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Add You - So, You Want to Start Your Own Business - May I Offer My Congratulations and Deepest Sympathy Par
Are you opening a dollar store? If so, you will likely hear about the importance of customer service. However, most of the time this information is focused on providing customer service as customers are shopping in your store. What you may not hear is the importance of never allowing customers to wait to pay for their purchases.Don’t ever forget the fact that shoppers took the time and trouble to get to your store. They spent their time walking the store and selecting items to purchase. If you did things correctly when opening a dollar store, those shoppers will be very pleased with their experience while shopping in your store. The last thing you want to have happen is for that great shopping experience to be destroyed by a long wait for someone to appear at the cash register to accept their payment.One of the most frustrating things for a shopper to experience is standing and waiting, especially after investing the time to make their merchandise selections. After opening a dollar store yo
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight step
Should we believe the experts in business? In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell offered his telephone patent to Western Union, the largest telegraph company in America, for $100,000. A committee of experts was convened to decide on the company’s interest in the new technology. The decision was clear.“Bell’s profession is that of a voice teacher … yet he claims to have discovered an instrument of great practical value in communication, which has been overlooked by thousands of workers who have spent years in this field. Any telegraph engineer will at once see the fallacy of this plan. The public simply cannot be trusted to handle technical communications equipment … When making a call, the subscriber must give the number verbally to the operator who will have to deal with the persons who may be illiterate, speak with lisps or stammer, or have foreign accents or who may be sleepy or intoxicated when making a call … In conclusion, the committee feels that it must advise against any
Hey, don’t stone the messenger; I’m not the only Negative Nelly on this topic! The facts are, as stated by the Small Business Administration, 80% of small business start ups close within the first five years. But, maybe you and your idea are different and you are prepared to beat the odds. If you still want to give it that ol’ college try read on. (My apologies to those of you whom I have completely devastated. However, keep in mind that if you are still reading and I haven’t scared you off yet…you could have what it takes to start your own business.)
Have you ever wondered why we are in awe of the Bill Gates and Martha Stewart’s of the world? Have you ever wondered why they are one-of-a-kind kinda’ guys/gals and are so well known? Well, I think it has something to do with the blood and guts they had to donate to start & be successful in their own businesses. Anyone can start their own business, but only 20% of those starters are still in business after five years and even fewer are actually running a successful business; that means making money. So, this journey definitely takes more than what 80% of us have. Are you still reading? Ok, you may have what it takes.
What it takes to start your business (we’ll leave the part about actually being successful to another article) is what I refer to as the “Eight Steps to A Successful Start”:
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight steps
The Oregon State Agency that oversees the collection and reporting of State income taxes deducted from payroll checks is:Department of Revenue Revenue Bldg. 955 Center St., N.E. Salem, OR 97301 (503) 945-8100 www.dor.state.or.us/Oregon allows you to use the Federal W-4 form to calculate state income tax withholding.Not all states allow salary reductions made under Section 125 cafeteria plans or 401(k) to be treated in the same manner as the IRS code allows. In Oregon cafeteria plans are not taxable for income tax calculation; not taxable for unemployment insurance purposes if used to purchase medical or life insurance 401(k) plan deferrals are not taxable for income taxes; taxable for unemployment purposes.In Oregon supplemental wages are taxed at a 9% flat rate.W-2s are not required in Oregon unless state requests them.The Oregon State Unemployment Insurance Agency is:Employment Department Unemployment Insurance Tax 875 Union St., N.
Have you ever wondered why we are in awe of the Bill Gates and Martha Stewart’s of the world? Have you ever wondered why they are one-of-a-kind kinda’ guys/gals and are so well known? Well, I think it has something to do with the blood and guts they had to donate to start & be successful in their own businesses. Anyone can start their own business, but only 20% of those starters are still in business after five years and even fewer are actually running a successful business; that means making money. So, this journey definitely takes more than what 80% of us have. Are you still reading? Ok, you may have what it takes.
What it takes to start your business (we’ll leave the part about actually being successful to another article) is what I refer to as the “Eight Steps to A Successful Start”:
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight step
If you hate bookkeeping, you are not on your own. For most small business owners 'bookkeeping' is a major pain; a real chore. If you have to choose between selling your products and services or keeping your books in order - the books lose every time?But it would be good to :know your cash position and know the bank balance before the statement arrives Have reports and guidance on your profitability? You want to be able to explain where your figures come from to the tax man if he should ask. Would you play football, cricket or golf and not bother to keep the score? Of course not, we all want to be in control of our businesses, but for the small business owner this has never been easy.Give serious thought to 'outsourcing' your bookkeeping to an expert, either an online bookkeeping service or a traditional bookkeeper.Isn't it best if my spouse does the bookkeeping?In many small bu
Have you ever wondered why we are in awe of the Bill Gates and Martha Stewart’s of the world? Have you ever wondered why they are one-of-a-kind kinda’ guys/gals and are so well known? Well, I think it has something to do with the blood and guts they had to donate to start & be successful in their own businesses. Anyone can start their own business, but only 20% of those starters are still in business after five years and even fewer are actually running a successful business; that means making money. So, this journey definitely takes more than what 80% of us have. Are you still reading? Ok, you may have what it takes.
What it takes to start your business (we’ll leave the part about actually being successful to another article) is what I refer to as the “Eight Steps to A Successful Start”:
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight step
Whether you love them or hate them, at some point in our lives, all of us have to go through the dreaded job search. Have you noticed how difficult it becomes finding work as you get older too? I found myself unemployed at 39 and thought I’d walk into another job within a couple of weeks. Well, there were plenty of vacancies around but despite my carefully prepared resume and well written cover letter, I got but 1 reply to 25 applications over a 3 month period and that was just a simple thanks but no thanks.Of course, this was a good few years ago now and the medium for finding new work was via the employment agencies, the local rags, or word by mouth. It’s so much different these days with the opportunities unveiled with that information super highway. I could have done with a bit of electronic assistance back when I was out of work. It’s so much faster than the postal service and much easier to research and follow up too.Despite this, a job search is still seen as a necessary evil to
What it takes to start your business (we’ll leave the part about actually being successful to another article) is what I refer to as the “Eight Steps to A Successful Start”:
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight step
Complacency damages your career more than lack of qualifications. The most obvious roadblock you’ll encounter on the race to find your next job is usually regrets about skills, education, and professional knowledge. However, be careful that you don’t possess an inner smugness that rests on past successes. Complacency will trick you to believe that employers will find you without any effort on your part to find them. You’ll be anesthetized to job search urgency by this false sense of security. Overconfidence costs you money and opportunities if you decide to sit back with a Jack Daniel’s and idle your time away until the phone rings. It won’t.Job seeker loses $30,000 and top management role while waiting for “right opportunity. Rich Connell, senior consultant for R. L. Stevens & Associates Inc., a leading international career marketing firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, regretted a huge blunder he made during his earlier career adventures. “I lost a high level management po
1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group
Please note that the first eight steps have nothing to do with what you actually want to “do” in your business. In other words, if your dream is to be a career coach, you won’t actually be coaching clients until you have been a marketer, sales person, financial expert, and strategist. Oh, and for those brave Internet entrepreneurs you will also have to become an Internet guru. Note: if you know what mega-tags are, congratulations you are well on your way! Back to my point, what is important to keep in mind is that for most business launches it takes a full two years before you are “doing” whatever it is your business is all about and before you are ever the business owner of your dreams. Still reading? You are already beating the odds!
Let’s take a look at Step One, “Determine Your Niche.” Your niche is determined by defining exactly what group of consumers will be your customers. This group will consist of people who have specialized interests and needs, and have a strong desire for your service or product. An example of a strong need would be an attorney who needs a well organized back office system to keep track of past and current case loads. The group in this case is “attorneys” and the specialized interest/need is all about well-organized back office systems. So, if your product is a well-organized back office system for attorneys, this guy/gal is in your niche.
Once you have identified a group with specialized interests and needs, now known as “your niche”, you have to ask and come up with answers to the following questions:
Will this group spend money for my product/service? And, do they have the money to spend? A go
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