaping

5. Rinsing

6. Etc.

J. Sod Trucks, Equipment Haulers, Flatbeds

1. Blasting Mud

2. Soaping Beds

3. Cleaning Tops

4. Water Usage

5. Messy Proposition

6. Time factors

7. Rinsing Quickly

8. Dirt yards

K. Taxis

1. Windows

2. Quick Washes

3. Vacuuming

L. Rent-A-Cars

1. Efficiency

2. Dirty Windows Only

3. Dash Swipe

4. Carpet Stains

5. Trash

6. Quick Wash

7. Time Constraints

M. Police Cars

1. Under Seats

2. Radio's, Dusting

3. Windows

4. Light Bars (Bugs)

5. Mud

6. Back Seats

7. Black (In Sun)

N. Federal Express

1. Nightly

2. Trash

3. Windows

4. Arm Rests

5. Sticky Glue

6. Decals

7. Back Doors

8. Behind Wheels

O. Armored Cars

1. Door Handles

2. Interiors

3. Windows

4. Bugs

5. Tires

P. Automobile Transport Trailers

1. Vinyl Sides

2. Steel Braces

3. Hydraulic Oils

4. Tire Tracks

5. Safety

6. Time Commitment

Q. Tow Trucks

1. Beds

2. Grease

3. Handles

4. Chrome

5. Aluminum

6. Booms

7. Light Bars

8. Decals

9. Windows

10. Etc.

R. Exterminator Trucks

1. Bed

2. Chemicals

3. Headaches

4. Exterior

5. Soaping

6. Etc.

S. Cable Company Trucks

1. Beds

2. Soaping

3. Tool Boxes

4. Etc.

T. Catering Trucks

1. Screens

2. Vents

3. Drying

4. Counters

5. Interiors

6. Etc.

U. Cement Trucks

1. Muratic Acid

2. Dirt/Mud

3. Undercarriage

4. Etc.

V. Driving Schools

1. Windows

2. Quick Washes

3. Passenger Seat

4. Etc.

W. Moving And Storage Companies

1. Forty-Eight Foot Boxes

2. Wheels

3. Fronts/Backs

4. Twelve Foot Tall

Lance Winslow

Grants Do I Qualify

2009-02-14T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeffrey Benson

There are over 5,000 grants available for small business from the EU, central and local government and a wide range of organisations and trusts.

All grants have different criteria and different conditions, some will take the form of interest free loans others will be free grants of cash or they could be grants in the form of advice or business support.

Whether or not you qualify will often depend on where you are based, what business sector you operate in and what you want the money for.

What are Grants for?

This varies according to the type of grant it is. In some areas you can get assisted grants for marketing and export while selective regional assistance gives grants of up to 15% of the start up costs of a project.

The DTI's Smart Grants, meanwhile, are aimed at helping companies in the technical sector conduct development of feasibility costs. And young entrepreneurs may be able to get loans from either The Princes Trust or Shell LiveWire

The Pro's

Grants can provide valuable support for start ups and companies wanting to develop particular projects. They often come as a package with additional business advice and support which can prove as important as the cash.

Your local Business Link should be able to point you in the direction of relevant grant schemes and many business support organisations subscribe to a grants database. Alternatively there are companies that specialise in finding and winning you a grant on a no win/no fee basis.

The con's

With so many grants on offer finding the one that's right for you can be time-consuming - and then you have to wade through lengthy and complex application forms with no guarantee that your request will be successful. So you should carefully check the terms and conditions of a grant scheme before you even start applying.

There are companies that can help with this as they specialise in finding and winning you a grant on a no win/no fee basis that can make the process easier - but obviously you will sacrifice a percentage of the award if you do it this way.

Most grants will only give you partial funding for a venture or project so you may still have to find a proportion of your funding elsewhere.

Brainybusiness.com provides business and personal development resources to help small and growing businesses start, manage and expand their business. The site contains books, articles, free ebooks and resources. Visit: http://www.brainybusiness.com

Solving Problems With Inside Help

2009-02-13T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Susan Dorling

As an entrepreneur you like doing things your way. You may find it difficult to seek advice for those inevitable problems that crop up now and then. But, taking advice from people you know is often a smart move. Before you ask for help consider the following creative solutions:

Do your best to know what it is you don't know. If you don't recognize the scope of your problem you could look for help in the wrong places. Put some time in on research. The Internet is a phenomenal source of information and it's right at your fingertips - or visit the library.

Consult with your mentors, if you have them. If you don't, consider developing a network of business associates that have skills and knowledge you may be able to use.

Be humble - another person's viewpoint may be just the thing needed to help you solve your problem. Never be too proud to ask anyone for help when you need it.

Don't get angry if their answers do not agree with your own ideas. Never reject an idea without further research - you never know. It just might be the idea you need to get things back on course.

Work towards a decisive course of action based on information. Information is only useful if it encourages you to make the right decision and take correct action.

Start with people you know. Ideally you should start with your 'inside sources' like employees and records and statistics.

For financial and marketing problems consider joint ventures, franchising, licensing.

Employees
Employees are a good source of knowledge that is often left untapped. But savvy entrepreneurs realize that their employees have been hired in the first place because they have the skills and talents that make them assets to the business. Employees can be invaluable in solving problems that may arise, particularly in production or with personnel issues. Utilize this inside pool of knowledge to help solve your problems when appropriate.

Schedule regular meetings with your employees so that all problems can be aired - brainstorming works wonders and a fruitful meeting will produce loads of suggestions about how to do things better, how to avoid further problems, and how to enhance the working relationships between all staff levels.

Involve your key employees in budgeting, goal-setting, and planning. Realize the value of sharing information with them and do so when appropriate.

Give your employees the tools to grow by assigning tasks and responsibilities that help them reach their full potential in your company. Most importantly give them the freedom to carry out their duties. The bottom line is profitability so make use of their knowledge and experience in every way you can.

Seek out those employees with special talents and encourage them to acquire more education and training to excel in that field or further develop their skill set. Create an atmosphere that is not only performance-oriented but people-oriented, too!The feeling of a job well done and a pat on the back can go a long way... always praise and reward top performance.

Records and Statistics
Statistics will tell you what is happening. For example, your daily website traffic analysis cannot be over-emphasized. Analysis will help lead you to the reasons why problems exist and can potentially help you solve those issues. Statistics and records, whether related to your website or any other area of your business are not to be used in isolation but as a tool to make comparisons that will help you more effectively manage your business and reach profitability.

Successful use of records and stats whether online or offline, means making comparisons that indicate trends: Sales are up this month versus the same month last year, or comparison against other points such as sales are down compared to budget forecasts, or are up more than the industry average, and so on. Wherever possible use percentages to highlight changes and to help make comparisons. It's also imperative to analyze your business in terms of demographics. Proper use of this information leads to the development of new products and services, and helps a business to know when to pull the plug on those offerings that have become tired and outdated.

All businesses have "hot buttons" which signal the pulse of the company. Symptoms of business health or sickness don't always show up in the normal records. In addition to overdue receivables or outstanding payables, check out your back-order position, customer complaints, absenteeism, or staff turnover. Understand what the "hot buttons" in your business are and monitor them monthly, weekly, or in times of crisis, daily.

Joint Ventures, Franchising, Licensing
One way of securing inside help is to work jointly with or through another company or individual entrepreneur who can supplement your own strengths and make up for your weaknesses. Joint ventures, franchisor, or licensor should help in some or all of the following areas:

Marketing

New products.

Location research.

Finding New Markets

Means of distribution.

Customers and customer lists.

Corporate image and awareness.

Market data and leads.

Internet presence.

Management

Provide the benefit of their management experience.

Suggest personnel training methods.

Introduce systems and controls.

Finance

Directly by investing or lending money.

Indirectly by co-signing leases, guaranteeing to lenders or suppliers, giving credibility through their name and reputation

Running a business is complex and exhilarating. Solving problems will always be a major part of the business experience. When those nasty problems do arise, as they inevitably will, listen and learn from others...it's the beginning of making obstacles into opportunities for growth and will ultimately lead you to success.

Susan Dorling is a freelance writer of articles and poetry, copywriter, and web designer living in the countryside of Ontario, Canada with her furry feathered family of dogs, cats, ducks, and soulmate, Gary. She writes on a variety of subjects including web design, small business and entrepreneurship, personal development and success, Internet marketing, animals, the environment, entomology and pest control. http://www.focuscreativeservices.com http://www.focusonanimals.com http://www.northcountrygroup.com

Give Your Floors High Gloss By Burnishing

2009-02-12T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Steve Hanson

If the floors in your building have lost their luster, it might be time to burnish them. Burnish the floors in your buildings to give them a high gloss or "wet" look. It also extends the life of the floor finish. The process of burnishing uses an ultra high-speed floor machine to renew the floor surface.

It is important to have the proper equipment to do the job. You need a high-speed machine (1500-2500 rpm), a mop bucket with cool water, restorer or burnishing chemical, a measuring cup, wet floor sign, vacuum or broom and dust mop, putty knife, safety glasses and gloves.

The first step is to thoroughly sweep or vacuum the floor so it is clean. Use a putty knife to remove any labels, stickers, gum or other substances that are stuck to the floor. Next put out the wet floor sign.

Read the directions on your burnishing chemical or restorer and prepare your mop water according to the manufacturer's recommendations. Begin mopping the floor, starting at the furthest point away from the main entry, working towards the door. Once this task is completed let the floor dry thoroughly.

The next step is to set up your machine. Various buffer pads are available, so pick the proper pad to do the job.

A white pad is for light dry polishing or light spray buffing for a high gloss.
An aqua pad is ideal for high frequency, high gloss burnishing.
An ultra champagne pad is for low to moderate burnishing programs on harder floor finishes.
A natural hair pad made with natural hair and synthetic fiber works well on a wide variety of floor finishes and traffic conditions.

You should check with the manufacturer of the pad to make sure it is right for your situation as not all manufacturers use the same color coding system.

Now you are set to run your floor machine. To get a deep gloss, make two or three passes across the floor. After burnishing, vacuum or dust mop the floor. Once those tasks are completed remember to replace any rugs, furniture, displays or mats you moved.

Burnishing is an excellent way to give floors back a glossy look. It can also extend the life of your floor finish and lengthen the time between floor strippings. A clean, glossy floor makes your whole cleaning business shine.

Steve Hanson is co-founding member of The Janitorial Store (TM), an online community for owners and managers of cleaning companies who want to build a more profitable and successful cleaning business. For more information, check out our Cleaning to Perfection Hard Floor Care Training Program. Sign up for Trash Talk: Tip of the Week at http://www.TheJanitorialStore.com and receive a Free Gift!

This Will Save You From Business Failure

2009-02-11T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Justin Woolich

"67% of New Businesses Fail in the first 5 Years"

We have all heard this statistic, or variations on it before. It's quite a scary fact when you consider the implications, especially if you have started or are about to start a new business.

But the bad news does not end there:

"A further 22% of Businesses Fail in the second 5 years"

So even if you manage to survive the first 5 years, the odds are still against you continuing your business past the 10 year mark.

So what is the cause for such a high rate of failure in new businesses?

Lack of research into the market? Negligent business owners? Lack of funding? Changing market conditions? Staffing Issues? Or just plain Bad Luck?

All of these things contribute to the problem in some way. I don't think that any of them are the primary cause. Not one of them would be involved in every case. A more in-depth study would reveal that a more fundamental problem is responsible.

Businesses are generally started and run by people with quite a lot of hands on experience with the work of the business. Quite often they have spent 5, 10 or even 20 years working in the industry. You would think that this experience would allow them to be successful with their own businesses.

"Only 10% of new Franchises Fail in the first 5 years"

Interesting! So maybe we can work out why small businesses fail by looking at why Franchises succeed. What is it that (Business Format) Franchises have in place that allows them to boast such improved survival rates.

Under a Business Format Franchise the franchisor grants the franchisee a licence to operate as an ongoing business. The agreement allows the franchisee to trade under the name of the franchisor. They are given access to an entire package, comprising all the elements necessary to teach a previously untrained person how to run the business.

The Business Format Franchise establishes an integrated system of doing business that includes:

A proven system for successful operation of the business. Initial and ongoing training in the operations of the business. Ongoing Assistance with marketing, business and technical operation of the business.

"It's all about Business Systems"

So the difference is that a Business Format Franchise supplies their new operators and staff with well defined tested and documented Business Systems. A turnkey way of running the business, turn the key and it works, every time, exactly the way you expected.

The new Franchise operator has the Business Systems in place from day one to run their business. They have the documentation allowing them to rapidly train their staff. They also have a management and reporting structure allowing them to track the Key Indicators in their business.

"What do you need to do to ensure you don't become a Statistic?"

To ensure that you survive and are one of the successful businesses you need to develop your business by modelling the Business Format Franchise.

Develop Business Systems that describe and document exactly what needs to be done to run your business.

Train your Employees in the operation of your Business Systems. Design your Organizational Structure to allow you to measure monitor, track and control your business.

http://www.businesssystemsmanager.com/Save-You-From-Business-Failure.aspx Business Systems Manager provides you with the tools you need to develop Business Systems, design your organizational structure and monitor and track the ongoing performance of your business. Sign up for a free trial today http://www.BusinessSystemsManager.com

It Consulting Steps To A Successful Launch

2009-02-10T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

Before starting your IT consulting business, be prepared. In this article, learn some of the steps you should take before beginning your IT consulting practice.

Step Ten: Start a Simple Contact Database of Everyone You Meet.

Use a package like ACT of Goldmine - don't reinvent the wheel. Start contacting each person and let them know you are opening your IT consulting business and you would appreciate them keeping their ears open for any referrals. Or tell them if there is any complaining or whine about computers, you want to know about it.

Use A Combination of Personal and Professional Visits

In person visits are the most powerful, then phone calls, then emails and postcards. Make sure you give each person couple of your IT consulting business cards with your mobile number on it. Also, give them some tech support stickers so they can put one on their computer and give them to others.

Step Eleven. Decide What To Charge and How To Bill

Think about your hourly billing rate and be very careful not to undercharge. Think about whether you want to assess a travel charge or a trip charge a call fee or flat fee on top of your hourly billing rate. Also consider your minimum onsite hours, 2-3 is generally the standard. You are going to have to go a lot of different places on any given day to make a living. So schedule efficiently.

Consider how you are going to bill for telephone support and remote support. Do not give it away for free. Figure out how you are going to charge for an off-site project.

Step Twelve: Get Your First Paying Customer

Do an awesome job with your first IT consulting customer. Go out of your way to over-deliver. Get paid and while that client is saying what a great job you did, get a testimonial. You are going to need a lot of those as time goes on.

Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Business Computer Consulting .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg has helped thousands of small business computer consulting firms get more steady, high-paying clients. Now you can too. Sign-up now for your free access a one-hour audio training program featuring field-tested, proven Small Business Computer Consulting Secrets.

Presentations And Sales Automotive Detailers

2009-02-10T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Many auto detailers fall short in their sales presentations. I have often shopped the competition to see what their knowledge base was to gage their worthiness as a formidable competitor in the market place. What I have found is that many auto detailers lack the specific knowledge needed to help their business grow and to present themselves as experienced in their work to the customers.

When a customer asks you about the wax you are using or the best type of wax for their particular car, Shouldn't you know the right and true answer? Well apparently many professional auto detailers do not know the right answer. They just lack the knowledge. In a recent competitor survey, which was done without their knowing it, we casually asked hundreds of detailers while in incognito over a period of six months about the wax they used. Less than 1 in five were able to give us the straight answer without BS'ing their way through it. From the Dry Wash, kerosene like product, to the Teflon save the world crowd all we got was a little memorized line of sales brochures and a trial closes. In my company the Detail Guys, our team does have the knowledge of such things and we really have no desire to BS a customer, especially one which will be with us for years. Two reasons; (1) It is called lying and (2) Double Talk later will be found out.

When a professional detailer embellishes the performance, longevity, finished look before the job, he will have an unhappy customer later on. Perhaps when he is done when the customer is under whelmed for the amount paid or perhaps a month in the future when the "Teflon" Sealant, which was suppose to last 3-years is worn off and was supposedly guaranteed by DuPont? Well maybe on pots and pans baked on at 450 degrees, but there is no such guarantee for their product when used as automotive wax. Dry Wash also is interesting in that the operators say it does not scratch? Maybe if the car is in the garage with dust, but a dirty car, well it really needs a washing first and we have seen where Dry Wash tends to attract dust easily compared to hard shell waxes, of course no one ever tells the customer that. It is important to know your vendors, their products, what those products can do, what they cannot do and which is the best solution for the individual car you are working on.

So what are the types of waxes available and which ones do the best in the professional auto detailing industry use? Most plants have a thin protective coating of wax.. Most fruit trees and vegetables plants have wax on the fruit and vegetables they produce that we eat. Waxes are also produced by animals, even man makes wax for his ears. Other wax components are found in minerals and petroleum. And the are Polymer or synthetic, manufactured by man waxes. We get waxes from a variety of sources really.

Carnuba wax is on the leaves of the carnuba palm trees. The best Carnuba wax comes from in my opinion the Palm Tress of Brazil. You can tell a good carnuba wax by the water beads. Candelilla wax comes from a plant that grows in parts of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala and sometimes in the southwestern United States. It is a brown wax and not only have people used it on cars it is used in phonograph records, floor dressings, and candles. Although it is the major component of candle wax, it is mixed in with other waxes normally in the candles we use in our homes.

Polymer wax includes the very popular Teflon, yes a polymer brand Name used by DuPont. Polymer wax is a chain of compounds made of petroleum sources and now a days from Corn products. Polymers which are strung together are generally applied in specific thick nesses to clear coats on cars and depending on the mixture can be quite incredible indeed. So good in fact that they are often called sealants and some last as long as a year when applied in the right mixtures and thick nesses. The word Polymer is a very vague in this regard since polymers are used to make plastics, coatings and many other products. Generally short chains of ethlenic polymers are the type that are used by professional automotive detailers and auto detailers a like. Many in the aviation industry use it when doing specialized aircraft cleaning. We estimate that 80% of all automotive detailing and aviation aircraft cleaning commercial wax is petroleum based wax. Petroleum wax is chemically inactive in a sense and probably why it is so widely preferred. It is also cheaper to make than to harvest and has tons of uses. You cannot smell it unless cleaners are added which is often the case, but still it will not react to cause odor.

Petroleum wax can also be made hard and then we get a new type of wax. Paraffin; used in paper products, graffiti, petroleum jelly. All Synthetic waxes are compounds of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and/or chlorine. Chemists will forever be trying to make the perfect wax for cars, boats, aircraft to protect us from the harsh climates on the surface of this little blue planet. And these chemists are driven by desire and need and the possibilities are endless as new compounds are adding to existing ones to bring up whole new blending ideas, some will revolutionize our industry but most will simply be duds. Some will be hyped even though they do not really solve a problem or fix a need. Never the less, the race goes on to find the best and we should be thinking about what is in that product before we put it on a customers car, boat, aircraft or prize possession. This is what the professional detailer does, this is why we are experts in car care and call our selves auto detailers, rejuvenation specialists and professional auto detailers.

There are so many types of waxes that we know of really. From the organic waxes discussed containing carbon materials, which melt at fairly low temperatures. The chemical and biological make-up of waxes is so diverse and complex as well as consideration for grades, properties, surface uses and life spans that to really understand waxes in depth as they apply to the automotive detailing industry, also to aircraft cleaning, that this short essay may need to be supplemented by proper training.

Remember Knowledge is power. Where can you get training? Check around the Internet to find Auto Detailing Training Centers and companies who sell videos and manuals, this is a good place to start. Most likely you have some practical knowledge, enhance this by learning and knowing your products; what they are and how they work. Think on this.

Lance Winslow

Computer Franchises Choosing The Right One For You

2009-02-09T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Joshua Feinberg

Computer franchises can be found everywhere in the country. Because risks are a part of investment in computer franchises, you want to make sure you consider all factors to make sure you are completely prepared for all the challenges.

Things To Consider When Purchasing A Franchise

A lot of people falsely think that buying computer franchises guarantees a winning business situation. But before you make the decision to buy, you need to consider important things like the demand for your produce and service, the competition you will face, whether you are able to run the business, the popularity of the name and the growth opportunity for the company. These important factors will determine whether computer franchises are your best bet.

Factors Of Demand And Competition

Demand for your product or service is the single most important factor to think about when considering computer franchises, and thankfully expert computer services are in high demand most everywhere. Computer businesses can run year round and have the capability to attract repeat customers. Look for a location that does not already have a lot of computer businesses and where there aren't already franchises like the one you're buying.

Running Computer Franchises

Buying computer franchises is not risk free, and sometimes the business will fail. Ask yourself if you will be able to manage marketing, advertising or any other elements without a full-time person designated to these areas, in case you have to cut personnel. Answers to these important questions will determine if you are ready to operate computer franchises.

What's In The Name?

The main reason to buy computer franchises is name recognition. If the company has a long and quality track record, good training programs and support systems it is probably worth your money, even if the franchise fee is very high.

Growth

If the franchise you purchase is growing quickly, name recognition will be even better, and you will attract more customers. All this is great news unless you're understaffed. Make sure the company will be able to support you and the growth of your business.

Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Joshua Feinberg can help you get more steady, high-paying computer consulting clients. You can learn how too. Sign-up now for Joshua's free audio training program on the Computer Consulting Blog.

Do You Feel Like A Prisoner In Your Small Business Heres Your Quotget Out Of Jail Free Cardquot

2009-02-09T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Mike Kramer

You won't believe the conversation I had with a successful business owner the other day...

This guy has made millions of dollars, lives in a gorgeous mansion -- located in one of the richest neighborhoods and, do you know what he told me?

He told me he wants to quit! He wants to get out of his business.

Sure, he likes the money, but, he feels his company has robbed him of his life. He feels like a stranger to his family and he's tired of the constant hassles with customers, vendors and employees.

Poor, rich guy! Do you feel sorry for him?

He is making unbelievable sums of money and he is still so miserable -- trapped by his own success...

Did you ever feel this way?

Did you ever feel like you were missing out on your life because you're stuck running your company?

Sad to say, this story illustrates a scenario being played out in small businesses everywhere. You work so hard to achieve your financial success, and then once achieved, you look back with enormous regret.

It doesn't have to be this way. All you need is a slight adjustment in the way you manage your business and you can have it all: A successful, growing business with all the free time to enjoy your life.

Do you want to learn the secret to winning your freedom from your "entrepreneurial prison?" Do you want to work less and less, and become more and more successful?

Well, here it is: My Win Big Secret. The secret that can multiply your success and give you your life back:

To succeed in business you need to standardize every aspect of your day-to-day operations including an effective leadership routine.

The secret relates to standardizing every aspect of your business with the objective of making yourself irrelevant to your company's day-to-day operations.

Do you think it's possible? You might be shaking your head and shrugging your shoulders in disbelief. But, it is possible

Just think about any well run fast food franchise and you'll understand the power of standardization. They are able to take a mostly uneducated workforce and have them perform at world-class levels.

The owner of the franchise is nowhere to be found. His business runs itself. Odds are the business owner is resting at his beachfront home in some an exotic location soaking up the sun. He's not upset and thinking about selling his business.

Your challenge is to transform your business into a highly standardized operation that runs on auto-pilot.

To learn more about how to standardize your business please download the free eBook titled, "My Win Big Secret The Ultimate Breakthrough Strategy" www.winbig.org/secret

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Kramer provides the antidote for overworked business owners. He's a highly successful entrepreneur and the award winning author of the eBook, "My Win Big Secret - The Ultimate Business Breakthrough Strategy." Learn Kramer's secret approach for making more money, working less and selling your business for millions. Get your free copy now: http://www.winbig.org/secret

How To Effectively Design Your Business Image

2009-02-08T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Faith Seekings

In many industries, image is one of the last things business owner looks at. If business is not booming, they assume there is something wrong with the sales method, as opposed to the image. "If we just sent out a few thousand more fliers" they say, "we will get some more clients". When in reality, they should be looking at how the message they're sending to their target market is perceived in the first place. Here are a few pointers to look at:

-Color-

Colors evoke innate responses, which means not all colors are suitable for all business types. How does red make you feel? Angry, in pain, tense? It's tricky. In the financial industry red is negative (in the red). In the world of health, red can represent discomfort, not good for people offering pain solutions. In fitness, red is very sporty and stimulating. How about blue? It tends to be calm and soothing. Blue can range from fun and playful sky blue to dark, corporate navy. Green is often associated with natural things, or 'go' and money depending on the shades.

Yellow/orange/reds/browns in combination stimulate the appetite - think fast food and candy bars. Red is tricky. In some instances red means power and is striking. Purple can very easily go from sophisticated, royal aubergene to kid's grape (Barney). Orange is still a little weird and often used as a shocker, not as the dominant color. The only industry that can get away with almost any color is Tech.

-Personal Preference VS Market Preference-

People often let their own personal tastes rule their image decisions One's color preferences and styles may not suit the audience they are targeting. What style of design appeals to you? Now imagine that in the eyes of someone quite different, like your grandmother.

For example: being too sporty and athletic when your target is professional businesspeople. Too earthy and organic when your target is average Joes. There may be imagery that means a lot to you in your profession, but doesn't mean much to your target market. It may even scare them. Step back and look at your business as if you've never encountered it before. Imagine what might attract clients, or help explain simply what you do. Realizing that your image needs to portray a certain message to the general public, not the you or your colleagues, is the first step to image success.

-Looking "New"-

Just because you've only been in business for a few days, doesn't mean you have to look like it. Having a well put-together public image will build trust and a solid reputation. Taking a little time and care instead of quick 'good enough' fixes will help you appear more established. Potential clients may not consciously pin point it, but they will pick up on the homespun factor or the generic Staples business cards. How does that affect your credibility? It is good to get your name and information about your business out there. However, when it comes to points of contact like brochures and web sites, if they are messy and difficult to read, they aren't doing you any favours. There are professionally designed, inexpensive web templates that can do a great job until you are ready for a custom web site. Find a real printer and ask them have a look at your layout and make sure your type isn't falling off the edge and that the images sharp.

-Looking like everyone else-

You have a lot of competition. If everyone in your industry uses the same symbols and goes for the standard solution, how will you stand out? What makes your business unique? Is it the name? The location? Is there something meaningful to you that you could incorporate into your identity that shows your uniqueness, or that speaks to your target audience? Maybe a new take on an industry symbol. It could be as simple as having a blue card with a different typeface. Imagine this amongst a sea of black and white, times roman everything centered cards.

-Looking good on a shoestring budget-

If you can't hire a designer there are a few things you can do to help look like a pro. Have things printed professionally it is much better than your bubble jet. Don't make all the type gigantic. Give everything some breathing room by not butting up against the edge of the page or pictures. Line things up. Look at the competition. Compare your work to professionally designed material and try to notice the differences that make theirs look cleaner. Put your own tastes aside and ask your target audience for their opinions and then listen to them.

Faith Seekings is the owner of Faith Seekings Design. She works with business owners to help align their business goals with their business image. She can be reached at 416.368.8956 or email faith@faithseekingsdesign.ca

About The Author

Faith is a graphic designer trained at George Brown College in Toronto. With more than 8 years' experience as a designer and project manager, Faith has created logos, stationery, advertising campaigns, ecommerce solutions, websites and collateral material for a host of clients, including: Rogers Cablesystems, Daniels Properties, Zona Health, Nooro Online Research, Agent Wildfire, Nymity Privacy Services and more. Faith is a skilled designer with a keen eye for the strategic as well as the tactical elements of graphic design.

faithseekingsdesign.ca

faith@faithseekingsdesign.ca

Cross Promotions For Small Business

2009-02-08T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by E.R. Rigsbee

You can grow your business through effective community based cross promotions. Leverage your core strengths with that of others and keep your marketing costs in check.

Patricia Fripp and Susan RoAne are buddies, and professional speakers. They both live in Northern California. When they attend an event together, they network, and cross-promote at the same time by giving each other a glowing endorsement.

First, Fripp will introduce RoAne to someone neither has met saying, "She's (RoAne) too modest to tell you, but" Then Fripp raves about RoAne's accomplishments. Then RoAne says, "She (Fripp) is also too modest to tell you" And, then RoAne brags about Fripp.

The beauty of this idea is that in a networking situation, someone else tells people how wonderful you are and what you've done. Bragging is not necessary. This cross-promotion networking is quite simpleas are most other cross-promotion strategies.

Cross-promotion strategies can range from highly sophisticated with formalized contracts like with the major airlines and certain telephone long distance carriers, to promotions as casual as stuffing your bags with flyers or coupons from another merchant in your community and having them do the same for you. Or, perhaps putting promotional messages on one another's register receipts?

An insurance agent in my community cross-promoted with a local restaurateur. The owner of the restaurant paid for the printing of the insurance agent's business cards. The cards doubled as a 20% discount coupon for the restaurant and also had a map to the restaurant on the reverse. The insurance agent gave out several of his cards at every business upon which he cold called. The cards ended up sitting around in many of the businesses for a long time. This was because the cards were seen as a valuable discount coupon rather than another salesman's business card.

They call themselves the Sonoma County Fine Furniture Association (SCFFA). Eight Northern California fine furniture retailers, all competitors, banded together to survive the recession of the early 1990s through cross-promotion and buying strength. They developed combined events where customers would visit several of the stores to be eligible to win prizes. They promoted each other to their customers within the store, especially if the specific retailer did not have exactly what the customer was seeking. They even printed a combined brochure, including the address and map locations of each member. The front of the brochure said, "People you can trust." They bought advertising together on the local radio and in the local newspaper. They even dictated to the local newspaper on which pages their advertising would be located. They received impact and results.

Taking the cross promotion idea one-step at a time, consider using the below listed basic publicity tactics by collaborating with another merchant in your community to cross-promote through publicity. Do the events together, and when ever possible use the Fripp/RoAne glowing endorsement idea.

1. Distribute free booklets or reports.

2. Author a book.

3. Publish a newsletter.

4. Submit news releases.

5. Write a regular newspaper or magazine column.

6. Do your own radio show.

7. Get on popular radio & TV talk shows.

8. Become an expert resource for reporters.

9. Welcome new people to your town.

10. Congratulate people in writing when you read about their accomplishments.

11. Give public speeches.

12. Sponsor public seminars.

13. Host power breakfasts.

14. Sponsor local charity or service club events.

Ideas are great, implementation is better. You will want to implement your cross promotion well. To achieve successful cross promotions, you'll need to develop your process or road map. I suggest these steps:

1. Be clear on what you want to create for yourself.

2. Discover the "What's In It For Me" for your promotion partner(s).

3. Develop a plan for who does what, especially in the areas of costs and contributions.

4. Explain to your promotion partner(s) the value they will receive. Help them to also have emotional ownership (commitment) in the promotion.

5. Develop a method to measure results.

6. Execute the cross-promotion.

7. Debrief on the value all the participants received.

8. Plan your next promotion.

Use this simple cross-promotion checklist:

1. Who does what?

2. Develop a theme.

3. Explore print advertising.

4. Explore radio advertising.

5. Explore cable TV advertising.

6. Explore direct mail advertising.

7. Explore E-mail advertising.

8. Divide the work equitably.

9. Is everybody going to receive similar value?

The owner of several local Dominos pizzerias suggested this to me. "When you cross-promote with non-profit groups, keep the following in mind:

1. They always tell you what they want.

2. They generally have their hand out without offering much in return.

3. Be sure you tell them what you need.

4. Ask them to do more for you than simply take your money.

5. Always use coupons to assist in measuring results."

Customer list based cross-promotions are usually quite successful and inexpensive. Generally each merchant expands the reach of their targeted customers two-fold, at a cost of approximately 40% to 60% less than is usually spent on a similar promotion conducted solo. Additionally, each enjoys the credibility of the other. Common direct mail strategies include flyers, postcards, coupons and calendars. Flyers can be printed on both sides for a two-party promotion or several flyers can be mailed in the same envelope.

Cross-promotion is simply common denominator marketing. You find another merchant or business that has similar or overlapping markets and customers. Then you discover a way to work together to do what you already do more efficiently and effectively or cooperatively do something promotionally that neither of you could not pull off solo.

To access helpful additional information from Ed Rigsbee at no charge, please visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm.

Ed Rigsbee, CSP is the author of PartnerShift, Developing Strategic Alliances and The Art of Partnering. Rigsbee has over 1,000 published articles to his credit and is a regular keynote presenter at corporate and trade association conferences across North America. He can be reached through http://www.Rigsbee.com or http://www.EdRigsbee.com.

Decision Taking Making Effective Hoices How Do You Make Decisions

2009-02-07T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Adrian Pepper

A key element in coaching people is helping them to decide what they want to achieve so I am never surprised when the first part of my job is to teach my client how to make decisions that satisfy them.

Recently, I worked with a lady who wanted to buy a car - but had not made any progress for three months.

1. What do you want?

My client could easily state her (high-level) objective - to buy a car. I then pushed her to describe what tangible measures would show she had the right car - her successful outcome. I also asked her to set a timescale and a budget for her effort and money.

2. What is important?

We spent a little time listing down all the important aspects of the car - colour, upholstery, engine size, number of doors, CD player and two pages of other details. Next we sorted these notes into must and want items.

Using the musts, we looked through the available vehicles in the newspapers and on the web, to research the most promising choices, collect useful information and filter out the unacceptable cars.

3. How to choose?

By now, my client was really encouraged - she could see she was making progress. Now her task was to weigh up the acceptable cars and to rank them. This was actually the hardest part of the decision, deciding what was more important, less important or made no difference.

4. How to confirm your choices?

Now my client moved from paper to the fun bit: trying out the motors. So we mapped the sales locations, listed which cars were where and planned her assessment schedule.

Several days later, she fedback how trying the cars had changed her perceptions. Interestingly, she was attracted to a car designed to make it easy to top up the water and check the oil level and check the tyre pressures - an aspect that we had not considered.

5. How do you know it is right?

So we met for a coffee and talked through my client's notes on her assessment schedule and listed her favoured top-five cars. At this point, I reminded her about the tangible measures we had collected for her objective and we checked how the listed cars measured up.

My client was visibly relieved that her detailed choice satisfied her original objective - so she became decisive, picked her best option and my job was done.

When I saw her three months later, she was still certain she had made the right decision - and I was happy because she had made a satisfying decision.

Dont Wait For The Perfect Plan

2009-02-06T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Gordon Goh

1. Don't Spend Too Much Time Planning

When you are entering a new market, you won't know the hidden problems and challenges you will face. You won't understand those problems until you make a few mistakes. And you won't solve them and go on to making success of your new business of your are capable of direction quickly.

Most successful new businesses about 90 per cent of them end up following practices that are different than anticipate. That's why it doesn't pay to spend too much time and money on planning. Do some research. Figure out the big action plans and give yourself a bail-out option. Then go for it. He who can adapt, wins.

2. Don't spend too much money

The vast majority of business start-ups that succeed do so on a limited budget, and without the benefit of venture capital funding.

People involved in businesses that have limited funds must think harder, work harder and, most importantly, sell harder. Their primary initial effort is to bring in the cash. And that's how it should be.

There is only one thing that will surely stop any business in its tracks and that's the lack of money.

Ironically, limited capital usually means a quicker and stronger cash flow. You are forced to be disciplined from the start, your workers make do with less, and will have a better focus on bringing in much needed revenue.

3. Get Operational Fast

The most common reasons for the failure of a new product or project is time wasted getting ready. Between making over extend and expensive business plans, endlessly tinkering with the products and being embroiled with focus groups, it's very easy to let a good product or project lose steam.

Some entrepreneurs don't mind starting with a copycat idea targeted a small market Imitation saves the cost of market research and the start up entering a small market is unlikely to face marketing is unlikely to face competition from large, established Companies.

4. Go for Quick Cash First

Contrary to what some business books say, successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they will take the fastest route to get the cash when launching a new venture. They do so because they don't have a choice.

After the cash starts coming in, they then have the time and funds to improve the product., enhance customer service and refine operations.

Keep in mind that the best laid plans are often the most arrogant. You don't know for sure how to best serve the market until you are actually to the field-serving customers:

When launching a new business or product, figure out how you can get to the breakeven, point fastest. This kind of revenue planning will force you to pay closer attention to the market.

5. Forget about Hiring An Expert, you are it

Successful entrepreneurs don't have experts to run their businesses. They figure it out for themselves. When t comes to making your new product or project work, reply on nobody that yourself to make sure it gets done right.

Yes, it may be stressful and time-consuming to do a lot of extra work yourself, but it will pay in the long run. You will understand the project in an way.

Don't dither when it comes to making the first move. If you want to be a business-building genius or just want to make a lot of money this year, here are five secrets of highly successful entrepreneurs.

Gordon Goh is author of the free, informative website http://flowersgardeningtips.bravehost.com/Flower-Tip-Sitemap-B.html offering quality useful tips for http://flower-garden-tips.atspace.com/Flower-Garden-Tips-Sitemap-A.html

Identify Your Small Business Advantage

2009-02-05T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Rasmus Nielsen

Small businesses usually find themselves being disadvantaged compared to medium or large businesses, because they do not have the resources available. The owner/operator is required to wear a range of different caps, which has a range of negative impact on the business. The business is managing the owner/operator, which means that the strategic perspective is lost and as a result the business is not able to move forward. Now let us have a closer look at this cause and effect.

The business is managing the owner/operator

When there are 117 different things to do in the business every day but there is only a few people (or one person) to do the tasks, some things are not done very well or not done at all. As a result the owner/operator is working like a firefighter putting out the fires as they appear, rather than prevent the fires to start in the first place. This becomes a viscous circle, which leads to the next point

The strategic perspective is lost

During the working hours the owner/operator is focusing on the operational tasks, and it is hard to take a few steps back and look at the business from an objective perspective As a result the, the business owner does the same thing day after day, week after week and so on. Unless the owner/operator has an active supporting network to step in and provide guidance, the owner will keep making the same mistakes and end up the same place that many before has ended.

Get an advisory board

The solution is to establish a formal or informal advisor board. An advisory board should consist of a group of experts of their chosen field. It can be private friends (though this can include some complications and as such is not advised). An alternative to an advisory board is finding a business coach or even better a business mentor. They all have in common the fact they do not work directly within the business and can see what is going on and help managing the business. Once an advisor has been identified, it is important to identify the core business functions and analyse if certain activities can be fulfilled more effectively, and maybe even outsource some of these activities.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a great tool to manage the business with, in particularly if the owner keeps attending fires. Outsourcing simply means that someone else is a called in as a "hired gun" to do some of business activities, in particularly the activities that does not contribute to the business profit. One such thing is bookkeeping and accounts, which is very time consuming, but is not a core business function (unless you are a bookkeeper). When outsourcing the bookkeeping function to someone else, it is very important that the bookkeeper not only does the simple bookkeeping tasks, but also provides the owner with the proper reporting tools that the owner need to manage the business.

The bookkeeper should be able to provide the owner with the following reporting tools:

Profit & Loss
Balance Sheet
Cashflow report.

If you do not understand how to read these reports, ask your bookkeeper to explain to you what it means. If your bookkeeper cannot explain this to you, it is probably best to find a new bookkeeper. Your accountant can also help you explaining what indicators to look out for, but the accountant usually charges a whole lot more than the bookkeeper.

About the Author

Rasmus Nielsen has specialised in CRM and outsourcing for several years and been consulting to various companies in Denmark and Australia on the topic. Rasmus also holds a M.Sc. International Business Economics and is a Director of Smart Boss, an Australian Bookkeeping Service for Small Businesses.

About the Author

Franchising 101 What You Absolutely Need To Know

2009-02-04T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Mansi Aggarwal

Franchising has made the world look really small. The well known flavors are now not just restricted to a single town or city but can be enjoyed world wide. Otherwise it would only be a dream for somebody in Asia to wear the fashion of Europe, for the West to have delectable food of the East etc. Globally as well as domestically the system of franchising has something good for everyone.

Franchising basically is the taking of franchisee- the authority or rights to sell the products of some company. Most often it is only those companies who have an outstanding name in the market that go for franchisee outlets. Like a tree expands and grows through its branches that also bear fruits, so do the renowned companies enhance their business (sales) through franchising. Franchising gives them a good opportunity to explore every small town along with overseas markets.

The process to take a franchisee is simple. All one needs to have is the required security amount to purchase the particular franchisee and a good place with an adequate business plan. The amount so taken by the company is for a fixed tenure after which it needs to be revived in order to continue to sale the company's product. This security amount varies with the kind (food, clothes, electronics) and the market value or the goodwill of the company. is for a fixed tenure after which it needs to be revived. Escalating goodwill of a company entails a surge in the figures to purchase its franchisee. The companies besides the amount are also very particular and cautious about the area and size of the workplace to open their franchisee outlet. While handing over their franchisee to someone nationally or internationally the franchisors (parent company) educate him of their product, terms and conditions, policies and style of working. Most often these companies also give certain crucial tips to prop up the sales of their product. Weekly or bi-weekly advertisements, hoardings and the like are some of the widely adopted measures for it. Once a company sells it franchisee to someone then it is solely the onus and freewill of the entrepreneur regarding the methods he takes to promote his sales. However the prices of all articles are set by the parent company are not subject to modification by the franchisee.

Franchisee business has more or less covered all areas of human needs. Be it food (restaurants etc.), clothes, jewellery, footwear, bags, makeup kits, electronicsfranchising is meant for all. It is at individual's discretion to decide which franchisee he wants to go for. This can be fairly decided by a vigilant market survey and an assessment of the standard and tastes of people in that area. For instance it will not be judicious to open a top brand's outlet of expensive clothes in a suburb region where people want to spend bare minimum on their attire. So the kind of outlet to open, in other words franchisee to take is directly proportional to the needs and status of the consumers.

All the franchisees have their suppliers fixed. The suppliers have to arrange to get the material from the parent company and pass it on to every franchisee store that is linked to it.

The 'sale' season is at volition of the franchisee. But the supplier as well as the parent company should be informed before. The prices during the sales season are reduced to half or less than that in order to clear the stock which gets accumulated and is without any serial no.(like there might be just one size or color left of a shirt, trouser etc.). Usually the franchisees do this in order to recover their money and make place for the new stock.

Thus all in all franchising is a good business that is beneficial not just for the one who has taken the franchisee but also for the consumers who get to enjoy the best of everything in their respective town, city or state.

Mansi aggarwal writes about franchising topics.

New Corporate Credit Meeting The Requirements

2009-02-04T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Gass

Getting new corporate credit depends on a number of factors. They include the business character of the corporation, the ability of the corporation to repay any borrowed funds, the business and economic conditions in which the corporation is operating, and the general financial health of the corporation.

When a bank or other lending institution receives an application for new corporate credit they examine these factors with a fine tooth comb before granting the monies requested. They will want to review the financial statements and records of the corporation for at least two years and they will perform a number of other checks to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date.

One of those checks before approving new corporate credit is likely to be a request for the corporation's Paydex Score. This rating is prepared and distributed by Dun and Bradstreet, a financial reporting agency, and measures how well a corporation is doing in paying its bills to suppliers and vendors of their products and services. It is seen by many in the business community as a good indicator of how well a corporation is doing financially and by the banks and other lending institutions as a measure of the financial health of the corporation.

A lending institution reviewing a request for new corporate credit is almost certainly going to request a business credit report from one of the major business credit information services. These reports contain all of the financial records of the company as well as a statement on their current assets and liabilities. The bank will check these reports against the information provided by the corporation before agreeing to a request for new corporate credit.

Another way that the financial institutions will evaluate a request for new corporate credit is to request the personal financial records and ratings of the officers of the corporation. This will help them determine whether or not the personal integrity and character of the corporation as represented by the officers holds up to close scrutiny. This examination is usually quite thorough and may include checks on not only the finances of the individuals but may even include police, security and background checks to ensure that the persons and corporation they are dealing with meet their standards.

Lending institutions may also do their own market research into the business and economic conditions faced by the corporation before ageing to new corporate credit. If the corporation is in a rapidly expanding line of products or services that is in great demand it will have a much better chance of success in getting new corporate credit than one whose market is stagnant or dormant.

Even if a corporation meets all of these requirements they may still be asked to provide guarantees or collateral to back up their request for new corporate credit.

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a weekly e-newsletter on Starting and Growing a Small Business at http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com. You can sign up for their free newsletter by visiting http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com.

3 Big Dangers Of Working For Yourself

2009-02-03T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Fernando Cruz

What would you say are the biggest dangers you'll face when working for yourself?

There are quite a few, but before I get into what they are, let me explain where I'm coming from.

I'm sharing this with you out of personal experience. Not some fancy, leather-bound book I read somewhere, so right off the bat I can only speak to what I've experienced.

It may be that you'll never go through or encounter the dangers I'll speak of today, but... I highly doubt that. Chances are you'll have to deal with each and every single one.

Another thing... I'm not doing this to put fear in you or try to scare you from starting your own business. I'm doing this so that you can recognize it when it's happening to you. That way you're much better prepared than I was.

Ok, let's get started: (In no particular order)

Danger #1:

The danger of isolation...

This one's a real doozy. You see, it's so easy to isolate yourself when you're working in front of a computer for hours and hours and hours.

This is especially true if you're starting on online business, but it can affect you in any venture.

Listen, one of my mentors says the following:

"The most dangerous number in business is: One (1). 1 product, 1 client, 1 ad, 1 employee..."

That's probably not an exact quote, but you get the idea. Always remember that real breakthroughs will NEVER happen within the confines of the four walls in your office.

What tends to happen is you become disconnected with the people and the world around you... so make sure that you plan ahead for it by blocking out time where you're out of the office and interacting with people and with your market.

Danger #2:

Income Vs. Expense

When you start making some nice chunks of cash, you're going to find ways to spend it. That's the bottom line. And even though that may seem obvious, the majority of people just don't get it.

It's not about how much you make, it's all about how much you spend.

And this goes double for your business.

The more you grow, the more costly it'll be to maintain that growth, unless you've put up ways to control cost. I'm not an accountant or a financial expert so I can't get into the specifics with you, but in Danger #3 you'll get a solution that I find to be the #1 best way to solve this problem... but more on that in a sec.

For now, understand the following: Your spending habits MUST change in order to have a successful business. If you keep a consumer's mentality, your business will go nowhere.

I tell you this because I can still remember the first month I broke the $10,000 in a month barrier. Even though up to that point that was my best month, it was also the month I spent the most amount of cash.

And not just for the business... I went crazy buying things for myself and my family.

There's nothing wrong with that, but when a business is starting out, the best thing you can do is set aside a percentage to go back into the business (preferably into marketing).

I know you already know this but:

It's not what you make, it's what you spend that you gotta watch out for. Basically, live within your means.

Danger #3:

"I Can Do It All"

Uh... no you can't.

Understand this: You gotta get a team together. By team I mean at a minimum:

Accountant, attorney, financial planner/advisor, distributor (if you're going with physical products), web designer (online businesses) and others depending on your business.

Of course, in the beginning, you've got to do most of these things on your own, but what you absolutely must NOT do yourself:

Accounting, legal, financial planning... unless of course you're educated in any of these fields.

Listen, I know it's expensive, but NOT having these people on your team is FAR, FAR, FAR more expensive.

An alternative would be to just pay as you go. Don't hire a full-time accountant, just consult with them on setting up your books, you maintain it, and meet with him/her 2 - 4 times a year or whatever you deem necessary.

Same with an attorney. Pay for your consultations in the beginning (like how to set up the business, contracts, agreements, and etc...) and then whenever you need them.

Still too expensive? Team up with some local small business and pool your resources together to share the cost of these professionals.

Or how about bartering your service for their service (if it's applicable of course).

The point is, whatever you need to do, do it, but make sure you have this team of pro's around you.

But, make sure they're qualified to help you with your particular situation. Ask them questions, ask them for references (and CALL THEM), investigate them. I mean, what good is a financial planner that's just as rich as you? You want them to help you go up, not stay at the same level.

In other words, just because they're professionals doesn't mean they're the right fit for you right now.

Make sure you understand what it is you want out of the relationship and ask for it. If they can deliver, great... if they can't go to the next person on the list.

What other dangers can you think of?

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Resource Box: Must be left as is

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Are You Thinking Too Small And Dooming Your Small Business To Failure

2009-02-03T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Deanna Mascle

One problem that many small business owners run into is simply thinking too small. I often have readers writing to me asking for helping getting their business ideas off the ground. I also often hear from folks who have run their small businesses into the ground. There are five key areas where you can think too small -- and doom your business to failure.

Niche Too Small

Is your niche too small? Finding a small market to target with your business is key to success, but sometimes people narrow their niche too much. While doggy dental products could be a wonderful niche (as almost any dog owner can attest) you could even narrow your focus down to a certain type of dog (such as lap dogs) but going for one specific breed would be taking it too far.

Target Market Too Small

Is your target market too small? If you are looking only at one community or small geographic region then you may well doom your product to failure. It is far too easy to saturate a small market and it is far too easy for any marketing mistakes to end your campaign before it gets off the ground. In today's economy with the availability of global marketing you need to think big when you are planning your target market.

Budget Too Small

Is your budget too small? You don't need a million dollar advertising budget but you should have some seed money to get your business and its marketing campaign off the ground. It is possible to build a business from nothing but it is also a lot more difficult and you might find yourself making some mistakes that cost you a lot more down the road than putting a little money up front.

Schedule Too Small

Is your schedule too small? Do you have enough time to devote to your business? Starting, running, and growing a business takes time. Some people get swept up in the planning and dreaming stages and never really start their business. Other people start before they have completely planned everything out and quickly get mired down by unexpected difficulties. While others do everything right in the planning and startup but once the business is running they get overwhelmed by day-to-day business and never think aobut ways to improve and grow their business.

Mind Too Small

Is your mind too small? You need to open up your mind's eye to continually seek new opportunities to find new customers, to find new potential partners, to find new ideas for products, and to find new opportunities for marketing. Flexibility and adaptability are key to surival in today's business climate and you always need to have new ideas cooking to grow and expand your market and your business. This means raising your head up out of the trenches once in a while. Yes, you might need to dodge the occasional missile lobbed your way but this is the only way to see those opportunities heading your way.

If you do your best to avoid these five not-so-small mistakes then you will be on your way to small business success.

Deanna Mascle is happy to help you with your Small Business and offer her recommended Internet Business Tools as well as advice about Doing Business Online.

Do You Have Enough Clients To Survive

2009-02-02T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Karyn Greenstreet

When your business is offering a service, you have to determine how many clients you'll need in order to reach your goals. In the beginning, you needn't have a group of ready-made clients, but it helps if you have a good network of people whom you can approach, asking them to become clients.

Start by making a list of your current clients, including clients to whom you give free services. From this list, estimate how many would be willing to pay for your product or service (versus getting it for free). Consider how many of these people can afford to pay, if that is an issue among your client base. Also, ask yourself if any of your current clients are "repeat" clients, meaning they have hired you more than once in the past year or two.

Next, think "networking." How many people do you know who you can call, to tell them about your business, even if they have never bought your services or products before? Include in this list the following people: family, friends, business colleagues, members of your neighborhood or community, and people you purchase products and services from. Let's say this list totals 40 people. Imagine if you tell 40 people about your services and products, and ask them to tell five others, you will have reached 200 people.

The next step is to determine how much money you need to make. Take a look at all your living expenses and decide if your business is intended to support your financial needs completely, or if you will get another job to support you while your business is growing. Determine your fees and do the math to figure out how many clients/sessions you have to do per year (or how many products you have to sell) to make your living expenses.

For example, say that you are a Piano Teacher, and need a total income of $50,000 per year ($35,000 profit per year after taxes and expenses). If you are going to charge $60 per hour, you'll need to do about 833 hours per year. This is equivalent to 69 hours per month, or 17 hours per week, or 3-4 hours per day (using a 5-day work week). If that's too many hours per day, you will either need to increase your prices, or lower your expectations of total revenue. If that hourly fee is higher than your competitors', you'll have to re-think your hourly fee AND the number of billable hours you have. (You can do this same math if you sell products instead of services.)

So let's say you need 833 hours per year to live comfortably. Does that mean you have to find 833 individual clients? No, not really. Depending on your profession, you will have a certain number of repeat clients who may come to you once a week, once a month, or once every six months. If you have really good marketing, you can increase this number of repeat clients because you will remind them that you exist with mailings and phone calls. Remember, it's cheaper to market to existing clients than to new, prospective clients.

Take the time to do the math. Figure out how much work you have to do in order to live the life you want.

Karyn Greenstreet is a self-employment expert and small business coach. She shares tips, techniques and strategies with self-employed people to maintain motivation, stay focused, prioritize tasks, and increase revenue and profits. Visit her website at http://www.PassionForBusiness.com

Asphalt Paving Striping Your Parking Lot

2009-02-01T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Brett Lane

As you may already know, asphalt paved parking lots do need maintenance from time to time. One known asphalt paving maintenance technique is to have your parking lot re-striped to add a nicer look to existing asphalt paving properties.

The repainting (striping) of an asphalt lot usually takes place every one to two years; it mostly depends on the amount of wear and tear made by people driving on the asphalt paved lots. First, the lot must be cleaned and checked to see if there are any major problems with the lot currently.

As a rule of thumb, the number of parking spaces on the lot will typically designate how many handicapped spaces are required. By using high quality paint when asphalt striping, you will ensure a greater life expectancy of the clean look of your paved lot. The lines have to be as bright as possible for people who will park in between them at a later date. The striping also serves to direct the parking lot traffic to ensure safety of drivers. You want to make it as easy as possible for drivers to see where they are supposed to go at all given times.

Also, by having very bright yellow speed bumps on your asphalt paved parking lot, you make it safer for those who will not be in cars as well. Also, the proper signs must be displayed on the parking lots as well, i.e., crosswalks, loading zone, and handicapped signs. The lines that will be put on the parking lot will first be chalked to ensure a clean straight look when the work is done.

Furthermore, a walk behind style striping machine will be used to get the best painted lines that are approximately 6 millimeters when dry. The lines can not be driven on until the paint has had adequate time to fully dry (at-least 30 minutes).

When the asphalt parking lot has been striped, any debris that is on the lot will be collected and taken away from the property.

The final stage of the asphalt striping is to put up barricades to keep other drivers from entering or exiting your asphalt parking lot. Striping is a great way to keep a parking lot looking new and professional. Costs spent in advance for asphalt striping now will definitely be lower as compared to later. Always take a proactive approach to asphalt paving maintenance. Those who choose not to take good care of their lots will pay the price in the long run. Customers always appreciate a well designed and painted parking lot. It is the first thing that customers see when visiting your property, so it should look great. A freshly striped asphalt parking lot can lead to a positive overall impression of your property.

For more information about asphalt paving services & striping in Los Angeles, California-feel free to call Manhatten Paving Company today @ 310-328-1470, or you can visit our website - http://www.manhattenpaving.com

Brett Lane is the Webmaster and SEO professional for Manhatten Paving Company, located in Los Angeles, California.

http://www.manhattenpaving.com

Private Franchising Is Not Real A Real Franchise

2009-02-01T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

One major issue not being addressed right now in the regulatory definitions which guide consumers and lawyers in business opportunities and franchising is the new term being used; Private Franchising. The Federal Trade Commission decided it would revise its definitions of such opportunities in 1995, but failed to address this issue. The use of the term; Private Franchising has grown over the years.

There now exist some fraudulent activity going on in coffee shops across America with regards to multi-level marketing recruiters using this term, which disquises their business model as something it clearly is not. It appears that consumers have grown wise to MLM business opportunity sales tactics and therefore that form of virus has hijacked a new host (franchise industry model) and modified its intended definition. This is happening where the salesman, MLM recruiter calls their business a "Private Franchise" and then spends about 20 minutes of the presentation discussing the incredible success of McDonalds and other franchising giants prior to drawing circles on paper and making forward looking statements about their parent company, without presenting a full audit and then make earning claims to the potential signer up of the MLM program. The circles have names like Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Direct, Etc. All in line with the typical MLM sales plan and methodology.

This is not a franchise, not even close in the Federal Trade Commission definition, yet due to the lack of guidance in true definitions, the words; "Private Franchise" has been adopted and the word "franchise" is used throughout these loud presentations in coffee shops across America each day. As a matter of fact it is hard to sit in a coffee shop anywhere in this country without hearing one of these presentation on any given day. See for yourself. A failure to completely separate the entangled business models in the Federal Trade Commission's definition does so at the detriment of the consumer. The Federal Trade Commission's job is to educate protect the consumer, yet it is failing to act to this new biological threat which might harm the current complex life form of the Modern Franchise business model. The consumer begins to perceive that somehow an MLM business is exactly the same as a franchise. That they will receive the same things, expect the same things and receive similar presentations.

This is false and misleading to the consumer and unfortunate for the ethical franchisors and franchising industry. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Endless Customers Sobering Lessons From Harvard University

2009-01-31T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Sean D'Souza

I stopped. I stared.

Something in the display window caught my eye. There was a picture of Muhammad Ali swinging his fists and grimacing like only Ali can. But it wasn't so much the picture that caught my attention. It was the words.

Here's what the words said:
------------------
Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men Who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. It's not a declaration. It's a dare.

Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
Impossible is nothing.
-------------------
Do you believe that business success is close to impossible? And why would it be possible for one business to succeed when others fail? Why did Muhammad Ali succeed when others got slammed into the ropes?

The difference between impossible and possible is persistence and education. The more you know, the further you can go. It's that simple. Persistence can come from within you.

Education must come from elsewhere.

And let's face it, no one does the education bit better than Harvard. What they teach you in the Business School is irrelevant. The marketing system and structure they employ are what bring in the big buckeroos.

Ahem...Isn't that system worth emulating?

Or do you want to do your own reinvention? So let's find out what Harvard does that draws endless customers. Then simply take their structure and bolt it onto your business.

And cowabunga, you have lift off!

US$19.2 billion.

If you take the annual budgets of 142 countries including Cuba, Jordan and Lithuania and add them up, they won't amount to US$19.2 billion.

Yet in the year 2000, that sum was Harvard University's endowment. If you're thinking,'Wow! That's amazing!' there's another wow coming up.

In 1999, Harvard's endowment was US$14.4 billion. In one amazing year, Harvard University's wealth jumped nearly a third. What's fascinating is that the $4.8 billion dollar increase alone is larger than the total endowments reported last year by some of the nation's other top universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($4.3 billion), Columbia University ($3.6 billion), and Dartmouth College ($1.7 billion).

So what's Harvard University doing that you aren't?

Mmm...Good question. And one worth answering. Because Harvard's structure and marketing system can teach us one heck of a lot.

Let's get into the classroom, shall we? And while I'm at it, I'll take a real business example, so you can make the leap into understanding without too much difficulty.

Business Case Study: An Imaginary Web Hosting Company called WebGhostum.

Harvard Lesson No. 1: Teach your clients well...

Huh? What kind of marketing strategy is that? The best kind, my friend. How much time do you spend on the education of your clients?

Lookeee at what Harvard is doing. They're not just educating their clients, but they're actually making the clients pay for the education. The smarter the clients become, the more they earn. The more they earn, the more they credit Harvard University.

So yeah, you've got a sales system in place...

But have you got an education program for your clients? Nope? Why not? Couldn't you have a training program where your clients would pay to learn what you know? Wouldn't that make your clients oh so smart and consequently richer?

Harvard puts the highest emphasis on the art of teaching. New professors take rigorous teacher training. Each teacher has several mentors that inculcate different aspects of the Harvard system.

If you've got a sales force, how about training them to be teachers? If you're a small business, how about making your website or your brochure an education system? How about having a training course just for your clients?

Here's what WebGhostum should do

Customers have no idea why one web host should charge $15 per month while the other charges $75 for the same space and bandwidth. So in the true spirit of education, here's what WebGhostum could do:

1) They could have a web page or a booklet outline the dangers of choosing the wrong web host. There are dozens of very important factors that need to be explained to potential online businesses. Business owners are often oblivious to the facts. The webpage or booklet would be a vital tool in educating them about the stable door, BEFORE the horse bolts.

2) The Web host could have a 2 hour training session which they charge for, on how to choose the right host. Plus they could add on an expert who talks about how to create a website that not only draws huge amounts of traffic, but also converts customersinto paying clients.

3) They could educate their sales force by getting them to attend these training sessions and reading the webpage/booklet. The salesperson then becomes an educator instead of a pushy salesman/saleswoman.

Which brings us to Lesson No. 2. The art of playing hard to get.

Harvard Lesson No. 2: Just say No

In 1997, there were 880 seats for Harvard Business School. Nearly 7,500 students applied.

Harvard says no to over 90%. Partially, it's because of Harvard's limited capacity, but if you notice carefully Harvard hasn't quite increased the size of its classroom either.

Harvard does a superb job of saying NO. Incredibly the more they say NO, the more the customer psychology kicks in. The desire to get into Harvard grows stronger than ever.

So how do you say NO to your clients?

Do what Harvard does. They set up a carrot and stick criterion. You have to qualify before you will be considered. Once they set up this criteria, Harvard sits in its little castle and pull up the drawbridge.

And darn it, you as a student want to get past that moat and get into the castle more than ever before. You so want to get that carrot, that you're tripping over yourself to get in.

Harvard's NO extends to other areas too...

Harvard created customised courses for companies. But Harvard laid down rules as well. The Business School won't take on a company if there are no participation and commitment from the CEO. If the criteria aren't met, no matter how lucrative, the business school says NO.

So here's what the Web Host could do:

1) They could list the huge benefits a person would get if they joined the web host. Alongside the benefits, the web host should also list the qualifying criterion.

2) To qualify for these benefits the client would have to fill in a form and submit it to the web hosting company. The web host would then evaluate the form and the space would only be given once the evaluation met the criteria.

That's the equivalent of Just Saying No. It's a whole lot better than saying yes to every customer that knocks on your door. And contrary to common sense, Harvard has proven that you get far more customers when you say NO. A systematic and strategic system will allow you to say no and still grow your profits exponentially.

If you don't believe in NO, look at the figures

Harvard accepts only 15 clients at a time in it's specialised Customised Courses. In 1997 alone, Customised Courses accounted for US$50 million.

And Harvard doesn't quite stop there.

Lesson No. 3: Are you a publisher yet?

"Since we can't bring everyone to campus, we extend the brand to the places where people work or to their homes," says Linda Doyle, CEO of Harvard Business School Publishing.

Good point Linda.

So how do you get customers who won't come to your campus all excited? Harvard does it with Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business online and dozens of publications, interactive and digital media.

In fact Robert Clark, Harvard's current dean says there is evidence that the Harvard Business Review and the electronic media tends to increase a student's desire to attend live sessions at the campus.

Do you take your brand to your customer?

Do you have a newsletter that stops talking about how wonderful you are, and actually gives the customer vital information? Do you create products or information packets that the customer can purchase on an ongoing basis? Are you creating the customer's desire to buy into your product?The chances are you're not. You're so busy trying to sell your core product or service, that you've completely, totally forgotten that ancillary products could get the customer more involved in your company than ever before.

Harvard can't get everyone to its hallowed halls, but it's got to make sure that the student doesn't wander across to another university.

So while the student is waiting, Harvard gives them loads of product to experience and learn from.

How the Web Host could bring the brand to the customer Web hosting is a dry subject. It's like warehousing. There isn't a lot to know once you've done the education of the benefits. However, there are lots of ancillary fields that are vital to making sure that the customer stays with the web host.

If the customer hosts with a web host and they don't make money online or find the hosting to be an expense, they'll never explore the potential of their website. Which means they'll never move up the ladder into higher bandwidth, more space web hosting. This is profit down the drain for the web host. The best way to circumvent this loss, is to take the campus to the customer.

Start a publishing arm

If you don't have your own content, go out there and find a partner whose content is complimentary to yours. The web host could find marketing, design, copywriting, search engine positioning and measurement tracking companies.

All of them could be contributors to a newsletter or booklet. If time and budget permit, you could even print your own 'Harvard Business Review.' Think about it. The smarter your client gets, the more she'll thank you for it. Become a publisher. Find ways to get across to your client and become a publisher of sorts.

Because as Dean Robert Clark says: "The challenge is to be able to expand the range of Harvard without diluting the brand. But the risk on the other side, the risk of sitting still and doing nothing, is just as great."

So get off your you-know-what and emulate the simple success of Harvard University.

After all, you can't argue with US$19.2 billion!

©Psychotactics Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas, on copywriting, public speaking, sales conversion, marketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.com today and judge for yourself.

Asset Finance For Small Business

2009-01-31T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by David Willetts

In many small medium sized businesses cash is always in short supply.

As a result investments may not materialize at the required time, suppliers may be paid later than contracted or the business bankers may require guarantees to protect overdrafts or loans.

Cash is the lifeblood of the business and a sustainable flow of cash into and out of the business is desirable. When that situation cannot be achieved the owner must seek alternative means of funding to protect the business. One source that should be considered is ASSET FINANCE.

Asset finance allows the business owner to use business assets to generate cash and to replenish the working capital requirements. This conversion to cash is usually done in exchange for a security interest in the asset that the owner may choose to use.

As an easy and quick method of generating cash for the business, Asset Finance will leverage the business assets to provide a cash injection.

There are different types of asset finance to be considered.

1. Perhaps the most popular form is advancing cash against outstanding account receivable balances. This is commonly called Invoice Factoring. The process entails the factoring service provider releasing cash against existing sales ledger debt and future sales invoices. The immediate benefit is that money is available to the business that otherwise would not be received until the expiry of the credit period allowed to the customer.

The factoring service provider collects the debt from your customer and levies a charge for the service against you. The sum advanced by the factoring service provider will depend upon risk factors and negotiation but will generally be between 60% and 90% of the original debt.

2. An alternative to 'lending' against the value of the sales ledger is for the finance provider to lend against the value of the stock held in the business.

This is less popular with providers than lending against accounts receivable. Although stock may be collateral against the money loaned, it is yet to be converted into sales and changes in design or fashion may lower the potential value of the stock giving rise to a higher risk in potential recovery value to the provider.

3. Whenever new assets are to be acquired instead of using cash within the business to purchase the asset, a Finance Lease can be negotiated that will allow the business to retain the money that would otherwise have been used to make the purchase.

During the negotiated repayment period the capital sum plus interest is repaid, easing pressure on the cash flow. For accounting purposes the Financed Leased item will be shown in the Balance Sheet as an asset of the business.

4. A Bridging Loan is a short term loan that is available to overcome the problems caused when inflows and outflows of cash are not matched.

This situation may arise when property is purchased and the funding would originate from the sale of an existing building or plot of land. Circumstances may prevail that necessitate the purchase being made before proceeds of the sale have materialized.

In order to 'bridge' the timing difference between the outlay of money and receipt of sale proceeds, a loan is taken out enabling the transaction to go ahead.

5. A Sale and Leaseback arrangement allows a business to sell, for example a building, and immediately lease the building back from the buyer.

The selling business enjoys an inflow of cash and utilizes that resource to generate additional incomes to pay the future lease costs.

6. Exporters may require funding to support work in progress of large export orders. A pre-shipment finance arrangement will provide funding to ensure short term pressure on cash flow is eased and is normally arranged through a bank. This may be particularly appropriate for large export orders that require long cycle times to complete manufacture.

Author Bio

David Willetts is a qualified accountant (Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants) and an Associate of the Institute of Business Advisers. He has headed finance functions and held operational responsibilities within small and large organizations. He now works with directors and owners of companies in developing solutions to the problems found in business life.

More details on David's background and experience can be found at DAW Consulting Limited. Also are you seeking a solution to your business problem then visit David's site at http://www.sme-business-solutions.com for your on line business resource

Financing The Acquisition Or Expansion Of A Small Business Through The Sba 7a Program

2009-01-30T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Harlan Friedman

Recently a prospective client visited our office and was inquiring about the financing of an upcoming business acquisition. I immediately inquired whether the business opportunity that he was contemplating also came with real estate or was it only the purchase of a business opportunity consisting of good will, Furniture Fixtures and Equipment (FFE), work in progress. and, the client/customer list.

He immediately responded that it was only a business acquisition along with two five year lease options.

As a commercial financial broker I immediately realized the scene was set for a typical SBA 7A loan. Typical is probably not the best word because each 7A loan is very different, the only similarities are that the loan is SBA Guaranteed, and that the SBA will require a loan to be collateralized to the fullest extent possible.

For those readers that are not familiar with the SBA 7A program I offer the following basic information. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will guarantee a business loan for a prospective purchaser of a business acquisition. The difference between this SBA Program and others is that this is the only program that will allow for the purchase of a business without the accompanying real estate.

Most business that is sold fewer than two million dollars is sold without real estate. The business is usually situated in a leased facility. SBA does require that the business have a lease agreement in place for the length of the term of the SBA loan, or at the very least additional option periods to cover the length of the term.

Many prospective borrowers are under the impression that the SBA actually funds their loan. This statement is obviously not true. The SBA only guarantees the loan should the loan go into default, the SBA guarantee protects the bank not the borrower. The true funder of the loan is the local bank that approves the loan. Therefore each financial institution needs to feel very comfortable with the requested loan submission.

The rest of this article will share the questions and responses that I share with my clients. It is my hope that other people can learn from these experiences.

The first question I'm usually asked is that I've heard that the SBA takes "forever" to close transactions. I respond that a professional prepared loan submission package should fund between 45 and 60 days from submission to the underwriter, I believe the reason for this closing time frame is in the preparation that goes into packaging the loan.

A properly prepared package should answer the following inquiries by the review underwriter.

Does the business in question have a positive cash flow that is supported by historical documentation? This is answered by including the appropriate financial statements and tax returns Can the business support additional debt?

Is the individual that is attempting to secure the loan qualified to run this business? This is answered by the inclusion of his current resume, as well as any supporting documentation.

Does the prospective purchaser have marketing and business plan to demonstrate knowledge of the business as well as their plans for repayment and future growth?

What are the projected revenues for the new business?

What is the current financial situation of the borrower?

If a buyer of a business just walks into their local bank, and does not have an individual who knows and understands the process the loan will definitely take longer. But a professionally prepared package answers all the above questions that an underwriter needs to have handled and thus makes the time frame for approval and ultimately closing much faster.

Another question revolves around the experience of the new buyer of the business. Many new buyers believe that because the borrower has agreed to in the purchase agreement to train them in running the newly acquired business, that this should satisfy the lender. As a matter of practical application most sellers do in deed offer training for a minimal period of time, usually no more than three months. Most sellers are more than willing to extend the training time on a continuing consulting basis if needed.

I respond with pretend for a moment that you are the lender, would you lend you hard earned money to an individual who has little or no experience running this particular business. Many new clients are so excited about the idea of running their own business after so many years of being an employee that they exaggerate their own abilities. This question causes an individual to take a hard look at their self, and the potential for success in running the new venture.

After we dispense of the experience question, I usually ask for their financial history and current situation. This request always causes the following inquiry. Why should my past financial condition other than the fact that I have accumulated a proper down payment matter to the bank? Again I ask them to put on their lenders hat, and ask themselves would they lend money to an individual who has no experience making money over the past years.

The lenders want to feel very comfortable that the new owner will be successful, and they can only judge by the borrowers' historical trends evidenced by their financial statements, bank accounts and tax returns and then project forward.

Another consistent question revolves around collateral. Most borrowers assume that the assets of the business will cover the collateral requirement of the lender. They tend to believe that the business assets should be valued for collateral purposes at their fair market value.

Nothing is further from the truth. The lender will treat all collateral as if it was liquidated at an auction and therefore they discount it at least 50% or more.

The follow up question then becomes, If the business assets secured by a UCC 1 filing statement (the Uniform Commercial Code filing statement allows the bank in the event of default to take immediate ownership of the business assets and liquidate them to recoup their investment) for is not enough security for the loan, what must I do pledge my home?

This is a more difficult one to handle, but I basically ask them for a minute to imagine that they are the banker/Preferred Lender Provider (PLP) would they lend money completely unsecured other than just the assets of the business.

In conclusion in the proper circumstances there is no better way to fund the purchase of a business.

Harlan A. Friedman, Esq., is president of Lightning Commercial Funding Inc., a California mortgage broker. He has more than 25 years of experience as an investment banker and financial consultant, issuing municipal debt for his clients. Lightning Commercial Funding specializes in financing commercial projects exclusively, from the startup of new business to large commercial transactions. Reach Friedman at (858) 592-0659 or harlan@loanforbiz.com. Visit his company at http://www.loanforbiz.com.

Financing Your Business On A Shoestring

2009-01-29T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Brenda W Hargroves

Starting a business does not always require a large initial financial investment. Careful and creative management of currently available funds can go a long way towards providing needed capital. A disciplined person possesses the potential to become a financially successful entrepreneur. The key to financing your business with little initial cash outlay is to become your own banker.

Realistically, you should have some amount set aside for start-up expenses. For example, let's say that you have $2,500 to invest in starting your business. Calculate upcoming major expense items and set aside a certain amount for each one. Think of that item as having its own line account. You may want to go as far as to set the money aside in a specific envelope. Plan to use these funds for the designated purpose only. The amount may not be enough to cover the full cost, but it is a start. You must now determine how you will raise the rest of the required amount.

Perhaps, a major start-up expense is a piece of equipment that costs $3,000. You have set aside $1,000 for this outlay in your calculations. What are possible ways to acquire this item? Maybe you can purchase the equipment with a $1,000 deposit and work out a payment plan. Or, possibly you can negotiate a lease agreement. The goal is to initially not spend more than you have set aside, with the plan to repay the balance of this debt from future income.

As your allocation of initial funds for expenditures method becomes more sophisticated, begin to add accounts. Set aside envelopes for major future expenses. As the business makes money, add incremental amounts to the envelopes. Slowly, you will approach having saved the full amount needed to cover those expenses. Continue to tackle upcoming costs in this manner.

When the business receives income, it must be allocated to your outstanding expenses. Add to those envelopes and do not renege on these allocations. This is where discipline comes into play. When you put money into a future expense envelope, those funds become dedicated to that item. You've become your own banker by setting up individual savings accounts for each expense.

You are now also in the position of taking on a bank's function of lending money. If you are saving for a large future upcoming expense, you can borrow from that account to cover a more immediate expense. Because you are borrowing from yourself, you save the added expense of finance fees or interest. Again, it requires discipline to return borrowed funds to their designated purpose.

On the other side of the coin, you must develop and stick to a strict payment plan for all outstanding debt. This applies to both paying off creditors as well as replacing money borrowed from an envelope. When you systematically work at it, debt will eventually disappear.

I once began a business with $12,000 outstanding debt in addition to my start-up expenses. An arrangement was made with the creditor to pay off the debt in installments of $500 a month for two years. With careful planning and sacrifice, I was able to meet this commitment as well as grow my business at the same time. The secret is to control your debt, not let it control you.

Written by Brenda Weathers Hargroves, small business coach and author Brenda's consulting firm, Business At Hand, is located in Lutz, Florida. Her mission is to share successful methods for implementing and operating a small business or social entrepreneurship venture. She offers individual/group entrepreneurship coaching sessions, small business workshops/seminars and encourages book signings.

To contact Brenda for assistance call (813) 962-8918 or send an email to businessathand1@hotmail.com. To purchase her book, The Heart and Soul of Entrepreneurship, or for more information about her services visit her website at http://www.businessathand.biz

Uncover Free Veins Of Gold By Prospecting Online Guru Newsletters Part 1 Of 2

2009-01-28T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Curtis Graham

Incredible as it sounds, you have a goldmine of free business advice and resources available to you for starting an online business. Many entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the unbelievable opportunity of financial independence by starting an Internet business.

Over 300,000 individuals already are on the Internet earning enough income to quit their regular jobs and live a lifestyle of their choosing. You can too!

How do you start? First ask yourself a question, "Would I jump into the middle of the ocean if I didn't know how to swim?" No matter what your background is or what kind of business you intend to start online, you absolutely have to obtain enough knowledge relating to Internet business to be successful.

Almost all online newsletters that you can subscribe to are free and come in your e-mail. They contain pieces of the Internet business puzzle that will enable your success. This is a fact --- believe it. All Internet experts (gurus) are stumbling over each other to get you on their sign-up list. This ultimately permits them to promote and sell their products to you.

But, in order to get you interested and signed-up, they must first give you something for free. They are very happy to share knowledge with you that is practical and helpful. They sell their "elite and complete knowledge" of a topic and give you little chunks of good information from the "elite" product little by little in each successive newsletter.

What the experts give you for free, are newsletters that always contain bits and pieces of the "elite" package of their knowledge, ideas, and advice. If you read enough different newsletters from enough different gurus, you will be able to glean enough information to feel comfortable at starting an Internet business.

Most people who are going to start an Internet business need a better income and have very little money to invest in an Internet business. If you are wealthy, hire a mentor for $3000 and go to it. Others like us have to be conservative with our cash.

Picking the right business for yourself is not always easy. Most people have talents, passions, and knowledge relating to certain areas of interest. It could be just a hobby that you have been spending time on for years. Pick something that drives your passion.

Doing that will help you focus on the experts who write newsletters or articles (called ezines) relating to your ideas for a business.

Subscribe to and read as many newsletters published on your topic as you can. Because you will be obtaining small bits of information at a time, it will take a while to become comfortable with starting the business you are looking at. Persistence is necessary.

If you want a quick fix and fast income right away, you might want to look at the statistics concerning the 95% failure rate of new businesses on the Internet. It's a fact.

Yes, many other ways of getting started hit the Internet daily. Some are free and some are very expensive. Trust your gut feeling and lock on to one that appears to fit your way of doing things. So what, if you have to switch to another approach down the line.

You undoubtedly will subscribe to newsletters to keep up with the frequent changes in the Internet marketplace and how it works. So why not start there to begin with?

Newsletters are normally a tremendous source of reliable information. Almost every business on the Internet has many newsletters available to assist you in your business. They not only are there to help you get started, but also to keep you going successfully.

Success depends on marketing your business, promoting products, finding ways to get customers to your site and to purchase something.

Advertising, starting your own newsletter, finding niche areas and products, obtaining software, how-to information, and being your own webmaster are a few of what you may need. Free newsletters exist for every business support feature.

Part 2 of this article outlines the specific benefits and fantastic value of newsletters to any Internet business.

The author, Curtis Graham, is president of L. & C. Internet Enterprises, Inc. For over 38 years in medical practice he has written articles, medical information products for his patients, a book on infertility, and marketing information for his practice. He has been published in Modern Physician, an elite magazine for physician executives.

Retirement from medicine now permits expansion of his desire to continue helping people by writing pertinent, practical, and detailed articles about many topics. Check out the website that he and his wife share with a passion:

http://www.CampingOnUs.com

Please feel free to copy, send, distribute, or make this article available to others that might be interested. In doing so you agree to leave the author's bio and article intact.

Are You Using A Chess Or Checkers Small Business Marketing Strategy

2009-01-28T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Jeremy Cohen

Until the day I learned to play chess I loved playing checkers. Both games require a strategy that maximizes a player's ability to capture her opponents pieces without first losing her own. Checkers was fun. But the complexities of chess lead to more satisfying victories and defeats.

Chess is a more complicated game than checkers as there are more variables. Therefore, much more thought and concentration is required to win a game of chess than is required to win a game of checkers.

Like chess, marketing your business is a complicated endeavor. A successful chess player anticipates future moves and will position his pieces in such a way that each piece helps add strength to other pieces already in place.

A successful marketing strategy is no different than a winning chess strategy. Every move you make must reinforce previous and future moves. Instead of rooks, bishops and queens the moves made in the game of marketing are made with advertisements, web sites, marketing messages, brochures and so on.

As a small business owner you don't risk losing pieces to your opponent you risk losing business to your competitors.

Great chess players have a strategy that helps them win with consistency. Here's a marketing strategy you can use to consistently win new business.

Focus Your Marketing

Target your market with a marketing message that speaks directly to the population you serve. A marketing message is a phrase or sentence that clearly demonstrates who you help and the problems you solve.

Develop and use your marketing message as often as you can. Doing so will help get your business get noticed by those most likely to buy from you. Use your marketing message in your marketing materials, your website and any and everywhere your business comes in contact with potential clients.

Effective use of a marketing message can be a small business owner's best friend. A good one will work hard for you to generate new business and will never ask for anything in return.

Inspire Action

Once you've used your marketing message to grab hold of your prospects' attention, be it at your website, after reading one of your ads or an article you've written, be sure you clearly instruct them to take the action you want. It doesn't matter what the action is as long as it requires them to provide you their contact information so you may continue marketing to them.

Offer something useful and free in exchange for their information. Give away free recipes if you're a caterer or tips on designing bouquets if you're a florist. Just be certain to give clear directions about what should be done next to move your sales process along.

Build a Relationship

After you've successfully culled from your prospects' their contact information it is now time for you to develop a relationship with them. The nature of the relationship you develop should be one that makes it clear that you know your prospect is out there, that you understand your prospects' problems and that you can help solve your prospects' problems.

Common methods for developing relationships with prospects are distributing articles, publishing an ezine and conducting surveys. Be sure to include your marketing message with every article, ezine or survey.

Over time you will become the obvious solution to your clients' problems when they decide to take action to solve what concerns them.

Move Your Marketing forward

Using each of the above methods will help you position your business much like a champion chess player positions his pieces. In the end victory and more sales will be yours.

The author, Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional service providers attract more clients, grow their business and be more successful with his marketing strategy and web site enhancement service and his marketing guides. Get his free marketing strategy guide : Jumpstart Marketing: More Profits, Clients and Success at: http://www.bettermarketingresults.com/

Business Planning Help Finding The Help That You Need

2009-01-27T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Leon Chaddock

Business planning help is help that is structured to help your business in any way that you need it. It can help you to get your ideas worked out. It can help you to find the legal aspects of your business and take care of them. It can even help you make decisions that you are too close to making. Business planning help is a resource that will allow you to move forward without moving back first. That is something that many individuals struggle with.

So, where can you find the business planning help that you need?

One of the best methods for getting the business planning help that you need is to contact an attorney. Yes, this may be more expensive, but when it comes to setting up and running your business, having someone with a legal edge to it may make it go much more smoothly. Even if you just get some solid advice from them, take advantage of them.

Don't forget your software. There are many software programs and applications available to the new business owner. They can do just about every aspect of your planning needs. They will help you get your ideas down, help you to get your ideas moving and allow you to track how well you are doing throughout. Legal, accounting as well as idea management is all included in this type of business planning help.

Turn to those that you know and trust. There is no better teacher than experience. If you know someone that has begun their own business from the ground as you are doing, in any field, you may want to talk to them. Find out what they did and what they didn't. Most importantly, find out what mistakes they made and learned from so that you do not go through those same problems yourself.

Business planning help is also available throughout the web a well. Get focused and get motivated to finding and implementing your business plan.

For more information please see http://www.business-planning-help.co.uk

It Does Matter To This One

2009-01-27T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by SK Wong

The latest statistic by the Internet World Stat on active domain, i.e. active websites on the Internet is seventy-two millions three hundred thousand over sites.

If you are one of the active website owner, congratulation! If you are one of those aspiring person who have some niche product or knowledge or skill and intended to venture into Internet Marketing and Online Business but taken aback by the sheer number of active websites, and thought to yourself, "What the heck, it won't not make any difference?" Think again! Read the following story.

A man was walking on the beach in the early morning enjoying the morning breeze and sun rise. He then saw from a distance, a teenager was picking up something and threw it into the sea as he walked alone the beach. The man was curious and walked faster and caught up with the teenager. He saw that the teenager was actually picking up the starfish that was being washed ashore by the tide the night before and threw them back into the ocean. He then asked the teenager what he was doing. The teenagers replied that he was trying to save the starfish by throwing them back to the sea. The man told the teenager "It won't help and does not matter as there are too many of them, how many can you help?" The teenager than picked up another starfish and showed it to the man and said, "Sir, it does matter to this one!" and then threw the said starfish into the ocean

If you have intension of starting an Internet marketing or online business to market your unique product or the niche knowledge or skill that you possess; but worry about the competition which is holding you back, think about the Starfish that was being thrown back into the sea. It does not matter to those starfish which had been left behind by the teenager but it matter a lot to the one been picked and thrown to the sea.

Your website may be one of the millions in the ocean of Internet and it does not matter to other webmasters and those surfers who never even knew your sites or niche existed, but to those who needed your product, niche knowledge or skill and who happens to visit your sites and use the information or product to help them solve their problem, it matter a lot.. With that you might done a great service to the one who is in need of assistance. And more importantly, it matter a lot to you

Remember, it does matter to the one starfish that been picked and thrown back to the ocean!

"Forget what others think, the thing that matters is what you think yourself and that you believe in yourself." Nicholas Beffel.

SK Wong is a Charter Marketer with a MBA in Finance providing Marketing and Risk Management training and services to his local business community. His online Business Resources for Small Business Home Business and aspiring netrepreneurs can be view at http://www..clickabiznes.com

Public Domain Wealth Secrets

2009-01-26T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by C Richards

Today, anyone with a little knowledge of computers and CD rewriter software, can make a very good living online from converting freely available products to highly-sought after, cash generating products.

Now that we all have access to computers and the Internet, anyone can very easily find readymade products, copy and alter them, re-brand them and make them their own. It's perfectly legal and what's more, there's a willing and accessible market ready and waiting to pay you for them.

Fortunately for those already involved in this lucrative business, very few people actually know where to get the best Public Domain products. And surprisingly, many people don't have a clue about how to make money from them.

Much has been written about profiting from the Public Domain, and many Internet marketers have dabbled in this area themselves, if only to find out how easy it really is. There have been many books and courses written about the subject and with new products falling into the Public Domain almost daily, there's always the chance that someone will discover a new niche market and make a small fortune.

The type of products freely available in the Public Domain include books, courses and reports, music, films and software, photos, graphics and works of art. Collectively, they total many tens of thousands and the pool of products available rises in number every day.

The only investment needed to make a successful business from Public Domain products is time. If you don't know where to look for free products, then trying to find them can be extremely consuming. Downloading print products, such as books and reports, and reformatting them ready for sale can also be time consuming.

The upside is, once downloaded onto your computer and reformatted, the product becomes yours for life and can be sold over and over. And because you own the product outright, you get to keep 100% of the profits from each sale.

Some people have been quietly doing just that for years. Their work at home businesses have become so profitable, they obviously don't want too many people to know. But the markets are vast and there's plenty of room for many more would be 'home publishers'.

The secrets to making a good living online from the Public Domain have for the most part been kept well hidden over the years. But some successful PD marketers have recently and brazenly disclosed their earnings and shown actual proof. But you can bet there will always be one or two marketing secrets they will never reveal.

Craig Richards is an online marketer and has been making a full-time living from the Public Domain for years.

http://www.burn-and-earn.biz

Employee Monitoring Business Risks For Employers And How To Avoid Them

2009-01-25T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Usman Ul-Haq

E-mail and Internet use are integral parts of the typical worker's daily routine. Because of its speed and overall convenience, e-mail has replaced the interoffice memorandum as the preferred method of communication. Employee access to the Internet also is important as a means of conducting job-related research and transactions.

For these reasons, employers often have little choice but to provide their employees with Internet access and e-mail accounts. At the same time, however, employees' use of these capabilities carries downside risks for the employer.

One issue posed by employee e-mail and Internet use is loss of efficiency. Recent studies show that businesses lost an estimated £5.3 billion to recreational workplace web surfing in 2003.

Another report indicated that employees are costing their companies nearly £1.5 million a year in lost productivity by spending an average of thirty minutes a day using e-mail for personal, non-work-related reasons.

Another challenge is the risk that employees' computer use will expose the company to legal liability.

For example, according to another survey, almost 72% of the pornographic sites on the Internet are visited during work hours. Openly viewing sexually explicit websites or sending offensive material obtained from the web may create a hostile work environment. Moreover, inappropriate messages sent over the company's e-mail system could expose the company to harassment, defamation, or other claims.

One study found that more than 50% of employees had received pornographic, sexist, or racist e-mails at work.

Still another challenge is the possibility that employees will use the Internet in a way that undermines or violates the employer's rights, interests, and practices. Some employees, for example, may use email to disclose the employer's trade secrets or proprietary information, or to engage in inappropriate contacts with competitors or customers.

So what's the solution for today's employers?

To reduce these risks, employers must monitor their employees' use of e-mail and Internet access in the workplace. Accordingly, employers should be familiar with the law in this area and should implement policies and practices that minimize the risk of lawsuits or enforcement actions.

With such policies in place employers may monitor their e-mail and Internet systems, and employees will conform their actions to the reality that their employer may view their messages.

Policies should be tailored to the workplace environment in which they will exist. For example, in many contexts such as telecommuting the line between business and personal use may be very grey while in other contexts e-mail or Internet access may be provided to an employee only for a clearly defined, limited purpose and thus the lines between acceptable and unacceptable use may be clear.

Employers need to take these various factors into consideration when drawing up their policies. Generally however, an effective policy should inform employees that the employer is the owner of the e-mail or Internet system and that this includes all communications and stored information. It should also include a statement of the purposes for which the system is to be used as well as the discipline that an employee can expect to face for abuse of the system.

There should be a statement advising employees that they should not expect privacy in communications made over the system and that those communications will be monitored to ensure that the employer's property is being used only for authorized purposes.

An employer may also want to include a non-exclusive list of examples of the kind of use that the employer considers unauthorized personal use, or inappropriate use.

Conclusion:

Electronic communication is becoming more and more vital to the modern workplace. The increase in the number of employees equipped with e-mail and/or Internet access raises risks for employers.

The most effective way to manage those risks is by monitoring the use employees make of the electronic communication tools provided to them, by using an Internet monitoring and surveillance software program. But also to deal with the inherent tension between monitoring and employee privacy is to put in place an explicit e-mail and Internet use policy, which informs employees that their communication will be monitored.

Profile: SavvyApps is a privately owned software company which specialises in leading PC/Internet Monitoring & Surveillance Software Solutions for businesses who want to monitor their employees Internet usage.

If you would like to learn more about how PC/Internet Monitoring Software can help your business or would like some more ideas please use the link below:

PC/Internet Monitoring & Surveillance Software

Wholesale Are You Prepared

2009-01-24T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Joaquin Reveron

Having a whole sale business is not for everyone. For me the idea of making a living from the comfort of my own home was the selling point. Running an online whole sale business has its advantages and disadvantages, and unfortunately not many wholesale sources will prepare you for the realities. I have been in the wholesale business for many years now, selling to various online stores and eBay. In early 2005 I opened up my own business. On a daily basis current clients and customers asked me questions about the process; three questions came up time after time.

Before Selling On The Internet I Have To Have A Tax ID Or Re-Selling License Right? Not necessarily. As an entrepreneur myself it disturbs me to see so many rising entrepreneurs taken in by this untruth. There are a lot of companies that will let you sell their full inventory of tangible merchandise on the Internet free of charge. As do many distributors, wholesalers and liquidation centers.

When I first started out I did not have a Tax ID or Re-selling License. That did not stop me from raking in the money online. Large corporations that are moving up in search engine ladders want to secure their spots and by leading you to believe you have to have a Tax ID or Re-selling License they prevent you from competing against them. In order to comply with certain tax laws some states will require you to be registered once meeting a certain total in sales. You do not want to get in trouble with Uncle Sam please confirm with your local state government before making 100,000.

What Do I Need To Do To Start My Own Online Mini-Mall? Many online courses will claim to have the answers you need. You could waste thousands of dollars and precious time looking for the right answer, like I did when first starting out. The truth is not as complicated as you may have been lead to believe, selling online is simple. You can make a living online from the sell of tangible items on eBay or you own mini-mall. Either way you have the potential to make thousands of dollars a month. When starting with a low budget its important to get suggestions from trusted entrepreneurs in the business that have already tested facts. The most important advice I can give you is- to stay focused, have a well thought out complete business plan and take action!

Wow, Sounds Simple Is That It? Not just yet. Your plan of attack is just the first step you now need to have the right connections and resources. Remember the goal is to get the best advice and the highest market prices for your items. The easiest way to achieve this is to find a wholesale list and focus on finding the correct distributors or distributor channels to get your tangible items or drop shipping secured. That is all for today, continue visiting my lessons to learn more about how to choose the correct distributor channels to make money from your very first moment of your retail ventures.

Getting a Wholesale Business Opportunity is one of the business components Joaquin can assist. His focus today is on helping people create wealth through the Wholesale Video Games business

Microfibers The New Cleaning Technology

2009-01-24T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Steve Hanson

Haven't heard about microfibers? It' not surprising. Although microfiber flat mops and cleaning cloths have been used in Europe for over 20 years, it has only been in the past few years that microfibers have made their way into this country. Many cleaning companies are just now hearing about the value of using microfibers in their cleaning business. Microfiber cleaning cloths and mops offer a more efficient way to clean and can save your cleaning company time and money.

Microfibers were invented in Sweden in the mid-1980s. Microfibers come in the forms of mops, cloths, mitts and bonnets. The underlying principle that makes microfibers clean so well is that microfiber yarn has 100 times more surface area than natural textiles. The microfiber itself is extremely dense and has lots of small nooks and crevices within its fabric. This allows the material to hold seven to eight times its own weight in water.

A comparison to cotton shows that a microfiber will absorb 98 percent moisture, while cotton can only absorb 70 percent. The synthetic microfiber materials weigh less and can be laundered more than traditional fibers.

Microfiber cloths and mops usually cost more than the traditional mops and cleaning cloths. So why should your cleaning company spend more money for supplies than it already is? The benefits of using microfibers far outweigh the added cost.

One of the first reasons to switch to microfibers is that they clean better than the traditional synthetic or cotton mops and cloths. Have your employees clean a floor as they typically would and then run over it with a dry microfiber mop pad. It will be easy to see how much more dirt and residue the microfiber picks up.

A second reason to switch to microfibers is the mop pads and cleaning cloths can be laundered and reused. Depending on your particular cleaning situation, you may be able to reuse your microfibers up to several years. Compare that to a typical cotton mop that must be replaced after just a few weeks or at the most a few months.

The third reason to make the switch is that by using microfibers you can dramatically reduce your chemical use. Obviously, the less chemical you use saves you money. It also saves time as employees will not be stopping in the middle of a cleaning task to mix up added chemicals. One study showed that an average cleaning company worker uses 21 gallons of floor cleaning solution when using a string mop during a typical shift. You can reduce this amount down to just 2 gallons when you switch to using a microfiber mopping system.

Microfiber mops are also lighter than the traditional bulky mop. Also, since microfibers need little if any water, there is no heavy bucket for your employees to lug around.

By using microfibers cloths and mops you will be able to increase the efficiency and productivity of your cleaning staff. The small investment in microfibers can end up being a large payoff in your pocket!

Steve Hanson is co-founding member of The Janitorial Store (TM), an online community for owners and managers of cleaning companies who want to build a more profitable and successful cleaning business. Sign up for Trash Talk: Tip of the Week at http://www.TheJanitorialStore.com and receive a Free Gift!

Accept Credit Card On Your Site

2009-01-23T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Shane Penrod

If you own a company Website, are you ready to accept credit card on your site payments? This is a great way to grow your client base, increase sales, and reduce overhead costs. If you don't already have a Website with credit card processing capability, now is the time to check into it and start taking advantage of the convenience and ease of this method of sales.

When you accept credit card on your site payments, your customers will appreciate the speed and ease with which they can process a payment. They also will value the flexibility of shopping hours, availability of information, and sensible pricing since you need not add overhead fees to the prices of your goods and services. Internet sales and marketing is becoming the number one way to do business around the world, so if you are not yet accepting credit card processing, you should check into this option in the near future.

To accept credit card on your site transactions, you will need to apply for a merchant account. When approved by a bank or lending institution, this account will allow you to set up credit card processing services at your place of business, in your company vehicle with a wireless credit processor, or on your company Website. The application part is easy; just fill out an application online, submit it with a click, and wait for the results, which often are returned in a matter of hours by e-mail. Try to avoid paying an application fee, which is required by some lenders, unless the lender or the available deal is one that will best suit your business needs. Then follow your business plan to buy only what you need in terms of credit processing equipment to help you get started in accepting credit payments. For a company with a physical location, a simple credit card processor with a combined terminal and printer, costing a few hundred dollars, may be a good start-up option. Check into monthly transaction fees, maintenance or service costs, and annual membership fees, if applicable, to get the best deal for your company. If you are a mobile consultant, you can get a wireless unit to take with you so that you can process customer credit payments at other locations.

Another way to accept credit card payments is through a company Website. This is one of the most popular options available today, and more companies are headed in this direction. You will need to register a domain name, contract a monthly fee with a hosting site, and pay someone to design and maintain your site unless you can do this yourself. Your merchant services account will let you add credit card processing features so that customers can browse anytime they like and purchase when they are ready. No longer will they have to stop by a company during office hours or wait for the assistance of a sales assistance. Online shopping is a fast-growing market for consumers everywhere today. Start browsing merchant account services today to find one that can offer the best deal to help you accept credit card on your site processing.

Easy Selfpromotion For People Who Hate To Promote

2009-01-22T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Angela Booth

You know you need to promote yourself and your business but

OK, here are a couple of easy ways for you to promote yourself, even if you hate it.

=> 1. Act "As If"

Are you a success? Of course you are. You're as successful right now as you will ever be, because success begins in your mind, in your vision of yourself. From today, start acting as if you were already a successful self-promoter.

I'm not recommending that you indulge in any outlandish behavior, or that you pretend. Let's see how acting "as if" works.

Here's a scenario. Your vision of yourself is that of a successful feature writer for newspapers and magazines. In order to become that success, you act as if you already were successful --- you promote yourself and your work.

What does a successful feature writer do? That person networks, chases up ideas, and writes and sells feature articles. You see yourself as a success, so you research and write article proposals and network. Not too many weeks down the track, you sell your first article, and then another.

You keep on acting "as if", because you know that one swallow doesn't make a summer. At this stage, acting the way a success acts is becoming more natural to you. You feel comfortable networking and interacting with others --- and guess what? You're handling self-promotion just fine.

=> 2. Networking: the basis of self-promotion

To become successful and comfortable promoting yourself, you need to be comfortable writing and talking about yourself, your work, and your experiences, and you need to do that every day. In other words, you need to network.

There are hundreds of online discussion groups. Join several.

The groups you join will ask you to send a short bio introducing yourself and your interests to the other members. Please do this. If you're very shy, writing this may be torture. Please persist! I promise you that this kind of thing gets simpler after a while. After you've struggled through four bios of various lengths, you'll no longer sweat the process.

Author of many books, including Making the Internet Work for Your Business, copywriter and journalist Angela Booth also writes copy for businesses large and small, and consults on search engine marketing. Angela has written copy for companies in many industries, ranging from technology and real estate to the jewellery trade. Her clients include major corporations like hp (Hewlett Packard), WestPac Bank, and Acer Computer. For copywriting services and marketing advice contact Angela at angelabooth.com

Survival Tips For Your Small Business

2009-01-22T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by James Burchill

No matter type of business you operate you've got to know how to keep your business alive during economic recessions. Anytime the cash flow in a business, large or small, starts to tighten up, the money management of that business has to be run as a "tight ship."

Pause Before Paying

Some of the things you can and should do include protecting yourself from impulse expenditures. We've all bought merchandise or services we really didn't need simply because we were in the mood, then we sort of "wake up" a couple of days later and find that we've committed hundreds of dollars of business funds for an item or service that's not essential to the success of our own business, when really pressing items had been waiting for those dollars.

Using Professionals

While you may think you cannot afford it, be sure that you don't "short-change" your self on professional services. This would apply especially during a time of emergency. Anytime you commit yourself and move ahead without completely investigating all the angles, and preparing yourself for all the contingencies that may arise, you're skating on thin ice. Regardless of the costs involved, it always pays off in the long run to seek out the advice of experienced professionals before embarking on a plan that could ruin you.

Your Financials

Your company's books should reflect your way of thinking, and whoever maintains them should generate information according to your policies. Thus, you should hire an outside accountant or accounting firm to figure your return on your investment, as well as the turnover on your accounts receivable and inventory. Such an audit or survey should focus in depth on any or every item within your financial statement that merits special attention. In this way, you'll probably uncover any potential financial problems before they become readily apparent, and certainly before they could get out of hand.

Advisory Boards

Many smaller companies set up advisory boards of outside professional people. These are sometimes known as Power Circles and once in place, the business always benefits, especially in times of short operating capital. Such an advisory board or power circle should include a lawyer, a certified public accountant, civic club leaders, owners or managers of businesses similar to yours, and retired executives. Setting up such an advisory board of directors is really quite easy, because most people you ask will be honoured to serve.

Once your board is set up, you should meet about once a month and present material for review. Each meeting should be a discussion of your business problems and an input from your advisors relative to possible solutions. These members of your board of advisors should offer you advice as well as alternatives, and provide you with objectivity. No formal decisions need to be made either at your board meeting, or as a result of them, but you should be able to gain a great deal from the suggestions you hear.

Joining Associations

By all means, join your industry's local and national trade associations. Most of these organizations have a wealth of information available on everything from details on your competitors to average industry sales figures, new products, services, and trends. If you are given a membership certificate or wall plaque, you should display these conspicuously on you office wall. Customers like to see such "seals of approval" and feel additional confidence in your business when they see them.

Free Advice

Whenever you can, and as often as you need it, take advantage of whatever free business counselling is available. Your local chamber of commerce or small business advisory will likely have numerous free publications. Most local universities, and many private organizations hold seminars at minimal cost, and often without charge. Take advantage of the service s offered by your bank and local library.

Direction Is Everything

The important thing about running a small business is to know the direction in which you're heading; to know on a day-to-day basis your progress in that very direction; to be aware of what your competitors are doing and to practice good money management at all times. All this will prepare you to recognize potential problems before they arise.

In order to survive with a small business, regardless of the economic climate, it is essential to surround yourself with smart people, and practice sound business management at all times.

Author: http://www.JamesBurchill.com

True Web Searching Tools For Business Quotturfquot

2009-01-21T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Claude Jollet

Searching for specific business related information on the Web, using specialized high precision searching tools, can "Turn Up Real Finds" (TURF)! But, where do you find the business specific tools you need? How can you tell if you are getting the most that can be expected from the Web? Here is how I solved the problem.

An Expanding Universe Of Information

There are more than 56 million Web sites out there, and the number is growing every day. This means billions of Web pages and trillions of words. The WWW is fast becoming a universe.

Now, every Web surfer will search the Web for something, often many times per day. Some will spend hours searching and often end up not quite finding what they were looking for.

In spite of the increasing power of the search engines, the keyword expressions we use (one to three words, on average) only manage to scratch the surface of what is available out there on the Web. The amount of information we get back is often overwhelming, and only vaguely relevant. When we try to refine our search ... we often find that we have drifted away from our goal. This situation is annoying, when not downright frustrating.

Information Is Vital To Business

You cannot run a business, any size of business, with search tools and methods that give such uncertain results.

From brainstorming ideas, to identifying the competition and investigating legal issues, you need fast, reliable access to verifiable information you can count on.

Obviously, you need more than whatever you can extract from general purpose search engines.

Tools To Mine The Web

You and your business need a web searching tool set designed specifically to find the business information you need in a timely, effective, and efficient manner.

The good news is that these specialized search tools already exist. Yes, they are all available on the Web. New ones even pop up almost every week! Most of them are freely accessible too!

The bad news is that there are hundreds of them ... and they are not all equally reliable or easy to use!

Sure, you can find them yourself ... given time and determination. You can test, and learn how to use each one, personally. During this time, you will be learning a lot about Web searching ... and about the depth of your resolve!

Meanwhile, this self-imposed apprenticeship will not let you attend to business as you should.

I let the experts spend their time and energy on finding and testing Web searching tools. They have their own reasons for doing that kind of work. I am not in the business of finding and testing tools. Besides, I do not have the expertise, nor the time. By supplying me with fully tested and approved Web searching tools for my business, they win my respect and patronage.

I win precious time, which I spend taking full advantage of the information gems I discover using their best Web searching tools. My business is well fed with the highly focused, and reliable information it requires to grow safely.

That's what I call taking care of business. I can truly mind my own business, because the Web searching tool set I use can definitely "TURF"!

Claude Jollet is a former planning advisor to major industrial and commercial clients. He specialized in weather related operational planning issues. He holds a bachelor's degree in applied computer science, specializing in business process analysis and automation. Mr. Jollet now devotes all his free time to the promotion of entrepreneurship on the Web. He reaches his following with his Web site http://www.top-web-entrepreneurs-plan-it.com

Drop Shipping Beginner Intermediate Advanced

2009-01-21T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Gary Granai

Drop shipping is neither a sport nor a game. It is a business. And in business, customers neither want to deal with beginners nor intermediates.

Customers want advanced service, advanced communications and advanced reliability. Simply stated they want to deal with someone in the advanced class.

When you start your drop shipping business it is like jumping into the middle of the ocean. If you are a beginner, you will simply drown. If you are intermediate enough to stay on the surface, your competitors will try to put you under. And you will be torn apart from below by the sharks out there that prey on the newcomer. It is not the time to start learning how to survive. You must be advanced before you jump into drop shipping.

More than 95% of the drop shipping businesses fail within the first year. There are many reasons. But generally it can be said that they did not have enough experience to understand how tough business really is.

Business is a constant war. You will be fighting competition for your market share. You will be fight competition for search engine position. You will be fighting to survive every day and it will never stop.

You will have to be set up to survive the fight. You have to start your drop shipping business in the advanced mode.

How do you jump from business level beginner to business level advanced? You do a business plan!

A properly written business plan is more than a writing exercise that you put in a soon forgotten book.

First it is a beginners training manual. In writing your business plan, you are forced to think through the details of what you must do to compete in the market.

For example, it will make you think about what is your unique selling proposition. Remember that tens of thousands of other drop shippers like you may be advertising the same products as you. You have to create yourself some unique position in the market to outsell them..

Second it is a test procedure that takes you from beginner's status to intermediate status. If you work up a proper financial analysis, you will actually confirm what your costs will be and what you will get for the money that you pay.

Also test to see if the drop shipper really delivers. Order something and check what happens. Just consider the disaster if set up your entire business around a drop shipper and find that the supplier is unreliable.

Third it is a procedure manual that you will follow when you run your business. It should contain your tutorials, source materials and the miscellany you found important when doing your research. It is your reference book. It is your planning and work procedure manual.

As soon as you start to work your plan, you are in the intermediate mode. That means as soon as you start spending money. Every spend should be in accordance with your plan.

You have to be planned to keep control of your budget. You will run into a lot of sharks just looking to separate you from your money with promises of everything that you really know is not possible but will likely buy if you are not working your plan. If you are not careful you will be soon over budget and wasting money that you could better use on something else.

It is in this mode that you get your web site finished and on line under your company name. And it is in this mode that you start testing it on friends.

When you think that it is ready, it is time for the final exam. Have several friends, family and anyone else that you can find make test orders from your site. Have them make comments on your site.

This is a real time test run of your business. You will find where the holes are. Go back, rework your plan and test it again. Test until your helpers and you are satisfied. You will not believe how trying this experience is. Endure it. It can mean the difference between success and failure.

Once you think that there is nothing more to be gained in testing, you are advanced enough to go live. You should now be prepared to make a good first impression on your visitors and start making sales. Yes, you will make changes, but you will have a chance to survive.

Think advanced, start advanced and be advanced.

You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links in the article and author bio active, do not edit the article in any way, give proper author credit by including the information about the author as shown in this page and follow all of the Ezine Articles Guidelines For Publishers

© 2005 Gary Granai. You are free to use material from this article in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. The attribution should read: "By Gary Granai. Please visit Gary's web site at http://www.masterpage.com.pl/ for additional information and resources on drop shipping." Gary Granai works with small and medium businesses to help them achieve realistic growth targets. You may get free tutorials and more information about successful internet business startup and growth at http://www.polandbusiness.com.pl/

Breaking Even On The Front End

2009-01-20T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Robin J. Elliott

When you have a service or a product that is bought many times over, it makes sense to pay to get a new customer. For example, I showed a hair salon owner client of mine how to invite high-end potential clients for a hair free cut and blow wave. His cost was negligible; however 82% of them were so impressed with the quality of his work that they became regular customers. A Tree Surgeon may offer a free service in order to obtain long-term customers. An accountant or lawyer may offer a free initial consultation.

Combine the above with a Joint Venture and you can create the opportunity to access a large base of potential customers, especially if you have a consumable product. If your research and experience shows that most people who try your product go on to consume it on a regular basis over a period of time, why not ask JV partners to advertise your product and keep 100% of the first sale income for their trouble? Or they might want to give it away to their clients as a gesture of thanks for loyal patronage. The clients who like it can be directed to make all future purchases from you. Smart coffee shop owners can target business people who work in the area with an offer of three free cups of coffee. The prospects will get used to coming in to the shop and probably buy muffins or sandwiches anyway, and if the food and service is really good they could very well become regulars. Three cups of coffee costs about 60 cents. What is your profit on a sandwich?

The Law of Reciprocity works. When most people get something for nothing, accompanied by excellent packaging, friendly service and a good product, they feel obliged to reciprocate. What is the marginal net worth or lifetime value of a customer to you? Being generous and allowing them to taste and experience your products and services at no cost is a smart marketing strategy. People whom you would never have met will have a reason to try your products and services.

About Robin J. Elliott

For more than 19 years, Robin J. Elliott has worked with thousands of businesses in over 49 industries across the United States, Canada, and Africa. He specializes in helping small business entrepreneurs build wealth and gain access to new markets and profit centers through Joint Ventures. Through his Joint venture Seminars across North America he has thought thousands how to create increasing, multiple streams of income without cost or risk and very little time.

Get Robin J. Elliott's FREE: "How To Grow Serious Wealth Using Joint Ventures" Mini-Course, and The Prophet of Profit e-Zine along with video blogs, world class articles, free video, and access to top Joint Venture Partners at http://www.jvwisdom.com.

Small Town Sidewalks Big City Business

2009-01-19T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Nola Redd

At first glance, you wouldn't think the park would have anything to do with a small business. I'd like you to take a deeper look, however.

I recently became quite perturbed regarding the lack of sidewalks on Henderson Road. I live directly across the street from the Henderson soccer fields, which backs up via some lovely wooded trails to Henderson park. On the west side, which crosses over 285, there are sidewalks. On the east side, which leads to downtown Tucker, there are not. In fact, the street leading towards Tucker not only carries a great deal of traffic but has an almost nonexistent curb.

I penned a journal entry berating the lack of accessibility to the park from the plethora of nearby neighborhoods. I ranted on the growing obesity problem in America. Only after I completed the journal entry did I realize the effect the lack of sidewalks has on Tucker small businesses.

Despite its close proximity to Atlanta, Tucker still carries that small town feeling. Local renovations will heighten that sense. And the quantity of small store fronts only adds to the feeling. All of this would be improved by adding sidewalks to the neighborhoods barely a mile away.

Thus far, I have only walked to two businesses in Tucker, My Fair Lady gym and the local library. The walk was extremely difficult, as I have three small children (5, 3, and 1) and only myself to push a double stroller. This means that I not only had to struggle along in the grass and often on the busy road itself, I also had to keep a sharp eye on my kindergartner as we traveled. I will not make this trip frequently.

By the same token, I will not enjoy the chance of walking among the small business storefronts prevalent around the town. I have seen various places that might be worth exploring but I won't take the time to travel there by car. Were I to wander the town on foot, however, you might find me more likely to stop in a new store and explore.

Improving traffic in a smaller town means more than fixing the rush hour problems. By routing more pedestrians through the area, Tucker can increase the chances that new folks will encounter its businesses and become frequent customers. As those customers return to one store, they might take the time to visit another.

Even if you don't live in Tucker, consider how improving foot traffic in your neighborhood might heighten your business profits. For many owners, this means checking in at town meetings, or perhaps writing a letter to your local business or newspaper. Some of these you should already be doing; others take only a few minutes. Increasing your awareness of your community even if it is the 'big city' can only stand to benefit you.

Nola Redd is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writers. She writes a business blog and free small business newsletter for Redd Infinity.

While Waiting At The Airport

2009-01-19T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Larry Galler

One week after the recent announcement of heightened airport security I had to take a flight. I heard about long waits going through security so I arrived at the airport two hours before my flight. Naturally, when one arrives with plenty of time, there is no one in line but if you arrive late it seems as if everyone in the world is going somewhere that day. I whisked through security and had plenty of time to sit and observe. As much as everyone likes to complain about air travel I'm always in wonder that something as complex as an airport let alone the entire air travel industry, actually works as well as it does.

So there I was, observing a microcosm of the air travel industry. A little while after I arrived, two crewmembers arrived. Little by little, other crew arrived. They introduced themselves to each other. It was apparent that none of the crew had met each other before. Yet, as I boarded the plane, I was aware of how well they worked together as a practiced, coordinated team. Each knew what they were to do and did their jobs as professionals.

While watching the teamwork in the cabin, I thought of how this contrasted with some businesses I see where delivery of service is somewhere between adequate and chaotic. Realizing that these people work together all the time, the equation just doesn't compute. Then I thought, perhaps it does compute.

In the airline scenario, management knows they are putting together a crew of people who, in all probability, never or rarely work together. In order to insure that passengers on every flight receive a high level of standardized service they must have systems and processes in place that a well-trained crew can fit into or chaos ensues.

In a less structured business, systems and processes are often verbal, not documented. Training is sloppy or non-existent. The business gets by because teamwork and standardized delivery of service is far less critical until they start losing customers to a better organized, more structured competitor. In this case, it is wise to think like an airline.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment - Larry@larrygaller.com. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com

Five Tips For First Time Entrepreneurs

2009-01-18T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Audrey Hoffman

It seems so long ago that I started my first business. Since that time, I've created several successful businesses and learned a lot of lessons along the way. There are several things I wish I would have known in the early days of my entrepreneurial efforts that I hope will help some other first time entrepreneurs on their path to success.

You'll Work Harder for Yourself than You Ever Have for a Boss

If you think owning your own business is simple or means you get to lounge around all day long, think again. While this may be an end result after a lot of hard work, it will certainly not be the beginning of your business. You will work long hours, long nights and at times you'll feel overwhelmed at the amount of effort owning your own business can take. But, also know that owning your own business and working hard for yourself can be one of the most satisfying feelings of your life.

Don't Confuse Setbacks with Failures

They say there is no successful business owner who hasn't failed with at least one business before they started the one that "struck gold". It is important that you take each failure you encounter on your path to success as an opportunity to learn something. This helps you to not repeat your mistakes and makes you more prepared for your next business venture. In addition, things that seem like failures can turn out to only be minor or temporary roadblocks that can be overcome with time and hard work. Entrepreneurs learn from everything they do, though they may not always "succeed".

You Still Need a Life

Many new business owners work all hours of the day and night. While hard work and a lot of hours are certainly required for an entrepreneurial lifestyle, you also need to make time for your personal life whether it be for family, friends or personal hobbies. You need to take time for your own personal well being. In addition, if you sit behind your computer, in your office or on a "jobsite" all day, every day, you will miss great networking opportunities out in the "social great beyond" of your world. All work and no play makes Jim, or Jane, a very dull person.

Good Bookkeeping is Essential

This isn't an understatement. My first time in business, I paid for something here, something there and never kept receipts or records of any expenses. I told myself I would "one day when the business got off the ground". Eight months later, my business was booming and it was tax time. Not only did I lose out on a lot of business expenses I couldn't claim due to no proof, I ended up paying an accountant triple what I would have had I not been a nightmare client with no records or receipts. Don't wait for your business to "take off" keep records from the very beginning it will make it a habit, make your taxes owed less painful should the business start booming and will make your accountant more pleasant than mine was.

The Internet Isn't The Magic Pill

If you are a new business owner starting your own business based on the Internet, then this part is for you. The Internet is not a "magical flow of endless customers". The adage "build it and they will come" couldn't be further from the truth online. You need to work an Internet business as hard as you would a "brick and mortar" establishment. While starting a business online requires less start up and overhead in many cases, it is NOT free. You will need to put out money, or spend a lot of time learning new skills (sometimes both), to make a successful site on the net. It takes marketing, hard work and a willingness to learn. If you think you can slap up a website and people will pile into your shopping cart, then you may want to take some time to actually plan your business model.

Good luck with your business. Being an entrepreneur has ups and downs, but it can be the most satisfying and rewarding (both personally, professionally and financially) of your life if you put your heart and soul into doing what it takes to succeed.

Audrey Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur who owns several businesses including http://www.speedy-incorporation.com a site that offers online incorporation services as well as information about forming an LLC or corporation across the United States.

Creating A Winning Balance Sample Sheet

2009-01-17T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Shaunta Pleasant

There are many important documents in the life of the business owner, but finding a quality balance sample sheet is one of the most important.

Financial documents such as the balance sample sheet can play an integral role in the overall health and well being of the business, and it is important for every business owner to know where to find this balance sample sheet.

Places To Find A Balance Sample Sheet

One of the best places to look for this balance sample sheet is on the internet. After all, anyone who has ever been online no doubt knows just how much information can be found there.

There are a many web sites where such a balance sample sheet may be found, and the smart business owner may want to download several of these balance sample sheet in order to have a good variety to choose from.

Detailing Enough To Provide Complete Information

Of course, downloading a balance sample sheet is only half the battle. The other half will be customizing that balance sheet to the need of your own business.

Each business is unique in many ways, and it is very unlikely that the first balance sample sheet you find will completely serve your needs. Instead, that balance sample sheet will provide a template, to which you can add your own expense and profit categories.

It is important for the balance sheet you create to be detailed enough to provide complete information, yet not so detailed that it becomes cumbersome to use.

Using A Balance Sample Sheet That is Similar To The Type Of Business You Plan To Start

When choosing a balance sample sheet from the wide variety available, it is important to look for one that is as similar to your business as possible.

For instance, if you run a bar business, a balance sample sheet from another bar or night club may already contain many of the categories you will need for your own business.

A balance sample sheet from a tanning salon or car repair business, on the other hand, may not be as useful.

Choosing a balance sample sheet that is similar in scope to your own business can make a big difference in the ease of rewriting such a balance sample sheet to meet the unique needs of your own business.

Shaunta Pleasant is a professional web writer and editor on business mission statement topics. Visit my site to learn more about writing a business plan at http://www.yourbusinesspal.com/sample_balance_sheet.html To download a copy of Business Plan Work Shop at http://www.yourbusinesspal.com/business_start_up_work_shop.html

Keeping A Partnership Alive And Thriving

2009-01-17T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

What are the best methods for keeping a good business relationship?

Once you have a business relationship in place, you need to work on that relationship to keep it intact. As a matter of fact, people nurture their business relationships more than they do their families! The first and most obvious method is to follow up with questions and requests in a timely manner. This rapid response to queries does more for the relationship than sending out regular information. Customers or business partners are really impressed with response rates.

Can you imagine asking a person in a retail store a question about the product you are about to purchase and they say they will get back to you in a minute but actually finish their phone call, chat with a few others in the store and then start another project before getting around to the answer. It is likely you would walk out on such a situation. The same is true when forming solid relationships with customers and partners. The sooner you respond, the more it is likely that they will want to do business with you.

Likewise, the partner will need to nurture the relationship. Relationships are two-way streets. You cannot always give the information and solve the problems; there must be something in return for you. Usually this is in the form of sales or introduction to other potential business relationships.

There is a fine line between nurturing a business relationship and letting the partner see what is in it for them. The difference is often difficult to discern, but when you discover where it lies, the business relationship will grow even further.

What's in it for Them?

How do you make sure your alliance partner is satisfied?

Do not forget that a partner or alliance may only interested in what is in it for them. They may see you as a cash cow or they may see you as an opportunity to further their current business. Whatever the reason, they are likely to look at the alliance from their own perspective and will likely want to make sure that they have a real winner on their side. This doesn't mean that you have to lose; it simply means that you have to be aware of what motivates them into becoming an alliance partner. You will also need to be aware that they will not be motivated to help you in your business unless you are motivated to help them in theirs.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com

Growing Your Lawn Care Business The 4 Areas Of Focus

2009-01-16T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Chestin Salisbury

For the most part, the majority of businesses today have the common goal of wanting to grow. This means more customers, more profit, and ultimately more money for the owner.

No matter the industry you're in or the type of business you run, there are really only 4 ways to achieve this objective. While there are many ways to approach these 4 areas, it's important to keep them all in perspective as you work to grow your lawn care business.

Here are the 4 main areas of growth and some ways to achieve success in each:

1. Attract more new customers.

This one goes without saying. It's impossible to grow a business, let alone be successful in business if you're not constantly adding new customers. Customers are the lifeblood of any business and adding new ones should be a constant focus for any business owner that desires to be successful.

There are countless methods for attracting new customers and this holds true for lawn care companies as well. Here are a few ideas that work particularly well for the green industry:

Door hangers, flyers, or leave behinds done in areas where you already have existing clients. You want to keep your clientele relatively close which cuts down on travel times and it allows you do get more done in a shorter period of time.

Direct mail such as letter or postcards. Carefully selected mailing lists are a readily available and can produce loads of new customers if done correctly.

Create a professional looking website. The internet has become an integral part of the way business is done and the green industry is no exception. Create a website that's simple, easy to navigate, stresses benefits, and captures your visitors contact information.

Develop relationships with other service providers that can refer your services to their existing customers. This is a very powerful way to create a flood of new business very quickly.

2. Increase the average sales amount.

This is a powerful method for growing your business that many LCO's simply ignore. If you're already selling a service to a customer, why would you not want to sell them even more services, allowing you to write an even bigger invoice?

Here are several ways you could implement this into your lawn care or landscaping service:

Instead of selling just a cut, sell them a shrubbery trim as well. Or how about refreshing their pine straw? Whatever add-on services you provide, do your best to sell your customers these services as well.

Year-end is a perfect time to add on additional services such as core aeration, fertilizing, or over-seeding. Spring time is another great opportunity to sell your additional services.

Combine several services into a package that would cost less if sold separately. People love feeling like they're getting a deal and package deals help create that sense.

3. Get existing customers to buy from you more often.

This one is quite possibly the most overlooked aspect of growing a business and yet it's without a doubt the easiest way to grow your bottom line. If someone has already purchased from you before and if you've provided a quality service, selling them again should be a no-brainer.

In fact, the most valuable asset any business has is its existing customer base. You should constantly be looking for opportunities to sell to customers again and again and again.

Here are a few suggestions to take advantage of this method of growing your business:

Get every customer on a contract. This way you are selling your service again and again and again. Do everything in your power to convince your customers that it's in their best interest to be on a service contract for a pre-defined period of time.
Create a system to follow-up with your prospects on a continuous basis. If you're able to maintain a positive presence with your customers, the likelihood of them buying again and again increase exponentially. This can be done both online (if you have contact information) and offline.

Create specials or packages that you can present to your existing customers periodically. You should constantly be looking for additional products or services you can sell.

4. Hold onto customers for life.

This is a very important element to creating a lasting business. Knowing the lifetime value of a customer can be critical in developing a marketing plan that produces results, especially since it will help to know how much you can afford to spend to acquire customers.

Also, the power of holding onto your customers for life can really be seen as the previous methods kick in over time. As you learn to sell more to your new customers and as these customers become repeat buyers, their cumulative value grows and grows.

Here are a few suggestions for holding onto your customers for life:

Under-promise and over-deliver. Always go the extra mile for your customers.

Ask for testimonials from you satisfied customers. This will give you some insight into how satisfied they are and it gives you a powerful marketing tool.

Recognize and reward loyalty. Let you customers know that you appreciate their patronage and from time-to-time send them something that shows you appreciate their business.

Now, unfortunately for most businesses, they focus their attention on numbers 1 and 4, which ultimately means they're leaving potential profits on the table. If a business is spending all it's time and energy on getting new customers, they're definitely paying much more than they should to grow their business. However, if they're only focusing on existing customers at some point their business will slowly dry up as some customer attrition is to be expected.

Overall, the smart lawn care business owner will focus their attention on all four of these aspects. If you spend time and money in each of these areas, you'll guarantee yourself a thriving lawn care business and one that will undoubtedly be around for years to come.

Chestin Salisbury is President of Lawn Care Marketing Magic, a direct response marketing consultancy located in Charlotte, NC that focuses on the lawncare and landscaping industry. He has been helping small businesses grow for 5+ years by creating marketing systems that use time-tested direct response marketing principles. Lawn Care Marketing Magic has access to 100+ years of experience and is capable of creating a marketing plan that grows YOUR business. Chestin is also the chief-editor of 'The Lawn Care Marketing Magic Minute', a weekly e-newsletter that focuses on helping your grow your business. To learn more about these lawn care direct marketing systems and to sign up for the weekly e-newsletter, visit http://www.LawnCareMarketingMagic.com

Accountant Or Bookkeeper

2009-01-15T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Margo Masri

What is the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant? A bookkeeper handles the day-in day-out financial record keeping and reporting. An accountant specializes in the preparation and filing of taxes. Having a good bookkeeper is just as important to the growing business as having a good accountant.

Another big difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper is usually, "About $140 per hour." For this reason it is very important that you allocate your resources efficiently. You do not want to pay your accountant to perform bookkeeping functions. It does not make business sense.

Smart Businesss allocate their resources based on their needs

Fact: Accountants do not have the time to handle day-in day-out financial record keeping and reporting. What do they do? They hire Bookkeepers.

Bookkeepers perform a critical function for the firms and organizations they serve. Regularly challenged to maintain precise and accurate records, bookkeepers produce the vital reports that keep management up to date on the financial condition of their company.

Bookkeepers are responsible for maintaining the "business checkbook", much like a personal checkbook. They record routine money transactions like customer payments into a "cash receipts journal" and checks to vendors into a "cash disbursement journal." They also process payroll. At month end they transfer or "post" the "journal" totals to the "general ledger" in preparation for financial statements prepared by the accountant. They prepare monthly quarterly and year end financial statements.

Accountants are responsible for the design and management of the financial systems that bookkeepers use. They prepare tax returns at year end. Accountants may also prepare budgets for management and loan proposals for bankers; they may perform cost analysis for the company's products or services.

Hiring a bookkeeping service can often be a good solution for the small business owner. A good service will communicate well with your accountant so when tax time rolls around, the accountant will need to spend as little time as possible on your tax return keeping your accountant's fee to a minimum. Make sure you understand the reports you get back from your service. You want to make the most of the information to make productive decisions for your business.

Both bookkeepers and accountants are important to your business. Knowing the difference between them can not only assure you of receiving the best information on which to base your financial decisions, but can also save you hundreds of dollars per year in fees.

Margo Masri (Certified Quickbooks Pro-Advisor) Owner of Margo's Bookkeeping Service. (We are QuickBooks professionals. We provide outsourced Bookkeeping services to NY's five boroughs and Long Island. Our goal is to provide professional, affordable, and timely accounting services to small and medium business while adhering to high standards of quality and integrity.)

http://www.margosbookkeeping.com

margo.masri@margosbookkeeping.com

How To Cut Expenses And Manage Your Business

2009-01-13T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Arun Pal Singh

If you own a small business, you should know that often times it can be the little things, rather than the large expenses, that can eat away at your budget. But many times, small business owners will try and increase their profits by looking around at what larger expenses they can cut.

If you are looking to save some cash in your business, why not pay attention to our "small time" cost cutter ideas. You'll find that if you add them up, they may just save you more than a penny!

And actually together they do save a lot.

#Change Your Plastic Options

If you own a small web site that doesn't do tons of online business, then chances are you don't need a merchant account. These can be costly, and probably won't pay for itself unless you do a robust business. But instead of losing business by not accepting credit cards, you can use one of the other options such as Paypal or Clickbank. 2checkout.com is another good option for the few countries not accepted by clickbank.

With these types of payment systems, clients can use their credit cards, and once the transaction is complete, the money is instantly deposited in your online account. Then you will simply need to transfer it to your bank account. You can even run your own affiliate programme with these services.

They are good and not expensive. You pay per sale rather than annoying monthly charges.

You will need to do some comparisons before switching services. Make sure that the transaction fees won't cost more than the fees you are currently paying.

#Change Your Calling Options

What are you paying for long distance phone calls? Depending on the company, it's possible that you could save hundreds per year if you switched to another. Because of stiff competition, you should be able to go online and find the perfect rate for your needs.

And if you hold a lot of business meetings on the phone, don't forget to check into teleconferencing or web conferencing as a less expensive solution!

#Change Your Internet Options

The days are gone when you have to pay a fortune for an ISP server. In addition to the big boys, there are a great many smaller ISPs that will just as good of a jobif not betterfor your business.

The key is negotiation and research.

Start by looking online by typing in search terms as "affordable ISP," and "cheap Internet Service." Once you've found a few, begin to compare rates and services.

Now, if you already pay twice as much with one of the larger companies, call them up and tell them that unless they can lower your rate, you'll have no option than to switch to another company.

Many times, they will compensate you in the form of free months, or downright lower your fee. If they won't budge, then you've already researched your other options, so make the move!

Can you see by just taking some time and looking at these areas how you can feasibly save hundreds of dollars per year in your small business? Get creative and figure out other ways to save.

Could you book your trips last minute and save one-half or more on your travel expenses?

Where do you buy your office supplies?

Do you buy in bulk?

Remember, it's great when you can cut the large expenses, but that's not always possible. Don't forget the small stuff, too!

Wish you success.

Arun Pal Singh, a successful marketer and writer offers a unique and duplicable business opportunity at http://www.homeforprofits.com. To avail his free Income Course, send an e-mail to subscribe@homeforprofits.com with subject 'subscribe'.

What Is Freight Bill Factoring

2009-01-13T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Marco Terry

Trucking company owners know that cash is king and prompt paying clients are critical to the company's success. But, what can you do if you get a good client that insists on paying their invoice in 30 days or more? How do you pay fuel, drivers and repairs while you wait to get paid?

In the past, the only option you had was to take the client and grit your teeth.

However, there is an option that has been gaining popularity with the trucking community. It's called freight bill factoring. Freight factoring eliminates the payment wait and gets your freight bills paid in a couple of days. But, transportation factoring is very different than a business loan. It works by selling your freight bills to a freight factoring company, who pays you for them and then waits to get paid by your customers/freight brokers.

Transportation factoring can be easy to use and works as follows:

You deliver the load and issue a freight bill
You sell the freight bill to the factoring company, who pays you a first installment of 90% to 97% of the freight bill
You get immediate money while the factoring company waits
Once the factoring company gets paid, any remaining reserves (less a small fee) are returned as your second installment

Freight factoring rates vary, but they go from 1.5% to 3% per 30 days depending on volume, duration of transactions and customer selection. A factoring line can be established in a little as 3 days, provided you have all your company documentation in order.

About Commercial Capital LLC
Looking for freight bill factoring. Commercial Capital provides freight factoring and transportation factoring to truckers. For a free consultation, call Marco Terry at (866) 730 1922

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power

2009-01-12T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Debbie Jenkins

CARD SHARK

7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power

The humble business card has been a mainstay of business and industry for years. But despite it's small size and cost, it's one of the most powerful marketing tools you will ever possess. Because of it's low cost many people take the business card for granted and don't even think of the effect it can have on their networking and sales success. Here are a few tips for making your card do the business for you...

Card Tricks

Your business card can perform many different promotional jobs and usually all at once. I call these little jobs "Card Tricks" because they work like magic.

All you need to do is be aware of what you want the end effect to be and then set your business card up to work the magic for you.

Here are 7 Card Trick ideas:

Get a Most Wanted Response (MWR)

Get Read (Break The Ice)

Get Kept (And Referred To)

Get Passed On

Qualify/Disqualify Prospects

Sell Stuff

Make You A Celebrity

1. Get A Most Wanted Response

This is the action you want your new contact to take next as a result of your communication. In this case it's your business card that provides the communication.

You are responsible for the outcome of your communication so it goes without saying that you must have a clear outcome in mind to make the most effective use of your business card. If you don't create a business card with a clear idea of what you're expecting as an outcome then you can't expect to generate a consistent response. Your networking will be hit and miss and you'll miss more opportunities than you deserve to.

Although your eventual goal will be to get someone to buy, buy again and then tell all their friends your first MWR when networking will rarely be "buy my service" straight away. You may want your prospect to give you permission to follow up first or to book a meeting or request more information. These types of response all build the relationship and make your final goal much easier to achieve.

A good first response is to create curiosity and then follow it up with a specific action Consider the following ideas:

Make Them Visit Your Website And Leave Contact Details By offering a FREEBIE on the back of your card. You could handwrite the URL (website address) each time you hand one out for that extra personal touch.

Get Them To Set Up A Meeting Immediately By offering a FREE consultation and providing an appointment reminder form on the back of your card which you fill in as you're talking to them.

Get Them To Call You As Soon As They Return To Work By suggesting you have a secret FREE report and repeating your phone number nice and big on the back. You could give them a password or phrase to say when they call to be told more. People love to learn secrets, don't you?

All along you should be looking to build your credibility and their level of trust. Your business card isn't 100% responsible for this process but if it's wrong you'll be causing yourself unnecessary problems.

2. Get Read (break the ice)

3. Get Kept (And Referred To)

4. Get Passed On

5. Qualify/Disqualify Prospects

Be explicit about what you do, for whom and in what situation. This will help your card to do the difficult job of separating the wheat from the chaff, in terms of people you'd like to do business with.

A strong, targeted message on your business card will free your phone line up for enquiries from inspired, interested and applicable prospects. People who don't fit your target will then know not to waste your time or theirs, and if they like you they can pass your details on to people who are right.

6. Sell Stuff

7. Make YOU A Celebrity

A key goal when networking is to stand out and be recognised. When people know your face and know what you can do for whom, introductions and positive gossip will become rampant.

The problem is, people in general, aren't very good at putting names to faces until they've met you a few times. If you want everyone to know your name and to say, "There's Mr/Mrs X" when you enter a room then here's a really easy trick

Put a photo of yourself on your card. Maybe even use up the whole of one side and include a link to a FREEBIE or a quote with it.

Then if you frequent the same networking groups and events often enough, your name will go before you.

It's also a great ice-breaker and gets people to take a second look.

Some people believe that a picture could put people off who judge by appearances (ie too young, too old, don't like the colour of that sweater etc). My question is Do you want clients who make such assumptions in the first place? If not then fine. If you do then this might not work for you.

Did you want tricks 2, 3, 4 & 6 too? If you want all the top 7 Tricks plus loads of other ideas, including examples of real business cards and a business card makeover, then you can have them for free by going to www.leanmarketing.co.uk/card-shark

Speak Soon

'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins

About The Author

"Dangerous" Debbie Jenkins is an author and speaker who takes no prisoners with her, explosive and scathing attacks on the greedy and lazy textbook marketers who've never spent a penny of their own money on marketing in their life. See why she's mad and "Detox your Marketing" at... http://www.debbiejenkins.com

debs@debbiejenkins.com

Why Clean Mobile Homes For A Business

2009-01-11T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Manufactured and Mobile Home owners know that the weather this year will be quite harsh. It's imperative these owners to clean out rain gutters and debris from on top of their homes. They realize that they must thoroughly wash off this summer's dirt so they do not have drip marks on the sides of their cottages this winter. They must eliminate the mold buildup, and unsightly stains. Those mobile homes which have not been cleaned all Winter must have their rain gutters cleaned so when Hurricane remnants dump massive amounts of water in a region the roofs do not collapse. It is equally important to clean the bottom of the eaves and carport to prevent mold spots from forming.

When you show up with a pressure washer in a mobile home park this is your chance to help these folks have the cleanest, most well kept mobile home in their park. Since cleaning mobile homes is such a good business you need to advise customer to act now before the weather gets you past the point of no return. Before more Hurricane weather drives in torrential rains and again in October for the East Coast and December on the West Coast before winter hits. In the West after January most companies will be very busy with emergency rain gutter clean outs and will be booked several weeks in advance. Our company has often had waiting lists and then simply had to turn away customers.

What can you charge for these services? You should offer early customers a 30% Savings and charge them $82.50 for a Double Wide and $102.50 for a Triple Wide. Additionally offer interior windows and screens with the wash for $ 20.00 extra. We recommend charging less for two or more mobile homes or an additional 10% savings each for each with a Senior Citizen Discount of 10%.

You should also make all your prices with expiration dates as mobile home dwellers and owners are known for their procrastination. On your advertising you might mention:

"This price is good only until January 15th. Normal prices will be charged after that date. Last chance to get the 30% discount is on January 15th at 5:00 pm."

This is a common practice if you use Money Mailer type coupon direct mail advertising campaigns by zip code. Be sure to alert your customers that you use specially formulated biologically and environmentally safe detergents. Let them know that they won't leave black algae spots on their home three weeks after the job has been completed.

Makes sure they know you are a legitimate business as so many fly by night groups feed of the senior citizens and elderly. You need to mention that your company does maintain current business licenses, wastewater permits and insurance. You are also advised to tell them that your crews are clean cut, all-American, athletic, hard working young men with positive attitudes. Tell those customers of your equipment and that it is state-of-the art and your love your customers. Of course you must make sure all that is true, if it is not perhaps you can lower your price until you build your business up to the point you can wash many mobile homes per day. Wash On !

Lance Winslow

3 Attitudes That Can Be Fatal To Your Small Business Success

2009-01-11T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Tony Mase

Not long ago, I had a conversation with a gal about her small business.

She'd been in business for about eighteen months, every single one of which she'd lost money in...

Lots of money!

Yet...

She was absolutely convinced if she put more money into her small business (money she didn't have) that somehow (she hadn't a clue how) her business would eventually (she had no idea when) become profitable.

When I attempted to point out the fallacy of her thinking to her, she interrupted me in mid-sentence.

Out of the brief, pretty much one-sided conversation that followed came three "reasons" she had to justify why she needed to keep pouring money into her money losing business...

Each of her "reasons" represented an attitude, a firmly held belief, she had that, although she didn't know it, was standing directly between her and the success of her small business.

Here they are:

Attitude #1 - It takes money to make money.

"Well Tony," she began...

"You do know"...

"It takes money to make money!"

Actually, I don't know that. :-)

Stop and think about it...

If that statement were true, if it really takes money to make money, no one would have any, would they?

In his book, "The Science of Getting Rich", Wallace D. Wattles writes:

"No one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital. True, as you get capital the increase becomes more easy and rapid; but one who has capital is already rich, and does not need to consider how to become so. No matter how poor you may be, if you begin to do things in the Certain Way you will begin to get rich; and you will begin to have capital. The getting of capital is a part of the process of getting rich; and it is a part of the result which invariably follows the doing of things in the Certain Way."

In other words...

Money is *not* the cause...

Money is the *result*.

Money is the result of "doing things in the Certain Way", as Wallace D. Wattles puts it.

That "certain way" has to do with a combination of thought and action... "constructive" thought and "constructive" action.

I believe it was Albert Einstein who once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

In the case of our gal, plowing more money into her money losing business wasn't going to change a thing.

True...

It might buy her some more time.

However...

Without a change in thought and action nothing was going to change...

Not now...

Not ever!

Attitude #2 - It takes years for a business to make a profit.

"And," she continued...

"You also know"...

"It takes years for a business to make a profit!"

Actually, I don't know that either. :-)

Now...

This may be true if you're starting an Amazon.com or a Wal-Mart, but, in my experience, most small businesses are either profitable right from the start or they're not profitable at all.

A number of years ago, I had the good fortune of meeting a man who, at the time, owned some 60 to 80 businesses, had a personal net worth of over $100,000,000 and enjoyed a personal net income of over $25,000,000 a year.

He had two very simple rules he followed whenever he started a new business:

First...

The business had to be profitable within its first 90 days.

Second...

The business had to earn a net profit of at least 24% (I may be off a percentage point or two here, it may have been 25% or 26%).

If any business he started didn't meet those two criteria, he closed it...

It was that simple.

Attitude #3 - It's the economy.

"Besides," she continued...

"You know how bad the economy is right now!"

Wow, where have I been? :-)

She then pointed out a couple of small businesses in the area that had closed up shop in the last year or so.

Unfortunately...

What she failed to notice...

Was that there were several small businesses in the area very similar to hers that were flourishing.

In his book, "The Science of Getting Rich", Wallace D. Wattles also writes:

"If you are now in business, and anybody else in your locality is getting rich in the same business, while you are not getting rich, it is because you are not doing things in the same Way that the other person is doing them."

If you buy into the "it takes money to make money", "it takes years for a business to make a profit" or the "it's the economy" mentality, you may well be overlooking the *cause* of why you're not earning money from your small business.

Remember...

Constructive thought and action are the cause...

Money is the result!

Tony Mase is a serious student of the works of Wallace D. Wattles and the publisher of "The Science of Abundant Life" ebook by Wallace D. Wattles... http://www.thescienceofabundantlife.com

Local Search And Internet Yellow Pages A Whole Newvocabulary For Small Businesss

2009-01-10T19:00:00.003-08:00

Writen by Dr. Lynella Grant

Buyers want both online and local information about where to buy Most small businesses are local in nature, serving people who live nearby. Their customers found them through traditional methods like the Yellow Pages or newspaper ads. So far, the Internet hasn't figured prominently in their marketing efforts. That's about to change, as Local Search methods become more widespread. Even for buyers expecting to spend their money close to home, more and more of them go to the Internet to locate desired products and services. They rely on search engines to find suitable vendors in the fastest, easiest way. Local Search combines the search query word or phrase with specific geographic terms, like city or zip code. That way, search results only include enterprises in that local area. Instead of information about a small enterprise being lost among millions of pages of search results, it shows up in a small pool of local providers. That's good for them, as well as the person looking for what they provide.

Small operations can easily be located by a whole new group of buyers Consumers don't simply go to the Yellow Pages when ready to buy - as they once did. Studies show that an astonishing 36% of online searches are conducted to find local businesses. About a quarter of all Internet users already conduct local searches. They'd do even more of it, if the desired small business data were more complete. Local enterprises need to prepare for the impact of changing customer habits. An easy first step is to include your business in Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), along with the printed Yellow Page directory. That puts your enterprise on the radar screen. Learn how your business can make the most of Local Search by visiting http://www.yellowpagesage.com.

You'll find reliable advice from experts in Yellow Pages and Local Search so you can get more mileage from your promotional dollars. Start by getting comfortable with search concepts, and improve your odds of being found when people search online for what you offer. You don't even need your own Web site to benefit from Internet Yellow Pages and Local Search. Learn the Relevant Terms Search Engine - method for locating the information available on the Internet; a program that searches Web pages for requested keywords, then returns a list of documents where the query terms were found Google and Yahoo, the major general search engines, have both shifted gears to make Local Search a priority when delivering relevant results. Spider (also called "crawler" or "bot") - goes to every page on every Web site and reads the information so it can be available to searchers; to "crawl" a site it collects and indexes information from it Specialized Search Engines - narrow focus of information crawled and indexed, like medical, business, or shopping sites Keywords - word or phrases used by search engines to locate relevant Web pages; words chosen to improve a site's search engine placement and ranking Search Query - search request, which the search engine compares to the spidered entries, then returns results to the searcher Search Results - compiled list of Web pages that a search engine delivers in response to a query; the number of items returned is usually overwhelming (in the millions), so searchers only bother to view results on the first pages Relevant Results - the test of a good search is whether the results obtained relate to what the person wanted to find, without a lot of irrelevant links Local Search - combining a geographic term in a search query to locate suitable providers in a specific area Pay per Click (PPC) - method of building traffic whereby site owners bid on search terms (keywords) that link to their site Geographic Terms - specific information about the local area that can be included in a local search: zip code, town, county, geographic region, state Top Ranking - sites shown on the first page(s) of search results Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - fine-tuning keywords and page content so the Web site rates high in search engine results Tags and Titles (on Web Pages) - provide site keywords and information to search engine spiders for indexing a site Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) - directory of business phone numbers and locations in a geographic area, organized by category; searchable data base accessed on the Internet Make your business easy for searchers to find The public is embracing the convenience of searching on the Internet to find information about local businesses.

However, their searches for desired information are compromised because so many local enterprises don't show up in the databases as yet. Those that do have an edge in their local market. Climb aboard! Make sure searchers can find you. For little or no money, you can expose your enterprise to the whole world. Whether or not your business has a Web site, you need to provide the information people are looking for in the places that they look for it. Local Search and Internet Yellow Pages open new avenues to buyers ready to spend. Best of all, they support and compliment your traditional methods of finding new business. So you cover all your bases. (c)2004, Lynella Grant

--Dr. Lynella Grant, an expert in visual communication. How printed materials send signals that strengthen or undo the words. Author, The Business Card Book & Yellow Page Smarts http://www.yellowpagesage.com Off the Page Press (719) 395-9450

I Want To Start A Graffiti Cleaning Business

2009-01-10T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

If you're thinking of small business for yourself you might want to consider a business which has a built-in repeat rate for the needs of the services. Have you ever driven around and seen all the graffiti in your city? Have you ever considered that someone has to clean the graffiti and yet the next day some punk kid puts more back up again?

Have you ever considered being in the business of cleaning all the graffiti and knowing that there would be a never-ending supply of graffiti to clean? Now, that my friends is a very good business, but can you make money cleaning graffiti? Who would pay you to clean it? Well you might be surprised to find out that many municipalities and agencies pay to have the graffiti removed because it is and eye-sore for the city or county.

Some of the recent contracts I have seen being awarded in cities outside of Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta are in the range of half a million per year and these are for cities that are suburb cities of the major cities. If you do a good job in the graffiti business and you clean the graffiti the very next morning before many people see it, eventually the kids will give up and go somewhere else to spray paint the walls.

Additionally there are ways to make money in the graffiti cleaning business by spraying paraffin wax and other coatings onto the surfaces all the walls and buildings so that the graffiti does not stick. All these reasons are why the graffiti cleaning businesses make money. Perhaps you might consider starting a graffiti cleaning business in your area, as it makes a very good small business to own. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Six Important Tips To Improve Your Cash Flow

2009-01-09T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Bill Darken

There's a common statement amongst business people at all levels and that is 'Cashflow is King'. Most people who follow this little metaphor have learned that little in business survives without it

It is sometimes so, so easy to get caught up in the roundabout of business. There's marketing advertising deadlines, new products, administration, staff issues, recruitment, selling and then more selling: You also need to focus on the cash collection of those sales. You'd be surprised how many good business people forget to collect what is owed to them. This can later cause immense problems in the running of your business and many business people don't see it coming.

Here are 6 tips to ensure you have a better chance of collecting your money:

1. Ask for a retainer or down payment on projects so that your customers fund the project, not your business.

2. Set your terms to say 'payment in full' at completion. Don't extend out 30 or 60 days after you've completed your work. Never, ever give 90 days. You will pay interest on the money you borrow while your money is caught up in this delayed payment schedule. Poor cash flow costs you money it just isn't apparent all the time.

3. Always negotiate terms with your vendors for 30 days or more so you can complete the work, bill your customers and receive payments prior to paying your vendor. This creates a positive cashflow.

4. Establish a solid collection process, and make sure it's continuous (automated where you can) and nothing is left to memory. When your customers delay paying, they're using your cash. You must be persistent but fair and courteous.

5. Set up a line of credit at your bank that you can use in case of emergency. Often, lenders rates will be less than the late fees your vendors will charge. This line of credit will help you cover a lapse in cash flow for short periods of time. However, this will have an interest rate attached and you really don't want to be using this facility unless you have to.

6. Factoring your invoices lets you sell your invoices and receive cash now instead of waiting 30 or 60 days. There's a fee for using a factoring service but they vary from company to company. You need to ensure that the benefits of getting cash today exceeds the cost you'll pay for having that service.

You may not be able tpo apply all these options at the same time and gaining access to factoring services requires approval. You'll need to look into this further if you think it's of use.

Here's an important note:

Please don't think that everything else is more important than cashflow. Poor cashflow can force you into bankruptcy even when you're profitable on the balance sheet. Make the required changes as soon as possible and avoid the age old problems early that have plagued many a small business owner.

Now you know why cashflow is king. If this is a little confusing, as it can be sometimes, I would highly recommend chatting to your accountant and learning everything about cash flow you can - it's essential.

This article has been supplied courtesy of Bill Darken. Bill often writes and works closely with Small Business Answers who can help with more information on small business plans. If the link is inactive, you can paste this one into your browser - small-business-answers.com/ You can also look for small business loans information at small business finance. If this previous link is not working you can paste this link into your browser, loans-only.com/ If you're seeking factoring services, you will most likely find something that suits at factoring for small business. If this link is inactive paste this link into your browser factoring-aid.com/

Small Business Startup Easy As Art

2009-01-09T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Angel Brown

Starting a small business can be challenging, but it's easy to do if you look at the process as an art.

The word art, according to Webster's Dictionary, is a "skill acquired by experience, study, or observation...a branch of learning...the conscious use of skill and creative imagination esp. in the production of aesthetic objects."

It is an act of creation--the physical production of a visualized work, or the process of achieving a desired outcome. Like composing a symphony, or painting a portrait, or baking a cake, starting and running your business requires the same combination of Action, Resources, and Timing, or ART.

Similar to the artist who sculpts a statue or writes a novel (action) using chisels or pen and paper (resources) in a specific sequence (timing), you apply certain techniques, using the tools of your own trade, in step-by-step processes, to start or grow your company. Every aspect of business essentially follows the same pattern, from start-up through expansion to retirement.

First things first. To realize any accomplishment in life, whether business or personal, you first have to define your goal. This may sound simplistic, but the reality is: You can't get there from here if you don't know where "there" is. You need to be specific. If you want to work with children, are you going to be a daycare provider, an elementary school teacher, or a pediatric nurse? If you want to expand your existing business, are you going to add a new item to your product line, or write a book on your subject, or start a consulting business to complement your retail operations? Use laser-like precision to focus on your true goal because your desired end result will dictate the ART needed to accomplish your mission.

Action! Once you decide what you want to do, you need to determine how you'll get it done. What actions or steps are necessary to make this happen? Do your homework--research what the specific requirements are so you can meet your milestones when you put your plan into motion. In business, some specific actions include obtaining licenses, finding financing, procuring supplies, doing bookkeeping, filing taxes, marketing and networking, producing your end product, etc. For major projects, like starting a new company, you may need to plot out several courses of action. Mapping out each course in a step-by-step fashion will help you assemble the necessary resources for each step.

Resources. Whether you're a service provider, a manufacturer, a distributor, or an Internet marketer, your resource supply includes not only the tools of your trade, such as raw materials, tangible goods, expertise and knowledge, but also human resources--the people and organizations who assist you in accomplishing your mission. Accountants, lawyers, bankers, government agencies, and mentors are examples of some of these resources. It is the wise entrepreneur who considers and procures all the resources necessary to efficiently and effectively implement their action plan.

Timing. Now that you've set your goal, plotted a course of action, and lined up your resources, it's time to execute your plan. The order in which you carry out each step--your timing--can be critical to your success. For example, if you've found a rental space that seems ideal for your company, you absolutely want to check first that the property is zoned for commercial use (or for your type of business) before you sign on the dotted line and hand over your rent money.

You don't need the associated headaches that could result if you miss this step and the deal falls through. Let logic, research, and intuition be your guides. If you're unsure which path to take next, ask for directions!

Especially in the start-up phase of business, some steps must happen in a certain sequence before other actions can be taken. For instance, before you can apply for a Doing Business As (DBA) certificate, you have to first decide on a name for your company and find out if it's available for your use. You'll also have to decide on a business structure (sole proprietorship vs. partnership vs. corporation) before you can file the necessary paperwork with the appropriate governing agency, such as your Secretary of State's office. With a little preplanning, you should be able to follow your plotted course of action without having to retrace too many steps along the way.

Obviously, timelines and requirements will vary by state, county, and city, depending on the type of business, but most information can be obtained from local government offices. Check the blue pages of the phone book. Since most states don't have a centralized agency to provide all the information you need to get up and running, you might have to get creative in finding the appropriate agencies in charge of business-related activities. But be persistent--you're an ARTist! Your vision and ART plan will get you there.

Angel Brown is the Founder and President of the Women's Business Gallery, http://www.womens-business-gallery.com the ART of business specialists. Providing women entrepreneurs and small business owners with the information you need to succeed.

Zoning Laws And Taxes Affecting Your Homebased Business

2009-01-08T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Jo Ann Joy

Zoning laws may be determined by your city or your county, and you should familiarize yourself with these laws so you will be able deal with any issues that may arise. First, you need to determine if your home-based business will have employees or walk-up trade. If not, the zoning questions may never arise. Home-based businesses that deal with the public or have non-family-member employees that work out of their home are more likely to have issues with with zoning laws. Before you start your business, get a copy of your local ordinances from your city or county clerk's office, the city attorney's office, or your public library.

Usually the problems arise when neighbors complain, and the zoning boards are required to deal with the complaints. If employees and customers are going in and out of your home, making noise, or parking by the neighbors' homes, your neighbors will probably bring this to the attention of the zoning commission. Also, your hours of operation may also be an issue if you are open early in the morning or late at night and you disturb your neighbors. If your biggest problem is your neighbors, try talking to them about your business ahead of time to help allay their fears. If you meet with resistance from neighbors, you may be able to negotiate a resolution.

The amount of space your business is uses in your home usually cannot be greater than the actual living area. This is called "space percentage," and it can lead to a zoning issue. Also, the type of merchandise you are selling may also be restricted in a residential area if you are using chemicals or other items that have an unpleasant odor. Most zoning laws allow a nonpolluting home businesses, as long as any home containing a business is used primarily as a residence and the business activities don't negatively affect neighbors.

You may also be in breach of zoning laws if you post a sign for your business in your yard, and you should read up on signage laws in your area before you post a sign. You may be able to find other business owners in the area who have similar zoning issues, and you can organize a local business campaign to try to change your zoning laws to make them more favorable to home-based businesses.

In many cities and counties, if a planning or zoning board rejects your business, you can appeal or request a variance from the city council or county board of supervisors. You are more likely to suceed if you have the support of all affected neighbors and other businesses in the area. Because of the prevalance of home-based businesses, some communities are working to amend ordinances that prohibit home-based businesses entirely to allow "traditional home-based businesses" that are unobtrusive.

In an effort to protect residential property values, most subdivisions, condos and planned-unit developments create special rules called Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) that govern many aspects of property use. When you purchased your home, you received a copy of the CC&Rs, and you should read them carefully to be sure that you are allowed to operate a business in your home. Rules pertaining to home-based businesses are often significantly stricter than those found in city ordinances and they are more zealously enforced. If you violate these homeowner's restrictions, the homeowner's association or property management company could obtain an injunction to stop the business activities, and you could be facing stiff fines.

(u)(b)Legal issues affecting home-based businesses(/u)(/b)

The first thing you must do is establish a business entity for your new venture. You need to take this vital step for your business to protect yourself from liability issues. You will also need to apply for a business license before you start selling anything if your state requires one. If your state does not require a license, you may be required to have a reseller's certificate. Research your state's business laws and get the proper license or certification.

Many home-based business overlook their need for insurance. Unless you are covered already, you will need to provide your own health, dental, and life insurance. You will also need liability and business property insurance to protect your business and its assets if an accident or other unexpected event affects your business. If you have employees working in your home-based business, you must consider whether you will provide health insurance for them. Also, research the OSHA standards to determine if your home-based business is subject to them.

Tax laws that govern your home-based business

Your tax situation will change when you start your home-based business. Because new tax laws are passed every year, you need to hire a good accountant to be sure you are compliant. Even if you have done your own taxes for years, owning a business means that you will need different tax forms and schedules. It is well worth the cost of a good accountant to be sure that your deductions are viable and that you are paying the correct amount of tax.

State taxes regarding deductions, income tax, and sales tax vary from state to state. Contact your state's tax office for specific information about how taxes are calculated and collected in your state. The Internal Revenue Service can be researched on-line at www.irs.gov to learn about the tax laws you will be facing. The IRS Web site provides comprehensive information for small businesses and also lists a toll-free number if you need more help. Spend some time at the IRS Web site until you feel comfortable with the new.

You can also get good information from the Small Business Association site on tax laws and other business issues. Another good resource is Nolo Press that sells books, e-books, and guides specifically about small business tax issues. Their Web site also offers free information. If you plan to hire employees, you need to be aware of employment taxes and other issues that face business owners. You will need to set up a system for federal withholding tax, state tax, and other employment taxes, and you need to report and pay the taxes withheld to the appropriate government agency.

Jo Ann Joy, Esq., MBA, CEO The future of your business starts here!

For information about other important legal, tax, and business topics, free copies of articles, or EBooks, please visit our website at u>www.IndigoBusinessSolutions.net. Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. Indigo Business Solutions is a registered trade name.

Discover the secrets to success and grow!

About the author: Jo Ann Joy is the CEO and owner of Indigo Business Solutions, a legal and business consulting firm that is a "one stop shop" for businesses. We provide legal and business services and all professional services to businesses, and they will not be "referred out" to other professionals.

Please visit our website at www.IndigoBusinessSolutions.net for more information on business, legal, and tax topics and for free copies of articles and EBooks.

Community Relations Strategy For Small Business

2009-01-08T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Does your company have a community relation strategy? Have you even considered it? It is essential to have policies in place. Having run a small business for years which eventually turned into a multi-state franchise system, I realized early on that a business who is part of the community it serves can survive the ups and downs of the business cycles, making it somewhat recession proof. Nothing turns off the community more than a business which refuses to give back a little and gives some ridiculous excuse of; "It is our corporate policy, sorry!" Many times a volunteer for a club or organization will come in and ask for a hand out. Rather than giving them an excuse, talk with them about what you can do, have a policy which helps them too. Do not just tell them sorry; "No can do" offer them other assistance instead. For instance if they come in a are looking for a donation, you might say. We are not able to give a straight donation, but we are allowed to give you an item or two on the discount rack for a door prize or silent auction.

Your employees and managers of all your stores should have leeway to help you serve the community, which support your business. By having a policy up front and community relations over all strategy you can turn a potentially negative event, which will hurt you thru word of mouth into a bonanza of new discovered customers within that group. I have written an outline, which can assist you in promoting your community relations strategy. Now realize every business is different and ours is unique like yours. We are in the mobile car wash business and are able to do such things as car wash fundraisers and give out gift certificates for auto-detailing. But whatever business you are in you can easily develop a community relation manual by taking this outline below and modifying it and then writing three paragraphs for each item. This will give you an edge on your competition and help you align your business strategy with that of your community and insuring that you attain a larger and more loyal customer base.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

I. CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

A. Volunteer Support

B. Maintaining Lists

1. Change Yearly

2. Phone Numbers, Addresses

3. Share Lists

4. Networking With Lists

C. Carry Through

D. Remember Names

E. Environmental Groups

1. Maintain Communications

2. Volunteer

F. Attend A Meeting

II. SERVICE CLUBS

A. Rotary

B. Kiwanis

C. Optimist

D. Elks

E. Lions

F. Women's Groups

III. PTA'S, BOOSTER CLUBS

A. Community Relations Representatives At Schools

B. ASB Clubs

C. Student groups

D. Awards

E. Scholarship Funds

F. Fundraisers

G. Coupons, Etc.

IV. SENIOR CITIZENS

A. Discounts

B. Mobile Home Parks

C. Golf Courses

D. Square Dances

E. Senior Centers

V. SEARCH AND RESCUE

A. Fires, Locusts

B. Floods, Hurricanes, Tornadoes

C. Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis

D. Riots

E. Volunteer

F. Other

VI. WHEEL CHAIR WASHING DAY

VII. MISCELLANEOUS

Lance Winslow

The Code Of Conduct For The Privately Held Business

2009-01-07T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Rick Johnson

It seems almost ludicrous that this is a topic that many of us should consider in privately held companies.

When I suggest there may be a need for a "Code of Conduct" I am not talking about a need based on employee behavior, I am talking about the need based on family behavior. The family business is a cornerstone of the US economy. It's the American way, free enterprise and all that gooey stuff we read about. And, it's true.

Family owned/privately held organizations, both small and large, with succession issues, family preparation and second and third generation leadership issues often have several family members that hold management positions within the company. Often time's interaction between family members can create problems for the business. In some extreme cases employees may actually begin to takes sides on a variety of issues based on the particular family member they have elected to support. Sometimes, family issues may exist within the minds of the employees and the actual family members have no idea how their interaction has created the problems.

I have seen brothers be vengeful against brothers in the family business to the point that the business suffers and may risk failure. I have seen family relationships destroyed over business issues, jealousy and even greed. I have listened to distraught fathers try to determine succession within the business when two sons believethey are air apparent to the kingdom and Dad just can't pick one over the other. I have seen family businesses run by second and third generation family members that demonstrated exceptional competency, vision and skills to continue to grow their business. Then again, I have seen a few empty suits and empty dresses when it comes to running the business as well. I have seen sons that couldn't wait to get their hands on the business just so they could sell it and escape with a fortune. Then again, I have seen fathers that have elected to sell simply to avoid the family conflict involved in passing the leadership reins down to another family member.

We all have different strengths, different methodologies and different experience in the world of wholesale distribution. These differences will impact our individual approach to any task or project. This can become an area of risk for some of us. We must be conscious of our own unique style. This is especially true when it comes to a family run business. To use a phrase from General Russell Honore when he took over during the Katrina Hurricane crisis, "We can't afford to get "Stuck on Stupid!" He made that comment to the media when they tried to interrogate him about all the mistakes made during the aftermath of Katrina. As Owners, CEO's, Presidents or just family share holders, we can not afford to get "Stuck on Stupid" when it comes to running the business. We must put the business needs ahead of our personal needs. It is absolutely essential that you look forward and not back if you are going to continue to grow the business.

I am not suggesting that a "Code of Conduct" will resolve succession issues. That in itself is an entirely new discussion. However, I am saying that a "Code of Conduct" will not only make the succession transition smoother, it can also circumvent any potential problems related to internal family interaction. Additionally, you might want to consider creating a family business doctrine that outlines the values and principles that you want to maintain in the business. The family business is what built this country. There's no question about that. But, it is not without its problems. If you are the president of a privately held company and you have absolutely no family issues in running the business, you are in the minority. Consider yourself very lucky and commend yourself on how you have been able to run your business and avoid family challenges. If you are one of the majorities of privately held businesses that has experienced family issues you might consider a "Family Code of Conduct".

Dr. Rick Johnson (rick@ceostrategist.com) is founder of CEO Strategist LLC. an experienced based firm specializing in strategic leadership . CEO Strategist works in an advisory capacity with company executives in board representation, executive coaching, education and training to make the changes necessary to create competitive advantage. You can contact them by calling 352-750-0868, or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com for more information.

Rick received an MBA from Keller Graduate School in Chicago, Illinois,a Bachelor's degree from Capital University and his PhD in strategic leadership.

Contact E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com or visit http://www.ceostrategist.com

Do You Need To Purchase Registered Agent Service For Your Business

2009-01-07T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Simon Maher

Registered Agent services aren't cheap. Many companies charge $100-125 per year to act as your agent. So it's important for you to know 1. Do you need a Registered Agent and 2. Should you pay for one.

What is a Registered Agent

Every state requires that an LLC organized under its laws have a registered (or resident, in some states) agent at a physical location within the state. The purpose is for the government to be able to deliver official documents to the LLC. The most likely documents are tax forms and notice of lawsuits.

Basically, the Registered Agent is the place and person within the State's physical jurisdiction on whom service of process can be done. The State wants a physical person and place within their borders whom they can go to with taxes and lawsuits.

If you are forming an LLC in the state where your business operates, you can simply use your business office address. In this case, you are your own Registered Agent. This is the most common arrangement. Even if you operate your business out of your home, you can use you home address for official service.

When do you need to pay for a Registered Agent service?
If you don't have a physical location in the state where you formed your LLC, then you'll need to appoint a registered/resident agent within that state to receive official documents.

Example: You live in Missouri, but you formed your LLC in Nevada (there'll be another post later about why this may or may not be a good idea). Nevada is going to want a registered agent that is located in Nevada to be able to serve with official papers--a.k.a. lawsuits and tax notices (while Nevada has no state income tax, they do have business taxes, for example on gambling). If you don't have a house or office in Nevada to recieve these papers, you'll need to hire someone who does to accept these papers on your behalf. This person is a registered agent.

Many incorporation companies will, for a fee, act as your registered or resident agent.

About the Author:

Simon Maher is a contributor for LLC Made Easy. Learn more about choosing and managing your business entity at LLC Made Easy

The Number Of Pages In The Ufoc In Franchising Is Still Growing Today

2009-01-06T19:00:00.002-08:00

Writen by Lance Winslow

Today required franchise disclosure documents are over 200 pages generally. How many pages do you think the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular; UFOCs were 35 years ago for these ten-foot tall pillars of the franchising community like Kroc, Monhan and Rosenberg founded their companies? They were of course the founders of McDonalds, Domino's Pizza and Duncan Donuts.

Look at the modern day UFOCs now as franchising companies try to crystal ball every possible eventuality, thus putting the franchisors and franchisees into an unworkable box for fluidity of motion. If you study the competitive aspects of business in relation to war you will see that for any army to advance and win a battle or any business to attain and advance market share fluidity of motion is key. It is what one of the components that takes good companies to great and Jim Collins and company along with his Stanford research staff would agree. If companies cannot adapt fast to changing consumer trends such as Atkins or South Beach Diets and Low Carb lifestyles then the franchise systems will fail, if the documents are so tight to include every current issue in the franchised business model, then in the event of a slight change will not be able to compete and will lose market share.

In war it is no different those who doubt this should read up on Carl von Clauswitz (On War), Colonel Boyd (OODA Loop Theory) and Sun Tzu (The Art of War). In war people die, in the franchising model franchisors file bankruptcy (i.e. Schlotzky's Deli recent BK) and franchisees lose their investments and their American Dream. Surely the Federal Trade Commission is not so adamant about rule making simply to make rules that they will deny the truth of competitive free markets. Rules must make sense and the Federal Trade Commission should come back to Earth and live in the reality of the business world where customers vote with their dollar of their own free choice and free will. Think about it.

Lance Winslow

Health Insurance Amp Your Small Business

2009-01-06T19:00:00.001-08:00

Writen by Nola Redd

As small business owners, the question of healthcare can often seem like one that doesn't matter. When you start your company off and it's just you and your spouse, and every dollar counts twice over, the idea seems nice but impossible (granted, if you plan to stay that small, it becomes doable over time). Slowly, you start adding employees, trying to grow without exceeding your means. In time, you find yourself larger than you thought you would be, and the question comes up by more applicants in job interviews. So what do you do?

As a long time employee's wife, my first thought has always been, give us the benefits! We want medical insurance! However, once we started our own company, I came to realize the financial challenges more and more small business owners face. Furthermore, after the Walmart insurance lawsuit, radio commentator Dave Ramsey made the point when he noted that it was his business, he started it, and nothing was owed. He went on to explain that he does offer his employees some form of health insurance but he does not pay for all of it.

I've put a great deal of thought into medical insurance lately, and I've come to a few conclusions. One of the biggest struggles I am having is over the fact that I am pregnant and pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition. This means that, since we didn't have insurance before we were pregnant, we are not covered. On top of that, as we re-enter the world of the employee, we have had two very lucrative job offers. One of them comes with full benefits, and one of them comes with a reimbursement plan. Guess which one I'm leaning towards as I look down the road six months?

After all of this agonizing, I have come to believe that some benefits are better than none. I told my husband last week that if the job we really wanted paid only 5% of our benefits just enough to get me in the doctor's office there would be no debate. Obviously, there are other factors involved, but the benefits are a huge one. Furthermore, we have other children, and any good parent knows that children automatically come with medical bills; the two are more compatible than peanut butter and jelly.

My husband and I spoke with the company owners regarding our debate (this is a small company of less than forty employees, obviously), and they indicated that they were already considering the problem. In a high-turnover industry, they were trying to figure out ways to keep their employees happy. This is obviously an intelligent company; they realize that happy employees not only stick around longer, but also are more productive. They also wanted to talk to me, although they were hiring my husband, because they realized the necessity of support at home. Those two qualities say a lot about the workings of the company, tipping the scale back in their favor. But I am still hoping for a tiny smidgen of insurance to smooth the way.

Medical insurance costs have become quite obscene, especially as you get older or less healthy. The restrictions companies put on who they cover have also become difficult to stumble through. Offering even a portion of benefits will go a long way to creating happy employees who want to stick around, which will, in turn, help raise your bottom line. The odds are that these relationships will more than cover the cost of benefits over the course of your company's lifetime.

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Facsimile.Com/ which is a site for Fax Machines.