Actual for You - Business

Entrepreneurial Spirit - Do You Have It? Do You Want To Have It? What Is It?
According to my handy, dandy Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, an entrepreneur is: "a person who undertakes an enterprise or business, with the chance of profit or loss." Well now that's a big yawn.But, let's take a look at the word "spirit", which actually has several different senses to the same word. Setting aside the ghostly stuff and the distilled liquor, I am tickled to share these definitions: "the vital animating essence of a person" and "a person possessing these: courage; energy; vivacity." Now we're talking.Have you always had a burning desire to own and operate your own business based on what you are most passionate about? Possibly, you are

, you’ll still need these. With the right knowledge and resources, you can get all of this accomplished for under $2,000. This is tricky however, because you need to know exactly how to put together a great branding package and a website that will generate lots of leads and sales. I see too many new business owners pay for a website that is no more than a web brochure with no traffic, or marketing materials that they outgrow in a few months time. It’s important to avoid these costly mistakes

Determine how much you’ll p

Customer Services Departments: Do They Live Up To The Name?
Have you ever been transferred on the telephone to the so-called customer service department and the lady or gentleman on the other end cannot or rather will not help you with your problem? All you get is a bureaucratic; I am sorry but that is our policy.And you think to yourself; I am sorry but I was your customer and now I am your competitors customer and I am going to tell the whole friggin world too. Well if you have had this experience and such thoughts you are not alone. In fact this is exactly the problem that businesses and corporations face these days.They cannot find anyone smart enough to do the job right, so they make all sorts of insane poli

How to Start up Your Small Business on a Small Budget

Small business start-ups often ask me if there is a way to launch their business if they have little or no money. Over the years, having started up a handful of successful businesses myself, and having coached hundreds of small business owners, this is what I’ve learned.

You can’t start up a business, even a home based business, with no money. If you’re not willing to invest in your business, your dream, why would others want to support your business or buy your products? That said, if you’re motivated to build a profitable business and you’ve had the courage to choose to work for yourself, here are some tips that will help you start a business on a very moderate budget.

How much do I need?

The tips below are meant for micro, solo and home based business owners and independent service professionals who will not be opening retail store or leasing office space, since start up expenses for those businesses are much higher.

I bet you’re serious about setting up your business the right way. Once you’ve chosen a well-researched, profitable niche that you’re passionate about, these should be your goals during the start-up process. A step-by-step process to achieve these goals, along with the exact resources you’ll need to reach them, is covered in my group-coaching program for start ups called Rev-Up Tactics (http://revuptactics.com)

Set up a structure that’s sustainable and will grow with you. That means setting up the right legal entity that will protect you from legal liability and give you the best tax advantages. You can easily do this for less than $500 if you’re willing to do some of the work yourself.

Find the right banking relationship. You’ll need a business account and the fees banks charge and the services they provide vary widely. You’ll want to shop around and see where you can get free business checking.

Find the best, low cost options for your initial marketing materials. You’ll need a logo, business cards and a website at a minimum. Even if you’re planning on online business only, you’ll still need these. With the right knowledge and resources, you can get all of this accomplished for under $2,000. This is tricky however, because you need to know exactly how to put together a great branding package and a website that will generate lots of leads and sales. I see too many new business owners pay for a website that is no more than a web brochure with no traffic, or marketing materials that they outgrow in a few months time. It’s important to avoid these costly mistakes

Determine how much you’ll pu

Professional Logo Design - I Don't Need One; I am a Small Business!
You are a small business owner and you think that investing in getting a professional logo design for your company would be a waste of your limited budget. We at Logo Design Works believe that could be a costly mistake.In this modern day and age, there are 1000s of companies in any given market. All these companies are competing to capture the attention of the target audience and gain the all important sale.On the other side of the coin, individuals or potential customers are exposed to a bewlidering array of "brand noise" day in and dau out. From the time they get up in the moring, till they go to bed they come in contact with 100s of brand identities.

r products? That said, if you’re motivated to build a profitable business and you’ve had the courage to choose to work for yourself, here are some tips that will help you start a business on a very moderate budget.

How much do I need?

Determine how much you’ll p

What 'Balanced' Really Means for Measures
When most of us hear the term 'balanced measures' we see the Balanced Scorecard flash before our eyes. The success of this decade-and-a-half old framework has been both a windfall and a worry. Yes, our mid-1990's fever for good measures that actually measured what mattered was somewhat tempered by Kaplan and Norton's medicine. But it's unprecedented success brought on a new fever: the expectation that a balanced suite of measures is a simple plug-and-play bolt-on to your business' performance scorecard. No thinking required, just grab some KPIs and stick 'em in the right perspective (financial, customers, internal processes or learning and growth).Many of the o

siness the right way. Once you’ve chosen a well-researched, profitable niche that you’re passionate about, these should be your goals during the start-up process. A step-by-step process to achieve these goals, along with the exact resources you’ll need to reach them, is covered in my group-coaching program for start ups called Rev-Up Tactics (http://revuptactics.com)

Determine how much you’ll p

Just Do It and Ask for Forgiveness Later
The greatest shifts in American culture tend to originate from the media, but even something as innocuous as a saying can drive a cultural change. One saying in particular seems to epitomize a cultural shift that seems to be going unnoticed.“Just do it and ask for forgiveness later.”Heard that one lately? Used that one lately? We all have, and most of us have likely heard this used at work.The first time I heard it, I was a little shocked. It sounded like something I would have used as a kid while trying to rationalize using Mom’s Visa Card without her knowledge. Taken aback, I looked back at my manager to see if he was serious; he was. The walls

ive you the best tax advantages. You can easily do this for less than $500 if you’re willing to do some of the work yourself.

Determine how much you’ll p

Handling Angry Clients
What do you do when your client gets mad at you? How do you handle this? An angry client can be one of the biggest time and energy drains on a sales person. What you should specifically do will obviously depend on what the client is angry about. Sometimes our clients have a legitimate reason to be angry, such as when we screw up. Other times clients get unreasonably upset because they have different expectations about your business relationship. In either case, your objective should be to make the client happy again (unless your client is so unreasonable that you need to let them go). The first step towards converting an angry client to a happy

Determine how much you’ll put aside as your marketing budget for the first six months. Usually start ups allocate 5% to 7% of their estimated gross revenues for the first year as a marketing budget. The secret is to calculate exactly how you can get a return on investment for every penny you spend. You’ll only know that by:

Figuring out how to reach your target clients directly. For example if you want to reach new homeowners, putting an ad in the local paper is way too general. Don’t pay for marketing that reaches too broad an audience.

Figuring out the least expensive, most effective ways to reach them. Marketing online is still the best deal around. But there are many highly effective cost free and low cost offline marketing ideas that can pay off big.

Learn to maximize every marketing dollar and have a strategy that compels people to take actiom. You want qualified leads from your marketing. Then you can convert them into paying clients. Once you become skilled at this your business will really grow.

Your initial marketing budget could conceivably be under $1,000. If you use it wisely, measure and track your results, change or eliminate marketing that’s not working, and keep putting a percentage of the money you make as a result back into your marketing budget, it’ll finance itself.

Technology – you’ll need to purchase some software and online services, like web hosting, a data base program, accounting software like QuickBooks, an auto responder and perhaps other technology specific to your industry. Shop around and never buy from the first vendor you find. Lots of software can be purchased for less on E-bay. Buying a slightly older version is fine to get you started.

Where can I get the money to fund my start up?

I’ve recently written about this in my blog (http://smartrack.net/blog), but here are some resources. Most of these involve an element of risk. If you’re not willing to take some calculated risk, business ownership may not be for you.

Home equity loan
Personal savings
Low interest credit cards
Loans from family and friends (always prepare an

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As a scrapbook business owner, your enthusiasm for scrapbooking is the driving force behind your marketing efforts. Marketing is not an option—it’s a necessity.

In the United States we have some of the most pure iron ore on the planet and yet many of our iron ore mining facilities have closed. Some of this has been due to environmental reasons and some of this has been caused to keep other nations happy because they wish to sell their iron ore to us in the form of completed steel products.

Sometimes there are problems that just HAVE to be talked over with someone - but maybe there's no one around, or maybe you don't want to interrupt people who are hard at work. So what can you do? There's this funny thing that happens when you explain something: you often come up with a solution. And you don't actually have to be explaining to another person!

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