Small Business Grants - Business Grants - Government Grants for Small Business
By: Matthew Lesko

Why Is the Government Willing To Offer Grants for Small Business?

Are you an entrepreneur who is in need of a business or small business grant? Do you feel that you are motivated and experienced enough to start a business of your own? Are you in need of free money to begin a business but haven't got a clue as to where to start? You don't need to look any further; there is hope for your small business. As an incentive to small business owners, the united States government allots millions of dollars in government grant money to help small businesses to develop and grow.

There are millions that are unclaimed every year resulting from a lack of knowledge regarding grants from the government. Thanks to Matthew Lesko, there is more information out there about ways you can obtain free government grant money for small businesses, living expenses, college, and more. Matthew Lesko is the author of several books to educate and train individuals just like you on the way to receive small business grants from the United States government. An average individual may feel a little skeptical of any chance to get free government money and will likely want to ask at least some of these questions: What's the drawback to getting a small business grant? What exactly does the government get out of making an investment in small businesses? What can I do in order to obtain more general information and tips about small business grants?

The United States government does not give out federal money for beginning small businesses. The SBA, or Small Business Administration is a Federal government agency who advocates, supports, provides resources, and protects the interests of small business issues. The federal government has left it up to individual states to issue funding through state grants to help small businesses to develop. Small businesses are extremely important to the economic stability of the U.S.. With this in mind, the Small Business Administration has a mission to invest both funding and time into assisting entrepreneurs so they can start, build, and grow small businesses. Giving support to a new business by providing a small business grant is a small gesture when the economic improvement and growth of America plays a role. It's said that 50% of all small businesses aren't going to make it past their first year. Why aren't small businesses more successful? Not enough funding and a lack of experience are a couple of the more familiar reasons as to why small businesses fail in the first year.

Why does the government give out small business grants to assist entrepreneurs and the self employed with start up costs if small businesses have such a high failure rate? Why exactly does the U.S. government have an interest in small and personal businesses? Small businesses are likely to represent 95% of all employers in the US. Furthermore, they produce 50 percent of the gross domestic product of the country. Small business grants are given to small business owners in order to encourage and promote growth in the economy. Three quarters of all new American jobs are offered by small businesses. If you're an entrepreneur, the U.S. government provides grants in order to help your business succeed and be profitable. If you need some help finding more information on grants for small businesses, it would be a great advantage to hear about what Matthew Lesko has to say about free money that may be available that will help your business to grow and develop.

His research and study shows that more than a million small business owners are awarded small business grants each and every year. These grants might be available by way of the local government of your specific state. It's important to keep in mind, that by assisting these small businesses to flourish and grow, the United States economy will grow too. Small business grants are an incentive to business owners and to the country's economy as a whole. The more small businesses that are started, the more employment will be created.

In order to preserve small business development and progression, the government will help by providing small business grants as well as additional resources that are needed for a business to thrive and flourish. About the Author: Learn how to get Small Business Grants! Matthew Lesko.com can show you ways to get available funding, regardless of your company's income, credit or age! Look at this web site for a totally free preview: http://www.matthewlesko.com/ now! For more information and recommendations about Small Business Grants, click here.Mr. Lesko is a writer that has written and published numerous books on how to get government grants for things like housing, bills and college. He can show you how with information on small business grantsat http://www.matthew-lesko.com./

Small Business Rewards - Luck Or Hard Labour?
By: Ove Nordkvist

You're seeking for the best small business ideas. You really want to make it as your own boss! Everyday you see all of these opportunities that offer a chance to escape your boring 9 to 5 life.

Are they for real? First of all, to realize any small business ideas business, takes a combination of perspiration and inspiration. If the opportunity promise you a viable small business, without much effort and a small investment, it's not for real.If anyone had a secret like that, I don't think he would sell it cheap to thousands of competitors. I would for sure not. The idea of paying a few bucks and then make thousands with very little effort is just a fairytale. It's in other words just a scam.

They push all the right buttons, they ask if you're overworked, underpaid, want to make big money from home in your underwear. When you come across those "promising" small business ideas, you must put your filter function on. Here are a few things that should alarm your filter device: Time limited offers "only today", "buy now before price goes up", "half price for the first 100 customers" and so on.The offer is including a lot of extra bonus gifts. Do you really want and need the bonuses? Are they of any real value?

The next thing to unrest your warning system is when they present a compelling life story. They show you pictures of people who have the lifestyle you desire. Big fancy houses and cars. This is supposed to appeal to your emotions. It will make you want to become a multi millionaire, just as the people at the pictures.

They offer to share the secrets of wealth, not for free, but it'll only cost you a few bucks. And if you're searching for a easy way to make money, you may be happy to give it a try. Put your scam radar on when the small business ideas, are presented with facts and figures. Some sales material will contain what you will be lead to believe real examples of earnings from the particular program. These examples are easy to doctor through image editing programs.

Notice that any sales page that contains "actual" facts or earning income figures will also carry disclaimers that "the results represented here are not typical", or some other type of legal material to keep the seller out of problems.The best way to protect yourself is by :

1. Take your time, don't rush into your small business ideas.
2. Do a check on the Net, search for the product/course/idea. Evaluate what other people have to say about it.
3. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Ove Nordkvist have created the web site small-biz-ideas.net Click here, to find small At Ove Nordkvist web site small-biz-ideas.net You'll find small business ideas, useful tools, free downloads, informative and motivational articles. Subscribe to Ove's small business newsletter here!

Small Business Secret #5: Choose Your Customers Carefully They Are What Can Make Or Break You
By: Chris Le Roy

When you start out in small business pretty much every small business owner has the perception that everybody is their customer. In fact taking on this strategy can be the death knell of your business before you really get started.

The key secret to small business is to carefully choose who you want to be a customer. Do not get trapped into believing that you have to have everyone as your customer.There are many reasons why you want to choose your customers, rather than they choosing you. One of the key reasons is money.

Having too many companies that do not pay you within an acceptable period of time can in fact put such a financial burden on your business that they can bankrupt your business. Let me explain …I had a number of government clients a few years ago which had a policy of choosing when and if they were going to pay. These government clients used purchase orders to buy training from our company, but just because they could, they decided that they did not want to pay because the whole purchase order had not been completed. So even though one person out of 15 had not completed their training and had been sent overseas, they chose that they were not going to pay the $14,000 bill. Fourteen thousand dollars to any small business is a massive amount, add onto the fact that we had to outlay money for these courses including wages, catering and manuals.

The consequence of this organization deciding not to pay put a huge financial burden on my business. I should note that this client was not dissatisfied with our training, which was far from the truth, the person in charge simply decided that they were not going to pay. Some government bureaucrats and large corporation managers do this just to show that they have power.Anyway, after 9 months we did finally get paid, however, that training actually cost us more than $14,000 by the time we accrued things like penalty payments on products we purchased and interest plus legal fees in recovering the money.

In the end I learnt a very important lesson that you need to be very careful as to whom your customers are because they can do a huge amount of damage to your cash flow and can put you into huge debt just to survive.Let me give you another example of a family member who recently experienced the same situation …Certain members of my family decided they wanted to try their hand at the trucking industry. They purchased a truck and got into a contract with a large freight distribution company.

Essentially, they ran into trouble within the first few months of starting their business, simply because they chose to have just one client and the contract they entered into with this client allowed the freight company to withhold payments for upto 3 months before they got paid. This has cause this family a lot of problems because without cash, you can not run your trucks cause you need to fill up on Diesel. Not being paid for over 90 days means you can not buy fuel and as such you can not make money.

The one thing I have learnt from small business is that I like customers who pay cash upfront before the service or product is taken out of your store. I also prefer customers who have a reasonable expectation on service.

You would think a car cleaning business would be a relatively simple business to run with very few complaints. I kid you not; this is a nightmare industry where some people have some unreal expectations so when we are on a recruitment drive for new customers we choose customers who have four facets -

1. Want Regular Cleans

2. Have kept their cars relatively well cared for

3. The cars are no older than 6 years old

4. They pay cash upfront

In fact, when it comes to our car cleaning business, or all of our businesses we actually interview our customers before we enroll them as our clients.

Here is the reason why we have chosen those customers above for our car cleaning business. Any business where you get repeat business is always a boon, because the long term customer value is always more than somebody who just wants it cleaned once. One thing we have learned about our customers is that those who want to get a regular clean have more realistic expectations than those who only get their cars done once or every now and again.Customers who keep their cars relatively well cared for means the amount of work to maintain it is much less than those who do not and it means less work on our behalf and better profit. The third facet, we like cars that are no older than 6 years old. Cars that are older than this usually have a poorer paint quality, simply because the paint has faded and most people when they get a car detail think their car is going to look brand new and if your paint work is terrible well there realistically is not much we can do cause car detailers do not respray cars or do that sort of paint work. We can only work with what we have. The fourth facet is they pay cash upfront.

In small business, cashflow is everything. Without cash you cannot pay your bills. If you have a good solid cashflow then you will be making a profit. A small business without cash will be placed into receivership very quickly.Look the bottom line is that small business is really hard and to make it easier you need to choose customers that have the following facets:

1. Pay Cash Upfront or By the Due Date

2. Have Realistic Expectations of your products and services

3. Want to Buy From You Regularly

If you have customers that have these facets then you have a good chance of surviving small business. The mix of customers you have is something that you have to manage and review on a regular basis to ensure that you do not build a customer base with to many customers without all of these facets.

Would you like to learn more on developing your own Small Business or how to implement the Thirteen Secret Steps all millionaires know in the path to becoming an obscenely wealth and a successful person. Then find out how with a copy of our Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill and our audio package. Check out our Meditation Music to help you master this important program and to get some relaxation.

Facts About Small Business

by: Jonathon Hardcastle

Everyone agrees on a broad level that small businesses are vital to the American economy. However, most people would be surprised to know just how important.

The United States Small Business Administration keeps records and statistics on small business in the United States and some of their findings are surprising. First, the typical perception of a small business as a mom and pop operation with just a few, if any, employees is not the entire picture.

The Small Business Administration defines a small business as an independently business with less than 500 employees. There are an estimated 23 million businesses in the United States that meet that classification. In some smaller towns in the United States, these businesses represent a major source of employment. In fact, small businesses as defined by the Small Business Administration represent 99.7 percent of all the employers in the country and employ half of all private sector employees. More than 45% of the private sector payroll is generated by small business. Over the last decade small businesses have accounted for 60 to 80% of all new jobs created on an annual basis. Although a large percentage of small businesses are in the retail and service sectors, small businesses are rapidly making gains in the technology sector. 41% of high tech workers like engineers, scientists and computer programmers are employed by small businesses.

Employees at small businesses produce 13 to 14 times more patents than those employed by larger companies. The Small Business Administration also offers some interesting observations on small business survival. Two-thirds of small businesses survive for at least two years declining to 44% after four years. Most of the factors that support a small business surviving are well known, such as access to capital and owner's education level. However, a lesser known factor in small business survival is that the business is large enough to have employees. Similarly, barriers to starting a small business include lack of access to start-up capital and lack of education.

However, the number one barrier to small business start up and a primary concern of existing small business owners is access to private health insurance. Individual health insurance for sole proprietors is much more expensive than receiving coverage through an employer. If a small business owner is able to offer health insurance to its employees, the administrative and premium costs are often much higher than those for larger businesses.

Focus At Your Small Business Ideas

by: Ove Nordkvist

Do you have dreams about your own business? You have some thoughts about small business ideas, but you hesitate, you're not sure it will work? What if you could achieve anything you want by using your mind in the right way? Here are some words of advice to help you take control over your brain and mind, so you can succeed with your small business ideas. The most important thing you have to realize, is that you've constructed your current life situation. Do you struggle to make a living or have a successful relationship? The cold hard fact is that, either you're aware of it or not, you're causing your lack of success.

There is no such thing, as a victim of circumstances. Once you have become aware of the powerful effect of your thoughts and emotions. You will be the master of your circumstances and achieve whatever you want in your life. Your small business ideas will be successful.

The universal law of attraction states : -You attract what you focus on-. Or, what you focus on will expand. So literally, if you don't have the lifestyle, money or family situation you want, it's because of focusing at the wrong things. According to Quantum Physics, focusing actually causes changes in energy fields, that automatically produce a physical change in your surroundings. Don't focus on the problem! You have to focus on the solution and the outcome that you desire. The sad reality is that the majority of all people, focus on their fears, instead of what they want to accomplish.

A good example is : if you driving down the road and seeing a pothole. If you concentrate your focus at the pothole, with the intention to miss it, what happens? You'll hit it, sure as eggs are eggs. This applies in all areas of life. If you focus on your fears, you will make them a reality. Are you afraid about spending money on education in order to reach your goals? Do you think that you might throw away money that you may never see again? Are you living in a constant feeling of fear? As Sir Winston Churchill wisely said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Keep these words in mind when you realize your small business ideas. Keep your focus on realizing that you must have the proper tools and education to succeed. You would not try to build your own house without a good set of tools and a bit of construction knowledge. Focus on doing what it takes to succeed with your small business ideas. The key to success is : the more you focus on what you want, the more your goals will come trough, one after another.

Secrets Of Small Business Success
by: Christian Kameir

The real secret to small business success has nothing to do with technology tools, the internet or anything like that. In fact, it isn’t even a real secret. It has been around since man started to communicate. It’s WORDS! Words carry enormous power. They can make you laugh hysterically, or destroy a relationship or friendship. Words have more power in them than any other tool at your disposal. Effective use of words, especially in business, means skyrocketing sales, satisfied clients, happy employees, and a profitable and secure future. Yet, less than 1% of small entrepreneur businesses use words with full power.

The power of words can be learned and used effectively by anyone, and when this power is harnessed there’s nothing on this earth that can stop you. This art of using words is what is called copy writing. It makes or breaks your sales and advertising material. One of the ways an “amateur” copywriter who is writing for his own product or business can beat the experienced pro is by infusing the sales letter or ad with his own, honest, intense enthusiasm. When doing selling in print, enthusiasm is just as important as in face-to-face selling.

This is why you can’t just sit down and write an ad “on command”, like you can sit down and do bookkeeping. You have to work up some enthusiasm for the job and the proposition you’re putting across. If I’m going to write an ad or some other sales material the first thing in the morning, as I often do, I try to set my subconscious mind working on that job before I go to bed the night before.

Sometimes I wake up with the “big idea” that I need, other times I at least wake up with ideas and a readiness to write them and pick and choose. Don’t force yourself to “grind out” direct-response copy when you really don’t feel like it because the result will be flat and mechanical. It may be technically correct with a headline, subheads, bullet points, an offer, etc., but it will lack spirit and enthusiasm. The person who is genuinely enthusiastic about what he/she is selling definitely has an advantage.

That’s why the freelance pro copywriter should always download as much of the pitch from the product’s most enthusiastic salesperson as possible. Then transfer it to paper and shape and mold it to perfection. Over the years, the work I’ve done for clients and ad agencies has proven that the most successful work was for clients that were passionate and enthusiastic about what they sell. So before you tackle that next ad for your business, make sure you’re as enthusiastic about it as you want your clients to be.

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Left Holding the Bag in the Land of Fast Food

By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: February 20, 2007

FRANCHISE owners lie awake at night thinking about customers like Stephen Minnis.
Mr. Minnis, a 27-year-old from Limerick, Pa., ate at a Taco Bell in nearby Gilbertsville on Nov. 25, a few weeks after he got out of the Air Force. He said the chicken chalupa he ate nearly killed him.

“I was vomiting, had diarrhea, I was in so much pain,” said Mr. Minnis, who lost 30 pounds during the ordeal, which he said lasted nearly a month. “I thought I was going to die.”

Mr. Minnis’s illness was one of more than 400 confirmed or suspected cases of E. coli poisoning linked to Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast. About the same time, in a case that received far less attention, more than 80 people became sick after eating food contaminated with the same dangerous form of the E. coli bacteria at Taco John’s franchises in Iowa and Minnesota.

Bell is an enormous operation, with 5,800 restaurants nationwide, and its corporate image is honed by millions of dollars in television ads and marketing campaigns. But Taco Bell and chains like it are hardly monolithic. At their core they are a collection of much smaller businesses, franchises owned by individuals.

And while most of the focus after food-poisoning outbreaks is on the corporate parent, the hardship can be worse for those franchise owners. What can seem like a promising investment can turn sour quickly in a crisis.

“They stand to lose the most,” said Paul A. Argenti, a professor of corporate communications at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. “It’s unfortunate. They are suffering because of the problems that developed at the corporate level.” Both the Taco Bell and Taco John’s outbreaks were attributed by federal agencies to tainted lettuce in the supply chain.

Yum Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut and other chains in addition to Taco Bell, said last week that sales at all of its United States restaurants open for a year or more were down 2 percent in the fourth quarter, a period in which operating profits for its United States restaurants fell $19 million, compared with the same period a year earlier. Sales at Taco Bell were down 5 percent, with the third week of December, the middle of the outbreak, being the low point. The company said Taco Bell sales had begun to recover.

While the financial hit to the company was relatively mild, some individual restaurants suffered more serious blows. Taco Bell declined to provide specifics, other than to say that sales declines were more serious in the Northeast, where the outbreak occurred. Of the 90 stores that were temporarily closed, all but four were individually owned franchises.

Similarly, sales at Taco John’s in the Midwest fell after the outbreak, and the three owner-operated restaurants that served the tainted food had declines into the double digits, said Brian Dixon, vice president for marketing. “It was one of those unfortunate perfect storms,” he said. “The public and the media were sensitized after the Taco Bell incident.”

After such a crisis, being a franchise owner is both a blessing and a curse. While the franchise has the marketing clout and financial strength of the parent company to back it up, it is also largely dependent on the parent company’s public relations and advertising to lure customers back.

On top of all that, franchise owners may be liable for serving contaminated food. Some Taco Bell and Taco John’s franchises have been named in lawsuits on behalf of customers who were sickened.

“From a strict liability standpoint, the franchisee is on the hook,” said William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who is handling several of the cases, including Mr. Minnis’s.

No wonder then that Taco Bell and Taco John’s franchise owners have refused to talk about the E. coli outbreaks and their aftermaths. Attempts to contact the owners of the franchises involved in the outbreaks were unsuccessful. Company spokesmen said they were focused on restoring their businesses and didn’t want any more negative publicity.

It is too soon to say how the franchise owners for Taco Bell and Taco John’s weathered the E. coli outbreaks. Both parent companies were widely credited with responding quickly to the crisis. But as in other cases of food-borne illness, financial settlements seem likely.

Successful Ideas and Home Business Opportunities (Galina Samitova)

Can anyone be successful at working at home?

Could you ? Yes! ,Anyone can do this business!

Owning a business is the dream of many... starting that business converts your dreams into reality. However, there is a gap between dreams and reality. Your dreams can only be achieved with careful planning. As an entrepreneur, you will need a plan to avoid pitfalls, to achieve your goals and to build a profitable business

Many people seek out work at home jobs in order to stay with their children or because of an illness that keeps them from maintaining traditional employment. What goals do you want to achieve? And what amount of effort can you commit? You may want money for the extra things in life, money to build a corporate empire, or money to support yourself while you pursue the fine arts. Are you looking for financial security? For retirement, for education or leisure? Riches are the overflowing abundance of material possessions - houses, cars, boats, furnishings - everything you ever wantedAs a first and often overlooked step, ask yourself why you want to own your own business. Check the reasons that apply to you. Doing what you want when you want to do it. Improving your standard of living. Being your own boss. Moreover, the process of testing your ideas will help you determine the kinds of things to take into account when you´re creating a business concept. Eventually, your efforts will help lead you to an idea that has a solid chance of success

You may want personal independence from the work week, or freedom to live anywhere you want. You may be looking for something meaningful and significant in life - something other than things money can buy. Whatever your goals, and however difficult they seem to be to accomplish, you have the ability to become who you want. Take a look - can you see yourself surrounded by riches? The truth is that an online home based business is just like any other startup home based business, or any type of small business for that matter. An online home based business takes effort and work, especially in the beginning. So if you are thinking about starting an online home based business, be prepared to work and to work hard.

There is no need to quit your current job.You don't want to until you have at least doubled your present income,and you want need to run out and invest tens of thousands of dollars.Right now,all you'll need is the information available to make a decision and get started.

Fortunately, most home based businesses can be started with little or no cash, can be maintained on a shoestring budget, and can be operated successfully with only a part-time investment.

What will bring you happiness?

Five Things You Need To Remember Before Starting a Small Business (Chris Le Roy)

Everyone knows someone who has decided to go into small business but did you know that 70% of all small businesses fail within the first 12 months of operation. In some countries that failure rate is as high as 85 to 90%. Small Business is one of the toughest industries you can ever decide to take on and most people who go into small business go into it for the wrong reason.

I have started 4 small businesses over the last 10 years and every single one of them has been started from scratch and survived into a thriving business. Just recently I have decided to sell one of the businesses off cause it had done what I expected it to do which is the first issue you need to think about.

Issue 1. Have a Clear Understanding of What You Want To Achieve In Your Business

The majority of people, who actually go into business, go into it for the wrong reasons. Even I have been guilty of that. So what is this wrong reason, most people start a small business because they believe they can do a better job then their current boss. Maybe this is true, maybe it is not but what most people really want is better working conditions and better pay. No one can blame you for wanting that. If that is all you want, then I strongly suggest you stay away from small business.One of the key issues you must remember before evening thinking about starting a small business is this. Do you know what your business will look like? If you were walking down the street, how would you want to be found? What impression do you want to give to your clients? What clearly do you what to achieve in this business?

The second clear understanding you must have of your business is, when will you know when it is finished? When you have built what you want to achieve and more importantly, how will you get out?

See most people when they go into business have no exit strategy and that is one of the worst things you can do. Before you ever start a business, the first thing you must work out is how you are going to get out of the business.

Two years ago, I started a small car cleaning business. My wife and I both started it because she wanted to see if she could build a business. Our exit strategy was to sell the business once it was done. How we would sell it was something we were not sure of?

See we could have taken a number of approaches to this. Our exit strategy could have been to franchise the business, sell it to a single owner or to float it on the stock market. We chose that we only wanted to sell it to another owner, but we still built the business in such a way that there was still plenty of growth and opportunity in the business for the new owner, but we had removed the risk for them on how to run the business by clearly documenting everything they needed to do to run that business.

Before ever starting a business, always think about how you will exit the business, when you have achieved your objective for that business. If you do not have an exit strategy in mind, then you will never get out of the business.

Issue 2. Keep a Strict Schedule

Small business is consuming. Unlike in large corporations where you can hire many people to do a range of tasks, small business requires the small business owner to do many of the tasks themselves. Some of the tasks include doing your books, lodging trademarks, doing the ordering etc. Often when you start in small business, you can not afford to hire people to do these tasks.

What I have personally found is that if you do not keep a tight schedule and document your meetings and tasks you have to do then it will not take very long before you will be swamped by all the things you have to do in the business every day. It is this phenomenon that often leads small business owners to quit and fail in the first twelve months. Let me tell you this, the warning signs that this is starting is when you say to your wife on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that you are going down to the office to catch up on paperwork for a few hours. Once you get into this habit, you will never stop doing it and the business will consume you really quickly.

I strongly recommend all small business owners keep a diary. My preference is to use Microsoft Outlook, simply because it includes a calendar and you can make sure that each day you schedule your work plus your appointments to make sure you do not forget anything. If you do this, then you will find over time you can get through this plus you will learn how long it should take to do the various jobs that make up your business and whether it is worthwhile in getting someone to actually do those tasks for you.

Issue 3. Build Your Own Mastermind Group

I read a book a little while ago called Think and Grow Rich and is written by a gentleman called Napoleon Hill and he talks about the thirteen secrets to success and obscene wealth. One of the things that I learned both from this book and being a small business owner was that I needed a Mastermind Group.

The Mastermind Group is simply a group of professionals who can help me achieve my objectives for my business. Literally anyone can be part of your mastermind group and some of those would be people like a lawyer, an accountant and other people like your peers who can help you in building your business but it may also include people who are not in business as well to help you keep that balance. The Mastermind Group are really those people you turn to for advice and direction. You do not necessarily have to take their advice but a good mastermind group will allow you run through scenarios on what is happening and the potential outcomes.

Issue 4. Have one night when you do something on your own for you!

One of the big issues that I have had over the last ten years is that I have not been doing every single week is something on my own but I say that I am in the process of changing that. Often when you start in business, with the excitement of building your own business you get so consumed that you forget about a life outside of your business and your business becomes your life.

This is really not a good thing nor is it healthy. Even multi-billionaires do things for themselves outside of business. Look do not get me wrong, business is fantastic and fun and can be both enjoyable and a nightmare however there are other things out there outside of business.When you start a small business, do not neglect your sports, do not neglect doing something social, if you do, in the long run you will find that you business suffers. Plus, in small business it is very easy to become bitter and twisted but by maintaining those none business activities it will help you to balance your life.

Issue 5. Don't neglect Your Partner or your Family

I would love to see the divorce statistics for small business owner’s because I am quite sure that the divorce rate in small business would have to be about 70 or 80%. The majority of married couples (and I am talking about 90% of the small business people I Know) that I know who have gone into small business in their 30’s have actually been divorced within 18 months of them starting the business.

Look there are lots of reasons why this happens, but in a lot of the cases, the partner who has gone into business neglects their family and money gets tight. In the partners case it is not their fault it is simply because the person gets consumed into the business and they forget they have a life outside of the business.

If you have a family, make sure that you do at least one activity a week as a family. Whether it is having a family night at home such as a video night or games night, or even just going to the park to play once a week, make sure that you do it. PLUS, you must ensure that at least one night a week must be for just you and your partner. If you do not do that your marriage or relationship will suffer.

One thing I share with all the people who come through our training business is that if you want to go into business that is cool but you must be prepared to accept two things –

1. You must be prepared to start from scratch if your business does not workthat is you must be prepared to start with just the shirt on your back.

2. You must have 100% support of your partner and familyIf you cannot accept these two things, then do not go into business because too many people who I see that start on this journey fail and end up miserable and have such a downward spiral which leads them to doing something silly, like take up drinking, drugs or try to commit suicide. Remember, 70% of all small businesses fail within the first 12 months. If you were a betting man would you back something that only had a 30% chance of winning, not likely, yet people still go into small business.

The bottom line is this, small business can be the most awesome ride of your life, but it can be also the most difficult and when you choose to go into small business, take your time and plan what you want to achieve. Remember the old saying if your Fail to Plan, you Plan to Fail.

Would you like to learn more on how to implement the Thirteen Secret Steps all millionaires know in the path to becoming an obscenely wealth and successful person. Then find out how with a copy of our Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill and our audio package. Check out our Meditation Music to help you master this important program.

PEDAGANG KUE SUBUH

Pagi ini saya baca di harian Kompas yang memuat tentang pedagang kue-kue basah dan kering yang sering di juluki dengan pedagang kue subuh di daerah Pasar senen. Unik ya...di Jakarta yang metropolis dengan sarana dan prasarana serba canggih juga busway yang belum ada di kota-kota lain, ternyata masih menyimpan keunikan tersendiri, Jakarta yang sudah sarat dengan Mall-mall yang menyediakan kue-kue modern seperti burger, hotdog, kebab, crepes, donut kentang yang diproduksi oleh merk-merk terkenal seperti McDonald, kentucky, BreadTalks, J-Co dan masih banyak lagi yang lain, namun ternyata masih banyak juga warga Jakarta yang butuh kue-kue murah yang rata-rata seharga Rp. 400 yang bisa di beli di Pasar Kue subuh. Sementara bagi pedagang kue subuh ini, meski harga murah tapi mereka masih menangguk keuntungan gede lho, rata-rata para pembeli kue subuh membeli dengan jumlah sekitar 500-1000 potong kue per hari, bisa di bayangkan kalau 1 pedagang dalam semalam melayani 10 pembeli tinggal kalikan saja kan? Rata-rata pedagang kue subuh bisa memiliki keuntungan bersih 8jt - 16 jt per bulan..menggiurkan bukan?

JUALAN AIR TEBU

Selama saya tinggal di Surabaya dari tahun 2000 hingga sekarang pedagang kaki lima ini sangat ramai sekali dan tetap exist sampai saat ini. Sebagai pedagang kaki lima yang ada di pinggir jalan, namun kaki lima ini begitu ramai, bahkan saya pernah tanya ke salah satu penjual es tebu kaki lima ini, yang katanya udah jual es tebu selama 20 tahun, dan dia sekarang udah punya rumah bagus dan mobil empat yang semuanya di sewakan. Wih...menggiurkan juga ya..tapi, buru-buru si pemilik menambahkan "tapi ini juga hasil kerja keras yang lama lho, mas..tidak sekedar jualan dengan kaki lima tapi ada taktiknya juga..." dia tetap berpesan tidak ada semua datang dengan mudah, semua harus diawali dengan kerja keras, kesabaran dan tetap fokus pada usahanya. Meski berdagang dengan usaha kaki lima namun kalau di seriusi ternyata juga menghasilkan jangan takut untuk kerja keras karena dari situlah biasanya awal dari kesuksesan lahir. Jual air tebu kaki lima ini kalau saat musim panas menyengat itu, omzet per harinya bisa mencapai 1,5jt lho..??sebulan..?? wih..kaki lima? segitu?Ngiri kan?? berani coba??karena meski jual es tebu kaki lima namun juga di sertai dengan jual jajanan, ote-ote, mendoan, menjes, sate usus yang merupakan penyedap minum es tebu kaki lima ini. Kalau mau mencicipi datang dan nikmati aja di daerah Tenggilis deket Ubaya, Surabaya.

Pedagang Kaki Lima

Ternyata kalau diperhatikan banyak juga lho pedagang-pedagang kecil (PKL) yang hanya modal nekat mereka buka usaha entah warung nasi, jual gorengan, burger dan minuman yang sebetulnya hanya modal nekat saja, tanpa ada background harus itung-itungan untung rugi yang harus dilakukan...yang penting bagi mereka cari tempat ramai udah...untung rugi belakangan, tapi tak sedikit juga yang harus dengan itung-itungan bisnis melihat segmen pasar, lokasi. Namun boleh di kata justru orang-orang seperti mereka ini yang biasanya malah lama buka usaha karena semua mesti di itung sampai detil hingga tak ada sedikitpun yang terlewatkan..nah karena saking lamanya itung-itungan itulah mereka menjadi lama untuk segera merealisasikan usahanya. yang lain udah ngebut yang ini baru mulai wah...betul-betul bukan pebisnis sejati tuh..bahkan malah saking itung-itungan nya gak masuk akhirnya gak jalan-jalan tuh usahanya lama kelamaan, malas untuk buka karena gak menguntungkan.

Memang usaha itu perlu ada itungan tapi kalau sampai njlimet waah...jadi malah takut usaha karena takut rugi. Yah... sekarang bagaimana mau tau untung rugi kalau cuma di angan dan di atas kertas doang ngitungnya..sebetulnya kita mesti meniru PKL itu , usaha dulu di gelar untung rugi bisa dicari solusinya bisa promosinya gimana, kualitas produk, pesaing...gitu loh.

Jangan nanti ada pepatah no action talk only wah itu bahayanya, kalau itu yang terjadi genaplah sudah orang kita memang terkenal dengan juara beri komentar tapi aksi nol.

KOLONEL SANDERS

Wah semalam aku barusan tiba di Jakarta..duh sungguh jakarta kota gila, musim liburan seperti saat ini jalan-jalan kota jakarta macetnya bukan main, ceritanya aku nyampai di cengkareng jam 5.10 tapi karena macet gak ketulungan nyampe di rumah kakak di Kampung rambutan jam 21.15 wah...gila jakarta, oh ya sebelum naik bus bandara aku ketemu terus teman lama lalu di ajak makan bareng di kentucky fried chicken. enak sih..tapi cuma kadang aku berpikir bagaimana jika kita semua orang indonesia punya nyali seperti kolonnel sanders pendiri kentucky fried chicken ini, pasti deh kita bukan menjadi negara miskin seperti sekarang ini..Coba bayangkan kita makan ayam dan kentang satu paket aja udah abis 20 ribuan, mahal kan?Padahal bahan baku di Indonesia kan banyak dan berlimpah tapi kenapa kok kita gak bisa mencipta rasa sepeti mereka ya??? dan mestinya gak mahal dong?? Meski sekarang udah ada yang menyamai resepnya tapi aku pikir bangsa kita sering terlambat...Apalagi kalau kita melihat jaringan waralabanya yang sangat banyak tersebar luas di seantero jagad ini..wih ngiri deh. Padahal dulunya banyak sekali lho restoran di amerika yang menolak resepnya kolonel sanders ini kalau gak salah aku pernah baca di buku ada sekitar lima ribuan restoran yang menolak resepnya tapi dia tidak putus asa dia coba terus akhirnya ada salah satu restoran yang mau juga membeli resepnya dan populer hingga sepeti sekarang.
Mestinya kita mau deh mencontoh Kolonel sanders terus berusaha mencoba sesuatu yang baru yang siapa tahu dengan pelan tapi fokus kita pun bisa menjadi seperti mereka mendunia terkenal di mana-mana.