If you are interested in small business franchises to start your own company, there are some that are forecasted to see significant growth over the next few years. You need to look closely at your interests, the time you have to offer, and the amount you want to spend on a small business franchise before you determine which one is best for you. Once you know what direction you would like to take with your small business franchise, you may then want to consider which of the small business franchises will be best for you and your situation.

One of the small business franchises that is growing in popularity is the do-it-yourself meal preparation business. People are working longer hours, most households are two-income based, and families no longer have time to do the work associated with preparing a nice family meal. These hot small business franchises are growing rapidly, because it fills a need that many families have. If you like to cook, this may be the small business franchise for you.

If you are an eBay aficionado or you like to buy, sell, and work with the computer, eBay consignment stores may be on your list for small business franchises. These new, and rapidly growing, small business franchises offer people the opportunity to drop off their items with you to sell for them on eBay. Many of these people who would use your service do not want to learn to sell on eBay and would never do it if it was not for these small business franchises.

Small business franchises for pets and children are also popular and continue to grow. If you love pets, you have the options of a variety of small business franchises from pet sitting, dog walking, and training to pet supplies and scooping poop. The possibilities seem endless as Americans grow closer and closer to their pets. Children also provide a number of small business franchises, as specialty services like day-care and tutoring area are always needed.

Read the rest of the article here: Small Business Franchises.

Author: Charles Fuchs
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker

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If you have a business then you need to have a website. Its important that you learn enough about how the internet works, and how your business will benefit from having a website. There are lots of potential customers and profits in the internet and you need to have a small business website so that you can join the game.

This website shall serve as your virtual store and you have to do lots of things to make your website easy to find in search engines. With that they can find you and can look at the things that you can offer anytime of the day or even night whatever they prefer.

A small business website can provide an attractive and interesting electronic brochure. Good content attracts visitors and makes it easier to promote the website, but doesn’t necessarily push products. It gives readers a reason to visit the site, giving you a chance to do business with them. Your content mix needs to be unique and well-targeted at your audience’s interests.

Everything on your website needs to be accurate and written for an international audience. Your website success depends on what it has to say and how it says it, so it’s important that you articulate your goals to your website designers to make sure that they understand not just what you’re putting on your website, but what you want to achieve. Having these all done they can now already see if they like the look of your business before directly contacting you.

You’ll read all sorts of “small business” data, but be careful to understand what it covers. Sometimes the report is more interested in businesses that aren’t huge, but still purchase hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars of products and services, and have dozens or hundreds of employees. These reports probably exclude many small businesses. Other reports use a more inclusive definition of a business. When mixing information from different reports, be careful to look at the data to see how it was gathered, how it is segmented, and what it covers.

Small business websites specialize in writing and developing accessible websites for other small businesses, organizations, charities and individuals. Nobody knows your business better than you do. If you don’t tell your website designers how your website will improve your business, it will only be profitable by accident.

Many people assert that all small businesses will become ebusinesses. Doing most of their selling, communicating, and computing on the internet. They see a huge, almost untouched market bursting forth right now.

Others dont see wide acceptance of the internet by small business, or view the notoriously fragmented nature of this market and reluctance to spend, as reasons why theres no money to be made here. It is believed that these views are both wrong.

A big percentage of small businesses are obviously willing and able to spend a large amount of money just to be able to use the internet as part of their relationship with customers (and will benefit from such use), but only for the right purposes, such as basic informational web site.

Basic web sites are becoming a core part of the marketing mix for many small businesses. The business owners know they need one — even if they are not exactly sure why. And the cost of basic Internet uses, such as simple web sites, fits well within the marketing budget of most small businesses.

Author: Jay Peterson
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What Are Your Business Needs?

What Different Plans Will Feature:

Domain Name:

A domain name is the name of your business web address. Choose a name that is easy for people to remember that correlates with your companys mission. You will use this name throughout your business lifetime, in email addresses, etc. You will have to pay for your domain name to own it, so make sure yours is unique to your business.

Security:

The security offered through small business web hosting plans is what you will offer your customers as far as online purchasing, donating, and billing security. This protects against fraud. Check small business web hosting plans that offer password protection directories and site back-up that occurs automatically. Some small business web hosting plans will offer encryption in SSL as a security measure.

Design:

There are many small business web hosting plans that offer website design in the package. The design option will help you to make sure your site is attractive, easy to use, and not too busy.

PHP and SQL Tools:

These are an example of online tools used to make your websites HTML compatible. These tools will also help coordinate the databases, so your website is interactive.

Disk Space:

Disk space is how much space you have available to both store and create graphics, pages, sound bytes, media files, etc. on the server offered by the small business web hosting plans. Generally, all small business web hosting plans will offer 20GB, which will hold more than 1,000 pages of information.

Businesses are using the internet more and more every day as an alternate alternative to sell, promote, and buy their goods and services. A web hosting service that is good and reliable will make all the difference as to whether or not you make the sale.

Author: Margarette Tustle
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Information is sensitive and accounting information is even more. Handing over the accounting information poses threat for business secrets. Many Small businesses thinks in this fashion.They are often afraid that if the information is disclosed to a third party be it auditor or competitor , it can be misused. It is hard to change this attitude but there is something which small business owners can do to combat the frauds.

Small business have every reason to worry about fraud. But there is nothing to fear this virus. This is the financial worm that has to be removed from the roots to combat the frauds. There are some useful tips to combat the occupational frauds.

Oversight Process

The second important factor is review of the accounting information. Just because the owners have the authority to sign does not mean that there are no frauds in the accounting databases. Cash is not the only thing to be followed in any business, one more thing that plays a crucial role in commission of the frauds and that is books of accounts such as biils, purchase orders and payment terms. Reasonable internal controls are critical in a small business. It is accepted that the small business owners have some more priority works but to review the accounts they need to spare the time.IF THEY THEMSELVES CAN NOT do it then they should buy the softwares which can perform the requisite functions on their behalf.

Limited controls

Small businesses rarely have sufficient personnel to adapt adequate controls; “one-person accounting departments” as in are the rule, not the exception. Owners are unable to look into the accounting matters. But the business owner should actively understand and verify the financial information reported to him or her. The owner can engage a external auditors to attest to the credibility of the financial information, even if the company doesn’t have a regular audit.The controls in the organisation needs to be checked up regularly for the deficiencies and loopholes, though not the only one, internal controls are the powerful deterrents of the frauds.

Employee Education

A small business owner if takes few cautions he can stop many occurrences of frauds in his organisation. Most crucial factor in any occupational fraud is the empoyee.If there are no employees then there will be no occupational frauds but without employees no growth of the business.Educated employees adds value to business. Now it is well accepted that education about the frauds helps to combat the frauds successfully.Making the employees aware about the nature of frauds makes them aware about the methodologies and they do not remain the passive visitors to the instance of the fraud.Most of the times it is observed that the employees have blown up the whistles against the frauds where they have come to know that what is happening is called fraud. Some of the big financial scandals like Refco or Enron are the outcomes of the employee awareness about frauds. Anti-fraud training is an essential factor.

Adequate employee prescreening

Small businesses rarely spend the money to check work references, criminal records or professional recommendations of potential hires or require applicants to undergo drug screening, psychological testing and other vetting procedures. It is frequently seen that the employees in small softare companies are recruited based on the interview and the resume, however no checking is done regarding his past performances,whether employee was involved in any fraudulant case or not.

Undesirable applicants know this and thus gravitate to small businesses. The problem, according to ACFE study, is that about 7% of employees have a history of workplace theft and fraud. This small but costly group know the degree of scrutiny into their past likely will be minimal; all too often, they are right.

Too much trust

The third factor for large fraud losses in small businesses involves the human element. In a situation where employees know each other well, it is natural for them to trust one another. Indeed, the intimate familial atmosphere of a small business is one of its most appealing features. Most of the time, believing in your coworkers is well founded, but not always. The dichotomy is that trust is an essential element of business as well as an essential element of fraud. Never having faith in your employees is a bad thing; so is always trusting them. The goal is to strike a balance between the two. Or, as Mark Twain said, “Trust everybody, but make sure you cut the cards.”

These few things a small and medium sized business owner should adhere to in order to reduce the median losses of $98000 caused to it every year.

Author: Mayur Sharad Joshi
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Duty on LCD/Plasma TV

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New small business owners often have similar questions such as Will I be successful? Do I need a mentor? What help is available? What will this cost me?

The fact of the matter is, those who are successful in starting their small business have carefully planned for each phase of their business’s life. There are definite steps potential entrepreneurs should follow to increase their chance of success. Here are 3 tips to assist them in this process:

Tip #1: Decide on your potential business. Ask questions such as:

1. Is there is a marketplace?

2. Can a profit be made?

3. How much competition is currently in the specific market place?

Tip #2: Do careful research. This is highly important and can prevent potential small business owners from making costly mistakes. Some basic questions to ask are:

1. What niche or void will my business fill?

2. What services or products will be sold?

3. Is my idea practical, and will it fill a need?

4. Can a demand be created for the business?

Once the potential small business owner has determined their business is feasible, other questions to think about are:

1. What skills and experience do I bring to the business?

2. What will be my legal structure?

3. What financing will I need?

4. Where will my business be located?

Those looking to work from home should answer additional questions such as :

1. Is there enough space in my home?

2. Can the business be run well and successfully from the home?

3. Can I deal with not working around other people?

When potential small business owners are able to answer the questions above and feel comfortable with the outcome, this will naturally lead then to the next tip:

Tip #3: Develop a business plan. This is crucial and there is help available for this important step. For example, The Small Business Administration (SBA) provides free or low-cost resources to help potential small business owners plan, finance, and manage their business. The resources the SBA offers includes free, online courses which takes entrepreneurs through the steps of starting a business, assistance in writing business plans, and guidance in how to raise capital. These resources are easily available online at http://www.sba.gov, or at the local SBA office in towns and cities across the U.S. The SBA?s Answer Desk can also be reached at 1-800-U ASK SBA.

Another great source from the SBA is there SCORE program. This stands for the “The Service Corps of Retired Executives”. This is a free e-mail business course that includes informative sections on federal and state agencies and links to other business resources. Find the SCORE program by going to http://www.score.org.

Starting a small business and being successful with it are dreams of many people. However, it does require careful planning and research. If done right, one can indeed leave the “rat race” behind and embark on a life they have always dreamed about. Why not start now?

Copyright 2005 Monique Hawkins

Author: Monique Hawkins
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It seems that many of the business consultants are geared towards the needs of larger, more corporate companies. In general, consultants are the resource one might use to learn how to set up and run a business or to delegate specific tasks to, such as webmasters, accountants, and the like. Counselors on the other hand, are the resource one might use for changing behaviors and healing personal issues. The small business owner may not need help managing a large executive staff, nor have terribly difficult personal problems for which they need to receive therapy. But that doesnt mean that they dont need personal support as they go about making the changes necessary to have a successful and profitable business. One of the beautiful things about coaching is that it addresses the client as whole and complete person. Life coaching may include the development of practical business skills, but it also includes the development of the person who is creating the business. Coaching is not just concerned with what a person does, but coaching enhances who a person is being while theyre going about the tasks of daily life. Its personal empowerment in action.

According to the Small Business Bureaus report, Small Business Economic Indicators for 2002 Small firms represent about 99 percent of employers, employ about half of the private sector workforce and are responsible for about two thirds to three quarters of the net new jobs. They are the creative pulse of America. Ignited by the spark of wanting to make a difference in the world, and the desire to live a life of freedom, entrepreneurs start off passionately. However, the creativity that motivates a small business owner to go into business in the first place often gets dampened as the daily administration of the business takes over. There is so much to do: formulating the business, structuring the business plan, implementing the plan, and still trying to maintain a life. What started as a quest for freedom and the ability to control ones destiny, has now become a chore of monotonous practicalities and financial struggle, leaving the business owner with even less freedom then before they started. At what point does the business fail? Maybe the business owner just finally gives up and quits. Is it that the owner didnt have a viable idea? Did they not try hard enough? Tough times? It would be presumptuous to second guess why so many new businesses close, but the small business owner would be wise to gather as much personal support as they can to keep themselves energized and on-target. The American Dream is possible, but it doesnt come easy.

As a coach, I love to work with entrepreneurs. There is a special magic in the creativity that inspires someone to begin their own business. A business can truly become a calling, as the owner walks a path that leads to spiritual growth and provides benefit to the community. I admire people who create meaningful lives, and are willing to face the challenges that come with following their inspiration. Some challenges however, can intensify to the level that they become spiritual wake-up calls. When a business has gone flat, profits are non-existent, and the business owners personal life has diminished, I believe its time to stop and revaluate before the business goes into a fatal downward spiral. At this point I think its imperative to work with the business owner directly. If the owner isnt happy, if their energy is low, theyre not going to be in a creative solution-oriented state of mind. This is going to have a negative effect on everyone around them, both at work and at home. Albert Einstein said that solutions to problems cannot be found at the same level of energy that created them. Simply trying harder, or doing more may not only be impossible, it may be ineffective as well. For the most positive results, it is essential for the business owner to revitalize their health, relationships, and to feel inspired again.

Inspiration, in spirit, is the revitalizing flow of new energy, awareness, and ideas. Like a breath of fresh air, inspiration allows us to feel alive. When I am coaching a client, I inquire deeply into what is most inspiring to them. Through a process of questions, self-inquiry, and sometimes professional assessments, my clients begin to remember who they really are and to get their priorities back in order. We might discuss their values, life purpose, or simply what it is that they want to create. What I find is that people respond more creatively and productively in business when they are first taking care of themselves. Inspiration and motivation go hand in hand. There is a natural tendency to want to take action when one has the rush of creative renewal. That is the perfect time to set business and personal goals, especially within the context of the clients stated priorities, and who they want to be in the world, beyond any experience of what they have done (or not done) thus far.

Having a renewed sense of purpose and commitment is vital to moving forward again, but that does not mean it will go unchallenged. Here is where coaching is especially valuable. For new results to occur there has to be a well-conceived plan and follow-through on implementing the plan. There is a natural tendency to repeat old patterns. Change does not usually come from insight alone. In my opinion, thats why a lot of self-help techniques and seminars dont work. Lasting change is an internal process that results from direct experience, and really getting it for ones self. There are slow and fast ways to integrate transformative learning, but the change must be internalized for it to work. As a coach, I walk my clients through the process of implementing the changes they want to make. And although it doesnt make challenges any less likely to occur, coaching increases the self-mastery of the client and helps them align their decisions and actions to their stated goals. Over time, things get smoother. Choices become clearer. The small business owner is supported and empowered to make professionally savvy decisions, sourced from an intuitive knowing about what is right for them, instead of acting and reacting unconsciously to circumstances. Immediately, the client is living from their values on a daily basis, resulting in personal satisfaction at the end of the day. The split between personal and career development begins to mend.

Since Im a coach, I will end with a question: What would the world be like if everyone felt personally fulfilled in their work, satisfied from being recognized for their gifts and talents, and also had abundant quality time with their loved ones? Do you think the world would be different? Would your life be different? If anyone has the power to create a paradigm shift in the balance between personal life and work, its Americas small business ownersand that change needs to begin with the owners themselves. A professional coach can help you keep your sense of self while you journey on the path that leads to your success.

Author: Jaya Schillinger
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Your small business doesn’t have a website, or perhaps the website you have is effective and you want to start over–how do you start or start over?. The truth is, there are several ways to “get a website” for your small business (for the first or second time around). The good news is that by following these nine steps, you’ll be on track, moving your business further into the 21st century with the website you want and need.

Step One: Decide the Purpose of Your Website

Why exactly do you need a website? What do you want your visitors to do when they visit? What IS the purpose of your website? These are questions you must ask yourself BEFORE you hire a designer or purchase an online content management system and start throwing text onto pages.

Anyone can put anything on the web, but if you want your small business to have a website that affects your bottom line in a positive way; it needs to call visitors to action. What that “action” is, is key–do you want them to sign up to receive more information about your product? Do you want them to call you for a quote? Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Do you want them to purchase your product online? Even a site that is essentially an online brochure needs to focus on the action you want your visitors (and potential customers) to take. For example, say you own a plumbing and heating business. On your website, your main goal may be to get visitors’ mailing addresses so you can market to them via mail in the future. All of the pages on your site should encourage this in some way or the other, perhaps through offering a free report, a free service evaluation or something. Whatever method(s) you employ, you must remember that that is the purpose of the site.

Now, that doesn’t mean the site can’t have multiple sub-purposes. I also encourage you to provide good information about your small business and it’s services, but for most traditional (non web-based) small business, starting out with a primary purpose is key. As you discover how potential and current customers are using your site, your purpose and sub-purposes may broaden, but if this is your first website (or your first attempt at an effective website) start with a very focused purpose and build from there.

Step Two: Develop an Outline of Site Content

Once you’ve decided on your purpose you can outline the content and functionality your site will need. For example, if you want people to request more information via e-mail and you want to capture their mailing addresses, you’ll need a form and a way to process the data; if you just want them to call a phone number, you just need to make sure the pages clearly indicate that and lead them to do so. The functionality of your site can get quite fancy if you want, but remember the PURPOSE while developing your site outline…all the bells and whistles are useless if they don’t drive visitors to take the action you want (For more direction on what your website content should include, see the resources link at the bottom of this article).

You don’t have to write the content at this point, just get an outline of the main pages and sub pages you’ll want, the general content of the pages and the functional items (like forms, calculators, surveys, etc) that you will include to encourage people to take the desired action. This portion is essential to step three, setting a budget.

Step Three: Set a Budget for Site Development & Maintenance

The first thing to do when deciding on your small businesses website budget is to evaluate how much you can afford to spend. There are many different ways to get your website built, and how much you have to spend may dictate that process.

If you would like to hire a web developer, but have no idea of how much one would cost, get quotes from a few designers/developers (for more information on working with web designers, see the resources link at the bottom of this article). If you do get a quote and are planning on having the developer do maintenance, make sure to have them provide quotes for maintenance as well. If you want to do maintenance, make sure to tell them how you plan on doing so, or ask for advice. If you want to do it yourself, look into the cost of software and/or online content management systems (CMS).

While your looking into the potential cost, don’t forget to set return on investment (ROI) goals–how do you expect the site to affect your bottom line? Whether it be referrals or sales you will never know if you money was well spent if you do not track it’s effectiveness.

Step Four: Decide on How You will Get Your Website Designed

By this time you’ve gotten the quotes from your potential developers and have a good idea of cost. Now is the time to make your decision. Remember, you can hybridize–perhaps hire a web designer to design the look of your site, but use a CMS for everything else; or maybe you do the design and pass it on to a developer from there.

Step Five: Decide on Possible Names for Your Site and Register Your Domain

Most businesses, large or small, use their company name for their domain (or web address), however, you may find that the one you want is not available. Because of this, I strongly recommend having at least three possible ideas in your head. To find out if you domain name is available, you can go to one of the many domain registration services online (www.godaddy.com, networksolutions.com, register.com), type in the name you want and they will let you know if that name is available (For more information on select a domain name, see the resources link at the bottom of this article).

Registering is as simple as following the instructions at any of the registration services. However, if you don’t want to deal with this technical “stuff” and you’re hiring a designer, they can take care of these details for you. Do make sure that you’ve provided them several domain names in case one is not available.

Also, some registration services charge more than others. You can get a domain name for as low as $4, depending on various factors, but don’t expect that. If you’re having someone else register for you and you are concerned about the cost, make sure to ask what service they typically use and how much it will cost.

Step Six: Choose a Host for Your Small Business’ Website

Finding a host for your site is another important step. There are many places that you can find that are quite inexpensive, but make sure your host meets your needs. If you are hiring a designer/developer they may have recommendations if you are unsure. If you use an online CMS like they provide hosting as well.

Step Seven: Work Through the Design, Set-up and Testing Process

Once you’ve made all the decisions and set-up the ‘technical’ aspects of your site, it’s time to get down to the work of putting the site together. If you’ve hired a web designer/developer communication is key. Have examples of both “look” and functionality that you want to have on your site and make sure to thoroughly explain the purpose of your site. And again, provide honest feedback, this is your site and represents your small business and your brand–designers not only expect, but welcome honest feedback.

If you decide to do your site yourself, plan before you start. This means that before you even sit down at the computer, you should pick up a pen and paper and do a site map, or outline of your site as well as a sketch of at least your home page, for general placement purposes. I also encourage you to hire or barter for help if you need technical assistance. Again, your site represents YOU and your small businessif it doesn’t look good or do what it is supposed towell enough said.

When you’re setting your site up, I also encourage you to make sure to set up a way to track your visitors. One great service to help you do so http://www.statcounter.com (and it’s free!).

Once your site is “done” be sure to TEST. I recommend testing it in multiple browsers and on both mac and pc platforms (if possible). You’d think with technology as advanced as it is that html would display consistently from browser to browser and from platform to platform, but believe methis is not the case. And, sometimes functionality that works wonderfully in Internet Explorer, doesn’t in Safari on a Mac. In addition to viewing your pages, test all functionality and links. Just because it worked a week ago when you finished the page, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t test it–double check everything.

Step Eight: Go Live with You Small Business Website

When you finished your testing, and everything is in place, it’s time to GO LIVE! Start your marketing and drive current and potential clients to your site. If you have a mailing list, now is the time to use it; send out a postcard to all your customers with your URL and share not only the fact that you have a site but why (your purpose). If you have e-mail addresses of people who have agreed to be contacted via e-mail, send them an e-mail announcing the site (make sure to include a way for them to opt-out of the listit’s the lawmost e-mail list services do this for your).

There are lots of other ways to drive traffic to your sitebut that’s another whole topic in itself.

Step Nine: Track Visitors, Keep Content Fresh

I mentioned tracking ROI in step three, now that your site is up, it’s time to put it to practice. Make sure the tracking you’re doing fits the purpose of your site. If your purpose is to get people to request an information packet via the phone or e-mail, you’d better be tracking how each request was initiated (this will be easy through an e-mail form, but you’d better ask everyone who calls!). Now if your purpose is to get people to purchase your product online, you need to do more extensive tracking

The other thing you must do if you want to keep people coming back to your site (which you may not) is to make sure to keep the content fresh. Post various community activities your small business is involved with, change your specials on a monthly basis, make your home page a blogwhatever is appropriate for what you do.

That’s it! You’ve just covered the basics on how any small business can get a website (or a more effective one). It takes a bit of work and planning, but in the end, if you do it right, it’s definitely worth it.

So, get started. Get out a sheet of paper and start brainstorming–how can the web help YOUR small business?

Author: Kelly Biedny
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Here’s a great product that uniquely solves a great need that makes people’s lives easier. It should be a breeze to sell right? Well, when Mary asked him how many he had sold all day, his answer was one. One lousy extractor. No doubt the cost of the booth rental was far more than his revenue.

Intrigued, Mary and her partner David jumped behind the counter – mostly for fun. In 1/2 hour they sold 4 extractors. That’s four times his previous entire day’s sales. It would have been more if the guy had been equipped to take credit cards or process mail orders.

Why isn’t this guy a millionaire yet? His idea is certainly worth it. You might argue under-capitalization, or any other MBA-BS, but the reality is he’s only missing one thing – marketing. He’s got a great idea but he’s not a marketing or sales professional. Nor should he be expected to be.

He should get help from an expert marketer. Experience tells us that he probably won’t. Like most small businesses he will go it alone, struggle for a while, and never truly grow to meet his potential. If this guy’s product is as good as it’s reported to be, he should be in every hardware store in the country.

Mary has made some of the companies she’s worked with millions and millions of dollars. I have given one client a single suggestion that increased his profits 13X in less than a month. Either one of us could walk into almost any business and literally multiply its profits. It’s frustrating for both of us when the people who deperately need our help won’t get it. Small businesses are tough.

I don’t want you to think that I am saying there’s anything wrong with this guy, he’s got natural resistance. Marketing Comet Principle: Do not blame the customer for not buying. I’ve worked with small businesses for over 10 years and I know that small business owners have more sales resistance than anyone I’ve ever encountered. Let’s talk about the reasons why.

Here are some of the biggest small business sales objections:

1. No Money – Small business owners do not have unlimited budgets. They are frequently struggling and trying to preserve their limited capital.

2. No Value – Small business owners tend to be do-it yourselfers. They don’t see the big advantage of hiring an expert, or switching phone service, or hiring a bookkeeper.

3. No Confidence – Small business owners are frequently over cautious. They simply don’t believe that you’re going to deliver the goods.

4. No Concept – Sometimes what you’re offering is so far outside the the experience of the small business owner that they don’t even grasp it. I feel that way with a lot of software packages that don’t clearly describe what they do. Restaurant owners know they need food, wine, linens, a valet. They would benefit from a web marketing expert, but they are probably going to get their cousin’s kid to do their web site for nothing.

5. Sales Overwhelm – Start a small business and get a listed phone number. Within three weeks you will be inundated with credit card offers, charities seeking donations, people selling toner, and people offering to switch your long distance carrier. As a small business owner myself I could spend 24 hours a day just entertaining junk mail, spam, and telemarketers. It’s too much and I frequently just reject all offers up front.

6. Ego – This is the big one. Most people who start small businesses have a powerful sense of individuality and independence. To even suggest that they have been doing something wrong is an affront to their ego.

While everybody expresses these aspects of sales resistance to some degree, in my experience, small business owners have it more.

There’s also Natural Sales Resistance. This is simply people’s tendency to reject being sold anything – even if they need it. If you had the cure for cancer, some portion of the population would refuse to buy it. Why? Because people don’t like to feel as though their freedom of choice is being taken away. Again, it’s an affront to their ego.

This is mostly a level of unconscious discomfort, rather than a conscious thought. I worked at a retail shoe store while in high school. We were required to greet customers as they came in. “Hello, how are you doing today” I’d ask. About 80% of the time people would zoom past me and grumble, “I’m just looking.”

People were so afraid I was going to sell them something that they had to shut me out – even though I made no sales approach. I worked with my friend Greg and we made up a little game. We got so good at identifying who would be a “just looking” person that we would say weird stuff to them when they came in and laugh they would zoom by and didn’t notice. “Your shoes are untied.” is probably one of the more innocent things we’d throw out.

By the way – I’m almost one of those people. I hate being interrupted by sales people when I’m in a store looking around. I’ll seek out help if I need it – just make sure it’s available. However, I’m never rude to retail people – I’ve been there and it’s a tough job.

Ultimately sales is part of the marketing process. We have to understand the components of resistance and inoculate against it. We need to be better about really personally connecting with our customers and prospects. We need to be genuine, keep our promises, and help our customers do our sales for us.

Copyright 2005 Marketing Comet

Author: J D Moore
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

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So is there a difference in terms of what credit card Personal or business, you use for what transactions?

The answer very clearly is Yes.

Some people use their personal credit card for paying the bills of the small business they run. However, this is not what you should be doing. Personal credit cards are meant for just personal expenses and the business credit cards just for business expenses. So unless you want to utterly confuse yourself and spend hours together on sorting out business and personal expenses, you should not create this confusion in the first place. This confusion is very easy to avoid and just requires some discipline on your part. Just use your small business credit card for whatever spends you do for your business and the personal credit card for the personal expenses.

If you feel that getting the business expenses segregated is not much of a problem and you would rather use just your personal credit card, you need to re-consider using a small business credit card. This springs from the fact that the small business credit cards generally carry a lower APR as compared to the personal ones. So it makes more sense to make your business spends on your small business credit cards. Moreover, the small business credit cards also carry a reduced or no annual fee on them.

Also, the customer query resolution and support services are much better with the small business credit cards than with the personal credit cards. The credit card companies always give preferential treatment to the small business credit card customers. This is owing to the simple fact that small business owners are much bigger consumers of such services than the personal credit cards. Obviously, the needs of an enterprise are expected to be more than those of an individual. Moreover, if the business grows, it might create more customers for the credit card company (e.g. in the form of corporate credit cards).

There are times when one requires quick money for a short period of time. This can be due to some immediate purchase requirements which you are ultimately going to invoice your client to or some other unplanned/emergency expenses. In most of the cases you have a visibility of a month or so in which you are expecting your invoices to clear. Having the small business credit card can be more beneficial in such cases (as compared to a personal credit card).

Moreover, as with personal credit cards, the small business credit cards can also help in building your business credit rating. So when it comes to getting a loan for business expansion, you at least have something to show for the credit rating.

Author: Rudy Hadisentosa
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information

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Small Business Advertising Strengths:

-The biggest advantage with small business advertising is your complete control over the message. You get to focus on whatever you want, write the text, and choose the visuals. You ensure that your marketing message is delivered.

-You control placement. You choose the exact timing and media in which your advertising is placed. This is a huge advantage because naturally you are going to choose to place your ads where your target market is most likely to see them.

-You can repeat your messages over and over again. Effective small business marketing incorporates a high degree of repetition and consistency. Advertising can and should be run on regular schedules.

-With advertising, you (and your budget) control your marketing saturation. You can run the same ad across different publications serving the same market, run matching Internet advertising, put an ad on the radio, do cable TV, do outdoor advertising, etc. Ideally you need to be reaching your target market at least 4 different ways for them to respond.

Advertising Weaknesses

-Advertising generally costs money. Most small businesses don’t have a huge budget for marketing. Sometimes being creative can help defray costs. Sometimes you can trade for advertising space. You may be able to do co-op advertising.

-Small business advertising needs to be very targeted to be effective. Sometimes the only choices you have in your community are mass-market like newspapers. You still need to advertise, but some of your marketing dollars will be spent to advertise to people who don’t want or need what you’re selling.

-Most small business advertising stinks. I hate to say it, but it’s true. Many do-it-yourself advertisers don’t understand that there are advertising fundamentals that work. A good ad will always out-pull a bad one. Here’s my plug: If you can’t invest the time and money to learn how advertising REALLY works, get yourself a small business marketing coach to help you build more effective campaigns. It will be money well invested.

PR Strengths:

-It’s FREE! OK, you might incur a very small charge if you hire someone to write and distribute a press release for you, but this is minimal. I think the reason why most small businesses don’t do PR is that they don’t know how it’s done. Again, get some coaching, or pay someone to do it for you.

-Press is trusted more than advertising. If you read a review that says that a new restaurant is the best thing in town, there’s some credibility there. We tend to assume that a person who is writing an article is an expert, and that they are an uninterested third party.

-You can distribute PR globally. As long as what you are doing is actually interesting globally, you can distribute your press releases globally. This isn’t necessarily as targeted as your advertising needs to be, but you’re not paying for editorial. By the way, never pay for editorial, and don’t advertise with media that promises to give you editorial as long as you advertise. This is unethical and transparent – and the credibility of the media will always be in question.

PR Weaknesses:

-You have no control over what the press is actually going to write or say about you. They may spell your name wrong, they may get some details wrong, they may choose to focus on something you don’t want to highlight. In general this isn’t a big issue, as long as they are saying good things about you.

-PR tends to be single exposure. Unless circumstances are really unusual, the press is not going to run the same story over and over again. I have been involved with an exception to that. I was doing something that corresponded with a current event and the press came to me again and again over 4 weeks for TV interviews. This was pure timing. It’s difficult to engineer press like that without seeming mercenary.

-There is no guarantee that you’re even going to get coverage. I was called to do a TV interview once and rushed into the city to meet the reporter and photographer. On my way in ,the reporter called me on my cell phone to tell me they were pulling the story because there was breaking news that they had to go cover. Depending on what’s going on you may get tons of press or none at all.

You see that small business advertising and PR are different things. You need them both, and you need to work at both of them consistently. They are two important tools in your small business marketing toolbox.

Copyright 2005 J D Moore

Author: J D Moore
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News

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