All posts in Business

Business Ideas Wood Crafts And Personalized Wooden Signs

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More and more families today look for an additional means to get an extra income for their needs. Many people became successful when they started their own business. Being successful in the business world means we can have various ideas to choose from. We can start a food business, a wood-working and design business, wood crafts, flower shop, bars or pub business, personalized wooden signs and many more.

If we want to focus into wood craft, we can choose whether we want to create gift items, art decorations, home fixtures and design, or personalized wooden signs. Wood craft had brought success to many people. Their talents, as well as their imagination, can be showcased in creating those beautiful wood crafts and personalized items. Those talents often allow an individual to create beautiful crafts.

With genuine ideas, we can create wooden address plaques, bar signs, pub signs, personalized bar signs, and a lot more. It will also help us develop a sense of creativity on the things that we do. We simply need to maintain a high spirit and dedication on the things that we do that way the business can become competitive. We can get a lot of prospective buyers if we would like to start a wood craft business because people nowadays choose those things that are organic.

We could also join some organization or clubs that can help enhance the potentials and capabilities of the staff in managing the small business. Many entrepreneurs became successful in wood craft business because they often create their products based on the latest trend or season. There are instances wherein we become too impulsive as soon as we see an item that we like. Many people buy decorations for almost any season. A custom-made website is a must for any business that way the products can be posted online. The presence of a website can give a big difference if we want to attract more customers.

It is extremely vital for us to create crafts based on the season. Almost every home have new ornaments during the holidays. In that concern, we should create more products for the holidays such as personalized wooden frames, holiday decorations, and personalized wooden signs. We can create so many things out of wood or other organic materials. Be creative in the design that way people will buy them

The Most Common Reasons For Business Success And Failure

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Bad/good decisions making
This is the most common reason why business fail as just one bad decision can be a reason for you business failure or success. Decision making is one of the most wanted skills in business and you can learn how to make good business decisions. There are many books written on this topic if you want to improve your decision making skills. Tips on decision making: when making decision do not rush, take some time with every decision and try to analyze advantages and disadvantages of your decision. In beginning this process will take more time but wit a little exercise you will become better.

2) Lack of business experience
You can be the best tradesman in your trade but if you lack some basic business skills you basically have two options: improve your business skills or find some employment. Being in business requires you to have great communication skills, selling skills, some accounting skills, some understanding in general laws and to be passionate about your product or service. This can be learned and the best advice here is to find a good accountant and create a long term relationship with him/her.

3) Compliance and legal issues
If you are running your business without any records you are not compliant and it is just a matter of time until your business will be forced to close. Even worse case could be that you are in some kind of illegal business activity or scheme. Be very careful with some offshore schemes and investing in tax havens as this may be illegal.

4) Bad cash management
Even if you are ticking all the boxes in your business and your business is growing you have to monitor your cash flow daily and use some cash flow tools and have proper cash budget. Remember profit is not the same as cash. Your business may be profitable but without cash you will be forced to borrow or to close down.

6) Competition and market
Always keep your eye on your competition and compare prices. If your competition is selling the same kind of product or service for half the price you do not have any other options than to match them. If you competition is improving their product or service you have to do the same. Not monitoring your market and competitors or not knowing who they are can be fatal. More unique your product/service is less competition you will have.

7) Risk controls
You should know what your biggest risks are and how to prevent them happening. Usually some kind of insurance must be in place. So e.g. the biggest risk for a farmer may be a drought so measures taken may be to ensure there is enough water in the drought season and the crops are insured against loss.

8) No controls or records
Nor having records also means that the business owner does not have any controls on his/her business as it is impossible to make a good business decisions which also bring us to the most common reason for business failure bad decision making.

9) X-factor
It is impossible to predict all the situations possible and sometime we have to expect some unexpected events such as e.g. malfunction of equipment, natural disasters or maybe alien attack!? Therefore it is a must to have some reserves and cash savings in such moments in order to continue business operations as usual.

10) Lack of trade knowledge
Market is dynamic and you should follow and be ready to learn new skills. More skills you have more competitive advantage you have over your competition.

11) Attitude to succeed
Believe in yourself and your products and services and you will succeed. If you expect success you will succeeds or if you think that you are not good enough in what you do your failure is guaranteed.

12) View for a profit
Business is an activity with a view to a profit so if you do not like or want profits than do not have business but a hobby. If you make good profits you will be able to help others in need.

13) Outdated product/service
Example: If you are in business of selling DVDs you should start thinking about switching to Blue Rays as DVDs will be outdated in only few years.

14) Change in laws and policies
Sometimes changes in government policies can cause some businesses to close such as e.g. in Australia government has prohibited use of pop up sprinklers for lawns. Also another example can be that some professions will have to have licenses or additional training.

15) No vision
Your business vision should be formulated and written on paper. Your vision should be clear and without any doubts. If your business has two or three completely different activities this is an obvious example of lack of vision.

16) No succession planning
What happens when a business owner decides to retire or wants to sell his/her business? In order to ensure business succession you should engage professional accountant, financial planner or lawyer for expert help.

17) Fraud
Fraud can be a cause of business failure if not detected on time and if no safeguards were implemented in the business. Assets, business records, procedures, passwords should be safeguarded by implementing relevant policies and procedures. If you engage auditors to audit your financial statements they will detect possible risks and any fraud.

Government Business Financing In Canada Canadian Govt Loans Deliver

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Government business financing in Canada – While many entrepreneurs have heard of Canadian govt loans they have not fully understood his business finance offering. Let’s ‘ unbox ‘ the program and discuss the merits and applicability of this loan to your business – and that applies to start ups, franchises… in fact any business tha is under the pre-requisite 5 Million in revenues. Let’s dig in

Established by the federal gov’t many years ago the Small Business Financing program is dedicated to helping new , young, and growing businesses access the financing they might otherwise not receive.

The uniqueness of loan is that the majority of the loan is ‘ guaranteed’ to Canadian banks which offer the financing. At the end of the day it’s the govt commitment to encourage Canadian banks to lend to new and smaller businesses. Naturally one of he benefits to the government is the overall economic stimulus in employment, taxes, etc.

In recent years upwards of 7000++ businesses access the loan annually – for billions of dollars. The accessibility of the loan is augmented by the fact that Canadian ‘ bricks and mortar’ branches are on every main street in Canada. (Truth be told the challenge is not finding the right bank, it’s finding the right banker).

The ability to get approved for a govt small business loan in Canada provides realistic access to capital for businesses who otherwise cannot qualify for ‘ traditional ‘ loans. Yet the actual offering of the program is just that – a traditional term loan at attractive rates, great amortizations, and even the ability to pre-pay without penalty.

Many businesses who utilize the loan are either new, or in some cases purchases of businesses, including the very popular ‘ franchise ‘ segment.

The requirements of the loan are pretty basic – the owner must have reasonable good personal credit history, and must be able to contribute a minimum of 10% or more of permanent capital to the financing in question. The loan can only be used to finance 3 separate asset categories – equipment, leasehold improvements, and real estate. (The latter, real estate is rarely used in our experience as commercial mtges are more suited to this type of finance need).

As important to understand what the loan does to is what it doesn’t offer. You cannot use proceeds to refinance existing loans or for working capital/line of credit needs.

Other key aspects of getting approved include a good business plan, a cash flow forecast, and basic info on your business location, previous business experience, etc.

If you’re looking to ‘ unbox ‘ government business financing in Canada seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist in making Canadian govt loans a realistic part of your new or existing business venture.

Stan Prokop

Network Marketing 7 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Building A Successful Home Based Business

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If the network marketing business is so good then why 90 percent of the people see the opportunity but fail in it? The business idea of building a large organization is so simple yet not easy to accomplish.

In this article, we look at the 7 common mistakes to avoid when building a successful home based business.

1) I must find the Super Salesman / I must become the Super Salesman.
Many of us view the MLM business as a numbers game but a successful network marketing business builder looks at both quantity and quality of people. There is no doubt that sponsoring is the foundation of building a large organization. However, as concerned as we are about the numbers in our team, we would rather be sponsoring five teachers than five salesmen.

You see, we are not dismissing the fact that salesmen can be a great asset to your team. Sure, the salesman will automatically do very well in selling the high quality products your company offers. They are able to put together their own presentation and sell effectively to people around them.

However, we do not want to tell our people how to sell, we want to teach our people how to sponsor and teach to build a large organization. Likewise, if you are a sales person yourself or you have people who are sales oriented in your network marketing team, teach them how to sponsor and teach to build a sustainable organization.

It can be difficult because if for example, you tell your super salesman that you need to sponsor people to make the larger amounts of income, what will they do? They will go out there and sponsor 3 to 4 people a week. This is great isn’t it? However, you may then notice that people are dropping out as fast as they join your team. This is because you are not working with them effectively. Sooner or later, your super salesman will be discouraged by the high leaving rate and leave the organization as well.

In order to avoid this, our organization has to be built on the strong foundation by TEACHING OTHERS to sponsor and teaching them to teach others to do the same.

2) I need to sponsor the whole world to be successful.
The Super Salesman can sponsor 100 people in a short period of time but most (or sometimes all) of them will drop out of the business. Now, which do you feel you could do more quickly — sponsor 100 people yourself? Or sponsor 5 people who are serious and teach them how to teach their 5 to do the same?

The network marketing business concept works on the idea of LEVERAGE. There is absolutely no need to sponsor the whole world to be successful. Concentrate on working with five in your team and teach them also to work with their five and so on.

3) I only need to bring in one other person.
Most people think that you have duplicated yourself once you brought one other person into your organization. This is NOT true. The concept of true duplication only comes about when you have built your organization THREE LEVELS DEEP.

Take the example you sponsor ‘A’. If you leave and because you did not teach ‘A’ and he does not know what to do, that’s the end it. On the contrary, if you DO teach ‘A’ to sponsor ‘B’, ‘A’ will know what to do even if you go away from the organization. However, if ‘A’ does not know how to teach ‘B’ to sponsor, then again the structure will collapse and that’s the end of it too.

Therefore, in a team, it is imperative to teach ‘A’ how to teach ‘B’ how to sponsor ‘C’. Now, you are THREE DEEP and have successfully duplicated yourself. And the same goes for ‘A’, he or she has to build three levels deep as well to keep your team sustainable.

What Are The Financial Benefits Of Starting An Online Business

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What Are the Financial Benefits of Starting an Online Business?

It is all over the news and if you have missed it, the rock you have been under is larger than Texas. The economic downturn has affected all of us, some more than others through. In today’s tough economy people are looking for more financial benefits by starting an online business. Many people start looking for two reasons; they lost their job and are looking for a way to make a living or they are working on a Plan B. Plan B is your back up plan when Plan A does not deliver or is no longer a viable option. In this article we are going to go into a few benefits of starting an online business.

Cost Factor

The first thing that comes to anyone’s mind when starting a business is the start up costs. What is great about an online home business is saving the time and money looking for a place to run your business. Many people may already have a spare bedroom or an office area that they could do a lot of this work. You will want to consider though that you will also need a domain name and website to get started.

How Much Will You Need?

That is a very good question that I get asked a lot by people starting out. This cannot be answered with a certain number because there are many different opportunities and business ventures. There are opportunities that you could sell products or services, or be more of a consultant. Products just like consulting packages could not only keep you very busy but could bring tremendous profits. Although you could do a little of both, remember many times with a product you have to make an investment in inventory. I have seen initial investments from $50 to tens of thousands of dollars; it is really up to you.

What Else is Needed?

I am going to let you in on a little secret that many people want you to think otherwise about; when you start an online business it really takes more time than money. One great example of this is article marketing, although one of the most popular strategies it takes a good amount of time. Article marketing is when you write an article on a specific subject to submit it to many different article directories. As other people read your article there are links you can add which drive people back to your site.

Are There Other Ways?

Article marketing is just one of the many ways you can market your business online. You may not be a very good writer, but there are ways to promote videos or do some paid advertising that has quicker results. As with any online business venture I can only strongly recommend you have your won blog. Not real sure what a blog is? Then you need to read my article called “Can a Blog Make You Money Online?” This will help you understand a little bit more about blogging. A blog will attract an endless amount of followers in which you can market to as long as you provide valuable content on a consistent basis.

Once Was a Pipe Dream

Before the internet came to be building your own business could be what some call a “pipe dream.” With the power of the internet and you being able to leverage it, it is no longer a pipe dream. If you are willing to invest more time than money, have the mindset that you can learn something new, you too can have a prosperous online business.

I have found many financial benefits from my online business. From tax write-offs, lower clothing allowances, and lower fuel costs for my car. Besides the financial benefits, I also feel healthier because I no longer have the stress I once had working 70+ hours a week.