#1: Buy local to support yourself

Studies show that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.

#2: Keep our community unique

Where we shop, where we eat and have fun – all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit.

“When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust

#3: Be friendly to our environment

Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.

#4: Local businesses create more jobs

Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents.

#5: Get better service

Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers. 

#6: Put your taxes to good use

Local businesses require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community. In addition, nationally owned businesses often demanding tax incentives.

#7: Invest in the community

Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.

#8: Support community groups

Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.

#9: Competition leads to more choices

A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

#10: Encourage future investment

A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

Why Locally Owned?

Locally owned businesses help the local economy. Chain stores don’t. A study done in Chicago found:

• For every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm, $68 remained in the Chicago economy vs. $43 for spending at a chain store.
• For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local economic impact was $179 vs. $105 for a chain store.

Locally-owned business owners are our friends and neighbors. They have the same stake in the health and success of the community as we do. They participate in the community, giving far more generously than chain stores to youth groups, non-profits and schools. When times are tough, they don’t fire everyone, close down, and flee to their other stores around the country. They stay, because it’s their home.

You Can Help

The following are foods, services and other items that you could buy at a chain business. When you need any of these, we recommend you first consider buying them at a locally-owned business. You’ll get as good or better quality, quite likely better service, in most cases competitive prices, and you’ll be supporting people who live in, and care about, our community.

We recognize also that if you live in Calistoga, for example, and you can’t find what you need at a local shop, it makes more sense to go over the hill to Santa Rosa than to come all the way down to Napa—unless you’re coming down here for other purposes as well. Use your own judgement but keep in mind the value of shopping in your local community.

A number of these businesses and services also help you save money by having items repaired or by purchasing previously owned items. Some also give you the opportunity to recycle items that you no longer need but that someone else would be delighted to have.

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1. Surf’s up, and so are the local talents

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
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger

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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
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

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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
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty tariff

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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
Provided by: Canada duty rate

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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
Provided by: Mobile device news

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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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“I don’t have enough money to budget.”

For many small business owners, the word “budget” is something for the bigger company – maybe they’ll have one when their business “grows up.”

What is a Budget?

The simple explanation is a budget is a plan for how you will manage all financial resources and all expenses for your business. The basic equation that you want to demonstrate in a budget is as follows:

(estimated )Sales minus (estimated) Expenses = Profit (or loss)

How to create a Budget

If this is your first time to work on a budget for your small business, you might work from the perspective of having to list cost of goods or services plus all of your operating expenses to start the process.

How much does it take to operate your phone line? What is the cost of other utilities? How about the cost of a company vehicle, or what is the cost of transportation if you’re using your personal vehicle to also serve as a company vehicle. Do you need any supplies or inventory to operate your business? How about any employee payroll, payroll taxes or independent product or service providers? Remember to include everything you spend money on to operate your business even if you allocate some of the expenses to “petty cash” expenses, such as parking or bridge tolls while traveling to see clients.

I recommend that you create annual budget, as opposed to a monthly budget, so you can identify any expenses that you may have that come up only once or twice a year such as insurance and include them in your list of expenses. This allows you to amortize or spread the cost of this out over several months so that you can plan ahead for the expense.

As you work on your list of expenses keep in mind that these are the expenses that are necessary to operate your business. These should not be your “wish list” unless you want to budget in some expansion or growth. You may want to create a budget with just the necessities and another version of your budget with expansion expenses listed so that you can see the cost of both separately.

With a dollar figure to work with of your total expenses you are able to set the standard for or evaluate your sales figures. If you are new to your business you may need to use the dollar amount of your expenses to help you determine what your sales need to be in order to cover all costs and show a profit. If you have been in business for a while you can evaluate whether or not you are producing a profit by looking at historical sales figures.

As you conduct business during your budget year you should compare your actual income and spending with what you estimated. This will allow you to manage your spending so that you don’t over spend and cut into or eliminate your profits. You will also be able to see if sales have met expectations in order to cover expenses and still remain profitable.

Who should Budget?

Every small business owner should budget, no matter the size of business. I have heard some small business owners say their business is too small to budget, but that is not true. If you don’t have a written plan for what your financial obligations are and how your revenue will cover those obligations and leave some money unspent, then your business will never grow. In fact, you may out-spend your revenue and put yourself out of business.

Why Budget?

Budgeting for your small business gives you control over your finances. By looking ahead to what you know or can reasonably estimate what your expenses will be, you can then make financial decisions that will keep you from over-spending, or give you the freedom to invest in the growth of your business.

When Budget?

Every small business owner should have a budget to start their business and then review it annually. I recommend that small business owners review their budget several months before the end of their fiscal year. When I say review the budget I’m talking about comparing projected budget with actual. In the comparison you can see if your estimates were realistic. You and your CPA can also plan for last minute tax strategies, or plan to implement strategies in the up coming year’s budget.

The Goal in Budgeting

Remember, the goal of having a budget is to stay in control of your finances in advance. Setting the standard for your spending and revenue and having a tool to compare with actual will give you the control that you need to stay profitable. At the very least it will give you an indication of whether or not your business is actually profitable and not just busy.

Copyright 2005 Melody Campbell

Author: Melody Campbell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times

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As the nearest Fiducial franchisee in the path of Katrina, Richard Drexel of La Place, LA, says hes doing as well as can be expected in the aftermath of the recent destruction considering hes lost about 50% to 75% of his small business clients.

La Place is located 25 miles west of New Orleans in St. John Parish where Drexel has operated his office for the last 10 years. Since communications have been severely disrupted, he doesnt know when hell be able to contact his clients.

Communications are so bad that I cannot call out of my own area, said Drexel. I cant even call someone on the cell phone next door and I have not heard from any of my clients.

A friend working for FedEx told him that there are no businesses to deliver to and you cannot get supplies in due to the flooding.

Taking stock of his business, Drexel says his office suffered only minor damage in its building and all his records are intact. His home also had minimal damage and his family is all healthy.

Ive ridden out some hurricanes that have brushed us but this one was different, he said. The official wind gust at my house was 84 miles per hour but my parents in Slidell were right in the eye with winds at 145 miles per hour. That area was pretty much totaled. Where they live there was nothing left to see. If we got hit by the eye we wouldnt be talking.

Reinventing the business

Drexel is concerned about his clients especially the ones who had direct business connections to New Orleans. After the storm he got together with those in his community and found out that one of his neighbors does porcelain tile repair on such antiques as claw foot bathtubs.

Hes been in business since 1958 and 90% of his clients are in New Orleans, Drexel said. Ive told him that he needs to reinvent himself. Porcelain repair is a niche business so I gave him some ideas of what to do.

During the brainstorming session, the neighbor admitted he will probably scale back to do porcelain chip repair instead of taking on larger projects. The neighbor wants to sign up as a client but revealed that right now he doesnt have any money to pay Drexel.

Offering additional advice, Drexel suggested the porcelain repairman call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to file a claim. For other small business owners that were decimated by Katrina, he says if they had a place of business with a store front that was damaged that they can take the loss on their taxes but if they operate out of their house as a 100% service industry youre out of luck. (See accompanying sidebar for more tax information).

Its unknown just how many small businesses will be able to fight back from these tremendous losses. Even if their operations remain intact, other companies that they do business with are reeling and thats a major dilemma.

One of Drexels clients, for example, has a janitorial supply company that now will have nobody to deliver to because all his clients are in New Orleans. Another client is in the plastics business but his store is under eight feet of water and all the inventory is probably ruined.

Location is everything

In Houma, LA, 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Fiducial franchisee Terri Dockery says she and her clients had a little shingle damage but the businesses managed to weather the storm. She believes many clients should safeguard their business records by having vital information scanned onto compact discs that can easily be taken with them if they have to evacuate quickly due to an approaching storm. This will prove invaluable when filing insurance claims after a natural disaster.

You should save all of your personal asset information on CDs now, said Dockery who has operated her business for 20 years. That way all the important papers are there so when a catastrophe strikes just grab those CDs.

Eddie McFearin and Cheryl Millin both own Fiducial franchises in Baton Rouge, Louisianas state capital. Location is everything in business and when it comes to hurricanes, these franchisees benefited from their geographic proximity when the winds and rains swept through the state.

Being on the western side of the hurricane helped a lot because thats the calmer side, said McFearin. Aside from losing power at his house and having some downed phone lines near his office which hes run since 1997, his business experienced no real damage. Dealing with the influx of refugees from New Orleans, however, has been another matter for local residents. Gasoline and certain food items are in short supply.

My wife went to the grocery store and all the meat was spoiled, he said. There was a lot of panic buying.

For those businesses that will have to rebuild, McFearin made the distinction that depending on the type of business, some will have an easier time than others.

If theyre a physical plant that was heavily damaged thats one thing but if they are a lawyer all they have to do is rent another building, he said.

When it comes time to rebuild businesses, McFearin says local banks and financial institutions are willing to help. If the business was strong before the hurricane arrived and they were properly insured, they should be in good shape. But if they are under insured or not insured, they will have a taller hill to climb.

Rising from the wreckage

Millin is no stranger to disasters as evidenced by the fire that burned down her office last year. In fact, coping with the hurricane was easier than sifting through the ashes of her charred office last May. Her business, located in an office complex, was moved four weeks later to a permanent location.

She bought the operation in 1999 after working in the office for 25 years. The biggest crisis for her service station and convenience store clients in the wake of Katrina has been getting gas for customers.

One of my clients, a Shell convenience store owner, just called me this morning and has been told by the jobber that theyve been put on allocation, said Millin. This limits the amount of gas that the dealer receives.

For those small business owners that have lost everything, she advised that they should contact their state sales tax department as well as the Internal Revenue Service to get copies of important business records. Millin remembers how difficult it was to resurrect her business after the blaze.

For the first week after the fire I was doing live payroll at my kitchen table at home, she said.

When she first sifted through the ashes of her fire-damaged office, Millin recalled looking for the checkbooks and the bank ledger. Fortunately, the records were salvageable and key data was scanned into the computer system but not every entrepreneur has that capability.

He average business owner doesnt have that kind of stuff, she said. Hopefully their tax preparer has it.

Perhaps the biggest problem for small business owners who evacuated the region, Millin says, was they thought they were going to leave for a few days and come back home. But in their rush to leave they left critical business documents behind such as insurance policies and tax returns.

Theyre in denial because they did not pack those papers, she said.

Up in Jackson, MS, Fiducial franchisee James Vlach indicated that small businesses in this locale, 200 miles north of New Orleans, fared pretty well overall after losing power for several days.

We had about 12 hours of 50 to 80 miles per hour winds, tons of trees down and there still are people without power, said Vlach.

A number of convenience store owners lost sales because they did not have enough gas available for customers. That affects inside sales too, he said.

Author: Stephen Parezo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Beading Necklace

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Common knowledge has been that the less sophisticated small business operates on a pricing sensitivity and is more apt to take advantage of promotions, whereas the more sophisticated make security decisions based on perceived business necessities. Overall, small businesses tend towards waiting to implement internet security measures until after suffering an email breach or informational leak. By this time privacy and accompanying monetary loss may have already done irreparable harm to a company’s intellectual property and reputation. Large enterprise solutions make it necessary to adopt complex IT infrastructures and processes that are usually dependent on an IT staff a solution that does not fit well into the budgets of most small businesses.

According to published reports in PCWorld.com, there are nearly 70 million small businesses worldwide and over 20 million in the U.S. alone. Small business is a major part of the global economy – that means it’s time to replace a general passivity towards the possible threats from email and document theft with a look towards initiating security measures as a business standard. The increasing level of security risk due to email and intellectual property theft make it imperative for small businesses to raise their level of security knowledge and investment.

Recent studies show that although information security is a high concern for small business owners, lack of actual knowledge and awareness of the economic impact of security incidents is equally high. Imparting an awareness to the small business community of the real threats in regards to security vulnerability should be top priority. Through education in this arena, small businesses can better enable them to not only determine their own level of risk but also choose the necessary email and document security solutions.

The responsibility of raising awareness of security provisions needs to come not only from governing agency reports, but also from security solution vendors. Providers of business tool solutions are better equipped than any other entity to position themselves as leaders in educating businesses on not only the dangers but the appropriate basic security measures to complement a small company infrastructure. Especially here, being informed on which internet security products best suit a company need is important as the needs of small businesses are vastly different than that of enterprise businesses.

Look to numerous market survey and analysis reports that specialize in studies on information security and small business. A little research will show they repeatedly state the same warning to small businesses – they need to change their attitude towards security and begin adopting a security plan.

Taking the time to gather information on creating good internet security practices will lead to a decrease in the future cost of lost productivity, and by educating your workforce you create an even wider prevention of productivity loss.

Author: Nan Schwarz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty

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So where does one go to showcase their skills or to find a small business opportunity? Small business opportunity magazines is one place worth checking out. It is also a great place to make an investment to own a business of your own.

Magazines are a multi million dollar industry every year. Advertisers and consumers both will benefit from a well laid out magazine. Opportunity magazines have a myriad of information in them regarding new positions, new trends, and new industries for the small business owner. Having a magazine available to the small business and home based business owners would be a gold mine.

This magazine concept would be helpful to anyone looking to start a small business as well. Articles regarding how to start businesses, tax information, and investment estimates are all things that a home based professional will need to know. This magazine could be offered to anyone interested or already involved in a home based business.

Additionally, the companies and organizations looking to hire home based employees would then be your advertisers. MLM and other marketing strategies are continually looking for the next advertising boom and your small business magazine could be it. Advertisers are interested in reaching an eager market, and business opportunities magazines would provide them with that.

Start up cost for you, as a self publisher of a small business magazine will vary greatly. You will need to find a printing house to print your magazine, or purchase the equipment to do it yourself. With all the computer software available you could do your own publishing quite easily. Deciding on the extent and scale to which you want to distribute is an important factor in cost as well.

To avoid the costly nature of publication, some small business magazines are being published on line as ezines (electronic magazines). Ezines offer the same benefits as regular publication, except that you avoid printing costs. Quality and timely delivery are still essential.

Even though ezines are a relatively newer market, they are widely popular. Ezines are perfect for email, which is how many telecommuters and home based businesses are communicating these days. Web space to house your ezine is going to be greatly cheaper than print, and of course there are millions of Internet users worldwide. Shipping costs will be zero and you can email links to your subscribers and advertisers virtually for free.

Clients interested in web based advertising will appreciate this twist on your publication. You will have access to a worldwide audience. Now all you have to do is get the news out that you have this publication to share.

Advertising for your magazine is going to be imperative. Looking through and communicating with web site owners of freelance and small business web sites is a good place to start. Trading advertising is also an idea. Offering an ad in your publication for promotion on a web site could be a good offer.

Do some research on ezines and small business magazines for price comparisons. Make sure that you are offering a fair value for your product. Advertisers on the Internet are looking for places to advertise. People looking for home based opportunities are looking for resources. There is demand on both sides of the spectrum, and you should be able to do well in this industry.

Author: Randy Wilson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

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Great Plains Software acquisition. When Microsoft took leading position on the operating system market and released stable and reliable Windows 2000 Server, the next logical step would be getting into ERP market. Microsoft decided to try midsize market, and the reason is probably this it is wise to create small accounting as the extension to Microsoft Office, not to purchase existing small application. However if you plan to try midmarket you better purchase something established with broad client base. Developing midsize package from scratch might deplete all the resources. As the stake on Great Plains was high Microsoft formed business systems subdivision Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions, later on Great Plains name was taken off and now we see Microsoft Business Solutions.

Navision Software Acquisition. There are multiple opinions among the MBS partners. Considering the fact that Navision Attain had strong clientele in Europe, and the fact that currently MBS promotes Navision on the majority of emerging markets: East Europe, Russia, Brazil the point of view that Microsoft got very large pool of clients in Europe and one of the goals of Navision acquisition was geographic expansion.

Axapta. Navision Software was indeed very robust and it was one of the Danish software dragons (in the good sense of this word), the other nice company was MacHanza. We would like here to credit Danish ERP vendors. Axapta was new product on the moment of acquisition and it is rich-functionality ERP and so a rival to SAP, Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft

Small Business Manager/Small Business Financials. This was natural way of downsizing the functionality of Great Plains Dynamics/Microsoft Great Plains to gain small business market. Small Business Financials is Great Plains Dexterity written accounting package. You see similar marketing moves from SAP and Oracle sides.

Small Business Accounting 2006. It took Microsoft about four years to feel itself comfortable on the ERP market before it decided to create its own small business package, targeted to take over market share from QuickBooks, MYOB, PeachTree. Small Business Accounting 2006 is really nice application, which is excellently integrated with Microsoft Office/Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft is right majority of Windows users spend their computer time in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Excel. And it create accounting application, allowing you to do 50% of work from Microsoft Outlook directly

Microsoft POS. As you know that there are several thousand small retail businesses in the USA, using just one cash register and these folks have to use a lot of small Retail Management applications, which are competing on this market for a long time. And it is a good momentum to take over this unreliable and turbulent market offering cheap and solid rock solution, working with POS devises. Please, take into account that Microsoft has another high-end Retail Management system Microsoft RMS, which can automate midsize and huge retail stores and chains.

Market is taken over? Well the last flint of Microsoft Small Business Accounting and Microsoft POS give customer an option to stay in Microsoft framework from the company inception till going public as a large corporation. This fact would be very difficult to ignore for such folks out there on the market as BestSoftware, SAP, Oracle, Sun.

Author: Andrew Karasev
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Import duty tariff

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While building my company in the beginning we learned the value of grass roots marketing, being involved in the community and giving a little back as we grow. In light of those humble beginnings and our tradition we have decided to come to the aid of millions and millions of small businessmen and women across this country.

Small Business in America employs 2/3rds of the American Workforce. It consists of over 50% of every consumer dollar spent. We are watching the US economy emerge from an unfortunate recession and hardship. We realize that for the US Economy to fully emerge into the economic powerhouse it is, that it must do so on the backs and strengths of all small businesses across our great nation. What many may not realize about my company the Car Wash Guys, is that my company was built at a time when it’s greatest expansion was in the middle of two previous recessions. One was inflationary and one deflationary. We were able to expand before during these periods by believing and working to achieve prosperity within our local markets and communities. There are many huge American Success stories, which are burned into the annals of our heritage of such feats.

We set up franchises all over this great nation and each market has it’s own character and flair. Each is unique and special, it is exactly for this reason we have sent this article of our past experience and knowledge of how to do grass roots marketing to every Chamber of Commerce in the Country we could find. We sent this article to the SBA, SBDC, Economic Development Associations in 50 states and two territories.

http://worldthinktank.net/pdfs/communitymarketing.pdf

We sent it to regional banks, who give small business loans and to franchisors, 2000 of them which account for nearly 25% of all thriving small businesses. We sent it to ezines and small business magazines, for placement in print and on web sites containing tips for small businesses across America. We have sent this article to the office of The President of The United States of America, along with many Senators, Congressmen of the Federal Government. We sent it to states senates for distribution and to State Assemblymen. We have sent it to Hispanic Chambers of Commerce in 15 states, Korean, Chinese, Black and Women Chambers of Commerce in many states, where we could find them.

Why?

Because as we study the economy and see the problems associated with layoffs from large corporations, decreased money supply, sluggish stock markets and International Terrorism causing tension and changes in consumer spending, we have realized that the only way to win this thing is to kick small business into high gear, get cleared for takeoff and hit those afterburners. There is no better way than to solve the local problems and teach small business how to fight. It is the same power that any army has to win or Olympic athlete would use. Lance Armstrong showed us in the Tour de France. We saw it the movie Rocky, we watch as our US Military fight international terrorism. Von Clauswitz, and military historians do agree on this subject. The Will To Fight, for a just cause and the tools to do it. We will beat this thing together.

Small business is the key, as it is the American Dream, and the ten percent of our population that own small businesses that employ in some states 80% of their populations hold the power. Unity in motion the mission statement and never surrender the battle cry. It is time to get tough America and the strong will survive and there is no stronger group on this planet than the combined will of America’s entrepreneur and small businessperson. Calvin Coolidge, General Patton, Winston Churchill, Vince Lombardi, Alan Greenspan, President Bush and JFK would agree, it is time. Time to win.

This article is advice on how you can win in your small business, these techniques have been time tested by The Car Wash Guys all over this great nation in hundreds of diverse and unique markets and it is time that we give these experiences and truths to others so we can all succeed together. There is no easy way, but if you hold your ground and you fight on your feet you will never die on your knees. This advice did not come without sacrifice, it did not come without hardship, but it is the way to prosperity for those willing to go the distance, for the right reasons, for however long it takes. So help me God! So please think on this and incorporate these ideas into your small business today.

Author: Lance Winslow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee

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These two lists incidentally, are in no particular order. Everyone is different. The reasons Bill Gates may have decided to start Microsoft may be vastly different from the reasons John Dough decided to buy his own pizza business. You won’t find right or wrong reasons to start or buy a business: you’ll only find right or wrong criteria that go into forming those reasons.

The reasons to own

We can think of many reasons to give your boss the heave-ho. In this article, though, we stick with the best reasons why people choose to own a business:

The satisfaction of creation: Have you ever experienced the pride of building a chair, preparing a gourmet meal, or repairing a vacuum cleaner? Or how about providing a needed counselling service that helps people solve their vexing financial problems? The small-business owner is treated to the thrill of creation on a daily basis, not to mention the satisfaction of solving a customer’s problem.

Establishment of their own culture: No more standing around the water cooler complaining about “the way things are around here.” After you’ve started your own business, the way things are around here is a direct function of the way you intend them to be.

Financial upside: Consider Charles Schwab, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs. It’s no surprise that these one-time small-business owners are among the nation’s wealthiest individuals. (A recent SBA study concluded definitively that although small-business ownership is risky, small-business owners had a significantly higher probability of being classified as high income and high wealth.)

Self sufficiency: For many people, working for someone else has proven to be a less-than-gratifying experience. As a result of such unfulfilled experience, some people have discovered that if they want to provide for themselves and their families, they’d better create the opportunity themselves. It’s either that or be willing to occasionally spend a long wait in the unemployment time.

Flexibility: Perhaps you prefer to work in the evenings because that’s when your spouse works or you want to spend more time with the kids during the day. Or you may prefer taking frequent 3-day-weekend jaunts rather than a few full-week vacations every year. As a small-business owner, despite the long hours you work, you should have more control over keeping a schedule that works best for you. After all, you’re the boss, and you can usually tailor your schedule to meet your personal needs, as well as those of your customers.

Special perks: Small-business owners have several advantages over many employees. For example, small-business owners can sock away more than $45,000 per year free of federal & state income taxes into their retirement accounts. And yes, similar to those corporate execs who wine and dine their clients and then write off the expenses, small-business owners also have the option of writing off such costs as long as they adhere to IRS rules.

The reasons not to own

In light of the corresponding potential benefits, why would any reasonable soul elect to continue receiving a paycheck? Why wouldn’t everyone want to own a business? Let us count the nays:

Responsibility: As a small-business owner, not only does your family depend on your business success, so do your partners, your employees and their families, your customers, and sometimes your vendors. As much as we love our small businesses, every now and then even the most enthusiastic of us wax nostalgic for the good old days when we would punch our time card and leisurely walk out the door – really, truly, done for the day. If you’re the type of person who sometimes takes on more responsibility than you can handle and works too many hours, beware than another drawback of running your own business is that you may be prone to becoming a workaholic.

Competition: Although some people thrive on competition, that same competition comes back to haunt you by threatening your security. You soon find out that a host of hungry competitors is pursuing your customers and threatening your livelihood, whether by cutting prices or offering a more complete package of unique services. Sure, competition is what makes capitalism go ’round, but you should remember that in order to have a competition, someone’s going to win and someone’s going to lose.

Change: Products and services come, and products and services go. Nothing is sacred in the business of doing business, and the pace of change today is significantly faster than it was a generation ago – and it shows no signs of slowing down. If you don’t enjoy change and the commotion it causes, then perhaps the stability that a larger, more bureaucratic organization provides is best for you.

Chance: Interest rates, the economy, theft, fire, natural disasters, sickness, pestilence – the list goes on. Any of these random events can send your business reeling.

Red tape: Taxes, health-care reform, bureaucracy, tariffs, duties, treaties, OSHA, FDA, NAFTA, glurg, glurg, glurg.

Business failure: And finally, as if this list of a small-business’s enemies isn’t long enough, the owner faces the specter of the ultimate downside: business failure in the form of bankruptcy. This is the stage where the owner stands back and watches the creditors swoop in like vultures to devour his remaining business assets.

Now contrast the small-business owner’s failure to the Fortune 500 employee who fails, collecting a tidy severance check as he packs up his calculator and waves good-bye on his way to register for unemployment compensation. No life’s savings lost for this person, no second mortgages hanging over his or her home, no asterisks on the credit report. In our opinion, no other failure in the business world is as painful as that facing the small-business owner. More than any other reason, this extreme cost of failure is the primary reason that owning a small business isn’t for everyone.

Author: David Pin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: PCB Prototype & Manufacturing

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Agency Theory
Agency theory deals with the people who own a business enterprise and all others who have interests in it, for example managers, banks, creditors, family members, and employees. The agency theory postulates that the day to day running of a business enterprise is carried out by managers as agents who have been engaged by the owners of the business as principals who are also known as shareholders. The theory is on the notion of the principle of ‘two-sided transactions’ which holds that any financial transactions involve two parties, both acting in their own best interests, but with different expectations.

Problems usually identified with agency theory may include:

i. Information asymmetry- a situation in which agents have information on the financial circumstances and prospects of the enterprise that is not known to principals (Emery et al.1991). For example ‘The Business Roundtable’ emphasised that in planning communications with shareholders and investors, companies should consider never misleading or misinforming stockholders about the corporation’s operations or financial condition. In spite of this principle, there was lack of transparency from Enron’s management leading to its collapse;

ii. Moral hazard-a situation in which agents deliberately take advantage of information asymmetry to redistribute wealth to themselves in an unseen manner which is ultimately to the detriment of principals. A case in point is the failure of the Board of directors of Enron’s compensation committee to ask any question about the award of salaries, perks, annuities, life insurance and rewards to the executive members at a critical point in the life of Enron; with one executive on record to have received a share of ownership of a corporate jet as a reward and also a loan of $77m to the CEO even though the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US bans loans by companies to their executives; and

iii. Adverse selection-this concerns a situation in which agents misrepresent the skills or abilities they bring to an enterprise. As a result of that the principal’s wealth is not maximised (Emery et al.1991).

In response to the inherent risk posed by agents’ quest to make the most of their interests to the disadvantage of principals (i.e. all stakeholders), each stakeholder tries to increase the reward expected in return for participation in the enterprise. Creditors may increase the interest rates they get from the enterprise. Other responses are monitoring and bonding to improve principal’s access to reliable information and devising means to find a common ground for agents and principals respectively.

Emanating from the risks faced in agency theory, researchers on small business financial management contend that in many small enterprises the agency relationship between owners and managers may be absent because the owners are also managers; and that the predominantly nature of SMEs make the usual solutions to agency problems such as monitoring and bonding costly thereby increasing the cost of transactions between various stakeholders (Emery et al.1991).

Nevertheless, the theory provides useful knowledge into many matters in SMEs financial management and shows considerable avenues as to how SMEs financial management should be practiced and perceived. It also enables academic and practitioners to pursue strategies that could help sustain the growth of SMEs.

Signaling Theory
Signaling theory rests on the transfer and interpretation of information at hand about a business enterprise to the capital market, and the impounding of the resulting perceptions into the terms on which finance is made available to the enterprise. In other words, flows of funds between an enterprise and the capital market are dependent on the flow of information between them. (Emery et al, 1991). For example management’s decision to make an acquisition or divest; repurchase outstanding shares; as well as decisions by outsiders like for example an institutional investor deciding to withhold a certain amount of equity or debt finance. The emerging evidence on the relevance of signaling theory to small enterprise financial management is mixed. Until recently, there has been no substantial and reliable empirical evidence that signaling theory accurately represents particular situations in SME financial management, or that it adds insights that are not provided by modern theory (Emery et al.1991).

Keasey et al(1992) writes that of the ability of small enterprises to signal their value to potential investors, only the signal of the disclosure of an earnings forecast were found to be positively and significantly related to enterprise value amongst the following: percentage of equity retained by owners, the net proceeds raised by an equity issue, the choice of financial advisor to an issue (presuming that a more reputable accountant, banker or auditor may cause greater faith to be placed in the prospectus for the float), and the level of under pricing of an issue. Signaling theory is now considered to be more insightful for some aspects of small enterprise financial management than others (Emery et al 1991).

The Pecking-Order Theory or Framework (POF)
This is another financial theory, which is to be considered in relation to SMEs financial management. It is a finance theory which suggests that management prefers to finance first from retained earnings, then with debt, followed by hybrid forms of finance such as convertible loans, and last of all by using externally issued equity; with bankruptcy costs, agency costs, and information asymmetries playing little role in affecting the capital structure policy. A research study carried out by Norton (1991b) found out that 75% of the small enterprises used seemed to make financial structure decisions within a hierarchical or pecking order framework .Holmes et al. (1991) admitted that POF is consistent with small business sectors because they are owner-managed and do not want to dilute their ownership. Owner-managed businesses usually prefer retained profits because they want to maintain the control of assets and business operations.

This is not strange considering the fact that in Ghana, according to empirical evidence, SMEs funding is made up of about 86% of own equity as well as loans from family and friends(See Table 1). Losing this money is like losing one’s own reputation which is considered very serious customarily in Ghana.

Access to capital
The 1971 Bolton report on small firms outlined issues underlying the concept of ‘finance gap’ (this has two components-knowledge gap-debt is restricted due to lack of awareness of appropriate sources, advantages and disadvantages of finance; and supply gap-unavailability of funds or cost of debt to small enterprises exceeds the cost of debt for larger enterprises.) that: there are a set of difficulties which face a small company. Small companies are hit harder by taxation, face higher investigation costs for loans, are generally less well informed of sources of finance and are less able to satisfy loan requirements. Small firms have limited access to the capital and money markets and therefore suffer from chronic undercapitalization. As a result; they are likely to have excessive recourse to expensive funds which act as a brake on their economic development.

Leverage
This is the term used to describe the converse of gearing which is the proportion of total assets financed by equity and may be called equity to assets ratio. The studies under review in this section on leverage are focused on total debt as a percentage of equity or total assets. There are however, some studies on the relative proportions of different types of debt held by small and large enterprises.

Equity Funds
Equity is also known as owners’ equity, capital, or net worth.
Costand et al (1990) suggests that ‘larger firms will use greater levels of debt financing than small firms. This implies that larger firms will rely relatively less on equity financing than do smaller firms.’ According to the pecking order framework, the small enterprises have two problems when it comes to equity funding [McMahon et al. (1993, pp153)]:

1) Small enterprises usually do not have the option of issuing additional equity to the public.
2) Owner-managers are strongly averse to any dilution of their ownership interest and control. This way they are unlike the managers of large concerns who usually have only a limited degree of control and limited, if any, ownership interest, and are therefore prepared to recognise a broader range of funding options.

Financial Management in SME
With high spate of financial problems contributing to the high rate of failures in small medium enterprises, what do the literature on small business say on financial management in small businesses to combat such failures?
Osteryoung et al (1997) writes that “while financial management is a critical element of the management of a business as a whole, within this function the management of its assets is perhaps the most important. In the long term, the purchase of assets directs the course that the business will take during the life of these assets, but the business will never see the long term if it cannot plan an appropriate policy to effectively manage its working capital.” In effect the poor financial management of owner-managers or lack of financial management altogether is the main cause underlying the problems in SME financial management.

Hall and Young(1991) in a study in the UK of 3 samples of 100 small enterprises that were subject to involuntary liquidation in 1973,1978,and 1983 found out that the reasons given for failure,49.8% were of financial nature. On the perceptions of official receivers interviewed for the same small enterprises, 86.6% of the 247 reasons given were of a financial nature. The positive correlation between poor or nil financial management (including basic accounting) and business failure has well been documented in western countries according to Peacock (1985a).

It is gainsaying the fact that despite the need to manage every aspect of their small enterprises with very little internal and external support, it is often the case that owner-managers only have experience or training in some functional areas.

There is a school of thought that believes “a well-run business enterprise should be as unconscious of its finances as healthy a fit person is of his or her breathing”. It must be possible to undertake production, marketing, distribution and the like, without repeatedly causing, or being hindered by, financial pressures and strains. It does not mean, however, that financial management can be ignored by a small enterprise owner-manager; or as is often done, given to an accountant to take care of. Whether it is obvious or not to the casual observer, in prosperous small enterprises the owner-managers themselves have a firm grasp of the principles of financial management and are actively involved in applying them to their own situation.” McMahon et al. (1993).

Some researchers tried to predict small enterprise failure to mitigate the collapse of small businesses. McNamara et al (1988) developed a model to predict small enterprise failures giving the following four reasons:

- To enable management to respond quickly to changing conditions
- To train lenders in recognising the important factors involved in determining an enterprise’s likelihood of failing
- To assist lending organisations in their marketing by identifying their customer’s financial needs more effectively
- To act as a filter in the credit evaluation process.

They went on to argue that small enterprises are very different from large ones in the area of borrowing by small enterprises, lack of long-term debt finance and different taxation provisions.

For small private companies, these measures are unreliable and textbook methods for judging investment opportunities are not always useful in organisations that are privately owned to give a true and fair view of events taking place in the company.

Thus,modern financial management is not the ultimate answer to every business problem including both large and small businesses.However,it could be argued that there is some food for thought for SMEs concerning every concept considered in this study. For example it could be seen (from the literature reviewed )that, financial records are meant to examine and analyse corporate operations. Return on equity, return on assets, return on investment, and debt to equity ratios are useful yardsticks for measuring the performance of big business and SMEs as well.

Author: John Whonderr-Arthur, Esq
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Why this reversal? Why were people so enthusiastic to register companies – and then became too desperate to operate them?

Small businesses is more than a fashion or a buzzword. In the USA, only small businesses create new jobs. The big dinosaur firms (the “blue-chips”) create negative employment – they fire people. This trend has a glitzy name: downsizing.

In Israel many small businesses became world class exporters and big companies in world terms. The same goes, to a lesser extent, in Britain and in Germany.

Virtually every Western country has a “Small Business Administration” (SBAs).

These agencies provide many valuable services to small businesses:

They help them organize funding for all their needs: infrastructure, capital goods (machinery and equipment), land, working capital, licence and patent fees and charges, etc.

The SBAs have access to government funds, to local venture capital funds, to international and multilateral investment sources, to the local banking community and to private investors. They act as capital brokers at a fraction of the costs that private brokers and organized markets charge.

They assist the entrepreneur in the preparation of business plans, feasibility studies, application forms, questionnaires – and any other thing which the new start-up venture might need to raise funds to finance its operations.

This saves the new business a lot of money. The costs of preparing such documents in the private sector amount to thousands of DM per document.

They reduce bureaucracy. They mediate between the small business and the various tentacles of this squid called The Government. They become the ONLY address which the new business should approach, a “One Stop Shop”.

But why do new (usually small) businesses need special treatment and encouragement at all? And if they do need it – what are the best ways to provide them with this help?

A new businesses goes through phases in business cycle (very similar to the stages in human life).

The first phase – is the formation of an idea. A person – or a limited group of people join forces, centred around one exciting invention, process or service.

These crystallizing ideas have a few hallmarks:

They are oriented to fill the needs of a market niche (a small group of select consumers or customers) , or to provide an innovative solution to a problem which bothers many, or to create a market for a totally new product or service, or to provide a better solution to a problem which is solved in a non-efficient manner.

At this stage what the entrepreneurs need most is expertise. They need a marketing expert to tell them if their idea is marketable and viable. They need a financial expert to tell them if they can get funds in each phase of the business cycle – and wherefrom and also if the product or service can produce enough income to support the business, pay back debts and yield a profit to the investors. They need technical experts to tell them if the idea can or cannot be transformed to reality and what it requires by way of technology transfers, engineering skills, know-how, etc.

Once the idea has been shaped to its final form by the team of entrepreneurs and experts – the proper legal entity should be formed. A bewildering array of possibilities arises:

A partnership? A corporation – and if so a stock or a non-stock company? A research and development (RND) entity? A foreign company or a local entity? And so on.

This decision is of cardinal importance. It has enormous tax implications and in the near future of the firm it greatly influences the firm’s ability to raise funds in the foreign capital markets. Thus, a lawyer must be consulted who knows both the local applicable laws and the foreign legislation in markets which could be relevant to the firm.

This costs a lot of money. One thing that entrepreneurs are in short supply of – is money. Free legal advice will be highly appreciated by them.

When the firm is properly legally established, registered with all the necessary authorities and has appointed an accounting firm – it can go on to tackle its main business: developing new products and services. At this stage the firm should adopt Western accounting standards and methodology. The Macedonian accounting system leaves too much room for creative playing with reserves and with amortization. No one in the West will give the firm credits or invest in it based on local financial statements.

A whole host of problems faces the new firm immediately upon its formation.

Good entrepreneurs do not necessarily make good managers. Management techniques are not a genetic heritage. They must be learnt and assimilated. Today’s modern management includes many elements: manpower, finances, marketing, investing in the firm’s future through the development of new products, services or even whole new business lines. That is quite a lot and very few people are properly trained to do the job successfully.

On top of that, markets do not always react the way entrepreneurs expect them to react. Markets are evolving creatures: they change, they develop, they disappear and re-appear. They are exceedingly hard to predict. The sales projections of the firm could prove to be unfounded. Its contingency funds can evaporate.

Sometimes it is better to create a product mix: manufacture well-recognized products which will sell well for sure – side by side with innovative products.

I gave you a brief – and by no way comprehensive – taste of what awaits the new business and its initiator. You see that a lot of money and effort are needed even in the first phases of creating a business.

How can the Government help?

It could set up an “Entrepreneur’s One Stop Shop”.

A person wishing to establish a new business will go to a government agency.

In one office, he will find the representatives of all the relevant government offices, authorities, agencies and municipalities. He will present his case and the business that he wishes to develop. In a matter of few weeks he will receive all the necessary permits and licences without having to go to each of the offices separately.

Having finalized the obtaining of licences and permits and the registration with all the appropriate authorities – the entrepreneur will move on to the next room in the same building. Here he will receive a list of all the sources of capital available to him both locally and from foreign sources. The terms and conditions of the financing will be specified near each and every sources. Example: EBRD – loans of up to 10 years – interest between 6.5% to 8% – grace period of up to 3 years – finances mainly industry, financial services, environmental projects, infrastructure and public services.

The entrepreneur will select the sources of funds most suitable for his needs – and proceed to the next room.

The next room will contain all the experts necessary to establish the business, get it going – and, most important, raise funds from both local and international institutions. For a symbolic sum they will prepare all the documents required by the financing institutions as per their instructions.

But entrepreneurs in Macedonia are still fearful and uninformed. They are intimidated by the complexity of the task facing them.

The solution is simple: a tutor or a mentor will be attached to each and every entrepreneur. This tutor will escort the entrepreneur from the first phase to the last.

He will be employed by the “One Stop Shop” and his role will be to ease life for the novice businessman. He will transform the person to a businessman.

And then they will wish the entrepreneur: “Bon Voyage” – and may the best ones win.

Author: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Smart cooker

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