April 23, 2007
Don't Make These Mistakes When Starting Your Own Business
So you want to be king of your own world by chucking in your day job and start a home business. Well being king or queen can be a job. Sure you don't have to answer to anyone but you but there are disadvantages too.
Watch this small business video and learn how to take advantage of small business opportunities and avoid common small business mistakes.
You'll learn:
The benefits of starting a small business and how start on the right footing
The drawbacks of being your own boss and the secret to overcoming negatives
Ideas for getting around the high failure rate that's common to small business startups
The most important element you must address that will almost guarantee your business success. It's not what you think!
Why the break even point is the key financial measure when it comes to developing small business opportunities
Ideas you should adopt if you want to make a profit from day one
Key numbers that you should check daily if you want to stay focus on your bottom line.
Why you cannot start your own business unless you learn accounting and bookkeeping
These are just some what you'll learn from watching the above 'starting your own business video".
Enjoy
David
Small Business Resource
P.S. Check out the small business resources on the following page to help you get your small business opportunities and ideas off the ground:
Small Business Financial Templates
Posted by David at 7:04 PM | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
Business Startup News! Accelerating Trend of People Starting A Business After 9/11
The number of New Yorkers starting a business in the city rose to 719,986 from 554,204 between 2000 and 2004, a jump of 30%, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. A clear signal that the entrepreneurial passion and dreams of people in that city after the terror attacks has helped it to rebuild the economy.
"It reflects the dynamic and entrepreneurial character of the New York City economy," said Mitchell Moss, professor of Urban Policy and Planning at NYU's Wagner School.
A factor in the surge in people starting a business has been put down to the dot.com collapse and mergers post 9/11 that resulted in a big pool of talented people looking for work.
Experts who predicted that the city would never bounce back did not take account of the generation of risk takers who see owing their own business an advantage over a paid 9 to 5 corporate job.
As the World reflect and remember the life changing events of 9/11 this week there are hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs driving an increasingly dynamic post 9/11 economy.
Posted by David at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2005
Starting A Small Business
Starting your own small business: While many people fail in business, many more succeed. If you subtract the foolish failures - restaurants being the most foolish, followed by any sort of glamour business (think travel, bed & breakfast, sports, celebrity) or retail business - the number of successes far outweigh the failures.
You can reduce the risk of starting your own small business by sticking closely to what you already know. By "what you know," I'm talking about (a) the product or service you will sell and (b) the primary method by which you are going to sell it.
So, assuming you're in an industry or business you like, get to know everything about it that you possibly can. Think of your employment as a free scholarship in the school of successful business. By spending focused time working to be a great employee, you'll learn lessons that you can use for the rest of your career. You'll learn how to make a business run more smoothly, how to help it generate greater profits, and how some aspects of it can relate to other businesses.
By learning "on the job," you'll develop many ideas for starting your own side business. Some of these ideas will be small, specific ideas that you will know exactly how to implement. Other ideas will be bigger, broader, and perhaps more exciting.
When it comes time to try out these ideas on your new business, take baby steps, one at a time.
This means that you should be willing to try something new - but just a little new. If you've learned how to sell cat food with banner ads on the Internet, for example, you might consider starting a business that sells cat food with small ads in magazines. (That's one baby step.) But you shouldn't let yourself get into a business that sells health-care products for cats through direct mail - even if you could convince yourself that you're an expert in selling cat products. That business would be too many steps away from your core competence.
How to Make Your Start-Up Business Profitable in Year One
You can invest a small amount of money (and a lot of hard work and well-spent time) in a small business and see it grow into a business that is worth a million in seven years. And you'll greatly increase your chances for success by having a plan - by knowing exactly what you need to do.
A typical start-up business that's close to what you already know should break even or lose a little money in year one, make a decent "salary" for you in year two, and provide a substantial bonus for you - in additional to a good, arm's-length management salary - in year three.
To make your business profitable in year one, figure out what you need, in terms of new customer revenue, to bring a profit to the bottom line. Then devote at least 80% of your resources - your time and money - to achieving that new customer revenue goal.
The key is to follow a program that breaks long-term goals down into shorter-term objectives and finally specific tasks. Each individual task should be something that can be accomplished fairly quickly. In terms of your marketing objectives, for example, individual tasks might look something like this: (1) Stop by three offices and leave brochures. (2) Call up such-and-such group and see if they would like to have you give a talk. (3) Buy a quarter-page ad in the local newspaper.
Put all of these small achievements together and you can achieve remarkable success in a very short period of time.
8 Important Things to Know About Business
Apart from starting (and sticking to) a good plan, I've discovered eight secrets to making a start-up business work.
1. Business doesn't happen until you make the first sale .
Buying office furniture and printing cards doesn't make the business go. Selling product does. Yes, there are some initial preparations you need to make - but until you have that first check in hand, all you're really doing is spending money.
2. The single most effective way of entering a new market is to offer a popular product at a significantly reduced price.
In every industry, there is a good market for specialty and high-quality product producers - but capturing a reasonable share of those niche market segments takes money, time, and experience. When starting a new business, you are usually short in these three essentials. That's why it's better to resist the allure of high-priced, prestige products in favor of selling the most desired products and services at ludicrously cheap prices. If you can figure out how to undersell the giants, you will be in a very happy starting place.
3. It's ultimately about selling.
Conventional business wisdom says you make money when you buy, not when you sell. I disagree. Great businesspeople make their fortunes by increasing the perceived value of their products, thus inflating prices and measurably increasing profit margins. (Think Chanel, Rolex, Range Rover.)
4. When choosing a business, select one that can be grown without your personal involvement.
Many businesses - especially those built around the personality or drive of a single person - depend for their growth on the commitment of the founder. Avoid this type of business. It severely limits your growth potential. Make sure your business can expand with the addition of more money, property, or people - but not more of you.
5. Have an exit plan.
Before you invest your time or money in any business (or anything else, for that matter), know exactly how much you are willing to lose - and get out if you hit that stop-loss point.
6. Focused effort is more effective than a diversified approach to business building.
Ambitious people tend to fall into two groups: those who focus on one project at a time and those who spread themselves out on many projects. The focused approach allows you to acquire mastery faster. The diversified approach gives you more balance. I've done both. And although I'm naturally inclined toward diversification, I've had the most success and made the most money from the focused work.
7. Let your winners run and cut your losses short.
Most business ideas or ventures that begin poorly, fail. This is a very important to learn. It's easy to get emotionally attached to projects/investments we believe in. But, when the marketplace tells you that your great idea is a loser, you shouldn't keep pushing. Close the project and minimize your losses. If you really have a good idea, it will come back to you in the future in another, perhaps better, set of clothing.
8. Pareto's Principle (the 80-20 Rule): 80% of your success comes from 20% of your resources.
Most of the success/income/satisfaction you will get in your career will come from a small portion of your skills/projects/efforts. Make it a habit to ask yourself, "Where am I getting most of the benefit here?" and compare that to where you are putting in the most work.
David
Small Business Resource
Posted by David at 6:36 AM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2005
Five Tips On How To Reduce The Risks In Running A small Business
Here arr five tips for running a small business from a risk management perspective.
1. Follow The 80:20 Parteo Principle: In running your small business focus your energies on activities that make you the most money. This limits your risk in that you're not spreading yourself too thin. if you allow yourself to be pulled in many directions you're distracted from what really makes you money. Don't let off-focus opportunities derail you from your main vision.
2. Don't build a small business you can't finance. This is an issue that dwarfs other issues. access to capital is vastly more inportant than anything and everything else. You've got to be wise on how to approach your financing and secure as much start-up capital as you can.
3. Think ahead: Advice about developing a business plan is sound. But think ahead about operational and logistic matters as well. For example, by establishing plans for dealing with production delays or problems with vendors beforehand, you'll be able to defuse these issues quickly, without hurting your bottom line.
4. Draft legal agreements (forms): Have standard contracts like non-competes and non-disclosure agreements on hand to deal with your three main liabilities; employees, vendors and customers. Getting everything in writing limits your liability in case things go sour (like an employee leaving and taking two other top sellers with hm). A library of standard business letters and business forms like instant business letters would save you time and legal fees. Most small businesses don't have to pay a lawyer everytime they need legal forms.
5. Don't fear risk - manage it: Managing small business risks - that is limiting your liabilities and general exposure keeps thouble at bay and gives you the freedom to innovate. Hiding from all risks, even the innovative , invigorating kind, can cause your business to get run over - which is an even bigger risk.
David Davis
Small Business Resource
Posted by David at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2005
News: HSBC's UK Small Business £65,000 X Factor Award Ends Soon
Only two days left to get your application for HSBc's UK Small Business X Factor Award. Small businesses that are regarded as the brightest new business should consider applying for this prestigious award.
Ten finalists will receive cash prizes worth £65,000 with the winner receiving £20,000 and £5,000 for runners up. There's also £4,000 of software and consulting services to be had by the winner.
This is your chance as a small business owner to win not only free money to spend on your business but also benefit from free publicity. The HSBC's 2X Factor Award" is aimed at Start-up companies less than three years old that has unique product that is likely to take the UK market by storm, hence the "X Factor".
The HSBC has a strong focus on small businesses and this is their fifth annual search for the UK's most enterprising start-up companies. Winners last year included Start-up Company with an insulating plaster product that's used in the building trade. Another company provided support services to young people in care.
Simon Wainwright who runs HSBC's Small Businesses services said: "We are calling on entrepreneurs to share their success stories. We are looking for entrepreneurs that provide inspiration for others. We believe there are many entrepreneurs with fantastic ideas and we want to hear from them."
Simon Wainwright also said: "By giving praise to entrepreneurs that are achievers we hope this will help other entrepreneurs succeed and that this will help HSBC to continue awarding budding entrepreneurs who will then inspire others and ultimately go on to realize their business dreams".
Nigel Griffiths who is Minister For Small Businesses is a supporter of HSBC's X Factor Award. His comments on the coming awards echo the fact that UK small business entrepreneurs are important wealth creators to the UK's economy and that the future wellbeing of the UK economy relies on providing an atmosphere of opportunity to all entrepreneurs.
The closing date for application is in two days time, Friday, 29 April 2005.
For information on how to apply for HSBC's Start-up Stars Awards 2005 visit HSBC or call the awards organizers on 0870 902 3333.
David
Small Business Resource
Posted by David at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 14, 2005
Starting A Small Business - Success Down Under
In the USA there's Small Business Administration. In the UK there's the Princes Trust and in Australia there's Innovation.gov.au. Although these providers vary in the type of resources and services they provide to small businesses they all have one thing in common; they help turn small business ideas into real businesses for young entrepreneurs.
Young Australians have turned creative ideas into thriving businesses. In Australia ("Down Under"), young entrepreneurs are directed to embrace the Internet to see what big organisations can do for them. This advice has paid off for many budding entrepreneurs with diverse ideas ranging from biscuit making to film making.
A case study featured on the site is Cindy Lukin who started a successful biscuit business. Another success story is Greg MCLean who has being a film maker since 1992 when he entered "Nestcafé Big Break" competition and won $20,000. This has enabled him to continue making films which culminated in his film, Wolf Creek, which was featured at the "Sundance Film Festival" in the USA earier this year.
Approximately 150,000 Australian small business entrepreneurs are under 30 years of age, which reflects the entrepreneurial spirit of youth.
Like entrepreneurs everywhere, starting a small business is seen as the way to realize their dreams.
Innovation.gov.au provides useful information and ideas for all small business entrepreneurs whether you live in USA or UK. The site has useful information on:
How to take a brilliant idea and develop it commercially
How to write a business plan
Case studies about successful small businesses
As remarked by Cindy Luken "I believe there are three main messages for young entrepreneurs starting a small business:
Vision; have a vision of what you want to achieve.
Passion; have passion for what you want to do.
Get started.
Great advise!
David
Small business resource
Posted by David at 9:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 15, 2005
Holiday Lessons Help Small Business Startups
Going back to school might be the springboard to generating ideas and launching your business but you’ll have to sacrifice your summer holidays.
Instead of heading for the beach in cooler climate this summer budding entrepreneurs could be checking into heading to summer schools in London, Sheffield and Leeds to launch their start up business. Startup courses costing from £100 to £6,000 is being offered to would be small business owners who can tap into the skills of experienced business people.
Past courses have produced a healthy crop of business startups that include an African airline to a student promotions company in Yorkshire.
It’s true to say that a university education does not encourage entrepreneurship however; the courses on offer are designed to be practical with presentations from bank managers, accountants and solicitors
According to Martijn Mugge, who organises the Sheffield course, “Universities are good at teaching about entrepreneurship but not teaching for it. You can’t tell people the rules of football, for example, and then expect them to play like David Beckham”.
While summer school startup initiatives should be encouraged they do not provide the resources that start up companies need to overcome the challenges in the critical two to three years in business, when 95% of small businesses fail.
The problems I with these schemes include:
· No ongoing mentoring from successful entrepreneurs who can steer you in the right direction towards realizing your goals.
· Killer strategies for marketing, advertising and selling, including effective time Management. All tried tested, tracked and honed to squeeze every ounce on value: top line sales and bottom line profits
Nevertheless, summer schools offer an environment that should encourage delegates in starting a small business as they are filling a gap.
Posted by David at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
