Start your own business, and soon enough, you find yourself in a situation where there are many things you want to say, all of them unprintable.

It happens to every entrepreneur – a moment of extreme challenge that causes you to wonder why you started the (expletive) business in the first place. I’ve had my share of those moments since starting our public relations firm in March 2002.

But while trading notes with a fellow entrepreneur recently, I started to think about all the moments of extreme challenge I left behind when I decided I no longer wanted to be somebody else’s employee.

That got me thinking about what really matters to me as an entrepreneur. As I shared my thoughts with my friend, a new list developed – the “F” words I believe every entrepreneur should know. They’ve done the job for me so far, keeping me rooted, married and talking to my kids while we build a successful business. I hope they have the same effect for you.

1. Faith: I’m not a street corner preacher, but I have a deep and abiding faith that starting my business is what I was meant to do in life. I also have a strong faith that I’ve been given the tools to do the job – even in a moment of extreme challenge. Without faith in yourself, in your business and in your purpose, how can you succeed as an entrepreneur?

2. Family: My wife and daughters are the most important people in my life. Starting my business has enabled me to put them at the center of my life, where they belong. Oh yes, I work long and hard, but today, it’s with a clear purpose. The generations of entrepreneurs who built this country understood this principle. Their businesses often bore the family name, and generations of people who were born, lived and died together managed to build great businesses together.

3. Friends: Fortune 500 companies have boards of directors. Entrepreneurs have friends. When no one else will listen, friends will. When others fail to see the beauty of the product or solution, friends will. And when no one else will talk straight to you about a dumb business move, friends will. And they won’t send you a bill.

4. Focus: It’s nice to say you’re an entrepreneur, that you are your own boss. But do you have the commitment to turn that idea into true success? The ultimate measure is your ability not only to set a goal, but stick with it, despite those moments of extreme challenge. You may have to change course along the way, but like a good sailor, you focus, keeping your business pointed to the right shore.

5. Finances: Let’s face it – most of us strike out as entrepreneurs because we believe we can improve our financial situation. I know I have not missed the constraining limits and miniscule salary increases of corporate America. How much do I want to make this year? There is only one answer: How hard am I willing to work? And there is only one reason to ask that question: to make good on my commitment to all the “F” words that rank ahead of money on my list.

6. Freedom: This may be the greatest gift of entrepreneurship. But it is the one that comes only after you can act on all the other “F” words in your entrepreneurial vocabulary. So many entrepreneurs strike out to find success, which they define as freedom from all the things they hated about working for someone else. Unfortunately for these folks, they lack a true entrepreneurial vision – they’re merely running away from something. True entrepreneurial freedom comes from a vision that encompasses what’s really important to you.

Are these the only “F” words an entrepreneur needs to know? Obviously not. But in moments of extreme challenge, remembering these “F” words may help you weather a moment of extreme challenge without resorting to the unprintable variety. And if you’re like me, they may also help you remember why you started the business in the first place.

A recent poll conducted by Forbes magazine shows that majority of its readers would prefer to become a billionaire rather than a Nobel peace prize winner, a great scientist or a famous athlete. There is no secret that most of the average people dream about getting rich albeit very few makes any real effort to become one.

According to statistics, more than 100 thousand people become millionaires each year in the United States alone! Overwhelming majority out of them is self-made and owners of business. This means, if you would like to pursue your goal of becoming rich, you have to start your own venture.

Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task! There are certain qualities that are absolutely necessary if you would like to become successful in your business ventures. Some of these qualities are built-in parts of your inherent personality, and some of them get developed over time. Knowing these characteristics and identifying your weak ones - those, which need strengthening - will, eventually, help you become a successful entrepreneur.

1. Common Sense

Studies show that most successful businessmen consider common sense as the foundation of their success. Common sense is defined as an ability to make sound judgments on the issues, which you encounter in everyday situations.

Good judgment depends on acquired knowledge and past experience. The combination of these two creates necessary prerequisites in developing common sense in a person. Common sense allows you to understand complex issues in simpler terms and get into the core of a problem.

2. Specialized Knowledge of your field

It is easier to start a successful business, if you have deep knowledge of the business field that you decide to pursue. About half of all home-based start-ups are launched by people who decide to use the knowledge, which they gained from their previous work experience of a particular niche area.

Philip Green, a billionaire, who made his fortune in garments retailing, claims that corner stone of his success is his knowledge of rag trade. He, presumably, can price a fabric simply by rubbing it between his fingers. Just by looking at a rack of coats he can predict which ones won’t sell next season. That’s the kind of knowledge required in order to become successful in entrepreneurship.

Around 45 percent of all start-ups fail to survive more than two years. One of the main reasons is many entrepreneurs do not accumulate needed industry knowledge before jumping into business world.

3. Self-confidence

Self confidence is a key entrepreneurial skill for success. It is easy to become demoralized, frustrated and resentful if you lack self-confidence.

Self-confidence is concerned with how a person feels about his ability. A successful entrepreneur believes in his abilities. He is not scared to explore un-chartered territories, take risk and take difficult decisions.

Self-confidence, however, is not a personal trait that either you have or you don’t. A person can have high self-confidence in one situation and totally lack in another. This is one of those skills that can be developed by training.

4. Ability to get things done

Successful entrepreneurs are persistent and hardworking. They master self-discipline to such extent that if a work is important and related to their goals, they will, eventually, complete it.

Getting things done is the vital link between motivations and their outcome. At times, entrepreneurs force themselves to choose work over fun, a boring job against a pleasant one, working on tax papers rather than reading a glamour magazine. This requires a self-control that many people simply fail to develop in them.

5. Creativity

Creativity is the ability to use your insights and come up with new solutions to old problems, get things done in a different way or find a totally different approach for conventional things to work together. Entrepreneurs need creative thinking ability virtually in everything. Each new product, each new marketing method, each business decision - all these are fertile ground for creative thinking.

Often, entrepreneurs become immensely successful thanks to one single creative idea!

6. Ability to lead

Successful entrepreneurs are capable of leading people and get work done by them. They use a combination of various methods - effective motivation, planning, coaching and evaluation - to lead people. They are concerned about the wellbeing of others and easily get along with people.

7. Self reliance

Successful entrepreneurs try to take full responsibility for their actions. They know that what they are today, and what they are going to be tomorrow, depend solely on themselves, as it is the outcome of their own choices and decisions. They are proactive people, who set goals, walk an extra mile to achieve them and rely, primarily, on their own resources and abilities.

If you would like to check out if your personality fits the typical entrepreneurial profile, the following site has questionnaire that will help you asses your entrepreneurial skills:

http://www.rateyourself.com/subject.cfm/Subject_ID/2

If, even, you have all these great qualities and you feel quite confident about yourself, you will never know how good an entrepreneur you are, unless you give it a try! So, the best way to prove your abilities, is to jump start a new venture!

After working for many years with entrepreneurs in all walks of business, I find that what separates the successful from the not-so-successful is attitude. Entrepreneurs who are going to make it big need to have moxie. Make no mistake; I am not saying that entrepreneurs need to be arrogant. No one wants to be around someone who is conceited, but a good dose of cockiness is in order for an entrepreneur to become wildly successful.

Without having a certain amount of moxie, an entrepreneur won’t have the guts to take a risk, go to an event or try something new. If you have a personality that is wary of risk and prone to playing it safe, starting your own business may not be the right path for you.

If, however, you find that you are dynamic and confident in new situations and you are comfortable in different and unfamiliar situations, entrepreneurship might be your calling. There are exceptions to every rule. For instance, many people can quickly gain confidence with something new by letting go of their fear of being wrong and unleashing their playful curiosity and creative problem solving abilities. This kind of person would also be a good entrepreneur. The time it will take them to achieve a flourishing business will be dependent on their learning curve and how soon they will be willing to make a bold move.

If you believe that entrepreneurship is for you, then you are right. If you also know that you can be timid and overly worrisome where your career is concerned, I suggest upping your moxie level by listening to self-help tapes. These positive voices can live in your head long after you are finished listening to them. Do activities to overcome your fears like taking an improvisation class. Attend seminars focused on confidence building and motivation. Get involved, and take leadership positions. Do daily affirmations. Committing positive thoughts and goals to paper can boost your morale and your self-esteem.

Anyone can own their own business, but to become a successful entrepreneur it takes a good amount of moxie. Thinking that you will succeed creates an aura that is tangible and attractive to others. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that creates success. For more information about how you can up your moxie level, visit www.flourishingbusiness.com .

Fully one in ten adults in the United States today is an entrepreneur. This phenomenon is by no means restricted to North America. The leading country for entrepreneurship is Brazil with one in eight adults an entrepreneur. Australia is not far behind the U.S. with one in twelve. These countries - Brazil, the United States and Australia - lead the way. Contrast, for example, Germany (one in 25), the United Kingdom (one in 33), Finland and Sweden (one in 50) and Ireland and Japan (less than one in 100). (Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000.)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEFINED

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 1999 defined entrepreneurship as “any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business, by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business.”

ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY - AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Entrepreneurship is a major contributing factor to the economic well-being of a country both in terms of economic growth and job creation. Traditionally, entrepreneurial ability tended to focus on the following four attributes:

=> Initiative - the entrepreneur takes the initiative to bring together the economic resources of land, labor and capital to produce a commodity (whether a good or a service) with the hope that such production will create a profitable business venture.

=> Decision-making - the entrepreneur makes the basic business policy decisions for the business, thereby setting the course of the enterprise.

=> Innovation - the entrepreneur is an innovator, attempting to introduce new products and new ways of doing things.

=> Risk-taker - the entrepreneur risks his or her time, effort, business reputation and invested funds in the entrepreneurial venture.

THE MODERN ENTREPRENEUR

Until recently, the above attributes, especially innovation and risk-taking, were the dominant factors that defined the characteristics of those who chose to become entrepreneurs.

Now, however, with corporate downsizing being a fact of life, many entrepreneurs find themselves thrust into the role by default.

The question for anyone either finding themselves in this position involuntarily or thinking about leaving corporate life for the heady world of entrepreneurship is whether you have what it takes to be successful … the “right stuff” in other words. Some people do, in spades. Others simply don’t. If you’re one of the ones who just doesn’t, either resign yourself to working for someone else or cultivate in yourself the qualities that successful entrepreneurs share. Believe it or not, entrepreneurs are not just “born”. Well, some, of course, seem to be natural-born entrepreneurs, but for the rest of us, the qualities of entrepreneurship can definitely be acquired by hard work and application.

COMMON ISSUES

The “common denominator” issues facing all entrepreneurs are planning, finance and implementation.

=> Planning

All entrepreneurs face the challenge of starting a new business, be it through innovation (inventing something new or doing something a different way), finding the right opportunity to get into, or buying a franchise. Whichever road you choose, it will involve serious planning.

=> Financing

Unless you have ready funds at your disposal, getting finance is the next major challenge and cannot be attempted until your business plan is in place. You will need to prepare funding proposals and applications for loans, venture capital, and funds from angel investors.

=> Implementation

This is make or break time. Many people think just getting started is the hard part - and it is hard. But where many businesses stumble is not in the planning and financing stages but in implementing their business plan. Why this is so is not certain. There are various hypotheses including the idea that ideas people and implementation people are two very different breeds and it is highly unusual to find one person who can do both. More likely though, is the simple fact that implementation requires such a broad range of skills that no one person can possibly be adept at all of them.

The real challenge and skill of the entrepreneur, then, is to recognize what you do well and then appoint employees or subcontractors to do the rest. Of course, if you’re running a business on a shoestring, this simply may not be possible! So be brutally honest and objective in assessing your particular strengths and weaknesses BEFORE you cash in your day job and your 401K.

The areas to think about in terms of implementation are the same as those encompassed by a broad definition of management: promotion (marketing and advertising), public relations, sales, employees, communications, legal issues, plant and equipment, risk management, disaster planning, crisis management, insurance, technology, computer systems, taxes, bookkeeping, finance, and the internet.

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Equally important as the common issues shared by all entrepreneurs are the personal qualities of the entrepreneur him or herself. To start you thinking about whether you have the right stuff to make a success of an entrepreneurial venture, here’s a list of character traits and work ethics common to successful entrepreneurs. Although it is not necessary that you possess all of them, you should possess most:

=> Passion - entrepreneurs have a strong passion for their idea or concept, so much so that their work is their play. If you don’t like what you do, you won’t stick it out when challenges come along, as they inevitably will.

=> Curiosity - entrepreneurs need to understand how things work. They ask a lot of questions. Curiosity therefore triggers innovation.

=> Sponges - entrepreneurs are sponges. They devour information about their industry and are always current on new and emerging trends and technologies, not only in their specific industry but in closely related industries. This habit of scanning their environment is a rich source of discovery of new opportunities. Entrepreneurs are ALWAYS looking for new markets, applications, products or twists on an old concept.

=> Optimism - entrepreneurs think of problems as opportunities for improvements and new ideas.

=> Forward looking - entrepreneurs are never satisfied with the status quo and are always proactively carving out their future.

=> Careful about money - entrepreneurs are careful with money and have a firm grasp on what things cost and their value to the business. This allows them to recognize a true bargain when they see one.

=> Started earning at a young age - entrepreneurs commonly displayed entrepreneurial leanings as a teenager seeking out entrepreneurial activities such as babysitting, lawnmowing and lemonade stands.

=> Competitive - entrepreneurs are naturally competitive and don’t let the grass grow under their feet.

=> Time conscious - entrepreneurs know the value of time and how to make the best use of it. You won’t find entrepreneurs spending much time on nonproductive activities. That said, entrepreneurs typically also recognize the value of downtime and time with family and will factor these activities into their schedule.

=> Risk takers - entrepreneurs are not afraid of taking calculated risks. They typically trust their hunches and act on them.

=> Usually loners - entrepreneurs generally prefer a solitary work environment as opposed to teamwork.

=> Professional - entrepreneurs are professional in their approach to work. They operate as they would in a corporate environment and don’t allow themselves to be distracted by outside influences.

=> High energy - entrepreneurs have a plan and a vision and they work it. Entrepreneurs are often health-conscious too, recognizing that the fitter they are, the better their minds work. So entrepreneurs will take time from their schedule to work out and eat well.

=> Flexible - entrepreneurs are nothing if not responsive to change. Although they appreciate the importance of having a plan and working that plan, they allow themselves room to react and respond to opportunities that may suddenly reveal themselves.

=> Nurture entrepreneurial spirit - entrepreneurs seek out and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in their employees and reward them accordingly.

=> Confident goal-setters - entrepreneurs are confident and set long-term goals, both for themselves personally and their businesses. They view money and financial security as a measure of accomplishment and a source of peace of mind.

=> Persistent - entrepreneurs never give up. They persist until they succeed.

=> Learn from failure - entrepreneurs learn from their failures and those of others. Failure to an entrepreneur is nothing more than an opportunity waiting to be discovered.

=> Self responsibility - entrepreneurs take the initiative and personal responsibility for their success or failure (which is always a merely temporary state).

=> Resource utilization - entrepreneurs utilize ALL of their available resources.

=> Internal locus of control - entrepreneurs don’t believe in luck. They firmly believe that success and failure lies within their personal control or influence.

THE FUTURE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

As we all know, increasing numbers of people are electing to work from home either through telecommuting or running home businesses. While this trend has commonly been attributed to the growth in the number of working women wanting to be home for their children, over half of all people now working from home are men.

A recent Purdue University study concluded a number of factors seem to favor continued high rates of new firm formation:

1. Continuing high rates of change (change creates opportunities for new firms).
2. Continued growth of the service sector (the highest growth area for new firm formation).
3. Increasing number of virtual corporations in which firms outsource their functions, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs.
4. Positive climate for small business - a general perception that small business is a positive influence on the economic wellbeing of the country giving entrepreneurs legitimacy and respect.
5. Growth in international business opportunities.

With the traditional corporate-employment track seemingly on the decline, the trend of forming strategic alliances with other businesses that are closely aligned with yours or with someone who can add value to your product is emerging. In fact, futurists envision a return to extended community living with shared resources but individual living and working relationships with entrepreneurial activities being the basis of these communities. Strategic alliances are a first step along this path.

So, if you have determined entrepreneurship is for you, you can be confident that you are part of the wave of the future. But understand what it will demand of you and whether you are prepared to give what it will take. The allure of entrepreneurship is undeniably strong for many but make sure you’re going into it for the right reasons. Being miserable in your job does not automatically make starting your own business the best idea in the world. In fact, it could be the worst reason of all to get into business for yourself. The right choice may instead be to find another job that you won’t be miserable in. But if, taking into account everything that’s been said above, you’re adamant that you have what it takes, by all means take the bull by the horns and create something absolutely fabulous.

A business can often be referred to a tree. You plant the seed first, and then water it everyday for months or a year till it grows into a nice big tree with flowers blossoming in spring. Starting a business is quite similar, except that it needs a lot of planning initially. The favorite dream is starting a business and being successful. The dream that most college kids and young executives harbor is of becoming as big as or maybe even bigger than Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

But this is where the dream ends because there is a lot of difference in dreaming about a business and actually building one from scratch. Moreover, there is also a difference between starting a business and making it successful in a highly competitive, technologically advanced global and American market. Numerous businesses have failed because people who started them, lacked vision and strong planning.

Before you start your business you need to get a clear understanding of why some businesses succeed while others fail. You have to understand what you will derive out of the business in tangible forms, like money to pay bills and to afford luxury, greater recognition and market share, financial security etc. Try to understand the profit and loss ratio, while also taking a close look at the probable hindrances which can affect your business. Also work towards identifying your worse case scenarios before you start, this shall work well in your favor, and half your battle is won.

Ideate on a business plan, something original but not too whacky. Planning is important. It provides you with an insight of the required capital, how much capital you have, what are the markets, what would be your sales plan, your USP, your niche, your strengths etc. The plan should also incorporate details on implementation, with a future perspective on the ever changing market. Make an investment breakup according to the space rent, salary for the team etc. Once you have cleared this hurdle then you are ready to roll. Being the most important stage, you need to exercise some caution.

As a business man there is a high probability that you might need a loan to buy machinery, office furniture or pay overheads. Hence you should have a clear target and objective. If you can achieve your target then you can use some of it to pay your debts and reserve the rest for re-investing in the business. This will ensure that your business keeps running and also that your debts are paid off. Business is full of stressful situations, besides debts. Always create a disaster management backup. This will help you when there is an emergency.

Success in business comes to those who plan smartly and play well!

So you are a young entrepreneur with a hot idea that you are sure that will be the next big thing. You are gung ho to start your own business but you don’t know what any of that entails.

Before you begin to spend your last dollar you need to visualize, as much you can, the steps you will need to take to get you where you would like to be. Doing this will help you understand what you want and what you don’t want and where you really need to spend your money.

Some of the questions that you will ask yourself are: What am I selling? Who is my most likely customer? How will my customer find me? How will I get my product to my customer? Which method of selling will it entail? Post card and direct mail? Stores? Wholesale? Face to face contact? Phone sales? Flyer delivery? Push Cart? What do you feel most comfortable with? What is the part of the business that you most like to do? If you are a chef and you are too shy to talk to your customers and just prefer to work your magic in the kitchen, then you will need to hire someone who a) likes people, b) genuinely likes selling and c) may even have a professional background in selling. At the very least it should be your partner or your friend who has a gift of the gab and is thrilled with your product. Once again determine how much it will cost you, before you begin.

If you write a business plan most of these questions will be answered. This is a good thing to do because it keeps your goals and your plan immediately in front of you, and it show your target spending goals and earning goals. You also have to do some homework to find out if there is a similar product being marketed and how is that product being marketed and at what cost? They would be your direct competition. But just because they are competition that doesn’t mean that you can’t also succeed with your product or services. The exact opposite is most often true. If you are in the right place at the right time, and your price is right, that could be you. That is one of the keys to succeed in business.

The other is consistency. If you begin to develop a customer base, they have to be able to find you consistently; and you have to be able to deliver consistently what you promise, and you need to stay in touch with them on a consistent basis.

If you have the push-cart first on Second Ave and then on Tenth and then back on Lemoine, your customer will give up trying to find you to buy the sandwich or tostada from you. Day in and day out you have to be at that designated spot, and you have to be there in the rain, in the snow, in the hot sun and with ample product. If you get your product from some other source, you have to have a reliable distributor, if not you have to find one who is reliable and who takes your account or business as seriously as you do even if you are only placing relatively small orders. If you are consistent at delivering, and keeping in touch with your customers, and consistent at ordering pretty soon you will be placing larger and more frequent orders.

But probably in the beginning everything will be small. So act accordingly. Do not make monster orders without knowing that you will be able to sell all of the order. You don’t want to have a huge inventory in the beginning so that you can keep your cost down. Sell out most of what you got and get orders coming in before you invest in thousands of dollars of merchandise. Test everything; the products with your customers or potential customers, test ads that you run to see how many orders it pulls in, test location, test method of marketing, test small changes in wording, logos, designs etc…

According to the Small Business Administration, most small business fail because they are undercapitalized. That means they don’t have the money to jump on an opportunity for growth, or to keep their products well stocked, or spend money when it is imperative for their business. Instead of jumping head first into a new business, and losing your shirt, it might be better to plan it and put away some money for a period of time, such as six months, one year or two years for the eventually launching of your business.

You should decide upon a brand or logo and signage for your business so that you can build product recognition. Make it clear for your customer to read, get in touch with you and order or reorder.

You would be surprised at how careless people are with their signage. I have seen signs with misspelled words, incomplete phone numbers, disconnected or no phone number at all. I have seen signs with the words crammed together, or with scratch-outs, to make it unreadable, and confusing. You don’t want your potential customer walking past you because he/ or she doesn’t know what you offer. If you’re marketing, keep it simple. For an example at a quick read, “TASTY CHICKEN TOSTADAS” is more effective than Marguarita’s and Dave’s tasty extraordinary, famous, Mexican Tostadas in chicken with a fine sauce or meat in a cream sauce. You have about ten to thirty seconds to make an impact and consequently a sale with your customer.

All this planning prior to your launching is not to intimidate you but for you to know how much it will cost you, to clearly target your customer, and what marketing method will work best in getting them, and keeping them, what products do you need on hand immediately, and to plan an effective campaign that will take you to your goals of starting and of course succeeding in your business. Even though you have to do the work prior to, during, and on an on-going basis; don’t let this stop you from fulfilling your dreams of your own business.

Take some time today to envision yourself and where you want to be in one year, three years, five years or ten. If you don’t like the outcome, now is the only time you have to change your future. You can make it happen!! Take action and do it now!!!! At least start!! There is really no perfect time to start. You will not have all the elements perfectly in place but if you don’t start to take steps to accomplish your goals now, the years will come and go swiftly whether you are fulfilled or not.

In Australia in 1860, two men, Burke and Wills, led an expedition as ambitious as the Lewis and Clark expedition in North America. But this one ended in tragedy.

After weeks of exploration, the main expedition arrived back at the base camp only to find that it was deserted. There was a sign carved on a tree that read “DIG 3FT NW”. The sign meant that they should dig three feet northwest from the tree to find the provisions that were buried there.

The provisions were there, the signs were there, but Burk and Wills did not understand what the signs meant and so they died a horrible death from thirst and starvation.

In business, entrepreneurs are like explorers. Lewis and Clark were successful. They survived. Burk and Wills were not. They died. Who do you want to be like?

This same tragedy gets repeated with businesses today. The way to survive it there, but business owners fail to read the signs. Those signs are called key performance indicators, or KPI’s. If you are not measuring you are not managing. Make sure that you are measuring right things the right way. For example, if a customer is worth $10,000 a year and average lifecycle is 5 years, then they are worth $50,000. So if it costs $1,000 to get a new customer and $200 per year to retain them it is a great deal. There are several KPI’s here. Cost of acquiring a customer, cost of keeping the customer, sales value of the customer per year, lifecycle of the customer. And notice that it costs 5 times to win a new customer verses keeping a customer.

What are the activities that must take place in the marketing and sales cycle that can be measured? Advertising cost, number of responses to advertising, appointments set, requests for quotation, number of sales, sales revenue. These are all opportunities to measure what is going on in your process. Develop meaningful targets at each stage in the process and compare them to your current performance. If your people are not meeting these KPI’s you need to find out why. These are signs that your business needs improvement.

You have an advantage that Burk and Wills never did. They did not have someone that they could ask to help them understand what the signs meant. You do. There are coaches that you can ask for help. The signs are there, and KPI’s can be set up so you can measure right things the right way, and avoid the equivalent fate of Burk and Wills.

Many people wrongly believe that buying a business is a big risk to take. Personally, I think that putting your fate in someone else’s hands is way more risky. While there is some inherent risk buying a business, much, if not all, can be eliminated simply by doing your due diligence beforehand and research thoroughly any business you consider purchasing.

Before, redundant workers simply adopted the strategy of looking for another job. Unfortunately, jobs are not plentiful today. If you’ve spent any time looking for one, you know how frustrating, humiliating and time-consuming the process can be, often with no results.

If you have the desire to be your own boss, it’s something that is within your reach, and can easily be achieved. If you plan carefully, and have your marketing strategy in place, there is no reason why you couldn’t achieve your goal in six months or sooner.

I know many people who have said, “enough is enough!” Most people hate their jobs. They are terribly uncertain about the future. They’re tired of giving their best with little or no thanks and a salary that hardly keep your head above water and they’ve finally realized that controlling their own destiny is what they truly want from their career.

If you still employed, instead of waiting around for your company to let you go because they had one bad quarter and now want to save costs at your expense, take control of your future and fire your boss! This is going to be YOUR year, because the market for entrepreneurs is exploding, regardless of what the so-called “experts” may say about the economy.

So what kind of business should you go for?

If you do a search on Google, you will be surprised to see how many businesses are available. You need to do your due diligence so that you know the books are correct, speak to the customers and see if they will be happy with new management, and look over the business plan to see the various strategies the previous owner was using.

You can also look at buying a franchise, which many say is a safer option, because often a franchise comes with a guarantee. Also, the franchise has undeniable proof of success.

Another business model you can look at is Network Marketing. This is not as expensive to start up and run as a business and franchise, so it minimises the risk. You also have systems in place that you can use just like a franchise, and you have help ready when you need it.

Whatever you choose, the fact is that buying yourself a business is the best gift you can ever give yourself as you will be in charge of your future from then on. If you have any desire to be in business for yourself, then now’s the time to do it! So this year, get yourself the greatest gift of all - a business of your own!

You may not be interested in learning How to start an Errand Business right now but that is likely because you are not familiar with just how easy this business is to start up and operate. Simple things like grocery and gift shopping, waiting around for the cable guy, and even taking back movies are all things that we have to do anyway, so why not get paid for it? With more and more people busy with their careers and complaining about having more time than money, there is a growing market for people looking to learn how to start a errand business and real money to be made.

Estimated start up costs:
So long as you have reliable transportation, a cell phone, and some basic office supplies to fill out and create invoices for customers, you have all the essential supplies needed to own an errand business. There are starter kits available to you for less than $50 that can set you up with all the materials you will need to prepare professional looking invoices and keep track of your expenses. Other than that, learning how to start an errand business might involve some “seed money” in the beginning to cover miscellaneous expenses required to complete errands.

Pricing Guidelines:
Pricing guidelines are only limited by what your market can bear for the services you offer. Many professional errand services charge by the hour for their time while some prefer to set up monthly or even annual packages so that they get more money up front. On average and depending upon the service, someone learning how to start an errand business can expect anywhere from $15-35 per hour for their services for most residential customers. But, if you can break into the office support services market, then learning how to start an errand business can really turn into a profitable endeavor.

Recommended experience, skills, training:
Having the ability to prioritize tasks and organize your time are probably the most essential skills to this job. As with any business owner, however, you will need to market yourself and your company to people so any kind of sales or marketing background will be very useful. Some general business and accounting courses will prove handy when dealing with the financial and administrative tasks inherent to any business.

Marketing tips:
Success tends to breed more success and that is precisely the way your errand service will grow. As you network and build your reputation, so too will your ability to charge more. In the beginning, word-of-mouth advertising will be what makes or breaks your business. But, you may find it useful to advertise your services and company in the classified ads and be sure to print and distribute business cards every place you go.

Financing sources:
With relatively no start up costs to really speak of, securing financing is not really necessary when learning how to start an errand business. However, you may want to try starting out on a part-time basis as the going will be slow in the beginning and you may still need the income from another job to pay the bills until you get things rolling.

Income Potential:
The income potential for those owning an errand service really goes up if you can manage to break into the office support services market. There are people looking for workers with office skills to just come in and help them once a week or even once a month and they are willing to pay top dollar for this limited time. For people just looking to help others with their groceries and errands around the house, it is nothing for someone learning how to start an errand business to make $35-40,000 a year doing the things that they would normally do for free anyway!

Someone sent me an email the other day. Supposedly General Colin Powell’s Rules for Success. Now, I don’t know whether they really are or not, but as I read them, I thought they really should be called “15 Rules For Success In Your Home Business”. So, here they are:

Rule 1 - It ain’t as bad as you think, it will look better in the morning

If there’s one experience universal to ALL home-business owners, particularly those running a business on the internet, it’s the occasional feeling that you’re just spinning your wheels, and not getting anywhere. The number of people who give up on their businesses just as they approach the brink of success is staggering. So hang in there and remind yourself, when things look bleak, that tomorrow is another day, things really aren’t as bad as they seem and things really WILL look better in the morning.

Rule 2 - Get mad, then get over it

OK, I concede this is more general advice than home-business advice but it applies in your home business just as it does anywhere else. Resentment and unexpressed anger really don’t hurt anyone but the person feeling resentful and angry. Have you ever noticed how completely unproductive you are when burdened by resentment and anger? So feel it, express it (constructively) and then move on. As the man said, “get over it”.

Rule 3 - Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls your ego goes with it

Over the course of my career I have, from time to time, met people whose identity and sense of self-worth is so enmeshed in what they do for a living that they literally don’t have an identity outside of their work. Because they rely on an external source for their self-esteem and confidence, they find it necessary to continually and relentlessly bolster their personal positions, often at the expense of others, often resorting to political maneuvring in the workplace to maintain and improve their supposed ’status’.

These people are the ‘empire builders’ you sometimes find in organizations. They jealously guard their power base all the while gathering unto themselves more and more responsibility, beyond the point of being able to do everything they take on.

Because their identity and sense of self-worth depends upon their position within their organization, what happens when their position disappears, such as in a corporate downsizing? It freefalls.

Don’t let this happen to you. Remember that you are something separate and distinct from your business. Sure, you can be proud and pleased with your accomplishments but don’t define yourself through them. Your self-worth is something that comes from inside your human self, not your business.

Ironically, keeping a professional detachment is more likely to secure the ultimate success of your business. Detachment brings perspective, objectivity and clarity, which helps you make better quality decisions.

Rule 4 - It can be done

Don’t allow self-imposed limitations to restrict what you can and will do. You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Well, of course, it must be something that is within your power - you can’t just set your mind on growing a third arm, for example.

But for anything that is within human power and capability, the saying “where there’s a will is a way” is so true.

Get into the discipline of planning your life and where you want it to go. By setting goals and planning the steps that will help you reach them, you can achieve literally anything your heart desires.

Rule 5 - Be careful what you choose, you may get it

Following on from this, it should go without saying that what you set for your goals is something you truly want because if you do practice the discipline of goal setting you will surely get it.

Rule 6 - Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision

Keep your eye on the prize and don’t be distracted by what’s happening on the sidelines. Sure, you may not have entered the marathon had you known there were going to be 1,000 other runners but does that mean entering the marathon was a bad idea? No.

Make your decisions based on quality information and what’s in the best interests of your business. If someone else comes along who represents competition for your business, don’t be put off your game. Just run your own race. There’s ALWAYS a way to distinguish yourself from your competition.

Rule 7 - You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours

IGNORE your mother when she tells you you’re crazy for chucking in your nice SAFE secure little job to start your own business. Follow your dream, no-one else’s.

Rule 8 - Check small things

Like the fine print in contracts. Like the URL in that sales letter you’ve just put the finishing touches on. Like your spelling and punctuation. In other words, pay attention to detail.

Rule 9 - Share credit

You’ve heard the saying, “no man is an island”. No woman is either. Remember and acknowledge the people who have helped and continue to help you get where you want to go. Acknowledge the achievements of others.

Rule 10 - Remain calm, be careful

Frenzy and recklessness are hardly the prescription for long-term success in your business. In the face of unexpected challenges, unexplained downturns in business or failure to achieve the results expected, recognize that these are just part of the thrust and parry of business life and use a calm, methodical approach to the problem.

Don’t just react blindly or chuck away all your hard work and try something completely different unless a thorough, calm and careful investigation convinces you that you are completely off-beam.

Calmly analyze your situation and use your intelligence to correct the situation. Sometimes a one degree turn of the wheel is all that is required to get back on course, not a completely new rudder.

Rule 11 - Have a vision, be demanding

This rule goes hand in hand with rules 4 and 5. In order to set goals and plan ways to achieve them you must first set your vision. Think big, be brave. There is nothing you can’t achieve so make sure your efforts are going to be for something truly worthwhile.

Rule 12 - Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers

All of us have moments of self-doubt or even fear when embarking on a journey to an unknown destination. If what you have planned for yourself brings with it feelings of anxiety, nervousness, even fear, pay attention to them but don’t take their counsel.

They are symptoms of grand thinking, of stretching beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone. As the book says, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Rule 13 - Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier

This rule is closely related to rule 1. Believe that things will work out, that they will look better in the morning, that everything’s going to be OK. Repeat the words to yourself as a mantra if you must but instill a spirit of indomitable optimism in your outlook and you will attract success into your life.

Rule 14 - Sometimes being responsible means pissing people off

You can’t please all of the people all of the time so don’t waste your time or energy even trying. You have a responsibility to the ultimate success of your business and to your own personal success. If that means you occasionally have to say no to people to stay true to your objectives, do it. If it means you have to alienate some people because they don’t personally agree with what you are doing, that’s their problem.

In other words, stay focused on your plan. If others don’t like it or agree with it, too bad.

Rule 15 - You never know what you can get away with unless you try

If you don’t ask you don’t get. And if you don’t take you don’t get. Leave nothing on the table. If an opportunity comes along, take it. It may not come again. And remember, in chaos there is opportunity. While everyone else is running around like chooks with their heads cut off, you just bring up the rear and clean up on all the opportunities that are just lying there for the taking among the chicken scratch.

Hindsight truly is 20/20, no doubt about it. Perhaps, like me, you’re thinking that if you’d known then what you know now, you would have gone a lot further a lot faster. But as with any form of progress, it’s the journey, not the destination, that provides the education and creates the experience and, through it, wisdom. And that’s something no book can teach you and money can’t buy.

What’s your job profitability? I meet with business owners every day that are unsure of their profitability at a company or job level. They “think” they are making money because they have a few dollars in their checking account. Having money in your checking account doesn’t mean you are profitable. It might mean you haven’t paid all the bills yet, so you have a little cash. Cash and profit are two different concepts. If you aren’t profitable, you won’t have longevity in your business.

It doesn’t matter the size of your business or the industry. Profitability is something you should be monitoring on a regular monthly basis. No business is too small or too large to do job costing. Such an excuse is your way of not holding yourself accountable to managing your business wisely. Failing to plan is a plan for failure.

So what do I mean by job costing? You should know how much you make and spend on each job. Expenditures should be tracked for those direct labor and material costs to each job. In addition, you should also be tracking overhead costs and allocating them to your various jobs as applicable. There is always going to be some overhead that is considered general overhead. Though often times too many dollars are thrown into general overhead, when they could easily be tracked to specific jobs. If you don’t know your exact income and expenses for each job and your overall business, then how can you know you are making a profit?

QuickBooks® has easy-to-use features that allow you to do job costing for time and materials. So don’t worry about having to track it all manually. Rely on tools to help you run your business more efficiently and effectively.

Are you curious how you are doing with job costing measurements? Here are some quick and easy questions to gauge your job costing performance:

1. Do I track each customer’s revenue information through a detailed invoice?

2. Do I have a way of breaking down my direct job materials cost by customer?

3. Do I associate all time spent to each job accurately with actual dollar amounts?

4. Do I have access to reports to monitor profitability on each job in a timely manner?

5. Do I have a way to trend the fluctuations in job profitability from job to job, month to month, etc?

If you answered “NO” to any of these, then it’s time for you to take an objective look at your financial goals. It’s time for you to implement a job costing mechanism to help you answer “YES” to these questions. How can you track your profitability and long-term growth plans if you don’t have detail at a job level?

Here are some quick and easy ways to utilize QuickBooks® effectively to help you with your job costing process:

1. Set up the QuickBooks® Item list so that you’ll have both an expense and an income aspect to each of the items. This will allow you to track your costs and your income; therefore, providing you profit by item.

2. Record your sales through the invoicing or sales receipt process. This will record the income aspects of the items.

3. As you purchase the product or service items, make sure that you utilize the Items tab so that it will record to the cost to the appropriate item. In addition, make sure to assign your customer/job information to each line item so that you’ll have the costs associated to the appropriate customer/job for job costing.

4. Utilize the time tracking mechanism in QuickBooks® so that you and your employees can track their time by item and customer/job. No dollar value is associated with this time until you actually pay the employees within QuickBooks®.

5. QuickBooks® has preformatted reports that you can access to have job costing information right at your fingertips. These are found under the Reporting menu and the Jobs/Time/Mileage option.

6. QuickBooks® has the ability to provide reports for any time period you select. This will allow you to have a variety of detail over the growth of your business and to produce trending reports. You can modify the report as needed to meet your needs.

One additional important aspect is that you have a good accounting professional on your team of resources. They will be able to help you understand what these reports are telling you in terms that you can use. Reports alone don’t provide value if you don’t understand them. So it is key that you understand the reporting information and how you can utilize that information to assist you in decision-making as you grow your business profitably.

It’s all about how you set-up your accounting/bookkeeping software package and how you use it! What justification can you give for not knowing job costs within your business? None! Challenge yourself today to become more adept at running a financially savvy business through job costing.

I am simply amazed at the problems some of my colleagues are experiencing regarding writing job proposals for customers. So often I hear that there has been some sort of disagreement between client and service provider, something that can and should be avoided before a project is started. Here are four tips to help you write an effective job proposal letter.

Assume Nothing My junior high English teacher gave his students the real meaning of assume: if you assume something it makes an ass out of you and me: ass-u-me. Leave nothing to chance. When you speak with a client do not assume they understand much of what you have to offer. For instance, I sell website packages. I have learned to spell out everything that I will offer to my customers for a very specific price. If there are any “gray areas” I protect myself by telling customers that certain other expenses will be billed separately. Do not box yourself into a corner and do not pull surprises on your customers as they may think you are trying to cheat them. Keep the lines of communication wide open.

Get It In Writing Save all of your email correspondence with clients including emails you send and emails you receive. Sometimes what is not said verbally is articulated in writing. For example, I write much better than I speak, therefore I am more likely to put my ideas forth via “ink” or “type” than I am to verbalize them. In either case follow up your contact by placing everything in writing. You will need that paper trail in case something goes wrong e.g., a refusal to pay for services rendered.

Make Changes, If Necessary Sometimes projects change as the work goes forward. If it is a minor change, such as cropping a few extra photographs, you can probably “eat” the additional labor. However, if your project increases in size, let’s say your clients now want a 12 page website instead of an 8 page site, they need to know that you need to be compensated for the extra work. Specify in your proposal letter that any changes to the project will incur additional charges; remind them of this “clause” should any major change be proposed. Your customer may decide not to go with the larger project after counting the additional costs.

Write a Contract I have done fairly well without contracts. Many of my customers know me quite well, therefore the proposal letter serves as a contract of sorts. I also require my customers to pay me 50% as an advancement; if they walk away from the contract upon completion of my work their website does not get uploaded to the internet. At the very least I have partial compensation for my hard work. Your experience or risk factors may be much different than mine; certainly use contracts if your customers are not well known to you or you do not have a previous business relationship.

In summation, every satisfied customer is a potential referral for new business. Keep those communication lines open and understood and you will garner additional projects because of your sound business practices.

(c)2005; Matthew C Keegan, LLC

We are in the business of relationship building. How can you develop a relationship with anyone if you don’t send, speak, write or communicate with them frequently? The easiest way to start to do that is to collect e-mails addresses, physical mailing addresses and or phone numbers. Today everyone is afraid of spam, and to be blasted by offers in their e-mail or at their home or office. They are already conditioned to dismiss an uninvited person as a pest or nuisance.

You have to get past their guard. One of the ways to do that is to make it feel harmless. Would you like to receive a copy of my Free newsletter or catalogue of the many unique products we offer? No obligation to buy. They may give you the mailing address or the PO Box address. Send them what you told them you would.

If you see them on a daily or weekly basis, you could have a sign up sheet, where you get their phone numbers and or e-mails addresses in case of an emergency. Again use their information for just that. If you need to cancel a class or session, call or e-mail them. That is building a trusting relationship with them.

When you e-mail them make sure in the subject line it says your name and re: schedule change or cancellation of meeting. They would be sure to open it. Same if you call. Hi so and so this is “Michelle, I’m calling to tell you about a cancellation. Sorry about that can you make it at this new time?”

Another way to get the clients e-mail or physical address is to ask. Would you like to receive updates from me from time to time? I’m planning a newsletter would you like to be updated when that occurs? Then you have permission to send them updates of what you are doing. A new product comes out, or you wrote a book. Let your clients know about it. That is a legitimate reason to contact them.

Another reason that they would like to give out the e-mail address or physical address is a contest or raffle of some sort. We are giving away an hour coaching session please fill out your contact information.

Still another way to ensure that they may want to give their e-mail address is to give something away for free. No strings attached. You gave your e-mail address, and I’m going to reward you with a free downloadable report. Yours to keep.

Once you have the e-mails or physical addresses don’t abuse it. Let them know that you will be sending them information of importance to them. Don’t send them all sorts of offers. If they want to leave your list take them off immediately. Make it easy for them to get off. Send something to them at least once per month. But whenever possible keep collecting those addresses. Your list is vital to building your business.

When we are first starting out we have a tendency to overspend and we quickly begin to run through our limited funds in record time and create an enormous amount of debt and even more so if it’s not our money. What would you spend your money on if you knew it was your last one hundred dollars? That you were not going to get more money for a long time? You would focus only your most pressing needs. You would be forced to assess each area to find out if you are getting the results that would justify spending your last bit of funds.

You would try to find or create ways to promote your business that didn’t require a lot of expense. Labor intensive rather than spending any more money. What could you do?

You could barter for ad space; you could carry the flyers yourself instead of paying a kid to do it. You could cold call rather than spend it on advertising, you could place cheap ads in e-zines or on-line newsletters, you could collect e-mail and send out a free newsletter every month, you could target your advertising to your local area, you could team up with other local businesses for referral business, you could cross promote, you could make presentations for the chamber of commerce for free and see if they will pick up the cost of the event, you could call the local library and see if you can make a presentation or speak on a topic that could be noteworthy or of interest to the general public, you could write articles or a column in your local paper with consumer tips, or post articles on-line about your specialty.

Of course we live in the real world of everyday expenses and you have to spend money when you are in business on delivery charges, utilities, phone services, monthly services, classes or seminars, emergencies that unexpectedly happen, business trips, and car service to the airport sometimes.

But by budgeting those things into your calculations and keeping money on hand in case of an emergency it will conserve your funds and force you to think more creatively. Now when you are thinking of taking a risk with that last $100 you will have a pretty good idea if it will fly. What you have to do is picture where you want to go and what you want to achieve. With the last of your dollars will you achieve a big windfall or pull in an expanded income?

Even if you have thousands of dollars coming in per month it is a good idea to assess each area of your business to see if you can improve the processes to make it more efficient, that you can save money by implementing a new feature, or that you are making the kind of money you envisioned, with the new improvements.

In the end when you are making money remember to replace your emergency funds, pay down your debt and continue to improve your services and also keeping your costs budgeted, and keeping a check on your credit card spending. Paying high credit cards is not where you want to spend your last one hundred dollars.

When we are making a little more money is also the time that we are tempted to overspend. We justify this by saying I have a lot of money coming in now. Be warned that everything can be fleeting if you don’t set up a budget, manage your expenses, and keep a good eye on your results.

Do any of the online schemes for earning income online really work? Can an ordinary person who would like to make some extra income really succeed?

There is no doubt about it that some people do earn good income online. But what percentage of those who join up with online affiliate schemes actually succeed in earning anything?

The short answer would seem to be that those with good mailing lists make money and those without mailing lists don’t.

The mailing list and the way it is used are the real secret. Without a list it would appear to be almost impossible to succeed. This point is borne out by the fact that those with good lists are lothe to share them, Neither will they tell anyone else how they managed to build them.

The other great secret is the ability to write good, selling copy. If you can write good selling copy you can entice people to give you their name to add to your mailing list.

Then, of course, your only challenge is to attract people to your web site. Not as easy as you might think, but there are ways to do this if you have the time and dedication to make them work for you.

The alternative is to spend money on Google ads or pay-per-click visitors.

It would seem that there is a lot of preparation work necessary before you can start to earn the extra income.

So, why do people with good products bother to offer partnerships and affiliate programs? The answer is to attract people who have good mailing lists. If they can do that then they can convert those visitors to join their own mailing list.

So there is probably a whole host of web “junkies” out there who have their names on a lot of different mailing lists.

Can you become one of those who earns extra income on the Internet. Certainly you can but you have to go about it in the right way. It is much harder work than many would have you believe.

So is it worthwhile investing the time and energy in trying to earn extra income on the Internet? Yes, I you are prepared to invest in learning and buying the tools you need to make a success of it. This is not a game where many become wealthy by accident.

There are three basic types of business entity from a taxation point of view. These are proprietorships, partnerships and corporations. For the greater part, it is local law that determines the type (sometimes called the form) of business enterprise.

A business entity that has only one owner and has not incorporated is called a proprietorship. A business with two or more owners that has not incorporated is a partnership. Any business can incorporate and thus become a corporation under local law, regardless of the number of owners.

The type of business entity you select for your business will have significant federal income tax consequences. Proprietorships and partnerships that have not incorporated will not pay any separate income taxes on business profits. Their profits or losses will pass through to the owners, who must declare these income / loss items on their personal income tax returns and pay tax accordingly. In general, the owners of an unincorporated business can transfer property to or from the business without this being recognized as a taxable transaction. Unincorporated businesses may have two significant disadvantages that are not directly related to taxation.

One drawback with being an unincorporated business entity is that when significant capital needs to be raised, willing outside investors could be difficult to find. The other disadvantage concerns liability. There is simply no way to escape unlimited liability; the owner of a proprietorship becomes personally liable for all the debts and liabilities of the business. If there is more than one owner, it would be preferable to have at least one of them with the personal capability to absorb unlimited liability for all claims against the business.

In an increasingly litigious society, it is best to protect oneself by placing some limitation on personal liability. This is the attraction offered by incorporation, since it provides investors limited liability from claims. The corporation has thus become a popular form of business entity. For a widely held business enterprise, incorporation will make it easier to obtain financing, because it is easier for investors to put money into the corporation through buying debt and equity securities that the corporation is authorized to issue.

However, if the business entity is a corporation, its earnings- including dividends - will be subject to federal income tax. Once the shareholders receive the dividends, they also have to pay personal income tax. In other words, the income gets taxed twice. If the corporation incurs losses, the tax benefit will remain with the corporation, but cannot be used to reduce the personal tax liabilities of the owners.

The newer form of business entity is the limited liability company (LLC). A LLC is in essence a partnership in which there is no general partner. Its owners have no personal liability for the debts of the business. Federal tax laws do not recognize the LLC as a separate type of tax entity and most are treated as partnerships for federal taxation purposes. In terms of flexibility, the LLC has an advantage over the S corporation, because their ownership requirements are less rigid and they have more flexibility in allocating profits and losses among the owners.

The S corporation, however, has several advantages over the LLC. It will be easier to convert an existing C corporation to an S corporation than to a limited liability company. As a business entity, the S corporation provides a greater level of certainty in jurisprudence than the LLC does.

Before starting that great new website for your small business, consider your expectations carefully. Most entrepreneurs with their first website lack the experience to know what is truly required to be successful online. Website failure may be defined as anything from total catastrophe to simply results less than expectations. Each can occur even if you have a gorgeous well-designed site.

Don’t expect search engine success with high traffic and added revenue instantly. It is rare.

Here’s the short list of what you need if your goal is website traffic and new customers. These facts have been overlooked or misunderstood by many of my small business clients, and in most cases the errors of omission are due to inexperience.

1. You need a trusted site with name, address and phone number, not just a PO Box.
2. You need to be online 6-12 months or longer to achieve search engine ranking.
3. You need a large site with 10-20 or more pages of quality content for credibility.

Discuss your needs with your site designer. It should not be a cousin, uncle, or friend who happens to have software to make websites. A truly successful site takes more… much more. Professional help may be more cost effective than you realize. Some service providers will try to take advantage just because you are in business. I regularly save clients more than they pay me for designs by helping them shop for economical service providers for their domain and hosting.

Realistic expectations up front will help you avoid disappointment. Be prepared with an ongoing annual budget to add fresh content and features to your site. A smaller site is okay to get started. If you cannot meet the goals in the above list, your traffic and new customers must be pointed to your site with direct marketing efforts. If presenting your company online achieves a positive first impression that may be enough to begin. As your budget increases you can revise expectations as you continue to grow your online presence.

To compete online, compare your plan to what your competition is already doing. If they have full disclosure of their physical address, phone number, and contact names you need to do the same. A prospective customer comparing one site to another with trusted information will usually rule out the one with a PO Box number, or less than adequate contact information. Real and complete details provide better ranking with search engines, also. Listing your city, state or province, and country will allow search engines to localize search results.

Bonus Tip: If you work from home and offer a product or service sold without a showroom, there are options to avoid strangers disrupting your family life. Some clients get box numbers from service companies, and use that company’s address as theirs except instead of box number, they call it unit number. In the USA, you cannot use a US Post Office street address and box number for your return address, even if it is revised to unit number. You will need a private company, however, the peace of mind and the benefits in credibility may be worth the modest cost.

Aging of your site is likewise important. Too many sites are here today, and gone within a year. To maintain credibility the search engines need to serve up relevant results. Until you prove to them your long term intent they will select older and more established sites for page one. Quality content added often can expedite the waiting period.

Do you renew your www domain every year? Stop. Register your website for 2-5 years to prove you are there to stay.

Finally, you need to create an authority site that adds value to the internet community. Establishing your expertise begins with valuable advice and content for your visitors. The size of your website will grow as you continue adding content. This improves the customer experience and provides a reason for them to return, or buy. Quality content added often will bring the search engines back more often, also.

Success online is more than just having a website. Realistic expectations require knowledge of how the internet and search engines work. Some people have contacted me after buying a turnkey site thinking money would roll in, and years later the website made zero revenue. You must be unique, so looking like 1000 other sites with identical content is not a solution.

In conclusion, what I have described for your ideal website is similar to what you might look for in a consultant. People are usually more comfortable when they take advice from an older and trusted authority. Provide that slant in the design of your online home, and visitors can sense you have dependable solutions. Define your niche. Set your new website goals. Get help or advice and avoid joining the long list of small business website failures.

To begin with you have to determine if you are going to have a physical space or virtual space to conduct your business. Knowing what you are going to sell or what services you will offer should tell you that. Will you have a home office or commercial location? At bare minimum you will need to have record keeping ability and you have to decide if you are going to keep notebooks or files on a computer from the beginning.

Next you need certain tools to conduct your business. You will need a form of communication with your clients or prospects. That may include business cards, letterhead, or stationary, e-mails, phone, and or faxing capability, website and sales copy. You determine your communication methods but all the methods should be professional.

You also need to tag or file your possible prospects, your committed clients, your vendors, and any correspondence and to whom. It is a good idea to keep track of what you are selling, the prices that you have established and any discounts that you offered. Also keep track of whether it is your product of someone else’s. You might consider investing in a good tracking software.

Another thing to set up is any policies that you will implement. Knowing your return policy upfront for an example will help you deal with a future return. Your shipping policy is another area that could get you in a bind. Will you ship locally, nationally or internationally? Who will take care of shipping the product? What will you do if the item is damaged?

If you are in a service industry who will provide the service in your absence or do you just cancel with your client for that day? These are things that you should establish up front. So that when it happens everything will go smoothly.

Setting up also includes getting any licenses, or permits to conduct your business, choosing your business name, and determining the type of business entity such as non profit or sole proprietor that your business will fall under. Setting up a website from the beginning requires choosing the domain name and choosing a web host provider and web designer unless you are going to design and build it yourself.

Remember also your strategic plan of how to get you clients. What steps are you going to take to bring in your first clients and continue to bring in new ones. What tools will you need to work that plan? What actions are you committed to doing on an on going basis to bring in new prospect and clients?

Last consider having an opening event to launch your new endeavor. Consider also offering something for free. Free class, free evaluation, free report, free consultation, or discounted services for possibly the first fifty people who sign up. Remember to invite the press. Write a press release and get it out at least five to seven days or more in advance, and then a follow up days before the launch and the day of if you can. So all those wanna be’s, newbies business owners start your engines!!

Should I start my own business? At many times in a person’s life he or she will ask that very same question. The answer to that question can only be answered by you. Many times the answer is obvious. It is based on a few key things. The first is your personality. If you are determined, organized, tenacious, enthusiastic, driven, self-motivated, and a person not easily moved from your goals, and can manage things fine by yourself then perhaps you would do well as a self-employed person. You have to have a belief in yourself and your product that is unwavering.

The second is your circumstances. Many successful business owners found their way into business ownership because of a lack of employment in the area that they live. Some found an absolute need that was not being addressed and set about to fulfill that need in the neighborhood. Others found out very quickly that they don’t have the personality to work with any sort of boss. Still others do business on their own because it’s convenient to their schedule or they want or need to be at home and the need for more income.

Another point to consider is collateral or working capital. How are you going to supply yourself? For an example if you are making bread you need to buy the ingredients each day. Sell your bread and buy more flour, eggs etc. Do it over the next day. Where do you get the first dollar to make the first loaf of bread to sell? If you don’t have capital then you need a source for a loan or credit. Many successful business owners have gotten their first loan from a family relative or friend.

The successful business person also has at least one person who says “you can do this.” Who are the people in your life who encourage you? If you’re a parent it could be your child, spouse or partner. It could be your parent even if your parent has passed away and you still hear a word of encouragement in your heart. Who motivates and encourages you when you feel like giving up?

You have to be tough to have your own business. You conduct your business whether you feel up to it or not. If you have to deliver goods, you do it in all the extreme weather conditions, or if you or your child is sick or your truck broke down. You have to get your goods to the buyer or you don’t earn your money. No money no rent paid.

Lastly you have to determine what you are good at. What is the need that you want to fulfill? Who will buy from you? How will you get it to your customer? Where do you set up your work place? Where do you get some money to begin to turn your idea into a business? There are a lot of businesses that don’t require a lot of investment. For an example if you’re good at sewing, you only need your sewing kit and a place that your customers can come to have their clothes altered. You can expand your services as more customers are asking for more things to be done. If you want to sell information on-line you need a website, e-mail account and other people informational products to sell or your own. Most of your money will be in the advertising of your website and that product.

So if you still think you should be in business for yourself, “Why do I want to go into business? What do I like to do? What do I have to offer? Is there a need for it? Can I sustain myself? Do I have someone who encourages me? Do I have the toughness to see it through? If all the answers are yes, you should follow your dream and open your own business. Remember slow and steady wins the race.

In today’s increasingly Internet-driven global marketplace, it is essential that you have a Web site that not only helps to sell your products and services, but that is also highly visible online. Studies indicate that your Web site ranking on search engines such as Yahoo! and Google can literally make or break your business and can make a million dollar difference in your profits. Therefore, in order to be a success online, you must be diligent in your online marketing efforts.

Online marketing relies largely upon the use of keyword rich SEO (search engine optimized) articles to inform search engines as to the content and purpose of your Web site. SEO articles are generally about 500-words in length and include specific keywords at least once in every paragraph of the article. By including as many SEO articles on your Web site as possible, each with targeted keywords relating to your business, you increase your chances of driving traffic to your site.

How SEO Works

SEO relies upon proprietary algorithms that each search engine (such as Google and Yahoo!) designs and implements. The search engines employ “robots,” which constantly browse Web sites to record data, similar to the way a satellite rotates Earth. As the robots browse Web sites, they record which sites have which keywords, links, and other pertinent information. The robot then reports that information back to the search engines, which use the information to rank the Web sites. The better your search engine ranking, the higher you will be on the search engine results page.

For example, if you sell apples online, then it is important for you to mention apples on your Web site as often as possible, including related terms, such as “fruit” and “Gala apples.” (Listing the related terms will help to differentiate your site from a site relating to Apple computers.) The abundance of keywords will help to indicate that your site is very serious about apples.

When someone types the word “apple” into the search engines, your Web site may come up on the first page, if you have successfully optimized your site using SEO articles and other keyword online marketing strategies.

A Word of Caution

Keep in mind that many search engines are aware of the misuse of SEO articles and keyword marketing techniques. For example, some Internet businesses will publish articles on their sites that have very little relevant information. Instead, the articles will simply repeat a series of keywords so as to draw the attention of the search engines to the site. However, if a search engine comes across such an article, the site owner will be “blacklisted”, which means that the search engine will remove the site from the database. Therefore, it is important that the SEO articles that you use to draw website traffic are not only keyword rich articles, but that they are also actually useful to visitors.

When working on your own business from home, you might notice that you don’t have the same software tools that you might if you were working for a big company. You don’t want to have to spend all of that money to have the same software though, and you shouldn’t have to. Here is a list of tools that can help you with your business, and they are all free.

If you want to be able to keep track of tasks you need to work on, a great tool is Vitalist. Here you can set up projects, or tasks that you need to complete. You can create multiple lists, which is great if you are working on more than one project at a time. There is also an inbox, which allows you to put other tasks that need to be done, but are not associated with a project. Here are two other sites that will allow you to track lists, and are also good. Both Ta Da List and Remember the Milk have to-do lists that will help you keep track of everything you want to get done.

If you are looking for more of a project management tool, you can try Basecamp. You will be able to create lists, track schedules and keep track of milestones.

If you want to easily keep track of appointments, or things you need to get done on certain days, Google Calendar is a helpful tool. Since you set it up online, you can access it anywhere. You can also keep it personal and just for yourself, or share it with others so they know when you are free and busy.

If you want to be able to use word processing and spreadsheet tools, but don’t want to pay for Microsoft Office, you can use Google Docs & Spreadsheets. It will let you do many of the same things as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, but is a free application.

To help with budgeting and keeping track of your business expenses, you can use Pear Budget. It can help you keep track of your spending, to make sure you aren’t spending more on your business than you are earning.

There are many software applications out there that can help you with your business. If you come up with a need that is not mentioned in this article, you should first search online for a free version, before spending money. If you can find a free piece of software that takes care of your needs, it is great as you can save that money for something else.

Why is building home internet business getting so popular? Other than the primary desire to spend more time with the family, it is also because of living in a tight budget, wanting to earn residual income.

Home internet businesses are still unknown to many. A key to promote it to the public is through advertising. Does it mean a hole in the pocket then? Not really. Let me tell you why.

Marketing involves advertising. But advertising need not be costly if you have planned well. Do not expect that advertising will do the trick simply by loading in huge amount of money in one shot. You will end up having nothing left.

Next, where do you market your business? As there are different media to market the business, such as the newspaper, radio and television ads, therefore, you need to stretch and take the extra mile, to determine which media provides the most effective results.

With these in mind, now let’s get started. Firstly, arrange for an advertising plan. Once your business is on the groove, it is advisable to step up on advertising. Spending a little bit more is acceptable but always bear in mind that the supplementary publicity will just double the sales! You need to balance your cost and expected sales returns. With this, you will then make the most from the ad money.

We mentioned earlier about the various media available. Remember, the best is not necessarily the most expensive. Get people to talk about what they have to offer, and you may discover a low cost promotion media that can do wonders for your business.

Some ways to go marketing your home business are: 1) Word of mouth. This method does not cost a single penny at all… If your customers are satisfied with the services your business offers, they will be glad to pass word around.

2) Referrals. Use networking to build your relationships, with the reason that they can refer you to other people, with a referral fee that should not be too costly, depending on the budget.

3) Press releases on newspapers announcing any special event or new openings are useful for your home business too. Bear in mind to include all the important details right in the beginning and leave the extra information towards the end.

4) Look out for bargains offered by some local radio and television stations during the off-peak hours. Never underestimate the results you can get by placing an advertisement at these hours, although these are not the popular hours.

Building your Home Internet Business may be simple, but you must learn the basic facts of advertising if you want to keep it on track and be successful.

By Carole Libbe

So, you want to start your own business, think you have what it takes? We all dream of that when we are young, the first time you see the perfectly run small business. You think to yourself, “I can do that, too, maybe even better.” But are you really sure you know what it entails? Read on and see what you think. If you think you can do it, you can.

SOHO, means Small Office and Home Office, or Small Office or Home Office or Single Office/Home Office employing only 1 to 10 workers.

Businesses that employ 11 to 99 workers are often called just small businesses. When a company reaches 100 or more employees, it is often referred to as a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise.

The world is made up of Entrepreneurs and those who work for them. Each role has its own set of responsibilities and rewards.

Not everyone has what it takes to run their own business, nor do they want the commitment that goes along with it. Running your own business is a 24/7 proposition.

Are you cut out to run a solo business? There are no hard and fast rules to determine this, but there are some common traits most successful entrepreneurs all share.

Some of these traits are, but not limited to:

· You are not beaten by mistakes; they represent a challenge.
· You are disciplined as a self starter.
· You have will power and determination to see a project through its completion.
· You can make business decisions quickly while assessing the potential risk.
· You are very adaptable and listen to advice from others, but have the strength to make the decision necessary to make your business succeed.
· You enjoy healthy competition.
· You know your own strengths and weaknesses and how to get what you need.
· You continually assess your company’s strengths, weaknesses, and work to make it a success.

This is our goal, to help you with your small business, your dream, and your vision. Only you can make it a reality. We will help with the tools that are necessary to make it a success.