The Small Business Checklist

7 Financial Tips I Picked up From the Wealthy Have you ever heard of the book, "The Millionaire Next Door?" The authors were surprised to find that the millionaires they interviewed lived and dressed quite modestly despite the amount of money they had. Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest people alive, has lived in the same modest home since 1958. Why do I bring this up? You could argue that they make a lot more than you do, and that is absolutely true. Because I work at a private club, many of the members are considered above middle class. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Do you have any tips to share? Five Simple Ways to Create Wealth Will You Accept the Challenge to Destroy Your Debt? Your Debt-Free, But What do You Have to Show For it? Cheryl Bigos Cheryl Bigos graduated from a CareOne Debt Relief Services Debt Management Plan (DMP) in 2008. To follow CareOne click here! Free Download "Ten Things You Must Know to Succeed on a Debt Management Plan

Eight Questions To Ask Before You Start A Business ~ PPC Blog - StumbleUpon Are you thinking of starting a web business? Starting a PPC Management agency? Setting up your own site and selling things, or building a web publishing empire? Before you start, ask yourself the following eight questions. 1 . Define what service the business provides. Try to focus. McDonalds could, no doubt, provide up-market meals, but they focus on selling quick, cheap food. That is what they do. 2. Who are your customers? Create a mental image of your typical customer. 3. What is your unique selling proposition? If your customers can buy the same services for less elsewhere, or more easily, they will. There is a tendency to model yourself on others. This is not to say doing something wildly new or different is any guarantee of success. 4. This point is so important, it really should be number one. Businesses may have great ideas. Then the bank manager calls. The overdraft has hit its limit and you can’t meet payroll this week. There is no fooling cashflow. 5. 6. 7. Set company goals. 8.

17 things I wish I’d known when starting my first business (Flickr photo via JMRosenfeld) Growing up I was surrounded by entrepreneurs. All of my uncles on my mom’s side of the family ran successful businesses, and I learned that working for yourself was a great way to improve your lifestyle. No surprise then that I now own a few businesses of my own. But I made lots of mistakes getting started, mistakes I could’ve avoided if I’d known a few things. Here are seventeen mistakes that you should avoid: Sell Something Legal Selling something legal may sound obvious to anyone in business, but trust me, when it comes to wanting to make money you will likely consider a lot of ideas… some legal, some illegal and some in between. While still in high school I sold CDs and black boxes. You don’t want to make a lot of money and then lose it all because you are on the wrong side of the law. Sell Something People Can Afford Neil Patel I once took a job selling high-end vacuums. But these were $1,600 vacuums and most people couldn’t afford them. Make Payments Easy

Is Starting A Business Safer Than Your Job? [Infographic] What's Better - Getting a Job or Starting a Business? With a slow economy, many people have turned to entrepreneurship as a means to pay the bills. Which begs the question, what’s better today — getting a job or starting a business? We dug deep to find out the numbers and have compared the risk of starting a business to keeping a job. If you’ve ever thought about starting your own company, take a look at our graphic below to help decide if entrepreneurship is right for you. What do you think? Small Business Loans Made Simple Create a Free Lendio Account Overview “Laid off? “True entrepreneurs reduce risk to the point that action becomes quite logical.” Unemployment Rate: 9.1% 26% of North American workers are self-employedIn 2008 on average 2,356 people went into business for themselves every day.Their ventures accounted for 78% of U.S. businesses SELF-EMPLOYMENT There are only four paths toward business ownership: Among the fastest-growing industries are: Reemployment figures: To reduce risk:

Startup Advice: How Entrepeneurs Gain Credibility While talking with young founders in Europe and the US over the last couple months, I have been asked the same question repeatedly -- how can an entrepreneur just starting out gain the necessary credibility to attract capital? It is an important question because, at its heart, a startup investment is an investment in the entrepreneur. And the earlier stage the investment, the more so this is true. We all know the allure of the elusive "serial entrepreneur" -- the rare breed who has done it before (successfully) and will not fall victim to the same business pitfalls (he'll have to discover new ones). I have backed serial entrepreneurs before and will continue to back them. So how does an entrepreneur with little or no track record gain credibility? When it comes to borrowed credibility, there is perhaps no more important act than the initial introduction you are given to an investor. The other way first time entrepreneurs gain credibility is to earn it.

Starting a Business: Advice from the Tre If you’re like thousands of other designers, programmers and other creative professionals out there, at one point in time you’ve considered starting your own business. Unlike most, you’ve gone against common sense and decided to open shop for yourself. And not just freelance full-time, mind you, but file for the company name, get some stationery, and wade through the legal mumbo-jumbo. Maybe even get a real office with a water cooler. This article offers real-world advice from the trenches of a small start-up, and is applicable to designers, web developers, copywriters, usability experts and all manner of service providers. Write a Business Plan#section1 The most important thing you can do to prepare for starting and operating your own business. Beyond the mental exercises, a good business plan will give you a much better chance of getting a small business loan from a bank than walking in and saying, “I like Photoshop and maybe a can do some websites or something. Funding#section3 Good:

29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business Looking for ways to grow your list of newsletter subscribers? There are a ton of ways to get people to sign up for your weekly or monthly email marketing campaigns. I’ve put together a list for you to read, so you have heaps of options for growing your list. Include a link to your newsletter sign up form in the main navigation bar of your website and/or blog. Bonus: Optimize your site for appropriate SEO keywords, and ensure your business is on appropriate online listings. Have any additional ideas? Need more ideas for your next email? Send your next email for free using VerticalResponse. Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published in September 2009 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy and relevance. © 2016, Janine Popick. About the Author Janine Popick is a contributing author for VerticalResponse.

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