ditmasparkart

Overview

Running a small business takes a lot of work. Your website can provide all the information about your business, products and services you provide, how they can contact you, maybe even shop online for your products 24/7, you can offer helpful information, tips and hints and you can provide photos of your business, team, products and testimonials from happy customers. If you want higher profits in your business, it is important to invest in a website that will drive customers to sign up for your newsletter, call you for a quote, buy your products direct from your online store or call you for more information about the services you offer. Every small business owner wants to increase profits in their business over the long-term. All small business owners must think about the long-term trajectory and vision of their business and seriously consider investing in a website.

Final Thoughts

There are many small businesses today that do not have a website.

Naming your business with an appropriate business name is the most significant step in starting a new business. It is easy to make a mistake and forget this rule as you would want to create a business name that is unique and stands out in the crowd.

The name should have a good tone and be flexible so that you can add new products or services without having to change the business name.

While naming your business keep in mind that good business names have positive visualization, the name you choose should remind customers about something pleasurable.

Create a name that expresses something related to your business.

The goal of this article is to outline the steps that a business buyer should take in advance so that they can stand out and be recognized as a serious and credible buyer?

Let’s start with a few examples demonstrating who is NOT a serious candidate.

I want to buy a small business in the area but am not sure what type yet. Can you send me information on three of the businesses you have listed for sale – the industrial manufacturing business, the durable medical equipment company, and the online retailer?

I am still working at my current job but am contemplating leaving the firm and purchase a business within the next couple of years.

My background is entirely in the printing industry but I want to make a change and thought about buying a wholesale chemical products company.

I have a little money saved up but need to get a loan to purchase a business. Don’t expect the broker or business seller to provide complete access to sensitive and confidential business documents without receiving assurances that the buyer has the appropriate resources to either purchase the business outright or obtain a business acquisition loan.

What industry experience or transferrable skills does the buyer have?

The optimal situation is when the prospective buyer has direct industry experience. These issues should be discussed early in the process as the business broker will need to determine if you are managerially qualified to operate the business.

What is the type of business the buyer is seeking and why?

A serious buyer has developed a detailed and concise “investment criteria” for the business they seek to acquire. Having an investment criteria that relates only to “profitable businesses” or “those businesses which generate a minimum of $150,000 in cash flow” without regard to the business type, industry served, geographic location, and size is a clear red flag that the candidate has not put the proper time into honing their acquisition objective.

Realistic expectations.

Successful entrepreneurs recognize that there is no such thing as a perfect company. Most of the time there are a multiple buyers who are evaluating the business and those candidates who submit, either a low-ball offer or an offer with unrealistic terms attached, will be wasting the valuable time of all parties involved not to mention possibly burning a bridge with the business seller and eliminating themselves from consideration.

Ability to react quickly

A serious buyer is well organized, has done their research, and knows what they want and what they can afford.

But there are a lot of moving parts and many different elements to consider.

10 basic tips essential to start a business successfully.

Tip 1: Get inspired and Love your idea

Every business begins with an idea you may have imagined of opening your own business for years, or motivation may have hit you suddenly. (Target Costumers)
• Are there other companies offering similar services or products right now?
• How is the competition?
• Can or how will your business fit into the market?

Tip 2: Make a Business Plan

You need a business plan in order to make your business idea a reality. If you expect to seek monetary support from an investor or financial organization, a formal written business plan is a must.

Even if you don’t need monetary support, a simple business plan can give you precision about what you hope to accomplish and how you plan to do it.

In overall, your business plan should summary your business goals and the inspiration behind them, as well as your plan for realization of your goals in terms of marketing and funding.

Tip 3: Planning Finances

Opening a small business doesn’t have to involve a lot of money, but it will involve some investment.

There are a number of methods you can fund your small business:

• With Small business grants
• By Financing
• With Small business loans
• Or Angel investors

You can also attempt to get your business off the ground by bootstrapping, using as little capital as necessary to start your business.

Tip 4: Business Structure

Your small business can be an individual ownership, a partnership, a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation. The business structure you might choose will impact in many factors from your business name, to liability, and how you file your taxes.

You can choose an initial business structure, and with time re-evaluate and change your structure as your business grows and needs to be changed.

Tip 5: The Business Name

The name you choose plays a role in almost every aspect of your business, so you want it to be a good one. You will need to reflect about your place, equipment, and overall setup, and make sure your business place works for the kind of business you will be doing.

Tip 6: Accounting System

One of the most essential systems for a small business is an accounting system. Completed these business start-up actions, you will have all of the most important small business bases protected, and be prepared for small business success.

15 Business Ideas to Generate Extra Income

If you want or need to start a side job because you still need to wait a little bit longer to start your own business, here are 15 suggestions for you.

This book is a must read for small business owners, with one of its major themes being the difference between working “in” your business (you make the pies) versus working “on” your business (others make the pies following your recipe and systems).

As you prepare to become your own boss, or if you have already started a small business, it’s important to keep your long-term vision in mind. someone else makes the donuts following your instructions)?
Are you looking for a job or are you looking to create a self-managing company (a business that does not rely on your day-to-day presence for success)?
Do you prefer to create or do you enjoy executing?
Do you envision creating multiple different businesses across multiple industries?
Are you able to let go of all of the details, or are you a micro-manager?
Are you the only person who can deliver your service or product, or can you teach others how to do it?
Is your goal to work hard until a certain age and then retire, or continue creating and leading your businesses until you are no longer mentally capable?
Can you sell your business as it currently operates and without you having to continue being part of it?

Henry Lopez is Co-Founder of Levante Business Group, dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their business.

To hit gold in business, you have to think gold. Here are tips on how to think different in business:

Think back to the future

Don’t wait till the harsh business storm hits your business; Do a survey on your business, and be cautious of the events happening in your business environment. Business is about profit making and goodwill, be focused on these objectives.

Create a war-room

Now that you know who your competitors are and understand your type of business. Can your business survive in business storm or in an unstable economy? Take action: pave the way for more business improvements, do some advertisements, up your business game. A business seed can only grow if the business soil is fertile, and the fertility starts from your business thoughts.

Now that you have had that internet home based business idea and have decided to start a business from home, selecting the right business opportunities is as easy as 1-2-3, well maybe 1-2-3-4!

That fact along can be a major factor in generating profitable home based businesses and should certainly be considered when developing our internet home based business idea.

When developing our internet home based business idea, the question we must ask ourselves is: Are we positioned in front of the basketball or behind it?

History shows that those who identify these trends early, and are able to meet the needs of these trends, are able to create abundant wealth for themselves. Nine out of every ten households purchase greeting cards each year.

Working From Home – $401 Billion Dollar Industry.

Internet Marketing – exceeds $523 Billion according to a study done by the McCombs School of Business and is expected to reach 7 Trillion within the next 3 years.

Mail Order Marketing – $350 Billion Dollar Industry and growing.

Wellness Industry – $200 Billion Dollar Industry and expected to reach $1 Trillion within 10 years.

Nutrition Industry – $4.2 Billion Dollar Industry and exploding.

Weight Control Industry – $33 Billion Dollar Industry fueled by epidemic size obesity levels. An estimated 70% of the U.S. population needs to lose 10 – 50 pounds.

Personal Care Industry – $72 Billion Dollar Industry.

Cosmetics Industry – 8 Billion Dollar Industry – and steadily growing.

Travel and Vacation – $860 Billion and growing.

When developing an internet home based business idea into profitable home based businesses, it is not necessary to pick an industry which we already have an affinity for, although it certainly is desirable.

For many businesses today, there are many challenges that come along inhibiting success. It is quite common to see many businesses, especially small ones, fail to manage cash flow.

The main solution here is to ensure that there is enough capital or cash saved up to meet business obligations as they rise.

Cash management becomes vital during the fluctuation period, as cash is flowing in more slowly into the business and moneylenders are less than willing to extend the loan repayment period. Increased Competition and Selection

It has never been an easy task to start a business, however, gone are the years when it took long procedures to start a business. The ever changing market speculations by business analysts in the news usually leave a bitter taste in the mouth of business owners. For instance, the new Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare) is so complicated that local and state governments won’t understand what to do, and businesses will have to sacrifice resources and time to understand the law hence hiring professionals to break it down for them to implement it effectively.

Many businesses do not know whether they will have to continue with the national system, or the state system will be creating exchanges. The need for a more sophisticated challenge solving competency among current business controllers is limiting the possibilities of their ability to effectively deal with risks facing their businesses. This is the main reason business managers tend to land from the frying pan into the fire, depending on who among their executives they are trying to put away and in most cases the ever changing business environment is what starts these fires.

So what is the challenge to be solved? Finding competent staff

Without exception, every business owner has faced the major business challenge, which is, finding the right staff, ensuring they buy into the business’ vision and retaining them. In spite of unemployment, many businesses try to find the ideal staff members with the precise skill for the business. that is individuals who have the right IT skills, deductive reasoning skills, and problem-solving skills.

Final thoughts

Without the right skills to identify and solve problems that arise in business, many businesses end up failing in fulfilling their core mission and vision. Moreover, it is not only the obligation of the business executives but also all other members involved in the business to make sure that some, if not all the challenges, are dealt with in an appropriate and ethical manner.

Some from concept and some where we converted an existing business to the franchised model and I am really happy to deal with either pathway with one really important proviso.

The business owner must have a reasonable understanding on what it takes to run a business successfully – franchised or not.

And unfortunately I have concluded this is easier said than done.

Done well, franchising does help to structure a business so that it has the best chance of success because franchising helps to put some great business practices in place. But overall, I have found that in most businesses, there are some aspects about business success which need to be reviewed and without sound business experience, creating a franchise is not likely to succeed.

Understanding how business works is especially important, because you, as franchisor, will often be training less business savvy-franchisees on successful business practice.

The most useful way I have found to think about business success is to look at the stages of business growth because it is through this journey that many learn the value of different business skills needed as they grow.

The 5 Stages of Business Growth

Way back in the early 1980’s, the concept that businesses grow through defined stages was first discussed in an article published in Forbes by Neil C. If it can preserve its entrepreneurial spirit, it will be a formidable force in the market.

If not, it may enter a sixth stage of sorts: ossification and death.

Franchises often do it better

Yes, even in the 1980’s when the Churchill and Lewis first published their article, it was acknowledged that franchised businesses moved through the stages to Success and Rapid Growth better than those not franchised.

Why?

Because franchises often have the following advantages:

First of all, they have, in most cases, a franchisor who really understands, through experience, the essentials of business, making sure clear structures are in place from the beginning to move through Existence and Survival fast.

At the very least they will have:

A marketing plan developed from extensive research
Promotion and other start-up support such as brand identification
Sophisticated information and control systems so the whole franchise can be monitored
Operating procedures that are standardized and very well developed so delegation is consistent and efficient

I would add that, if the franchisor has really done the homework, there will also be:

Strong leadership for the group and an understanding of managing teams of equal partners
Good strategic and operational planning which has input from all franchise partners
And a very clear understanding of money management in the franchise group, making sure that all levels of the franchise can be profitable

I have to say, not many business I see have all these business aspects in place when they start to think about franchising.

Do you prefer a B2B business that operates M-F 8-6pm or are you more flexible and would consider a consumer oriented business that is open late or often over the weekends?
Are you successful at sales, meeting with clients, and being the face of the business or are you better suited to a managerial role and running the business from behind the scenes with an established sales force in place?
Are you able to travel and be away from home for several days or do you require a business that keeps you close to the family each day of the week?
Do you have a background and expertise in the manufacturing of products or is it the service industry or distribution model that is more your forte?
Do you have any licenses or certifications that qualify you for a certain business? The best advice is to start considering businesses in industries that the buyer is passionate about.

These are a few of the questions that will help an individual assess the types of businesses that they are best suited for and assist in narrowing the range of enterprises where the buyers skill set, experience, capabilities and passions can be leveraged.

DEVELOP INVESTMENT CRITERIA

Now that you have established the type of business that is a ‘good fit’ the next step is to put pen to paper and concisely define your investment criteria. The investment criteria will state the following:

What is the price range of the business that you can afford to buy?
What is the geographic location for the business you seek to buy?
What type of business are you looking for?
Manufacturing
Wholesale/Distribution
Service
Retail
Web-based
What industry should the business be in?
Management structure (owner managed or management team in place)?
Size of business. Contact your business broker as they will be able to recommend a financial institution that does business acquisition lending for the type of business you are interested in purchasing. Lastly, the buyer should recognize that the better the business is, the more they will be expected to pay.

After the initial information exchange the buyer should prepare a second set of questions based upon the particulars of the specific business. The buyer is clear on the business valuation, the financials, and the business operations and the seller (through the broker) should be clear on how the candidate will be financing the transaction.

A teleconference should be arranged by the business broker to fill in any gaps of information and to allow specific business questions to be asked by the buyer and answered directly by the seller. This is a custom Agreement and the level of detail, length, and companion schedules and attachments is predicated on the particular business.

During this stage the buyer should already have their new business entity established (assuming it is not a stock sale), business bank accounts created, insurance policies prepared, merchant credit card accounts (if applicable) in place, etc.

THE CLOSING

The closing should be the easiest part of the process.