Small Business Articles & News
Private Investigator Tactics
A Private Investigator is a professional trained in the art of investigations and surveillance. Otherwise known as Private eyes or, these professionals are for hire 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Many investigators have backgrounds in CIA, FBI, military, special forces, police, and government. I assume you all have heard of the famous Sherlock Holmes, and his trusty side-kick detective Watson. They were a type of private investigator. Today's private investigators use modern technology ...
How to Get Started As A Government Contractor
Becoming a contractor or sub-contractor for the U.S. government can bring in lucrative, on-going revenue to your small business. But doing business with the government is very different than typical business-to-business selling.
Challenging the Gospel of Growth Must Business Grow to Survive?
A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a primary business purpose: “grow or perish” is a mostly unquestioned truth. At South Mountain we favor certain kinds of growth, but not expansion for its own sake, which author Edward Abbey described as “the ideology of the cancer cell.” We embrace growth to achieve specific goals, but always with consideration of the consequences: it may disrupt and endanger treasured qualities. We look for ways to develop and thrive without enlarging, ...
Recycle Your Work
Recycling your work is a lot like doing your part to recycle cans and old milk cartons: a simple concept that not enough people do. Many folks don’t realize how easy it is to turn an existing piece of material into new moneymaking products. I made an audio album by reading from the humor section of my “Wake ‘Em Up” book that had already been long completed. The six tapes/CDs were not exactly word for word because I was speaking live and adlibbing wisecracks whenever I felt like it. Even ...
SBIR vs STTR
SBIR vs. STTR: If you are participating in the SBIR program you may also want to consider participating in the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The STTR program is considered SBIR’s twin sister, although there are some added hoops one must jump through in order to participate. Like SBIR, the STTR is the US Government’s way of providing “seed” money to spawn technology growth. The key difference however is in the structure of the effort, whereas a small business must partner ...
How to Start Home Based Travel Businesses
Home based travel businesses are no longer the wave of the future. Home travel businesses are the hot trend right now. So if you’re considering becoming a travel agent, this brief guide will provide you with information you need to know.
Outsourcing and Virtual Assistants: Small Business Saviors
Work smarter, not harder What is one of the best ways to work smarter without working harder? The answer is outsourcing. Whether you need occasional or ongoing assistance, outsourcing can save you money and time. Graphic designers, copywriters, bookkeepers, website programmers, office assistants, and other types of professionals are all readily available. And, there’s a new way of hiring people – the World Wide Web connects independent professionals and small ...
FFP vs. CPFF Contracts
SBIR Corner: FFP vs. CPFF contracts: In the SBIR/STTR world, the single most important decision you need to make is whether you are going to bid a job as Firm Fixed Price (FFP) or as Cost plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). These are two very different contract types and the decision to use one contract type over the other is very important to the overall success of a program. If your sponsor gives you a choice on the matter, the decision to go with one contract type over the other should be ...
How to Become Successful in the Field of Financial Consultants
Financial Consultants are one of the fastest growing industries today. More and more people are requiring the services of a finance consultant to get out of debt, and/or prepare for educational and retirement expenses. The knowledge these consultants have creates an income potential for everyone involved.
10 Best Practices to Consider as Your SBIR Negotations Approach Contract Signature
10 Best Practices to consider as your SBIR negotiations approach contract signature: 1. Draft your confirmation of negotiations, be sure to memorialize that this is an SBIR type contract along with the applicable data rights and SBIR related terms and conditions. 2. Firm up the actual start date. There is not time to waste, everyday counts when your program’s duration is only 6 or 9 months long! 3. Get into order system entry mode. A quick entry into the system assures ...
Market Makers Play a Significant Role in Reverse Mergers
One overlooked individual in the process of taking a company public through reverse merger is the market maker. The market marker is critical especially if the company is going to be listed on OTC Bulletin Board or the NQB. Pink sheets.
How Micro Loans Can Mean Macro Success for Your Business
"Inch by inch, row by row...that's the way my garden grows" was a favorite saying of my grandmother's -- usually when she was trying to teach me something about patience!
Write An Effective Job Proposal
I am simply amazed at the problems some of my colleagues are experiencing regarding writing job proposals for customers. So often I hear that there has been some sort of disagreement between client and service provider, something that can and should be avoided before a project is started. Here are four tips to help you write an effective job proposal letter.
Is Your Business Making Money?
Is your business making money? Would you know? Figuring out whether your business is actually making money is no easy task. Most small business owners have a pretty good idea of what their top line is (their revenues), but unless they’re closely tracking and inputting all of their expenses, the bottom line can often come as a complete surprise. That’s why it’s critical to closely monitor these numbers on a monthly basis. They are the tools you need to make ongoing business ...
In Home Daycare Businesses for Profit
To have one of the popular in home daycare businesses. Many people think all you have to do is love kids and have a home. But to have a successful daycare business, it takes a little more than that. Actually, it takes a lot more.
Going Public: Now that You Have Successfully Made the Transition, What Do You Do?
Ok, you have successfully accomplished your dream of being the CEO of a public company. The stock of your company has a symbol and you are continually going to the computer to check the price, you tell all your relatives and friends and you even tried to encourage them to buy the stock.
Australian Workplace Agreements How They Work For You
The employer / employee relations environment has been constantly evolving during the last 25 years. In Australia, as in many western nations, the balance between employers and employees has shifted back and forwards usually in response to supply and demand.
Bringing Home the Bacon
In general, all of us know how to accomplish the task and get the work done. The problem is in how to actually ‘get paid’ for what we do. If you, like me and most of the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with, have completed the project, turned it in and been left holding the proverbial bag waiting to be paid for months on end, you are probably just as tired of that scenario as the rest of us. So what can we, as entrepreneurs, do about that particular scenario?
Why You Need A Virtual Assistant
How much is your time really worth? Is it worth £50 an hour or £100 an hour? YOUR time is most valuable because it is your responsibility to generate new revenue for your business. Doing small and often trivial admin chores yourself does not really add value to your business and the sensible solution is to delegate those less profitable tasks by hiring someone more than capable of carrying them out, but who’s hourly rate is somewhat less than your real financial worth. So what’s stopping ...
Why Internet Shopping is the New Mall of the Future
Last year, trillions of dollars transferred hands on the internet with regard to sales, or as the internet wishes to call it, eCommerce. The internet is becoming an increasingly complex manipulation of do's and don'ts. However, one thing I am sure of is, what are you doing? The cliche says, "Either get in the game, or sit and watch from the sidelines." I've been sitting around long enough and recently took bold steps to leap into eCommerce.
SBIR A Nice Add on Business
If you are a small business and qualify to participate in the SBIR program, it is a natural enhancer to your existing business. If you are small enough you may be able to start a company using SBIR funding, but you will soon come to realize that if your sources of income are not diversified (with SBIR being only one source) you might fall victim to funding cycles and no income. Although the Government provides funding to spawn technology its dual mission is to help that technology grow into ...
Small Business Survival
In today’s economic climate, the first priority for the small business entrepreneur is survival. A glance at newspapers, business journals, or cable news channels reveals a succession of corporations striving to stay on top of their game, and often failing, to slow the growth of outsourcing or to show real growth within their market space. In such times, knowing how to achieve long-term success is more critical than ever.
The Truth About Government Grants for Your Business
Free money! Receive up to $25,000 that never has to be paid back -- Guaranteed! Get a grant to start your own business today!
Facts About Starting Elderly Group Home Businesses
There’s been a recent rise in the number of elderly group home businesses springing up everywhere around the world, what with an estimated one in four families providing care for an elderly relative today. Before you decide to jump on the group home business bandwagon, though, you need to know as much as possible. This brief guide will help.
Government Does Not Pay Its Bills on Time
Many small companies work very hard to get new accounts. Occasionally they try to get government contracts to supply products or services. Some small business people believe this will help them in case of recession, because the government has to keep going no matter what. They therefore seek a contract as a protection security blanket and guaranteed income to pay their own bills, make payroll and have the cash flow they need to survive at a time when over regulation and hostile litigation is ...
Self Employment: Managing Your Money: Tips for Living with a Fluctuating Cash Flow (Part One)
The way you manage your money is one of the first things you'll change when you move from employment to self-employment.
Recognizing Employees' Contributions Can Go a Long Way
Every employee would like to earn as high a salary as they can at their job but surprisingly it’s not the number one motivating factor for them in the workplace. Human resource surveys indicate that wages are not even among the top five motivating factors for an employee. What does rank as one of the highest factors is being recognized by their employer for their contributions.
Franchising 101 What You Absolutely Need to Know
Franchising has made the world look really small. The well known flavors are now not just restricted to a single town or city but can be enjoyed world wide. Otherwise it would only be a dream for somebody in Asia to wear the fashion of Europe, for the West to have delectable food of the East etc. Globally as well as domestically the system of franchising has something good for everyone.
Corporate Shells
A corporate shell could be liken to a house that had been occupied by a family, prior to the family moving out it was a home. But now it is just shell, a skeleton a plain house with nobody in it, but if a family was to purchase the house and moves in, it becomes a home.
Window Cleaning Business Start Up
Should you buy a business opportunity or Franchise if you want to get into the window cleaning business? Or just start your own and work hard; grow the business into a full-time profession and expand from there? Let us talk briefly about window cleaning franchises is in general.