Small Business Articles & News
Justice In Action
During the 1980 presidential campaign, candidate Ronald Reagan vowed, if elected, to appoint the first woman to the United States Supreme Court. Six months after his inauguration, President Reagan kept his promise – nominating a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals. The Senate soon confirmed her by a vote of 99-0.
Do You Microbifer in Your Cleaning Business?
Microfiber cleaning towels have been around for about ten years now. When I first heard about them they were being sold through distributors in an MLM business. Since my business was professional house cleaning, I couldn't see how they could benefit me due to the high cost.
Financial Fundamentals What Every Small Business Owner Should Know!
Business owners rarely go into business to deal with the financial aspects of running a business. It’s easy to understand why! You are passionate about the products or services you provide and want to focus your time there. The financial aspect usually falls to the bottom of the “desired responsibilities” list. It is critical to the long-term success of your business that you understand some of the Financial Fundamentals of being a business owner though. You don’t have to be an accountant or ...
1 Overlooked Key to Small Business Success
Is this you? You dreamed of owning your own business, doing what you love and enjoying unlimited earning potential. You researched. You planned. You prepared. Finally, you launched. Your dream was realized...and then your business started to grow! Could it get any better? Well, yes, but if you're like many others, you may have encountered one unexpected challenge along the way: Are you drowning in the day-to-day administrative tasks necessary to make your ...
Pressure Washing and Hospital Accounts
Most pressure washing companies never look into some of the best niche markets. One, which you may not have thought about is Hospitals and if you run a pressure washing company it can mean good steady income. When contract cleaning you must figure out the needs of your clientele; Hospitals have special needs, which are not common to other businesses and if you are careful to address these needs you will be well served. One recommendation I give pressure washing companies is to bundle ...
How the Crab Effect Obstructs Growth and How to Conquer It
Some of the greatest words of wisdom for any man or woman seeking change or growth are, "Surround yourself with people who will support and believe in you."
Making Every Penny Count
More and more workers are leaving their jobs and taking their 401 k retirement plan funds with them. While some are rolling their funds over into IRAs or other qualified plans; many are taking their distributions in cash. Once an employee has left the job, any payments of earned vacation, sick or other leave made after leaving the job were not considered for inclusion in deferrals to Solo 401k, 401(k), or 403(b) plans. These plans’ definition of compensation excluded any post employment ...
Increase Your Profits with a Point of Sale (POS) System
Whether you operate a chain of restaurants, a mom-and-pop convenience store, or a medium-sized retail shop, you are in business to make money. And, one of the most critical aspects to your profit and loss is your ability to track information… you need to know which products are making you money, what items need to be re-ordered, who your customers are, and so on. This is where today’s point of sale (POS) systems play such a valuable role.
Build Credibility with Expertise
As an Investment Representative you’ve worked hard to build trust with your pension clients. Now, you can solidify that long term relationship with your expertise on one of the greatest fears of small business retirement plan sponsors.
Pressure Washing at Golf Courses
There are many potential niches for pressure washing companies that often go unchecked. Some are quite lucrative and are worth investigation if you own a pressure washing business. One such niche is the pressure washing of golf courses, clubs houses, golf carts and facilities. To target this specialization of services you will need to slightly modify your sales approach.
Pressure Washing Aircraft Hangers at the Airport
If you are looking for a way to own your own business using a pressure washer or expand your current pressure washing business you might consider cleaning Aircraft Hangers out at the airport. Why Wash Aircraft hangers? For one it can lead to much more work cleaning all sorts of things at airports which is an encapsulated market. Larger airports have terminal buildings, staging areas, parking structures, fuel depots, retaining walls, security vehicles, airport shuttles, rent-a-cars and of ...
Why are Reverse Mergers Often the Victims of Short Sellers?
There is a great deal of abuse going on in the OTC Bulletin Board Market and a lot of money is being made as result of it. Regulators are trying to deal with the problem but are unable to put a halt to it, unless they take drastic steps which will be detrimental to the small and micro-cap market.
Retail Customer Opportunities for Pressure Washing Companies
Pressure washing companies must look for customers in the retail industry to make sure they stay busy. Large Box Stores and Grocery Stores are often you best customers in that regard. Cleaning concrete or doing “flat work” makes sense for a number of reasons, 1.) It is not labor intensive like washing trucks; 2.) Routine scheduled customers make the work extremely easy; 3.) Generally you do not have to worry about not getting paid for work completed, as the corporate offices will pay you, ...
Cleaning Service Stations with a Pressure Washer
Fuel prices these days are quite high and they take their toll on a service business. It is time to strike back. If you own a cleaning business that uses pressure washers why not clean service stations and get some of your money back as you pay $2.30 per gallon for fuel? Gas Stations are usually franchises and have cleanliness commitments as part of their franchise agreements with the oil companies they sign on with. This means they have no choice they must keep their gasoline stations ...
How Disabled Veterans Can Win Government Contracts
The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) is a program that allows small businesses to self-certify as service-disabled veteran-owned businesses providing them increased opportunities to win government contracts. Significantly and permanently impaired veterans may be assisted in the daily business operations by a spouse or permanent caregiver.
Technology Community Helps SMBs Focus on Their Core Business
If you’re starting your own business or currently work for a start-up, you wear a lot of hats. Any disruption in your business can eat up hours of your time and kill your productivity. Many start-ups are so focused on getting their business off the ground, that they overlook technology considerations that can help increase their productivity and enhance their efficiency. Unlike mid to large corporations that have dedicated IT personnel, start-ups typically do not have in-house IT ...
Financial Strategies for a Mobile Car Wash Business Plan
Writing a business plan for a mobile car wash is fairly easy, yet often operators fall down in understanding the financial strategies and costs. Bankers and Investors alike will want to see that you have a well thought out business plan to insure your start-up goes successfully. Below you will find a sample mobile car wash strategic financial strategies section for a business plan. I recommend that you print this out and modify it to best fit your over all plan and then once you have a good ...
The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Small Business Owners
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a business that consistently grows and another that struggles just to make ends meet? Or why a business that was started in a basement of a home can outperform some of the best-run “big” companies in sales and profits?
Job Costing Do You Know How?
What’s your job profitability? I meet with business owners every day that are unsure of their profitability at a company or job level. They “think” they are making money because they have a few dollars in their checking account. Having money in your checking account doesn’t mean you are profitable. It might mean you haven’t paid all the bills yet, so you have a little cash. Cash and profit are two different concepts. If you aren’t profitable, you won’t have longevity in your business.
Loose Lips Sink Ships The Fastest Way to Put Yourself Out of Business
I agree that knowledge should be free, but the next person I see revealing their hard attained business practices in a public forum, I am going to feel the need to approach them, make them choose their own switch from an outside tree, then whip them with it.
How to Wash Mobile Homes as a Business
Washing manufactured homes, mobile homes, can be a lucrative and steady business. Generally Mobile Home owners desire to have their mobile homes washed twice per year. There are many mobile home washing companies who make a very good living and have multiple rigs running. If you currently own a pressure washer you may wish to consider a new business washing mobile home and manufactured houses.
Lubbock TX Good Market for a Service Business
We very much like what we see in Lubbock, TX as a good place for a service business. The city is a very well designed and laid out town with growth in the 4-5% per year range, growth in the Northwest quadrant of the city is steady and good. We are bullish on Lubbock and see how a service company could advance forces into the area to seize market share. There is excellent labor there due to the colleges and a strong growing middle class with younger families. Retail sector is good as well ...
Pressure Washing Market Niche
Those who are in the pressure washer business should not neglect the Hotel exterior cleaning niche. Many five-star hotels spend significant dollars in making sure that their grounds are meticulously cleaned. There are also many regular hotels, which take pride in their hotels. It would be wise to have a customized sales letter and/or brochure made especially for this type of service, with follow-up information on your website.
How to become a Career Coach for Profit
A career coach could be simply defined your job seeking partner. A career coach could be a career management coach, who helps you in managing your career or a career marketing coach, who helps you build contacts, posts your resumes, tries to find the best jobs for you and helps you secure the best jobs. He basically tries to market you effectively in the job market.
The Step Zero & Trade Effect
The key to organizational focus and helping those who need what you do is knowing, precisely, what you do well -- and what you don't do well.
Why Clean Mobile Homes for a Business?
Manufactured and Mobile Home owners know that the weather this year will be quite harsh. It’s imperative these owners to clean out rain gutters and debris from on top of their homes. They realize that they must thoroughly wash off this summer’s dirt so they do not have drip marks on the sides of their cottages this winter. They must eliminate the mold buildup, and unsightly stains. Those mobile homes which have not been cleaned all Winter must have their rain gutters cleaned so when ...
Money Series 1: Who Takes Your Money
Your business is making profits, but where is the cash? It seems that someone has taken away your money. Your bank account is still the same, and your personal wealth is still the same. There must be someone that took your money. Based on my over 18 years of professional experience and study, there are 8 persons that take away your money without your knowing...
Mobile Car Wash and Cleaning Post Office Jeeps
If you own a mobile truck washing, pressure washing or mobile car wash business you may wish to consider washing postal vehicles. They have one of the largest fleets in the world and they are relatively easy to wash. Yes, like all quasi-government agencies they pay slowly, but you know you will get paid as long as you show up to wash.
10 Ways to Start a Business on a Budget
If you’ve been thinking about starting a business, but are held back due to cash-flow issues, there are plenty of ways you can get your plans off the ground. Though your vision may be to own a big store, restaurant, warehouse, or office, consider starting on a smaller scale.
Designing a Franchise Training Program
If you intend to franchise your company you will need to design a bullet proof training company for your new franchisees. This is above and beyond the training program you will design for them to administer to their new employees. Remember when training new franchisees it is similar to training new managers for any Corporation’s outlets. The difference of course being that the Franchisee in a Franchised Company has a lot more at stake and will be twice as motivated as an average manager of a ...