Small businesses have many challenges to stay afloat. Many budding entrepreneurs think that all they need is an idea or product, a name for their small business, and a bit of work and the product will sell itself and money will come rolling in. If you have ever run a small business – even a home based business – you will know there’s much more to it than that!

The first thing you, as a potential small business owner must always do, is research your market. Then research your competition, then the available supply for your product or service, and find your unique selling position. This alone can take weeks often months.

Once you are satisfied that there is a market for your product or service then you need to sort out your business plan and cash flow projections.

Small businesses may appear low cost but many suck up substantial capital before they turn a profit so now, unless you are very fortunate, you must sort out how to finance your small business. Do you remortgage your house? look for investment partners? borrow from friends or family? or approach the bank? Whichever you choose you need to convince others that your small business will be profitable and they will get a return on their money.

Once finances are in place the hard work starts. You may have premises to arrange, suppliers to sort out, staff to recruit and mangage, accounts to keep, products to design or source, lawyers to consult, accountants to hire and we must not forget in all of this market and get the all important customers to look at and purchase your products.

To do that you have to advertise your small business, but where and at what cost? Don’t forget you have to provide customer support and accept returns. Then there’s waste disposal … and on and on.

Who’s paying for all of this – in simple terms you, and your friends, investors andor your bank are paying, until you are selling sufficient product or service to cover the costs – usually many months or even years away.

New small businesses rarely return a profit in the first year and frequently not for two or three years. Make sure you can finance it properly.

Is it worth doing it? That’s your decision but every year tens of thousands of people do start their own business and many are succesful and reap the rewards of all that hard work. But many also fail, and all too often it’s due to lack of preparation

If you’re about to set off on your new business venture prepare well and Good Luck. With good planning, persistence and a lot of hard work you too can build a profitable small business.

Have you ever considered why SPAM has caused such a public backlash compared to the deafening silence from its unsolicited paper cousins of direct and junk mail? People seem to care a lot more about what enters their Inbox than their letterbox. And for the word care think about logical substitutes of notice, read and respond.

All this translates into campaign results that can surpass other forms of direct communication making it an ideal cost effective option for any small business owner.

And whats more I believe that as a small business owner the odds are stacked in their favour to become budding email marketing superstars.

Let me explain why.

Firstly, its about personality. E-mail messages written in a personal style seem to work the best. Writing this way doesnt seem to faze most small business owners. Usually their business shows more of their personality when dealing with customers than larger competitors so writing this way seems to be a natural option.

Secondly, a small business owner can understand what content that has a good chance of being read. With them working closely with customers they tend to understand what their customers want to know about and can easily translate this into articles and reports that will be read.

Thirdly, the time and cost efficient nature of email marketing ideally suits the busy small business owner. It can take the same amount of effort to create an email newsletter for 500 subscribers as it does 50,000. Plus the costs of an email production are a fraction of the alternative paper option.

For a small business owner a regular e-mail message can have as much personality and content to end up being the next best thing as a phone call from themselves, just more efficient and at a lot less costly to produce.

So there you have it, three reasons why small business owners can make it big in the Inbox. Have fun harnessing this great tool for your company.

Small Business Owners: Should You Hire a Professional Tax Preparer?

Are you a small business owner who is getting ready to get your taxes prepared for this year? If you are, you may be wondering whether or not you should use the services of a professional tax preparer. When it comes to determining whether or not you should use the services of a professional tax preparer, you may want to think about the pros and cons of doing so.

When it comes to hiring the services of a professional tax preparer, one of the many pros or plus sides to having your small business taxes done professionally are the results. Most professional tax prepares have the required amount of tax preparation training and many also have years of experience with preparing taxes. This experience is what often guarantees that you will get better, accurate results.

Another one of the many pros or plus sides to having a professional tax preparer do your small business taxes for you is because of the deductions that they may be able to get you. As it was previously mentioned, many professional tax preparers have up-to-date tax training. This up-to-date tax training often means that they are educated on any new small business deductions that you may be able to qualify for, as well as old deductions. This is nice because most small business owners, like you, who do their own taxes, actually end up missing out on multiple opportunities to save money on their taxes.

Your liabilities, when hiring a professional tax preparer to do your small business taxes for you, is another one of the many pros or plus sides to seeking assistance. Even if you have some tax preparation experience, there is a good chance that you would end up taking your time, then go back and recheck your forms and then recheck them again. This is due to the fact that those who file their own taxes are often held liable for any mistakes that are made. The same is not always said when a professional tax preparer is used. Most professional tax preparers do not make mistakes, but if they do make one, you shouldnt end up being held responsible or liable for that mistake.

Although there are a large number of pros or plus sides to doing business with a professional tax preparer, there are also a number of cons or downsides to doing so as well. Perhaps, the biggest one is the costs. It is no secret that it can get fairly expensive to hire the services of a professional tax preparer. In most cases, the amount of money that you are charged will all depend on the complicity of your tax forms. The harder they are to do, the more money you are likely to be charged. Of course, it is important to remember all of the above mentioned pros to hiring a professional tax preparer. Many time those benefits, alone, are worth the cost.

The decision as to whether or not you want to hire a professional tax preparer to do your small business taxes for you is yours to make, but, as outlined above, there are a number of benefits to doing so. If you are interested in trying to do your own taxes, but you later find it too complicated to do so, you may want to think about seeking professional assistance, as it is never to late to do so.

Most people think Santa Claus only works one night a year. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, product distribution takes place on one magical night, but Santa’s operation runs year round and is one of the largest manufacturing and distribution operations in the world.

You’ve probably never considered the fact that Santa is the CEO of a large organization that not only distributes a vast assortment of products throughout the world, but does so in a single night with just a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. Sam Walton would have killed to have Santa’s logistics manual.

Do I believe in Santa? You bet your red longjohns I do. I especially believe in Santa’s entrepreneurial spirit. Just consider all he does from an entrepreneurial point of view and I think you will start to believe, too.

Santa Is His Own Company Spokesperson

Santa is a brilliant marketer and knows that his image is the best marketing tool he has. No other face is as recognizable and no other entrepreneur has inspired so many songs. You’ll never hear “An Ode To Jack Welch” on the radio ten times a day.

Santa’s Customers Love Him

Just say his name around a group of kids and watch their little faces light up like Rudolph’s nose. You will never see Bill Gates get that kind of reaction. Heck, he can’t even make his own kids smile.

Santa Sets The Bar For All Entrepreneurs

When you list the traits of the perfect entrepreneur, Santa gets the highest marks. He has passion for his work. He loves his customers and will go to great lengths to make sure they are happy. He has the ability to spot consumer trends and bring products to market quickly. He can lead a large organization with a wink of his eye. He inspires those around him. He is tireless. He is dedicated. He is loyal. He is persistent. And above all, he is jolly. Name another jolly entrepreneur (other than Dave Thomas of Wendy’s fame). I bet you can’t.

Santa Is A Great Leader

Can you imagine trying to manage a few hundred giddy elves who are shut in year round and spend their off hours drinking spiked hot chocolate and doing who knows what with fairy dust? It would be enough to drive even the best of entrepreneurs to hide out at the North Pole. Somehow Santa manages the task without pulling his whiskers out. I expect he has a management system that promotes from within. The hard working elves get into management. The slackers are stuck cleaning up after the reindeer.

Santa Perfected “Just In Time” Manufacturing

Santa heads up one of the largest, most diverse manufacturing operations in the world. His product lines range from rag dolls to toy trains to rocking horses to baseball gloves for the little kids, to iPods and cellphones and diamond rings for us big kids. Santa’s factory runs year round, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and never, ever suffers from cost overrun or production shut downs. Santa perfected the “just in time” method of production that is used by many of the world’s largest manufacturers today.

Santa Pioneered Global Product Distribution

Santa is the king of single channel distribution. How else could he deliver millions of presents to good little girls and boys all around the world on a single night? Santa’s distribution process is a closely-guarded secret (elves and reindeer are required to sign iron-clad nondisclosure agreements), but I expect it involves a highly detailed logistics plan and the best CRM software on the planet. You never hear about Santa calling up a kid and telling them a present is backordered until July.

Santa’s Delivery & Tracking Systems Are Second To None

If you think FedEx is number one at tracking packages think again. Santa’s track record is spotless. He has never, ever missed a single delivery or left a box sitting on the porch in the rain. Every package is delivered in perfect shape, right under the tree.

Santa Wrote The Book On Customer Satisfaction

Santa proudly boasts a 100% perfect customer satisfaction rating. You never hear about class action lawsuits and Better Business Bureau complaints against St. NIck. Santa makes sure that his customers are happy and if they aren’t, he’ll come back next year to make things right. If JD Power could find him, I’m sure they would give Santa their Christmas Customer Satisfaction Award.

Santa Claus Is Watching You

Not everyone believes that Santa is the perfect entrepreneur. There are those kids who complain that Santa never brings what they ask for, but we grown ups know that Santa brings the gift that is deserved, not necessarily the gift that is asked for.

Here’s a little Christmas tip from your Uncle Tim, boys and girls, ladies and gents: If you get a lump of coal in your stocking this year it’s because you were bad and that’s what you deserved.

It was not because Santa dropped the ball.

Merry Christmas everybody!

A growing number of small businesses that have previously faced obstacles getting working capital now have a practical solution they can bank on. They’re taking a cash advance on future credit card receivables. This method of getting needed capital is gaining momentum, particularly in light of the inundation of Small Business Administration loan requests during recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast.

The cash advances taken by these credit-worthy businesses are called Merchant Cash Advances and are completed without the time, documentation and availability issues associated with a traditional loan.

Here’s how it works. Companies such as AdvanceMe (www.advanceme.com), the nation’s leading provider of merchant cash advances, purchase a portion of small- and mid-size businesses’ future credit card sales. These assets, which traditional lenders and investors do not value, help business owners to access capital quickly and easily without leveraging their homes or other personal assets. Businesses simply sell AdvanceMe a portion of their future credit card sales at a discount in exchange for a lump sum of working capital today.

The process has a number of advantages for merchants:

• It helps small businesses manage their cash flow throughout the year. This is especially valuable to businesses whose day-to-day operations are impacted by seasonality, such as those in small college towns. It gives them access to the cash necessary to weather the seasons, whether or not it’s their busy season.

• Often, a Merchant Cash Advance is preferred over a traditional bank loan because payment of the obligation is directly tied to the merchant’s revenue. In this way, the Merchant Cash Advance Vendor only gets paid when the business gets paid.

• It provides business owners with the capital to fund marketing and advertising campaigns, purchase equipment, train employees andor attend industry seminars, which they might otherwise not be able to do.

First steps: choosing the business

When I was thinking about starting an internet business there were a few things that were must have requirements.

The first one was that I needed to be able to get the business to profitability for less than 1600 (100). In practice each site has cost more than that when you figure in the marketing costs needed to get it off the ground quickly. The silk tie retailing site was set up for less than 300 but when you factor in marketing spend, then I have spent almost 800 per month on marketing, mostly Google Adwords and Overture. It is only after month three that I have got close to breaking even. Anyway, near enough and if you are more patient and make less costly mistakes than me then you should be able to do it for less.

Secondly. The business had to need as little manual work as possible. I am after a business that I can start working part time and as am a management consultant and sell my time by the hour, for me time really is money. I am also not keen on hiring people if I can avoid it. The internet has the potential to offer some really virtual businesses and I wanted to use this. For this reason as well as start-up costs this means that I do not want to stock or handle any products. I do a lot of supply chain consulting work so it was obvious to me that I could have a business that used other companies to buy, store and deliver the products. The easiest way to do this is by using dropshipping. Dropshippers are wholesalers that ship individual customer orders direct to your customers.

There is a lot of information on dropshipping online, however it has to be said that there are some terrible dropshipping companies where prices are too high or products too common to successful. Typical of these is thSelect which charges a fee to join, but once you join you find that the prices are often higher than they are being sold for on eBay and are widely sold with lots of competition. It is very hard to make good money from these sort of dropshippers. There are however some good companies out there with niche products where achievable margins are good.

The third requirement was that the business needed to have the potential to generate at least 1k per month in profit. That way with a few web businesses it could become my full time job. I decided that I was not trying to start the next Amazon, instead I was after a good profitable niche. Something not too competitive and with no house-hold names as competitors. This means that I have not gone into electronics even though it is the area I know the best, it is a very competitive market online and were competition includes Amazon and Dixons. To be successful in electronics you either need to find a niche not served by the big boys or spend serious money to get established.

I then started searching for business ideas. I read the get rich quick newsletters, internet marketing newsletters, internet business forums and drop shipping websites. I searched for dropship suppliers then when I found a product that I thought might be promising, did a search for it and checked out the competition. If after that it still looked interesting then I did a keyword search on Google AdWords to find out how many clicks I could get and at what cost.

While doing this I came across some sites selling ready-made business websites. Essentially they provide a shop template, a catalogue and a supplier of stock and off you go. These sell for between 50 (80) and 500 (800). I wasted a fair bit of money with a couple of false starts. I bid on a lingerie web business template on eBay with a starting price of 99; my wife was a lingerie merchandiser for Marks & Spencers and so I though she could help, then I saw a gadgets website from the same people and thought I would get that and see if I could find a gadgets niche and bid for that too. Trouble was I then did some more research and found that lingerie was very competitive online and that the supplier I would be getting had a limited selection of very tarty undies at rather high prices. I also found that the gadget supplier was the Select and as I have already said they are overpriced. I then found the tie web business and decided this was a better niche where margins really are 60% and bought that one from DpbUK who have been very good. Unfortunately no one else bid on the two on eBay and I ended up winning them although I no longer wanted them. 300 wasted. Oops. So do your homework carefully before buying; look carefully at the sample sites and try and find some clues to the suppliers, check the competition out and make sure the margins are high enough.

There are many differences that separate the winners in business and life from those who are struggling and falling by the wayside.

One big difference is how they handle failure. Successful entrepreneurs have a positive mindset around the experience of failure.

When they fail, they look at it as a result. They took “x” steps and produced “y” result. “Y” didn’t work, so it’s back to the drawing board to change the formula and try again.

Many new business owners don’t make it out of the gate because as soon as they fail, they figure, “Who am I kidding? I knew it wouldn’t work” and then quit!

If everyone had that mindset, we wouldn’t have electricity, airplanes, vaccines … actually, we’d have pretty much nothing!

Every single success in this world was preceded by one, two — a thousand failures!

Babe Ruth set a record for the most home runs. Did you know he also had the record for the most strikeouts?

Thomas Edison failed more than a thousand times before he perfected the light bulb.

If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing yourself enough. You are remaining in your comfort zone and cannot expect to reach the level of success you’re capable of.

Failure is what allows you to learn and grow. If you quit as soon as you meet with failure, you will always remain exactly where you are.

Albert Einstein once said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.”

And, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

What these statements teach is, in order to overcome failure, you must think differently and act differently. It is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary!

You might have to seek out guidance from someone else who can offer the expertise you need. You may need to inject new perspectives and talent by forming a team around your project.

Fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles that hold new business owners back. Failure should not be feared, but embraced because a life lived in fear is a life half lived.

If you’re stuck and unable to move forward because of fear of failure or because you have failed in your previous attempt, bring someone else into the mix to offer support and guidance.

Tweak your plan and give it another go.

Engrave the words of the following masters into your mind and never, EVER give up.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. – Napoleon I

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller

2006 Laurie Hayes – The HBB Source

Would you like to accept credit card small business payments at your company or Website? More and more entrepreneurs are taking this route on the road to riches as they learn how to grow their business. Entering the technology age is neither difficult nor expensive, but you have to learn how to navigate the system by following a series of key steps that can put you ahead of the competition.

Becoming eligible to accept credit card small business dealings is as simple as opening a merchant services account. You just have to find a financial broker, often a bank or credit union, who will underwrite your account to make it secure. Many financial institutions are searching for small business owners that they can help to get started in this lucrative process. Do an Internet search to find the top few with reputable names or backgrounds. Compare their prices, options, and terms before choosing the one that seems best able to serve your companys interests and help you grow. Then apply online or by telephone to get the ball rolling. In a very short time you could be accepting credit payments while building undreamed of profitability.

After opening a merchant account, you will need to purchase or lease the right equipment that will let you accept credit card small business payments at your company or Internet site. For a physical location, you can buy a credit card processor or perhaps an e-check or debit processor for a few hundred pounds. Of course, you will need to consider set-up fees, maintenance fees, and any supplies (like electricity or printing paper) to support this equipment. Working with your underwriter, the fees may cost just 25 cents per transaction or 2% overall. It pays to shop for the best deal that works within your company budget. A wireless credit processor works great for employees who deliver goods to residential or business customers. You also might want to invest in a pager or a digital system.

Experts believe the most lucrative step of a merchant account is to set up a company Website to accept credit card small business transactions. A well-designed site that offers clear-cut information about your company and its services will keep customers coming back and through word of mouth or search engines, bring others along as well. Find out how to register a domain name and find a host site. Then your online store will be open to customers all over the world 247, ensuring that sales and profits trickle in on a regular basis. It may take some time to get the word out via the Internet, but in a matter of months with a little bit of promotion you could see significant returns on your investment.

Dont let this excellent opportunity pass you buy. Find out more about how you can open a merchant services account, start accepting credit payments, and perhaps set up a business Website to make your presence known throughout cyberspace. Your income may multiply when you learn how to accept credit card small business payments.

When you are shopping for motor traders insurance, you must really make it a priority to shop around, in order to find the lowest prices you are looking for on your insurance policy. Just like any other insurance premium, if you are looking to save, and still find the best motor traders insurance, you are going to have to shop around for it. So, before you decide on which insurance company to go with for your motor traders insurance, you really want to take the time to get many quotes, in order for you to find the savings you are looking to find, and in order to still get the lowest rates for the motor traders insurance policy you decide to buy.

When you are shopping for the best rates, since there are so many companies for you to choose from, you really have to make sure that you shop with all of them, and do not settle with a company. You really want to find the best motor traders insurance, and for this reason you are going to have to take the time to find it. With so many companies out there, you are really in control of the prices you are going to find, and the savings you can get. The more willing you are to get quotes on your policy, the more money you are going to be able to save on your overall motor traders insurance prices. So, make sure that you really take the time to do the work, and find the insurance policy which is best for you, and suits your needs.

There is no need to settle with a policy because you do not think you can find a lower rate. Make sure to shop around, and you are going to be surprised at the savings you can find on your motor traders insurance.

Factoring is becoming a popular yet not so well known tool in the arena of small business. It is an important way of keeping cash flowing through the business when invoices are delayed or accounts receivable are higher than the money in hand. Basically factoring helps you get cash for your business without having that time delay from the time you issue an invoice. They also provide you with collection services and sales ledgers that can be helpful as well. If you are a small business owner, then you should consider this guide to small business factoring as a way to fund your business month to month.

How does factoring work? It is easy and yet complicated all at the same time. The factor will generally manage your sales ledger for you while also providing you with colletion services for all outstanding invoices. Typically you will be loaned 80% to 90% of the total amount of the invoice. You will generally receive the money within 24 hours of agreeing to the services of the factor.

Factoring for a small business does cost money, though. Usually there are a couple of different costs you have to consider. A service chare will usually cover the management of your sales and collections. The other charge is a percentage of sales factored as well as an interest charge of some sort on the cash advance the factor is giving you. The interest rates, obviously, will depend on your companys credit, the credit of the invoiced companies, and the institution you factor through.

No guide to small business factoring would be complete without telling you want to look for in a factoring company. Obviously you should look for a stable financial institution that will be able to support the business. You should also look for good terms and a company you are comfortable working with since there will be plenty of interaction. Finally, you may want to consider a company that will give you internet access to your accounts. You can easily track the ledger, sales, collections, and your factored amounts that way.

It is also important to understand that no two factoring companies are completely alike. While much of what this guide to small business factoring has explained is typical, there are exceptions to most every situation. The best thing you can do for your business with regards to factoring is research the companies you are considering. Think about what you need and what you want and what everyone is offering you.

A guide to small business factoring can never be complete. There are too many ins and outs when it comes to almost any financial transaction. There are also a number of variables involved like current interest rates, your credit rating, reliability of your invoiced companies, and many other things as well. Before you ever agree to a factoring relationship, make sure you understand all terms as well as how long the contract is for and what renewal terms are. Protect yourself and do your homework and you can use factoring as a way to keep your cash flowing.