Jumpstart Your Business

10 Good Reasons for Starting Up a Small Business Now

March 26, 2012

Why are so many people afraid to start their own business? Is it due to the economic crisis the world is currently experiencing or the fear of failure? Whatever the answers may be, there are thousands of people who fear making that step to starting up a business which is why they continue to suffer in their 9-5 jobs. The truth is, starting up a business can be one of the best decisions you ever make in your life. There are so many benefits that can come from owning your own business but you may never know until you take that step! That’s why I’m here, to help you make that step by providing you with 10 good reasons why you should start up your small business now!

1. Time Flexibility. One of the major incentives to starting up a business now is the fact that you can work on your own time. This is especially so if your business is home based or a virtual one. That means saying goodbye to that 9-5 job! If you consider yourself a morning person or feel you are most productive in the evenings, you can make your own work schedule to suit your needs and this can be supplemented by your employees that you will hire for operations which leads me to my next point.

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5 Must Do Steps To Grow Your Small Business

March 19, 2012

Struggling with how to grow your business? Perhaps you’re not thinking big enough. Here are 5 steps to grow your company to several times its current size.

photo credit: mikecogh

1. Look at financing alternatives.
As an entrepreneur, you need easy access to small business loans through banks, angel investors and other financing sources. You should also consider partnering with a larger organization that is seeking a small innovative partner like you.

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The Ten Commandments According To Twitter

March 17, 2012

“And Twitter spoke all these words, saying:

I am Twitter thy Social Media site and thou shalt place no other sites before me.
Thou shalt not make a replica of me either in real space or in virtual space.
Thou shalt not use my name in vain
Keep the seventh tweet meaningless. Use six tweets to explain all your meaning.
Honor thy mother, Microsoft and thy father, Google .
Thou shalt not destroy tweets
Thou shalt not commit adultery with Facebook
Thou shalt not steal tweets.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against other tweeters.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s content, not his tweets, nor messages, nor blog posts.

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5 Critical Steps To Win Back A Lost Customer

March 16, 2012

I saw this article in the March 16, 2012 issue of Inc written by Geoffrey James on what do you do when you lose your biggest customer, and I had to pass it along to my readership. He broke it down into 5 steps that you need to take to win that customer back.

photo credit: andertoons

Here are the 5 steps:

1. Get Out of Denial
Do not assume you know what actually happened. If you ask buyers why they switched vendors, the reason is usually either “bad customer service” or “poor quality.”

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Wanting To Start A Food Cart

March 13, 2012

Firstly, if you’re not experienced in the food cart business, my advice is that you work in one for the next six months or so doing everything from busing tables and washing dishes to waiting tables and cooking if they’ll allow you and if you have the skills. This will give you some of the work experience that you’ll need to understand and run a food-cart profitably.

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The Case for Humor In Small Business

March 6, 2012

Kevin Daum wrote in the Monday March 5th edition of Inc. that there are three powerful reasons why using humor attracts customers and helps communication. I thought this very relevant to small businesses especially since there is more chance for one-on-one interactions. Here are the reasons as stated by Kevin:

photo credit: Gwydion M. Williams

Humor establishes rapport – Almost all people love to laugh. Non-offensive jokes can easily establish likeability and trust. A joke related to a difficult situation can disarm a prospect or client when delivering “tough medicine.”

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22 Days of Kindness Made This Small Business More Profitable.

March 4, 2012

I saw this article in Forbes on Saturday March 3rd, 2012 and had to write about it.

The author, Natalie Peace is the owner of several Booster Juice businesses and she initiated a campaign called ‘22 Days of Kindness’ at these businesses. She paid all 50 of her staff members to do shifts where their only duty was to perform random acts of kindness: giving flowers to strangers, washing windows for neighbouring businesses, and generally going out of their way to brighten someone’s day.

According to the Author: Why 22 days? Because they say it takes 21 days to create a habit. The 22nd day is just icing on the cake.

I challenge all small business owners to try this strategy. It will pay off handsomely as it did for her.

For the complete story please go here

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Looking To Start Your Own Business? 10 Questions to Consider Before Investing A Dime.

February 24, 2012

Thinking about starting your own business? Well here is the perfect book for you.

In Starting Your Own Business? 10 Questions to Consider Before Investing A Dime you’ll discover that the author has been blessed with the ability to cut to the chase – the book is written with a “straight from the shoulder” approach in a way that is sobering and yet energizing. Learn if you “have what it takes” to be your own boss!

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