Category: Business Startup

Ensure Your Home Business Is A Success With These Helpful Suggestions

TIP! If you need to have the Internet, make sure you take the tax deduction for this expense. When it is time to file your taxes, you can get part of money back that you paid out to your Internet provider, but only the percentage you used for business purposes.

Everyone has thought about becoming his own boss at one time or another. It probably has gone through your head as well. Being your own boss and setting your schedule is a great thing. This article will help you manage your home business.

TIP! Come up with a quick way to describe your business. You will have an easier time impressing potential clients if you can describe your business without being too wordy.

Don’t forget to take tax deductions for your business Internet use. You can write off the Internet costs, but if you use it as a home connection as well, you cannot claim more than 50% the cost on you taxes. Read the rules on the IRS website.

TIP! Be on the lookout for websites where home business owners gather. You can find many useful resources by doing a simple Google search.

Consider adding a links or banner page to your web site. This will give you the ability to trade links with other companies. This is a great way to increase your rankings and is fairly simple.

TIP! Dress up, even when you work from home. Working from home does not mean you should slack off and not get dressed.

Your business’ name must have personal meaning. Regardless of whether you have plans to set up your website yet, you should still buy the domain name immediately. You can easily find a domain name for $10 a year but make sure you purchase your domain name before anyone knows about your business. Set up a one-page website with your business information in it while you are weighing setting up a full site.

TIP! Make your home office as comfortable as possible, and stock it with all necessary supplies. This may seem like a minor thing, but having an organized home office goes a long way to making your work space a pleasant one.

Use your finances wisely by tracking every business expense. This includes car mileage related to your business and internet service. When you run your own business, many of these essential expenses become tax deductible. All of these little costs, can really add up to a lot of money. There is no sense in letting the government have money that you are entitled to.

TIP! Open a PO Box to use to receive your mail for the business. Don’t put your real address on the Internet under any circumstances.

You should have a short paragraph stating your goals for your business objective, keeping it to a couple brief sentences. Include the identity of your business as well as its goal. In these sentences, you should describe the exceptional qualities of your business and you hope to accomplish.

Detailed Records

TIP! Your business name should be strong and mean something to you. Regardless of whether you have plans to set up your website yet, you should still buy the domain name immediately.

Keep an accurate accounting of all financial records of your business. If the IRS wants to audit your business, things will be a lot easier if you have detailed records available. Keeping detailed records will also help you measure your success and look for ways to reduce expenses.

TIP! Keeping careful track of each and every one of your business expenses is a vital way to protect your pocketbook. Keep track of your business expenses, including vehicle costs and internet.

Having the support of family and friends will also increase the chances of succeeding in your online business. Operating a online business takes up a great deal of time, and can be fraught with hardships and stress. If your family isn’t on board, they will constantly interfere with your efforts to succeed.

TIP! If you are artistically inclined, you could establish a business in which you provide graphic design services to clients in the area. Many places that operate locally enjoy using independent designers because they’re more flexible and can also personalize their services.

Regardless of business type, the best way to succeed is to provide unrivaled service. As you are your own boss, your success balances on your ability for management. Keep learning about how to make your business a success. It won’t be long before you are making money with your online business.

Great Advice And Ideas About Home Business That Anyone Can Grasp

TIP! Track your business-related mileage expenses, as you will be able to deduct all or a portion of them. These expenses help reduce your tax burden since they are 100% deductible.

Many people think of starting a home-based business, but they don’t know where to begin or what to do. If you’re one of those lost people who doesn’t know how to make your dream a reality, this article is for you. The information in this article will set you on the right path to running a successful work from home business.

TIP! Have a pithy soundbite to describe your business. Keeping things simple and to the point will help to catch peoples attention.

Even when you are working from home, you should take pride in your appearance. It is easy when you work from home to just stay in your pajamas all day. Dress business casual, as you would for most jobs outside the home. Dressing appropriately places you in the frame of mind to work productively.

TIP! Your focus should be to satisfy all of your customers. It takes less effort to get sales from pleased, repeat customers than to convince the new ones to buy for a first time.

Make goals each day. You may let some things go undone, but you will get more accomplished if you keep goals reasonable. Also, set boundaries in your home. This will help your family respect your working time.

TIP! To learn about running a home business, join a few forums and discussion boards on the subject. These sites are easily found through internet searches and offer information that can be very beneficial to your business.

Watch, and make note of, your business costs to save money. This includes car mileage related to your business and internet service. Many of these expenses are tax deductible, if you run a business. There is no reason to give your money away to the government. Keep track of all those little expenses. They could add up to big savings.

TIP! Feel free to have breaks during the day, but make sure you dedicate a chunk of your time to just work related things and don’t let the activities in your household distract you. However, you should not let your personal issues take away from your home business.

One way to have a successful online business is to form a mailing list related to your product or service. While you want to keep in touch with your clients, do not spam them with too frequent or unimportant information. Many use mailing lists for ads and special promos for some new products. Another approach is to schedule regular newsletters, coupons, or product information emails. Make sure to add in a link where they can sign up to join the list.

TIP! You need to be determined and a self-starter, in order to be successful with a home business. You need to understand the laws in your area governing places of business.

Gaining your family and friends’ support is very important when starting your home-based business. It can be very hard to start a business out of your home. It will not be as successful as you want it to be if your family is not supportive, or open to giving you private time to work.

TIP! When you work at home, strive for the same type of self-care you would perform if you were working in a professional office environment. Working at home can be really great at first, but if work always comes first your self-esteem will definitely suffer.

The information presented here should have allowed you to form ideas that will help you create a online business. You’ll only benefit from this article if you apply the information shared in it. Put these tips to work every day.

Tips Every Home Business Person Must Read

TIP! Don’t take half-measures when it comes to pleasing your customers. Include a special gift and a thank you note when you send them their order.

Are you thinking of starting a online business soon? It will help you control your life and do work that is satisfying and enjoyable. It’s a real business and a real job, which means you’ll really need to work at it. You must run it properly.

TIP! When you start a home business, seek out people who will support you. You will probably have to find others and start your own network.

Keep track of your mileage and gas receipts when you use your car for your business. These expenses help reduce your tax burden since they are 100% deductible. However, you must prove that that driving is essential to the profit of your business.

TIP! A good step for increasing your search engine returns and generating more traffic for your site is to create a banner page. Such a page will give you the opportunity to swap banner links and similar advertisements with affiliated websites.

You should be prepared to give a soundbite that can simply explain your business. Cultivating the skill of being succinct when describing your business will impress possible new customers. Cover the areas that your business can improve to build credibility with customers.

TIP! You will find a lot of good advice about home business ownership on the Internet. But watch out.

Determining a fair price-point for any home-made goods you sell is critical, so ensure you have an accurate idea of your production costs. Traditionally, a wholesale mark-up from cost is approximately twice the base cost. If you are going to sell it at retail price, then multiply your wholesale price by two. The price should be acceptable to you, as well as to your customers.

TIP! Pay attention to all relevant local laws and ordinances. Fines may result if you do not abide by the regulations in place.

A supportive group of your peers can be invaluable when you run a business from home. Participating in a group with other home business owners can provide you with your own business network. Connecting with other home business enterprise owners can be as simple as meeting someone and exchanging information offline to begin creating your network. Even though these people might not be in your niche, you all are alike in your motivations to succeed.

TIP! Find out what your business’s niche is. Find the market that wants what you’re selling.

Offer incentives to customers who refer others to you. One of the best ways to promote your business is by word of mouth. When people hear about a product or service from someone they know, they’re more apt to purchase over a flyer they will throw out. When you show your customers that you are grateful for their help thanks to incentives, they will be more willing to help you.

TIP! Check with a tax professional to find out which tax deductions you are allowed to take for your home business and make sure to take them. Home businesses can provide you with several deductions, including claiming a portion of your heating and cooling costs as business expenses.

Write a short description of your business, focusing on your values and goals. A description of your goals and what the business can provide the customer should be included in the business objective. In just a few sentences, you should be able to describe your company’s objective and unique qualities.

TIP! Having the support of your loved ones is one of the best resources to have when starting a new business. Running your home business can be stressful and take a lot of time and effort.

Before you start your home business enterprise, you need to be sure to figure out what your start up expenses will be. While home businesses are usually much less costly than a traditional business, running a good home business will still take money. Knowing in advance what your overhead costs will be can help you avoid losing money over time.

Business Enterprise

TIP! Safety at your workplace is extremely important. This means having a fire extinguisher and a smoke detector near your work area.

With ideas like the ones shared here, you may be able to make your home business enterprise experience much more rewarding. It’s easier to run a business when you’re prepared. Here’s hoping that your home business enterprise operates like a well-oiled (and profitable) machine.

A Woman Entrepreneur’s Guide to Securing Business Grants

Starting, growing and expanding a business pose many challenges. For most women entrepreneurs, it’s crucial to watch out for potential funding opportunities. However, business grants for women are readily available from various private organizations and federal agencies including the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA’s) Office of Women ‘s Business Ownership, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD’s) Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, and National Women’s Business Council.These organizations and agencies all work to boost small business ownership, particularly the development of women- and minority-owned businesses.

Applying for women’s business grants

The grant application process can be intimidating because of specific requirements needing clear and concise written grant proposals. If you’re seeking urgent funding, learning how to draft a detailed grant application will enable you to successfully secure the financial assistance that your business needs.

The first thing you need to do is research. Identify what your business requires and see if they fit the current grant opportunities you have researched. If you’re unsure where to seek these grant opportunities, you can look into Grants.gov for federal grants or SRAInternational.com for private grants.

When you have determined the right business grants for you, consider the eligibility criteria carefully and address whether your personal and business profile adhere to the grant solicitation’s requirements. Produce a contact list for all of your researched grant opportunities. Note down the contact details for each organization. If you consider yourself as a minority woman, you can just as qualify for business grants that’s also geared for minority business owners.

Once you have scaled down the grant possibilities that apply to your business condition, you still need to research the grantmakers. Being in the know about a specific grantmaking body can enable you to tailor your grant proposal to meet the requirements or goals of the grantmaker.

Some grants seek to empower female business ownership and economic development, while others aim to help advance organizations or companies that offer social benefits to women in communities.

If possible, reach out to each grantmaking organization personally. This way, you can access the best information and review specific goals and current opportunities of an organization.  When discussing your proposals, you must also inquire about grant proposal preferences and formatting. Make sure to jot down the contact details of anyone from an organization who gives you pertinent grant information or assistance.

Writing a grant application

When you have completed your research, the time is ripe to create a grant application. Grant applications start off with your business profile consisting of your business goals and objectives. Present a clear and accurate assessment of your business needs by writing an introductory cover letter or a summary. Also outline your business model that incorporates your products, services and budget.

Describe how the grants will impact the development of your business and how you will use the funds to project financial targets. Plus, add professional biographies of you, your business, and your management team (if you have one).

Finally, it’s best to observe all deadlines and submission requirements when filing a grant application.  There are often new grant opportunities available so be aware of these financial resources geared for women-owned businesses. Once you have learned the process of applying, you can efficiently draft comprehensive grant proposals and get your request approved successfully.


Why Do Small Business Startups Fail?

small business failure

Failure: it’s the last thing you’d want to call attention to when you’re just starting your small business. According to a survey conducted by the Small Business Administration (SBA), seven out of ten small business startups survive at least two years and over 50 percent endure at least five years.

Don’t fret, however. If you identify the cause of failure forthright, you’ll less likely to be a victim of it.

We list down 7 reasons why new business ventures have little or no success.

Starting a business for the wrong reasons

What is your business objective? Are you doing this to rake in profits or is your business your passion? What are your long-term goals? Do you think having your own small business entitles you flexible time and more hours to spend with family? Or do you like the idea that you’re your own boss?

If you have a passion for what you’re doing and strongly think that your product or service would fulfill a positive, productive role in the marketplace, then you’re on the right track.

Keep in mind that to thrive in this business, you need to be physically and mentally fit to endure possible obstacles that may come your way. You also have to deal with and interact with various types of individuals (this means your customers) so having a pleasant character is important.

However, don’t be afraid to try and experiment. If you do fail, use the lessons learned from the experience to succeed on your next business venture.

Having insufficient funds

Let’s face it: usually, most small business owners have insufficient operating capital.

Never underestimate how much money you need or you’re going to be forced to close even before you have a fair chance of succeeding. Don’t have unrealistic expectations of your profits, either.

It is vital to establish a business budget to save you on the starting and staying costs. Take into account that most businesses take at least two years to really move forward, meaning that you’ll require adequate funds to cover costs associated with your business until incoming revenue can pay for them.

Being poorly located

Every entrepreneur know that having a strategic location for your business is crucial for its success. Good locations can enable fledgling businesses to pull through and thrive, whereas poor locations can mean disaster to even the most business-savvy entrepreneur.

Factors to consider in obtaining a good location include:

  • Customer accessibility, light traffic, parking and lighting
  • Safety and current condition of the office building
  • Community receptiveness and history
  • Incentive programs for new small businesses
  • Competitor location

Lack of planning and poor management

To achieve success, business owners know that strategic planning and hard work go hand in hand. It is important to have a detailed business plan first before starting a business. Many small businesses fail due to frailty business planning. Such plans should be realistic, accurate, and updated with future projections about the business.

Additionally, businesses fail because of poor management. New business owners usually lack management and business expertise. Unless they identify what they lack and seek assistance, their businesses might go downhill.

Successful business managers are good leaders who build a work environment that encourages productivity, skilled at hiring competent worker, and strategic thinkers.

Lacking an online presence

If you have a business, you should have a website. Most potential customers search for you, your product or service online since Internet users account for most of your clients these days, anyway.

Well-designed, clean and user-friendly websites are ideal. Also, you could set up social media accounts to track potential customers (outreach to a certain demographic), drive traffic to your website, increase sales, and obtain customer feedback. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are some of the social media outlets you can start off by promoting your business brand.

Top Small Business Tips For Success

small business tips for success

Are you struggling setting up or expanding your small business? Every small business owner aims to succeed, and to help pave a path to that success are easy, accessible, low-cost tools that can help increase profits as well as reduce expenses. But it’s not just the technology available that can help you succeed. It’s also keeping the right attitude and hiring the right people to help your business grow.

Listed below are key small business tips for success. Just remember that they’re just a fraction of what you can do. Don’t be afraid to keep on learning, discovering and experimenting to help make your business ripe for success.

  1. There is a proliferation of web services that you can find online. If your business is targeting customers in a specific region, you can use Google Places – Google’s free web service that lets you access detailed information about places spanning an array of categories. Google Places puts your business ads out there whenever someone searches for you within a certain city. It’s being used by tons of people and businesses looking for products, services and other prospects.
  2. The Internet has a profusion of free templates that can help you creatively create and modify flyers for free. For instance, LayoutReady offers free Microsoft templates that enable you to easily customize in Word, PowerPoint or Publisher. Aside from helping you save hours from layout time, you don’t need to hire an expensive graphic artist to design flyers for you.
  3. As long as you have a Gmail account, you probably have used Google Docs for your service. And that’s great. This web service works as a spreadsheet to document, store or calculate your data into a cloud where people can collaborate and share. This prevents you from purchasing hosting services that can prove costly in order to share your documents with other people.
  4. Have you considered getting a virtual phone system? Save on phone bills by downloading Skype or installing Mighty Call, a virtual phone system designed to help business owners with their communication and advertising needs. Mighty Call also has a mobile application that’s downloadable for free. The benefits of having virtual phone systems include helping you reduce the costs associated with answering services and creating multiple extensions, as well as save you money on customer support issues and helping you stay organized and thoroughly connected.
  5. To be successful, running a business requires getting assistance from the right kind of people. In this case, it’s hiring the right like-minded employees that will work for you for long-term and be there by your side as you grow your business. Let your workers take the load off of you so that you can excel in your business. The key is leveraging: if it will take you a month to build a website, hire someone who can do it for only a week. Hire someone with solid marketing skills if you know that task will veer you away from your productive hours. Focus on what you need to do best and let your workers do the rest.

Why Starting Small Businesses Has Been Easier Today Than Before

small-business-owner-art

Many years ago, starting and growing a small business was an intimidating overture. Setting up those in-house office functions can be time-consuming and costly, which includes payroll systems, accounting, and supply-chain logistics among many others. Conference calls require for expensive equipment and comment fill-up forms were handed out to earn some customer feedback.

Nowadays, technology has given businesses and entrepreneurs the opportunity to accomplish success with low-cost business models through online payment systems, cloud computing, social media marketing and a host of mobile web applications. While it’s still difficult to secure funding or loans to start businesses, there is an indication that the loan sector (whether it’s from the federal government or a private or public organization), there are already ways on how to increase your loan opportunities.

Here, we are going to list several reasons why it’s so much easier to get your business off the ground than ever before.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing is a host of remote servers that can store and handle all your data. It also provides countless resources and services including IT support or an application software within a cloud. This enables business owners to gather data or information from any Internet-connected device.

Thus, saving money by helping reduce the storing, updating and maintaining costs associated with a personal server. According to a recent Microsoft survey, businesses can expect to gain at least 25 to 50 percent savings on IT costs. Cloud computing providers such as Amazon, Google Drive or Dropbox render data on the utilization of your cloud resources, which enable you to better understand, plan and gear up for your business needs. Cloud computing web services lets you only pay for what you need, and enabling you access to information that you need any time, anywhere.

HR Outsourcing

In this modern day and age, outsourcing can be a good investment for your business. Hiring a handful of employees can form a weighty administrative load for an inexperienced small business. To gain momentum in today’s market, you can outsource your everyday HR needs, from payroll to marketing and tax tractability. Not only will you save time, effort and funds, you keep your fledgling business from getting out of turn.

Depending on the situation of your business, outsourcing key functions can enable you to save a minimum of five to 15 percent of payroll costs and taxes.  Get more information from the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations on how to kick start your outsourcing projects, get marketing support and referrals, and gain vital member resources.

App Installing

Apps are great tools for assisting you in your daily business activities. Some apps are designed to make your documentation processes easier such as helping you with online surveys, order forms, recruitment applications, sans the extra HTML coding. One example is WuFoo that lets you collect payments and “create online forms in a snap”.

Want to provide coupons and loyalty promos to your customers thru their mobile phones? Install Google Wallet. This android app converts your phone into a credit card.

Geo-targeting clients

You don’t have to search that far for prospective clients or how to reach a certain audience. Why not geo-targeting them on Facebook? Facebook ads are regarded as one of the best ways to successfully achieving location-based marketing.

Also, Google’s Small Business Network’s Google Adwords lets your ad appear next to the search results when a user Googles one of your target keywords. These services permit you to effortlessly scale up your ad revenue as your business grows, accurately track customer location, and simply allows you to reduce your marketing costs compared to using traditional media ads.

Applying for Federal Small Business Loans

lookign for business loanNo matter how experienced you are in business, managing a small business isn’t easy. Aside from the issues that small business owners face concerning operations and recruitment, the biggest challenge is obtaining capital. In fact, most small business owners rarely have sufficient cash to fund their businesses so they turn to small business grants or loans to help their businesses thrive in the market.

Raising funds for business use may take awhile, particularly in a setting where small business owners are dealing with positions similar to borrowers that have bad credit. Being self-employed is regarded as a bad credit case due to the unfixed income generated through small business. In fact, small business owners will pay fixed loan installments if they have not generated enough revenue on a certain month. Banks and other lending institutions are often not open to meet the demands of small business owners.

Fortunately, there are business funds available from federal agencies. Federal funding may include, but not limited to, small business grants for women, veterans, people with disabilities, and minority-owned businesses.

If you’re looking for loans, you can take advantage of government-guaranteed loans. However, similar to bank loans, they can be difficult to obtain. The process can also be painstakingly time-consuming. It’s not unusual for prospective borrowers to bail out before their loans are approved.

If you want to apply for federal-guaranteed loans, you can find low interest rates and reasonable repayment terms. You can check out the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) that offer these kinds of loans.

The following SBA loans available for small businesses are:

General Small Business Loans (7(a) Loan)

SBA offers loans to businesses so eligibility requirements are based on certain business factors and its principals. Once you have scored a 7(a) loan, its proceeds, may be utilized to institute new businesses or assist in the operation, acquisition or expansion of an existing small business. SBA loans have specific terms that are negotiated between an SBA-approved lender and the borrower. There are also two 7(a) loan process options and special purpose loans.

Microloan Program

SBA’s Microloan Program awards short-term loans to entrepreneurs to assist them with their small business concerns and to specific types of nonprofit childcare centers. Under this program, loan provisions may amount up to $50,000 to help small businesses and nonprofit childcare centers start, develop and expand. The typical microloan averages about $13,000.

SBA offers funds to designated intermediary lending agents or institutions, which are nonprofit organizations with lending, management and technical experience. These intermediaries manage the Microloan program for borrowers who are qualified for loans.

Disaster Loans

SBA grants low-interest disaster loans to small, mid-size and large businesses, where business owners can replace or repair equipment, inventory, assets, and other personal property damaged in a declared disaster area.

Disaster loans include:

  • Home and Personal Property Loans: If you are a victim of natural disaster and reside in a declared disaster area, you may qualify for financial aid from SBA, even if you are not a business owner. You can be a homeowner or renter.
  • Business Physical Disaster Loans: If your business is situated in a declared disaster area and gained the damage during the disaster, you may apply for business physical disaster loans to help restore, repair or replace your property that’s been destroyed.
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loans: If you have suffered economic injury despite of physical damage in a declared disaster area, you may be eligible for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL).
  • Military Reservists Economic Injury Loans: If your business employs a military reservist called to active duty, SBA offers loans to help qualified small business owners with their operational expenses.