Archive for February 2005
Startup Journal: According to David Burd, president of The Naming Company in East Stroudsburg, Pa., it’s common for new entrepreneurs to try to convey too much in their business names. “A name is not an ad campaign,” he says. “It allows you to write checks and do business. It’s not the end-all, be-all of marketing.” [...]
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at the site I nominated for the Best Overall category of the 2005 Business Blogging Awards, Warren Meyer’s Coyote Blog.
Neville Medhora: “In Austin they have started a program that allows residential homes to recieve up to a $5,000 check per year simply for having a solar system on your home (that generates a certain amount of power). You could offer free installation of solar panels on homes in exchange for these yearly checks. A [...]
Deductions Your Small Business Shouldn’t Miss
Nolo: When you’re totaling up your business’s expenses at the end of the year, don’t overlook these 14 common business deductions. Auto Expenses Expenses of Going Into Business Education Expenses Legal and Professional Fees Bad Debts Business Entertaining Travel New Equipment Interest Moving Expenses Software Charitable Contributions Taxes Advertising and Promotion
Revenue Per Employee In Small Business
Peter Hupalo: “Revenue Per Employee is a key ratio for start-up companies. A low Revenue Per Employee in comparison to similar companies is a bad sign, often boding possible failure.”
The Ideal Length Of Your Business Plan
Small Business Buddy: “How long should a business plan be? A business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the investor, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy. From surveys of investor needs, Growthink has found that 15 to 25 pages of text is the optimum length [...]
How Entrepreneurs Launch New Products: Experimenting As They Go
Mike Docherty: “[Start-ups and small, entrepreneurial enterprises] innovate, get it into the market and evolve (living or dying by the result). Along the way, they hopefully find a segment of the market for which their product/service creates excitement and word of mouth and build around it. Maybe it’s their critical need for cash flow, or [...]
How To Exchange Business Cards
NFIB: “When someone hands you his business card, hold the card by its edges, thank the person and read the card. You can inadvertently convey disrespect if you grab the card and simply shove it into your pocket. Absorbing what is on the card not only shows that you are interested, it also gives you [...]
The Entrepreneurial Mind: “One of the most facinating parts of entrepreneurship to me is how differently each entrepreneur views what success means for their business. It is so more complex than most on the outside will ever understand.“
Making the Most of a Trade Show Visit
Entrepreneur: “Trade shows and exhibitions provide a tremendously valuable opportunity for any entrepreneur to learn about the competition and sell their products. Getting hands-on competitive intelligence is not usually easy, but it’s as easy as pie at a trade show. A walk around the exhibit hall will earn you a sackful of literature on suppliers, [...]
Interview with Jon Gales of Mobile Tracker
Darren Rowse has a great interview with niche blogger, Jon Gales: This time I’m featuring a blogger I’ve admired a lot recently Jon Gales. Jon is one of the youngest Pro Bloggers that I’ve come across (only 20) but runs one of the best examples of a professional blog that I’ve seen – Mobile Tracker [...]
10 Tips From A Venture Capitalist Who’s Heard It All Before
Globe and Mail: If you can’t write it down, or don’t know how, don’t start. Can you take it? Day after day? If you want a partner, find someone who is good at what you’re not. Figure out exactly how slowly you can make money. No one will give you money for a bad idea, [...]
Law & Entrepreneurship News: “The IRS has released its 2005 tax calendar for small businesses and the self-employed.”
How and Why I Hired My Tax Accountant
John Canter on Startup Journal: Until I owned my business, I had always prepared my own income-tax returns. No longer. I’m glad to say that I have an accountant. In short, I quickly concluded this was no job for an amateur. Plus, for small-shop proprietors like me, time is money, and unless I hired a [...]
Art and Science of Forecasting Cash Flow
NFIB: “Forecasting cash flow can be a more complex and potentially variable task than most small-business owners think. Accuracy in your cash-flow projections is important because it can help you know months in advance when cash reserves may become depleted. It’s easier to prepare loan requests, balance inventory purchases and cut back on expenses such [...]
Why Kottke’s Micropatronage Initiative Is Bad for the Web
If you haven’t heard, A-list blogger Jason Kottke has quit his day job and decided to devote himself to maintaining his weblog full time. He’s asking people to support him by becoming micropatrons of kottke.org and giving him money. So far, so good. Based on how many people are talking positively about this in the [...]
Can You Make Big Money Stuffing Envelopes At Home?
The Straight Dope: You are never asked simply to stuff envelopes. Instead, you’re told to place ads of your own getting other suckers to send you stuff. Then those suckers find other suckers, till eventually everybody in the world has ripped off everybody else. This kind of thing is also called a “pyramid” scam, since [...]
For Entrepreneurs, a Harder World?
BusinessWeek: Is America’s entrepreneurial spirit eroding? Over the years, the question has been raised at conferences of would-be entrepreneurs, in B-school entrepreneurship classes, and by the business media. It came up for me again a few weeks ago when a Cypriot newspaper interviewed me about the future of entrepreneurship in Europe. “Is there still potential [...]
2005 Business Blogging Awards Winner
Wow, thank you very much for your support!
Eight New Ways to Make Money in Real Estate
Business 2.0: If “location, location, location” is the defining principle of real estate value, then the greatest frustration for a buyer is to find a dream house in a nightmare neighborhood. That’s what happened to Kay Laurent. Four years ago she was driving through southern Alabama when she passed a gorgeous wood house sporting a [...]
Survival Tips for Small Business Spouses Part 3: Setting the Ground Rules
Small Biz Advisor: “The final item on your checklist requires you and your spouse to develop an infrastructure to define the procedures for interconnecting home and office with spouse and small biz owner. When setting up the business, the small biz owner needs a home base, which is just that, your home. As the business [...]
Crack Down on Work At Home Scams
Associated Press: “In a 14-month-long crackdown on promoters of illegal business opportunity and work-at-home schemes, the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and law enforcement agencies from 14 states took civil and criminal action against more than 200 operations they said engaged in fraud and/or violated consumer protection laws, officials said at [...]
A Creative Opportunity for Assisted Living
Peter Davidson: A year in an “assisted-living facility” costs Americans, on average, around $28,500 a year. In large cities such as Chicago, costs are even higher, topping $40,000. Living in a dedicated cabin aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas, on the other hand, rings in at a rather competitive $33,260 a year. Luxury [...]
Small Business Owners Are Going Back To School
Law & Entrepreneurship News: “The NY Times is reporting on a growing trend of small business owners heading back to college to take non-credited training classes, workshops or certification programs. Many of these programs are provided through the SBA’s business centers and are intended to train aspiring entrepreneurs about pre-business planning. Other classes are aimed [...]
How to Get Your Book, CD or DVD in Amazon
Kevin Kelly explains how to, in 8 easy steps, get your book, CD, or DVD listed on Amazon.com: Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89. Get a bar code based on the ISBN or [...]
Business2.0: In fact, the first half of 2005 could usher in the biggest flurry of financing the technology world has seen in years. Remember all that money raised in 2000? Most of those fat funds will be closed to new investments after 2005, so VCs have to use that money now — or lose it. [...]
Hunter S. Thompson: Turn back the pages of history and see the men who have shaped the destiny of the world. Security was never theirs, but they lived rather than existed. Where would the world he if all men had sought security and not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance that, [...]
Business Entry Strategy: Study Your Industry
Thinking Like An Entrepreneur: Many new entrepreneurs who have little familiarity with the industry they wish to enter ask, “How do I go about writing a business plan?” Forget writing the business plan! First, focus upon learning as much as you can about the general industry you wish to enter. Second, plan your entry strategy. [...]
What a Break-Even Analysis Tells You
Nolo: A break-even analysis shows you the amount of revenue you’ll need to bring in to cover your expenses, before you make even a dime of profit. If you can attain and surpass your break-even point — that is, if you can easily bring in more than the amount of sales revenue you’ll need to [...]
When to Strike Out on Your Own
Fortune Small Business: Wow. I received a deluge of responses from readers who were inspired by my last column on Cheryl Mayberry McKissack’s decision to leave corporate America and start her own online market research firm. Some wrote to tell me about how they came to the decision to strike out on their own—and have [...]
National Franchise and Business Opportunities Show
On March 5 & 6, 2005 I will be at the the National Franchise & Business Opportunities Show at the Sacramento Convention Center. If you go, stop by booth 303 and say hello. I’ll have a special gift for all the weblog readers in attendance.
Tips & Traps When Buying a Franchise
Amazon: “If you have time to read only one book about franchising, make it this one. Tips & Traps is a fast read with all the information you need to make a good decision, including: How to select the best franchise for your personal finances and lifestyle, the hottest franchise opportunities to take you into [...]
How to Select a Shopping Center Location
Entrepreneur: “Shopping centers are distinctly different from downtown and local business strips. The shopping center building is pre-planned as a merchandising unit for interplay among tenants. Its site is deliberately selected by the developer for easy access to pull customers from a trade area. It has on-site parking as a common feature of the layout. [...]
Acton Institute: What do you think of when you picture a “saint”? Someone like Francis of Assisi, perhaps, who gave up his worldly goods. Or a Mother Teresa, making her life’s work the rescue of India’s outcasts. One type that does not come to mind is an entrepreneur. But think about this for a moment: [...]
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is up at The Raw Prawn.
Starting Something : An Entrepreneurs Tale of Control, Confrontation Corporate Culture
Amazon: “The story of Neoforma, a software firm that accidentally became a dotcom darling and eventually a public company. Starting Something engages the reader with the captivating story of how Neoforma survived its struggles against daunting obstacles–and in the process delivers on a very human level a wealth of insight, information, and advice for entrepreneurs.” [...]
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Fortune’s The Smartest Books We Know
Fortune: “You can’t always have the perfect book at the ready. But you can have the perfect reading list on hand. Which is why FORTUNE called upon its staffers to select 75 books that will stir your brain—and maybe even stir you to action.”
Independent Contractors vs. Employees
A reader wrote: Our company always uses workers who are independent contractors and receive 1099 forms for tax purposes. Can you explain the difference between employees and independent contractors, and tell me when we should use one or the other? I’m not a lawyer, so please don’t rely on me for legal advice, but independent [...]
Childcare Tops Female Start-up List
Business Europe: Businessesforsale.com says there is high demand for businesses in this sector among women who are either launching for the first time or planning to grow existing operations. Hair and beauty salons, cafes, diners, hotels and guesthouses were other sectors favoured by female entrepreneurs, said the group. Marcus Markou, chairman at Businessesforsale.com, said: “Women [...]
Best Home Businesses for People 50+
Amazon: “For the fastest-growing segment of our population, here is a comprehensive guide to starting and running a home-based business in midlife and retirement. A baby boomer turns fifty every seven seconds, creating what will soon be the largest and most influential senior generation in history. These dynamic seniors have both a desire and a [...]
20 Businesses You Can Launch For $100 Or Less
Small Business Opportunities Magazine: Garage Cleaning And Organizing Souvenir And Memory Books Junk Removal Watches For Sale Advertising Specialties Meal Delivery Button &Amp; Badge Making Make Bunk Beds Sunglass Shop Lawns &Amp; Landscapes Safety &Amp; Security Move-in Service Holiday Decorating Birthday In A Box Biz Mail Order And More Carve A Niche Online Auction Seller [...]
How To Find Hidden Public Domain Materials that You Sell on eBay
Although it it’s just an advertisement for his for his series, this video from James Jones of Kick Butt Business Ideas about finding underexploited niche markets on eBay actually contained some new (to me)and interesting tips and ideas.
SBA Solutions Newsletter Posted
Anthony Cerminaro: The February edition of the SBA Solutions newsletter contains information that will help you breathe easy this tax season, including: Need-to-know changes the IRS is implementing to make small-business taxes more understandable and compliance simpler. Last-minute actions that might minimize your tax bill. A comprehensive list of tax forms your business must complete. [...]
Jumping Ship to Sell Mismatched Socks
NPR has produced an interesting series about people moving from career to career for the lifestyle changes. Interviewee Jonah Staw tells his story of leaving a corporate marketing job to start a company selling mismatched socks: The target market is girls ages 8 to 12. With names like Zany and Fabulous, the colorful odd-sock combinations [...]
Sydney Johnston: Do you have unusually pointy ears, are your feet larger than average and slightly hairy, do you wander around caves, muttering to your self about nasty little hobbitses? If so, then you might have been one of the bidders for Planet-Tolkien.com which recently sold for Ł6,600 on eBay. According to the former owner, [...]
Having A Good Business Idea Is Only The Beginning
USA Today: The bad news about starting a business is that good ideas are not really that hard to come by. Every business you see when you open the Yellow Pages began as someone’s great inspiration. What did it take to turn that great idea into a successful business? How much time, effort and money [...]
What The Entrepreneurial Lifestyle Is Really Like
Ilyce Glink: Every year, millions of Americans strike out on their own and add the word “entrepreneur” to their resume. But with a failure rate as high as 80 percent, the fear factor alone scares many wanna-bes away. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Starting a business is a life-long dream for some. [...]
Age Isn’t An Issue For Entrepreneurs
Gladys Edmunds: I read that article a few days after a budding entrepreneur asked me what the future holds for entrepreneurs. The future is always bright for entrepreneurs. People who want flexibility, control of scheduling and more balance in life, all while making a living, usually become entrepreneurs. And, the best thing about being an [...]
SF Gate: “The burgeoning online real estate industry has scored an important victory in California as a federal judge ruled it is unconstitutional for the state Department of Real Estate to require ForSaleByOwner.com to obtain a broker’s license in order to advertise home listings.” This is really good news for anyone wanting to start a [...]
