Archives for April 2013

If you’re keen on starting a new business in 2013 there are many tasks that you have ahead of you. Deciding on the type of business that you are going to open, picking a name, finding a location and much more. What you’ll also need, in our humble opinion, is a lot of advice and guidance, especially if you are keen on being successful (and we know you are). With that in mind we’ve put together 10 of the best tips that we have for starting a business. Have a look, follow their advice as much as you need and, as always, enjoy.

1. No matter what you do make sure that you really enjoy doing it because you’re going to be doing it an awful lot. Whether it’s a dance studio, an online service company, an advice blog or any one of a million different and myriad ideas, if you enjoy doing it you will have a much better chance of success.
2. If at all possible start your new business while you’re still employed. Simply put, most people don’t have enough savings to be able to support themselves if they don’t have some type of income and most new businesses don’t start making money for at least a few months. Knowing this, it would be a great idea to keep your job, and thus the income you make from it, while your new business gets up to speed.
3. Start putting your support system into place now. As an entrepreneur we know you’re keen on being the boss and we have no problem with that. What we encourage however is that you have a support team in place, whether a mentor, a family member or a good friend. Applying for a business startup program in your city or town is also an excellent idea, all with the goal of having people who will support you in your new business when things get tough (and also to celebrate with you when things finally turn the corner).
4. Don’t wait until your business opens to start getting new customers. Start letting your entire network of friends, family and colleagues know about your upcoming new business and start looking for people who will be able to use your services or want to buy your products. The fact is, it’s never too early to start marketing and advertising for your business, even if it’s only word of mouth.
5. One of the most vital tips that we can give is that you write a business plan before starting any plans for your business. A well thought out and fully realized business plan will give you an amazing amount of information, some of which you might not have even thought about. This info, good or bad, will help guide your future decisions and may also help you avoid spending your time and money in a business that has a low chance of success.
6. During the time that you’re writing your business plan you will be doing a bit of research. What we suggest is that you don’t stop there but continue to research the industry, product, services or anything else involved in what will eventually be your new business. Another great idea is to research and join professional associations that relate to your industry before you get started.
7. While you may be an expert in some things there are very few people that are experts at everything.  That being said, it is vital that you surround yourself with other experts that can help you to achieve your new business dreams and goals. Attorneys, accountants, bookkeepers and other professionals of this type should be on your speed dial before you start any business.
8. Weeks or even months before your proposed opening day you should be lining up your finances and talking to your banker or even several bankers. As the old adage will tell you, it takes money to make money. Get your money lined up before you start so that you can start making money.
9. As a small business owner you assume a great amount of responsibility to be a professional.  What you wear, how you talk and especially how you treat people all will be seen in a different light once you own your own business. Also, having business cards, a business phone number and a separate business email are important to projecting a professional image.
10. Get legal and tax advice from professionals when you first set up your business. The fact is, depending on where you live there may be quite a few legal hurdles that you have to clear before you can start. We suggest that you do this right the first time because it will be much easier than fixing a big mess down the road.

We hope that these 10 tips will help you immensely in determining how to go about opening your new business. It’s an exciting time and we wish you the best of luck with everything. Follow the tips and advice above and we’re sure that your new business will be quite successful. Also, please come back and visit us often for more advice and tips on starting and running your own business. See you then!

The great thing about business attire is that the rules are flexible enough to let you do things with a little bit of flair for added effect, as well as other different touches for different occasions. If you’re smart about how you dress for work, you’d be surprised at the effect it’ll have on your business dealings and associates.

It’s always worth forking out for new business clothes, so don’t be afraid to sell some of those old CDs of yours at www.musicmagpie.com before you hit the stores. This article acts as a short guide to aid you in getting your new business wardrobe. We’ve outlined this in three sections – attire for men and women, as well as unisex attire.

Business attire for men

If you can afford it, you should invest in a few tailor-made linen and wool suits. If your funds aren’t too vast, you can always go for a few ready-to-wear suits instead, which are considerably cheaper.

These suits will be for regular wear. They should be darker colours – you mean business, after all. As for the shirts, you’ll need some silk/cotton mixes, long-sleeved and collared. White is generally a good choice of colour, given its neutrality.

Given that you now have some basic, straightforward colours for your shirts and suits, you should invest in a range of ties, some flashy, some serious. Make sure your shoes match well with your suits.

Business attire for women

The base of your wardrobe should include a few skirted suits that run just above the knee. You should also have two suits with pants at your disposal at all times. A few white blouses will also be necessary – you’ll be surprised at how versatile a white blouse is. It all depends on what you combine it with.

On its own, a white blouse can seem plain, but your image can be enhanced depending on what you choose to wear with it. Make sure it fits right – you don’t want any waistline exposure happening when you sit down.

As for shoes, it’s a general rule to go with low heels, no higher than a few inches.

Unisex business attire

Wearing a watch is always a good idea for an accessory. Obviously, don’t go for something too flashy, as it will send out the wrong message. You want to go for something sleek and serious.

The same applies to jewellery. You can wear it, but just don’t overdo it.

Although the economy isn’t exactly back to normal the improvements seen lately  bode well for the future of any new business. With that in mind and knowing that many of our readers are entrepreneurs we put together a blog about some of the best business ideas that we have heard about so far for 2013. If you’re looking to start a new business this year one of the suggestions below might just be up your alley. Enjoy.

As our global marketplace grows beyond simply Mexico and China there is a growing and indeed huge need for translators. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and statistics has predicted a high demand as a result of the growing international ties that the United States has with non-English speaking countries and a 22% increase in need throughout the profession. If you are already bilingual or know more than 2 languages and can speak, read, and write them fluently, a translation business might be an excellent choice for you.

As workforces become more and more mobile many larger companies are in need of assistance in tracking them as far as where they are, how their work is progressing and so forth. Although there are mobile time clocks as well as vehicle tracking and time clock apps most employers don’t have the necessary staff to manage all of this new data and also manage payroll and billing tasks. If you started an employee monitoring business your services  would already  be in demand and the future demand should  continue to grow sharply.

If you already own a hair or nail salon but you find that your clientele is starting to dwindle it’s possible that the problem lies in the fact that they are getting too old to leave the house as regularly as they used to. If that’s the case, or if you’d just like to start an interesting and popular as well as portable business, a traveling salon might be just the ticket. Indeed, the need for in-home services of many kinds will continue to grow as the United States population continues to age.

Many Americans are starting to pay better attention to their health and health needs but are still strapped for time during their busy lives. A vending machine business that catered to these health-conscious adults would do quite well we believe, especially if you were able to offer snack foods that were healthy and easy to take on the go.  There is actually a whole new industry sprouting up around this theme and some vending companies are offering franchisees the chance to get started  with only 1 or 2 machines, giving them the opportunity to start small and go from there without a huge initial investment.

If you’re looking for an opportunity that is still wide open but certain to grow over the next few years by leaps and bounds then you may want to look at starting a smart phone repair business. Frankly, it can cost as much to get a smart phone fixed as it can to replace one and, if you can offer a more affordable option, you should have plenty of customers.

Another small business that still has plenty of room for growth would be a testing business for apps, websites and e-commerce sites. These have become essential for practically all businesses but  often times they don’t work when first set up (for many different reasons). Services to test these apps and websites are actually quite in demand and there is even one company that offers cloud testing services, a niche that would give you an edge over a company that tested everything.

If you are a writer of any kind and especially if you have specific knowledge of a specific industry you may want to consider starting your own freelance business. As a matter of fact you could build an entire business around freelancing of all different kinds including data entry, data processing, blog article writing and even academic writing. The truth is, when it comes to freelancing, the sky really is the limit.

Those are seven of the top new business ideas that we have heard about lately and, if you do your research, we think you’ll agree that they’re all pretty darn good. We’ll be looking for more in the future and posting them to our blog so make sure to come back often and check if the ideas above weren’t the right ones for you. See you then!

Every year hundreds of thousands of people start their own businesses. That’s a good thing and excellent for the economy but, frankly, within five years the majority of those businesses have already closed. The reason; improper planning. While we agree that it is nearly impossible to plan for every challenge or every possibility that may occur, there are five questions that really need to be answered before you move ahead with your new business plans. With that in mind we put together a blog with those exact five questions and a little bit of information and advice about each one. Enjoy.

1. Setting goals. When it comes to making plans one of the very first things that needs to be accomplished is goal setting. Your goals, whether they are for the next week, the next year or the next five years, will be your guide map to where you want to be at any specific time as far as your business is concerned. If you haven’t started setting goals yet you will definitely want to do that before you actually start moving ahead with any business plans that you have. The fact is, if you can’t set realistic goals, for whatever reason, you probably aren’t ready to go into business for yourself just yet.
2. Legal paperwork and documentation. When starting any business there are many legal hoops that you need to jump through before you can open your doors. One of the first and probably the most vital is to decide on what structure your business will have. It can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC), all of which have their positive and negative traits. You’ll also need to register your business name and the municipality where it will be located and get any licenses and permits necessary for your area of the country. Talking to your accountant about business taxes and planning for said taxes is also a vital task that needs to be accomplished.
3.  Are you financially strong enough to open your own business? This is a major concern that needs to be addressed well before any plans are started. For example, if you’re leaving behind a steady paycheck will your new business be able to support you at the level that you are accustomed to or will you need to cut back on things while your business is growing? It’s an important question and one that needs to be answered before you burn any bridges or cut any ties with your current job.
4. Do you have a support network? While the new business may be a sole proprietorship or partnership, it is vital that you also have an external support system that will help you should any setbacks occur. This can include family members, friends, colleagues from your industry, a business mentor or coach and anyone else who can give you unbiased, frank and intelligent advice. The best thing about having a support system in place is that you will not feel like you’re completely alone if things are tough and you will also have a great group to celebrate with when things finally start going full speed ahead.
5. Are you prepared to be a business owner? Frankly, there are two types of people in this world; those who lead and those who follow. While we are not saying that followers are lesser people, we also believe that a business owner who is a follower is destined to fail. There are many small business character traits that you will need when you open your own business in order to be successful including a sincere and strong desire to actually be a successful business owner. Being an excellent communicator and extremely extroverted is also a plus. If you lack in one area you can sometimes make up for it with the others but if you’re lacking in several areas you may well wish to reconsider leaving your steady job behind, at least for now.

If you can answer these 5 questions honestly and frankly and, when you’re done answering them, still feel the same sense of urgency to become a small business owner then you are most likely ready to move forward. If you can’t do that then you may not be ready at this point. We suggest that you work on answering all 5 of them first and once you do, moving forward from there.  Small business ownership isn’t something you should simply dive into, for myself it took a quite a few years of working the daily grind.  It wasn’t until I was traveling to one of the many conference venues in Hong Kong for my day job that I realized I wanted more out of life, so I went out and accomplished it.  No matter what you do, we wish you the best of luck and we urge you to come back and visit us often as we will be presenting more information on  owning and running your own business in the near future. See you then!