Small Business Articles & News
Buying A Bar In Spain
Each year thousands of foreigners buy a bar in Spain, all with varying degrees of success and the whole process can be a nightmare if not done properly. Although sometimes it can work on your own, it is normally a disaster if you buy a bar in Spain without using a qualified agent to help you. You have to remember that the laws are very different in Spain and over the years, especially on the Costa’s, a very dangerous breed of crook has evolved; there are thousands of conmen itching to get ...
Proper Care and Feeding of the Business Owner
That sizzling sound you’re hearing may be a symptom of a major hidden cause of businesses closing their doors. It’s called burnout. And you may be its next victim. Often the last thing a business owner considers is his or her health and sanity. The burnout that results from overwork and stress can deliver a death blow to the very enterprise you’ve been giving your all to create. Setting a course for your business that includes the proper care and feeding of the business owner is a critical ...
Drivng Home the Point An Outsourcing Story in China
A few years ago, I visited Beijing for the first time. At Beijing airport, I got into a taxi and paid 450 yuan (about US$54) to get to the city. I was horrified to find out later that the normal taxi fare for the same distance was 60 yuan!
Obstacles To Small Business Usage Of Elearning In Europe
I would like to start my article with a few economic facts which could lay a background for the message I want to get across.
Where To Get Money For a Franchise Idea
How often have you thumbed through a business opportunity magazine, noticed a franchise opportunity advertisement, and felt you'd really like to get in on that...if only you had the money? If you're like most who are seeking greater opportunity and wealth, this probably happens with you more often than you care to admit, except perhaps in strictly private conversations.
Gold Medal Delegation
When the recent Games of the XXVIII Olympiad came to a close in Athens, two events stood out in my mind as perfect examples of the importance of time management:
Does Your Business Need a Toll Free 800 Number?
Should your business have a toll free number for customers to make sales, service and billing inquirers? The industry began in the early 1970’s and today most customers expect you to have it. Providing a toll free line can bring in a number of benefits to your business.
Multiple Clients Create Your Independent Business
Would you rather have one good client paying you five thousand dollars per month or ten smaller clients paying you five hundred dollars each per month? Here are two good reasons for choosing multiple clients over just one client.
A Look at Incorporating a Business in Florida
As you may know, there are many ways to incorporate a business in Florida. While companies exist to do the legwork and paperwork for you, the most direct way is to contact the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporation’s website itself.
Boundary Setting for the Home Based Small Business Owner
First, let me just stomp my feet, throw my arms up (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) and ask, "Why doesn't everyone in the world respect my boundaries?" Haven't I made them abundantly clear with my bellowing voice and my assertive demeanor? Yeah, I'm about as loud and scary as a ladybug!
Start a Technical Writing Service
Technical writing services are employed to explain the details of a topic in a way that is easily understood by the readers. In todays information age, technical writing jobs are increasingly common. One would think that, eventually, everything useful will have been written! This is not the case, however, and your home-based technical writing company probably has a better chance for success today than at any time in the past.
20 Great Ways to Market Your Business Locally
Whether your target audience is in your neighborhood or across the world, you can use your local resources to get the word out about your business. Your local community is easily accessible and provides dozens of opportunities for building a buzz about your product or service. The following are twenty ideas to get you started.
How to Start a Paper Shredding Business
Paper Shredding Business Opportunities are blossoming up everywhere because in recent years, privacy concerns and new policies have forced companies all over the country to invest in paper shredding services. Large corporations and small are in need of shredding services.
A Business Tail: Veterinarian Foams at Mouth, Chases Tail, Learns New Tricks Case Study
Many self employed professionals find themselves overwhelmed, frustrated, and confused when it comes to running their businesses. The deep skills they have in their professional field do little to prepare them for the dog-eat-dog world of running a business. The following is a case study from the client files of small business expert, Caroline Jordan, detailing a typical professional’s experience trying to run a business without foaming at the mouth.
Employee Monitoring Business Risks For Employers And How To Avoid Them
E-mail and Internet use are integral parts of the typical worker's daily routine. Because of its speed and overall convenience, e-mail has replaced the interoffice memorandum as the preferred method of communication. Employee access to the Internet also is important as a means of conducting job-related research and transactions.
How To Write A Business Plan
Writing a business plan is a fundamental step to ensuring your business has every chance of succeeding. Common statistics state that 9 out of 10 businesses fail on the first 5 years of operation, and of the remaining 10%, 90% fail in the following 5 years.
Doing Business With Friends: Five Tips for Preserving the Friendship... and Your Sanity!
My colleague, Jane, recently lamented to me an all too familiar story about mixing business and friendship. Jane subcontracted copywriting work out her friend, Joan. Jane’s copywriting business was blossoming (partly in response to her most recent brilliant article marketing campaign) and giving the work to Joan seemed like a win-win for both of them.
Look Like Sizzle, Be The Steak
You've heard marketing and advertising gurus quip, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak." Advertising initiatives best reach their target audience with benefits and the "wow" effect, not the value or features of their product or service. This may work well to get customers in the door. But once they're in, you better have some substance. How can you ensure you uphold the integrity of your business and still maintain the "Wow Effect"? It just takes well executed strategic steps for ...
Creating a Paperless Office
When working from home, it is usual to find that you have your office in an area that is not very big, such as a box room or even in the corner of the kitchen. When your business really takes off, you will begin to discover that your work area starts to get swamped by paperwork and that you are running out of storage space.
Small Business Debt Collection Laws
In your small business debt collection laws will eventually become important, as your debt grows and some clients do not pay. To collect small business debts legally, you must send a written notice that collections have begun, within five days of first contacting the debtor for collections. The letter must include dispute instructions.
Tips and Tricks for Legal Debt Collections
If a customer owes your local business money, it's hard not to feel angry, like you want to do anything possible to get your money back. But the days of going all out to collect on a debt over. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, designed to protect consumers from harassment or intimidation, sets firm limits on what you can do to collect a debt from a consumer. The federal debt collections law even prohibits practices that were once standard, and that you might not consider ...
Reverse Merger: Have They Taken the Reverse out of Reverse Merger?
Are the promoters and consultants destroying the market for Reverse Merger? First lets take a look at reverse merger. In a Reverse Merger, an operating private company merges with a public company that has little or no assets, nor know liabilities (the “shell”).
5 Tips for Hiring a GREAT Bookkeeper
Bookkeeping…the “dreaded” word is something we all have to worry about. Business owners rarely go into business to deal with the financial aspects of running a business. It’s easy to understand why! Who wants to do all those boring record keeping functions? Not many. Therefore, one of the first things most entrepreneurs do is hire a bookkeeper. Though hiring a friend, relative or anyone who isn’t experienced with the basics of bookkeeping may be a recipe for DISASTER!
7 Tips To Improve Your Cash Flow
Cash is King…That is what everyone tells us and it is true! You cannot function successfully in any business without proper cash flow. So if this Cash Principle is so well known, then why is it that so many businesses struggle? Sometimes the obvious is not always so obvious when you are entrenched in running the day-to-day aspects of your business. Here are 7 Tips to Improve Your Cash Flow!
The SBA's Savviest Program
Forget everything you’ve ever heard about the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The negative connotations may have been warranted in the past, but the SBA is different these days. The SBA is worth every penny of its more than $22 billion budget on the basis of a single program alone: the SBA 504 Loan Program for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities.
Motorizing for Profit The Craftsmen Have Left the Building
In the summer, I can't drive two blocks without seeing the activity of the construction industry. Road contractors, house builders and landscapers are everywhere.
Collaborative Negotiating: A Win Win Strategy
COLLABORATIVE NEGOTIATING: Collaborative negotiating is a win-win strategy that can focus the resources of the people involved in the process towards strengthening results, productivity, quality, creativity, and innovation in problem-solving. To use the collaborative approach to negotiating you will have to agree on the aim of negotiations. Before any sort of bargaining can begin, you and your counterpart must define the who-what-where-when-how-and-why of the issue and have a ...
How to Prepare for Your Start Up Venture!
When you awoke this morning, you found yourself buzzing with a fantastic idea for starting a new business and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success. But now what? All those great ideas floating around in your head and you're excited about making them happen, but at the moment you don't know where to begin. What is the first thing you should do as you contemplate your plan of action?
Do Home Businesses Complicate Small Business Debt Collection Laws?
The home-based business market, sometimes called the SOHO (small-office/home-office) market, is booming. As more and more B2B businesses expand into these markets, they may find themselves walking a fine line between B2B and B2C.
Don't Let Your Small Business Fall in the FDCPA Trap
When someone owes your small business money, you certainly feel like a victim. But did you know that if you aren't careful, you could break the law by trying to get the money back?