So you had that fantastic business idea, the one
that's going to be wildly successful and make you a fortune - even
better, you actually did something about it and started your own
business. Good for you! Not everyone gets that far. Most people sit and
day dream about what they might do if only ....
"The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move
ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision" - W.
Clement Stone
But you got over the biggest hurdle, that first step and you actually created something.
Well done - you did more than most. Now you have the day to day details of running your business so how do you keep going?
There are several things to look at here:
1. What are you good at and what do you enjoy doing? Make two lists -
one of the jobs you like and one of the jobs you don't do very well.
Take the second list and have a look at what you might outsource or
automate. Do you love doing those accounts or would your time be better
spent in forward planning while your accountant does the sums? Must you
personally reply to every enquiry or could you create a FAQ which you
can post on your website and refer people to by autoresponder? In the
early stages of your business you might find you don't have the money to
pay someone to do the jobs you hate. Could you swap skills to get the
help you need?
2. Why are you doing this? You need to be motivated to start a
business and keep it going. The best way to do this is to know what the
effort is for. What really moves you to get up in the morning and do
what you need to do even when you don't really feel like it? Write your
reasons down. Find pictures of that house, or that holiday and put them
where you can see them.
3. How do you deal with those bumps in the road? Not everything you
do will be perfect - sometimes things you've tried will be a disaster -
it's the way you react to problems that matters. If you curl up in a
ball and give up at the first sign of failure you'd better not be in
business. It's all about attitude.
4. Have a plan and stick to it as far as possible but be prepared to
be flexible and open minded. Sometimes the most unexpected
opportunities come and you need to be ready to seize them. - as Joe
Vitale says 'Money likes speed'.
5. Get a mentor - learn from someone who has done it. Someone to
bounce ideas off and who can encourage you when things get tough is
invaluable.
And most importantly, never let anyone put you down and never be afraid of failure:
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them
better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great
enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and
who, at worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that
his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know
neither victory nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt.
Don't ever forget that!
Se afișează postările cu eticheta Starting. Afișați toate postările
Se afișează postările cu eticheta Starting. Afișați toate postările
vineri, 16 noiembrie 2012
Starting An Online Business From Home
Many people believe that starting an online
business from home is difficult. In fact it is quite easy. If you are
already familiar with what product you will sell you will need to create
or hire someone to produce an online website for you. This website
should list the product or products you have available. If you will be
selling your own products, make sure that your online business has a
name that reflects you and what you offer.
After this has been completed, you should inquire in your local state to learn the guidelines necessary for you to run a business from your home. Many states require that even an online business register with them and receive a business license. You will have to get the necessary forms to request this license.
After you have obtained you license, you should also find out how running an online business from home will affect you tax situation. You would still need to report any income you make from your business, even if you are working at home.
After all this paperwork is completed for you business, it is important to set up your home office for you new job. It is suggested that you have a separate space to conduct
your business affairs. A separate phone line that customers can call is also very necessary and I strongly suggest you get a fax machine. You will lose customers if you are not able to be reached by telephone, fax and e-mail. Having a separate phone line from the rest of the house is essential!
Other than a second phone line, it is also a good idea to buy the necessary hardware and software for you home office. You will save lots of money if you have your own fax machine, scanner, and printer. Also it is probably wise to have the latest software additions for word processing and accounting. The accounting software is especially useful for you to keep track of all expenses and revenue for your online business.
When you have established the business and things are going well, it is a good idea to consider outsourcing. This would mean hiring someone to take care of the little jobs that
you would have to do such as email or letter correspondence or creating marketing brochures. By doing this, you will be able to focus on the more important areas of making money and marketing your business, which will be key to your success.
After this has been completed, you should inquire in your local state to learn the guidelines necessary for you to run a business from your home. Many states require that even an online business register with them and receive a business license. You will have to get the necessary forms to request this license.
After you have obtained you license, you should also find out how running an online business from home will affect you tax situation. You would still need to report any income you make from your business, even if you are working at home.
After all this paperwork is completed for you business, it is important to set up your home office for you new job. It is suggested that you have a separate space to conduct
your business affairs. A separate phone line that customers can call is also very necessary and I strongly suggest you get a fax machine. You will lose customers if you are not able to be reached by telephone, fax and e-mail. Having a separate phone line from the rest of the house is essential!
Other than a second phone line, it is also a good idea to buy the necessary hardware and software for you home office. You will save lots of money if you have your own fax machine, scanner, and printer. Also it is probably wise to have the latest software additions for word processing and accounting. The accounting software is especially useful for you to keep track of all expenses and revenue for your online business.
When you have established the business and things are going well, it is a good idea to consider outsourcing. This would mean hiring someone to take care of the little jobs that
you would have to do such as email or letter correspondence or creating marketing brochures. By doing this, you will be able to focus on the more important areas of making money and marketing your business, which will be key to your success.
3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business
We believe that there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.
1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses
The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.
Acquiring Start-Up Capital
An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.
There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.
Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Finding Customers
Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.
Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.
Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.
1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses
The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.
Acquiring Start-Up Capital
An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.
There are two ways to obtain a business plan.
1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.
Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.
Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.
Finding Customers
Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.
Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.
Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses
Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.
Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.
Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.
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