Small Business 8 Survival Tips You Need to Read

I once conceived an idea, not original, but original to me, for a self help book that consisted entire of one line repeated over and over on each page of the book.

Do it yourself. Do it yourself. Do it yourself...

You get the idea, that no amount of self help information will be of any practical purpose if it is not put into action. While a self help book consisting of only one sentence might be tantamount to anarchy for a segment of the publishing industry, it has a modicum of truth.

It goes without saying that these are strange economic times. If our entire financial system is presently being renegotiated and reinvented, then where does small business reside in the pecking order?

The least obvious answer is at the top!.

Small businesses are really the economic engine that drives the health and well being for most capitalist countries. A countries economy is measured by their economic output or gross domestic product, but it is entirely made up of of small business owners like yourself.

Stated simply, the health of your business has a direct impact on the health of your neighborhood, your city and ultimately your country. Having said that, do not hold your breathe for that bailout cheque they are reserved for the businesses that made the biggest mistakes.

Here are some things to keep in mind while negotiating these tough times.

Keep your eye on the ball
Stay focused on the things that matter. Everything can be a distraction if you let become one. Set your goals commit them to a calendar. It is the only way you can to measure success or failure.

Connect the Dots
Of course, you have to be able to see the dots in order to connect them. Never miss a chance or opportunity to grow your business. Warren Buffet will tell you he made most of his money when times were tough.

Get Perspective
Get outside of your business any way you can. Ask a colleague for input. Being immersed in a problem is the hardest position from which to solve it. The forrest for the trees cliche rings true.

Stay Connected
You cant sell to yourself so now is definitely not the time to hibernate.

Knowing The Risks
Take the time to familiarize yourself with the inherent risks to all the actions you take. Remember inaction is a risk in and of itself. Acting rationally rather than reacting spontaneously is the order of the day.

The solution to most problems often lies in the question. If reckless spending has put you in a hole, chances are only reigning it in that will get you out. This is true in most cases unless your a federal government. We will soon see where spending your way out of a problem gets you.

Offer before Asking
Doors magically open when you offer to help or lend support to others. Not only will you feel better, you open yourself up to the unexpected good things that can happen. Always be cognizant that good things still happen in bad times.

Stick to your Plan
Stay committed to your plan, but know when something is not working. Remember that business cycles, so keep your words palatable. You never know when you have to eat them.

Get the Bad News up Front
Have you ever noticed that in the media, the bad news is always sugar coated? Sure it can always be worse, but sometimes things are bad enough that immediate action is required. Do not underestimate the size of a problem! Also, in the same vein, using past experience to predict the future is not a good idea. This time it really is different!

Blaine Arnot is the co-owner and creative director for a catering company in Vancouver BC, who seriously wishes he had taken typing rather than memorized the periodic table in high school.

Small Business Loans: Banks Aren't the Only Ones with Money

Small business loans are sought after by many small companies for a variety of reasons, but many do not know which type of financing they need, or where to start.

There are many reasons why company would want a small business loan. These reasons could include:

1. Working capital
2. Purchasing real estate
3. Renovating, or construction on, an existing building
4. Purchasing inventory
5. Taking advantage of business opportunities
6. Purchasing equipment or furniture

When most business owners think of business loans, they immediately look to commercial banks to meet their business financing needs. There is nothing wrong with this since banks do provide some of best and least expensive types of financing to small businesses. The only problem is that many do not realize how difficult it is to get approved for a bank loan or line of credit.

Small business bank loans have much more strict approval criteria than other forms of business financing. Expect to be able to show good revenue, great personal/business credit scores, significant time in business, assets to secure the loan amount (in some cases), and the most important part is convincing the banker they can trust you with their money. Some call this the 5 C's:

1. Character
2. Capacity
3. Capital
4. Collateral
5. Conditions

If your business is in less than ideal condition and cannot qualify for bank financing, but still needs a small business loan, where else can you go? Luckily there are countless forms of alternative small business loan sources to consider. Here are some of the more popular options.

Micro Loan-
Generally loans of 35K and under for new or start-up businesses. The SBA provides funds to community non-profit lenders who then make loans to eligible borrowers. Each individual lender has its own requirements. You will have a better chance of getting financed if the micro-lender is in your area.

SBA Loan-
Contrary to popular belief, SBA loans are not given by the SBA. These loans are actually funded by standard commercial banks, but are guaranteed by the SBA. That means that if a bank makes a business loan that defaults, a percentage of its losses will be covered by the government (SBA). This decreases the risk of lending money for the banks and, in turn, loosens the approval criteria for the loan.

Factoring-
If a business is in need of working capital, but has a lot of its cash flow tied up in accounts receivable, then receivable factoring may be the way to go. Accounts receivable factoring involves selling off a portion of receivables at a discount for immediate cash. A factoring company will purchase your receivables with an advance payment of between 70 - 90% of the total value.

Equipment Lease-
Instead of using a significant amount of a company's working capital to purchase equipment outright, leasing the equipment can be much more effective for newer businesses with limited resources. An equipment lease is when a lender purchases the equipment and then rents it to the business for a flat rate for a specified period of time. In many cases the business will be able to purchase the equipment at the end of the lease for fair market value, or a previously agreed upon amount.

Merchant Advance-
Technically, a merchant cash advance is not a loan, but rather a cash advance based on future credit card sales. Also called a credit card receipt advance, a merchant advance is when a lender advances a sum of money that is automatically repaid through a small percentage of each successive credit card sale. An amount 1-2 times the average monthly credit card revenue of a company can usually be expected.

There are many more types of financing available. These are just some common alternative forms of small business loans. Before you apply for a small business loan, educate yourself on the details of the loan and how it compares to alternatives. The more informed a business owner is the better.

Jarrett Pflieger holds a BA in Entrepreneurship and is a featured writer for BusinessFinance.com. Build business credit and search for business capital for free today at www.businessfinance.com/business-loans

Small Business Failure Comes From Too Many Accidents

When you think of the accidents of life you are generally thinking about things that happen and were unintended. What causes many accidents? Very often it is lack of preparation, loss of focus or lack of education or foresight to name a few.

Too many accidents or just the wrong type of accident occurring once can derail you from your intended accomplishments or bring things permanently to a halt. To have consistent small business growth and the success you desire you must minimize the accidents.

The truth is that most accidents can be prevented. How do you do that? You develop new disciplines. Before I get to how to go about doing this let us take a look at a couple of other aspects of what I call Accidental Self-Employment.

In working with hundreds of self-employed business owners over the years and even in my own businesses, I have observed and experienced the negative effect of accidents. Quite simply, accidents are those things that we say, think, do or fail to do that take us off course and either delay or completely derail our progress.

As you know, if you are honest with yourself, most of the accidents we have can be avoided. These accidents just don't happen. They happen because you have created or allowed an environment to be created.

It is an environment that encourages the repetition of mistakes. Very often, it is an environment where the reason these negative things keep happening is because there is no leadership to embrace change and to make change. Successful small business is about embracing change and making it happen.

That's where new disciplines come in. If you develop new disciplines then you will minimize the accidents and the resulting loss of energy and time. How do you go about developing new disciplines.

First, you must be committed to change. Secondly, you need to understand what a discipline is. A discipline is a bridge between a thought and the action you take to make that new thought a reality. If you repeat the thought and the action over a period of time you have a new discipline.

In owning your own business it is your responsibility, as the owner, to set the example for embracing change by creating new disciplines. Now this may all sound good but the next part is crucial to the success of instilling new disciplines, whether it is for yourself, or your company, or both.

Start with something small where you can see an immediate positive difference. This will encourage you and others to create new disciplines and improvements on other things. Don't rock the boat and create more accidents by starting with something that is too big.

Start with the small things and work up to the bigger ones. Life and business are going to throw you some pretty big challenges. If you haven't mastered the small ones your chances of success are not very good on the big ones.

Apply this process to your business and life. You will cut down on the number of accidents while creating pathways to upgrade your business and your life. Growing small business is always about creating better ways to do things and upgrading.

Embrace change. Develop new disciplines. Do both and you will be creating the pathway to your business and personal growth and success.

Steve Scott is a business design and development coach who collaborates with and supports business owners and professionals who are committed to having more in their businesses and lives.
http://www.stevescottcoaching.com

5 Great Tools from the Small Business Administration

If you're a small business owner, you need to check out the Small Business Administration website. You may have been reticent to visit as the SBA has not always been perceived as the most helpful or efficient agency out there. But they do, in fact, have some really helpful tools for small business owners that you should see. They're not only for businesses just starting out, but also for businesses that are well-established. Here are 5 tools to help you.

. Starting Your Business. This is a helpful section that provides great tips for individuals who are interested in starting their own businesses. The first piece of advice in this section is to find a mentor who can guide you through the many steps involved in starting a small business. SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is a great mentoring group that is loosely affiliated with the SBA and provides free-of-charge guidance to those hoping to start small businesses. This section also includes comprehensive information about financing your startup, creating a budget for your business, and even a break-even analysis.

Other information included in this section covers buying a franchise, deciding on a business name, structuring your business, buying a business, obtaining a business license, and how to lease equipment for your business.

. Small Business Planner. This section includes questions to help you start thinking about what it takes to start your own business. It also includes a list of characteristics held in common by many successful entrepreneurs. Finally, an assessment tool can help you determine if you're ready to start your own business.

. Business Management. This is a great tool to help you think about the management aspect of your business. It talks about leadership skills that you'll need to be a successful business manager, as well as how to set up a business meeting, how to delegate tasks to employees, networking within your community, and running an ethical business.

. Exit Strategies. If you're chomping at the bit to start your own business, chances are you haven't given much thought to your exit strategy. After all, why would you be thinking about the end of your relationship with your business before even starting it? But an exit strategy is an essential part of starting your business because it will make a big difference in the way you start and manage it. This section talks about getting the most out of your company if you decide to sell it. It even goes so far as to discuss how to work with CPAs, how to determine the value of your business, and how to announce that you're going to sell your business.

. Tools. The SBA website has a huge selection of tools for you to use. Do yourself a favor and just look through them. Chances are, you'll find tools you didn't even know you needed! There are sections on regulations and statistics, a glossary of business terms, and some stories of small business owners who have been very successful. There are even videos, podcasts, chats, and forms for download.

Given the reputation of general inefficiency assigned to most government agencies, you may be surprised to find out that the SBA website is so thorough and helpful. It certainly isn't the only resource you'll need as you prepare to start your own business, but it's definitely a great resource to have at the ready as you go about the physical and mental preparations required of entrepreneurship. So add it to your toolbelt and enjoy your success!

Seomul Evans is a senior Small Business SEO specializing in MetaBest Search Engines and Link Building articles.

5 Keys to Small Business Success

You've been to business school and learned it all, right? Not so fast. Sometimes, the most important lessons come to us via mistakes we've made. Here are the top five keys to small business success that you never learned in school.

1. Don't Be Such a Control Freak. One of the hardest things any small business owner has to do is learn when to delegate. Of course you want to do it all yourself because that's the only way it's going to be done right. But that only results in burnout and a bunch of employees who never learn anything. You're only doing yourself and your business a favor when you learn to relinquish some control. The more hands you have helping you out, the more successful you will be.

2. Baby Steps. You might be of the mind that your business should be everything you've dreamed it would be right out of the gate. But consider the "baby steps" approach. Start out small. Spend as little as possible at the very beginning. Score some successes early on and then build on them. Get rid of the stuff that doesn't work immediately. If you follow the "baby steps" approach, you have less to lose if you start off down the wrong path or have to scrap your whole plan and start over. Plus, it gives you a chance to research along the way by getting customer feedback as you go.

3. End Your Day Thinking About Your Business. Once you've left the office and finally spent some time with the family, your business is the last thing you want to think about. But spend just one more minute, right before you go to bed, thinking about one problem you're facing in your business. The beauty of our brains is that our subconscious minds work while we sleep. If you spend a few minutes thinking about a problem right before you go to sleep, you're essentially enlisting the aid of your subconscious to help you solve the problem. It's the easiest work you'll ever do.

4. Respect Your Computer Systems. Most small businesses take their computer systems for granted. They don't back up their data, they don't maintain their computers regularly, and they don't enlist the aid of professionals to care for their computers. In fact, we don't pay any attention to our computers until something goes wrong and we find ourselves in a crisis. If we treated our computer systems like factories treat their equipment, by regularly shutting down the whole works to perform routine maintenance, we'd get better performance and fewer problems from them.

5. Study the Numbers. It is a rare small business owner who actually likes to look at financial statements, at least when the business is just starting. Why? Because the numbers can be depressing. No one wants to look at the numbers when all they bring is bad news. But the truth is that you can't improve those numbers until you have the courage to look at them and analyze them. Looking at bad numbers can bring about feelings of failure or despondence. So try this trick: Once every week, pretend you're the accountant for your business. You have no emotional ties to the company. You're only job is to crunch the numbers. When you separate yourself emotionally from the message that the numbers give you, you're more likely to look at them objectively, without becoming despondent over or depressed about the news they bring. You'll find that looking at the numbers is actually a very liberating experience. It can help you eliminate activities that don't add value to your business and focus on the activities that help you profit.

Use these five keys to help you find success in your small business. You'll be glad you did!

Seomul Evans is a senior Web Site optimization consultant specializing in Internet Search Engines and a Search Engine Optimization Blog contributor.

Small Business Assistant Services

As a small business owner it is understandable to sometimes feel as if you cannot compete with those larger conglomerates that also have larger financial resources available to them. But you can edge your profit margin ever closer to theirs and give them a good showing with sound business choices.

You may have to track your money a little harder than they do, but trust that they too have to track the flow of money in and out at some point. You can make a lesser budget work just as hard for you as if it were millions, if you do it right.

Keeping your employee ratio as low as possible so that you can avoid having to pay out large sums of what could be your businesses profits is one of those right moves. Such a suggestion may scare you. How will a number of office obligations be met if you do not have the employees to see that they are done? The budget savvy answer to that is to hire a small business assistant for the office services you would normally have to pay an employee to perform.

A small business assistant typically works off site in their own office, using telephone and internet connected computer to communicate with you and to contract assisting services to you. In some cases however, if your business is located near the business assistant, on site assisting is often possible. Do not confuse a business assistant who is able to provide you with on site assisting with one of your employees. These highly skilled business assistants contract for work you outsource to them even if they perform some or all of them inside your business, but they are not employees of your small business. On the other hand, do not assume that just because a professional business assistant is an independent vendor that they will not maintain a professional image and conduct while on your company site. They are professionals like you and know the importance of being professional at all times.

We would need another article to name all of the services provided by a business assistant to help the small business owner save money and get ahead. But we will mention as many of the service you could outsource to a business assistant as possible.

There are a plethora of marketing services that a business assistant can provide. From the creation of brochures, business cards, flyers, newsletters, and content articles for you to place on your business site. Online marketing, direct mailings, Geo farming, translation, lead follow up, website customization and SEO, and blog development are a few more of the services you can elect to outsource to a business assistant to meet your business marketing goals.
Management and office support services often include software customization, research, word processing, database and client care management, scheduling of appointments, data entry, merge mailing, and calendar updating, An on site business assistant can provide you with many office organization and management services.

You can get many of the services that those big execs pay heavily for at substantially lower rates from a professional business assistant, and that is what doing it right is all about. Event, meeting, and travel planning and if you are within the service area, personal shopping and errand services are made available. These services offer you the executive treatment without an executive price tag attached.

Use your resources wisely and they will work as hard for you as if you were a large conglomerate with unlimited capitol to play with. Give those big guys a good showing of what you can do by making sound business choices such as outsourcing for your business assisting needs and making other sound business choices.

Starting Your Own Small Business

Starting a small business involves many types of decisions, steps and processes. The beginning is a big matter for the entrepreneur. You have to perform different activities to find out what you will be doing, when you will do it, and how you will do it.

You have to find answer to many questions. You will have different operations to perform like selecting the business, the industry, ownership form, finance, business plan, tax related issues, business process, site selection, licenses, registration and so on. The list is very big.

You have to not only perform these; but have to perform them fine. You have to prioritize the activities and perform them accordingly. For an inexperienced entrepreneur, the tasks become more needed.

Starting a small business may be divided into two stages: one is pre-startup stage, and the other is post startup stage.

Pre-startup Stage:
This stage is actually a planning stage. You have to plan your activities and act accordingly. This stage is very crucial as you plan out your whole business here only.

In this stage you will decide about the idea of business. The idea development will take sometime. Idea generation depends on many factors like your exposure, background, family, education, psychological state, prior experience, cultural background etc. Business ideas will vary from person to person. Your previous experiences will decide what you will do.

After you decide the idea, you will have to prepare a business plan. A business plan contains everything about the business idea like idea, market, process of producing or developing it, finance needed and finance sources, financial projection etc. You can make it yourself or you can delegate it to experts.
You have to arrange for the finance for your small business in this stage. Finance source may be different for you. You have to complete the entire certificate and license related works. You will need to find out the location and start the structure for future processing.

Post startup stage:
This is the implementation of the idea and plans. The entire plan that you have for your small business is to be done practically.

You have to mage the business in this stage. Already you have started the small business. Now you have to manage it daily. You have to mange the customer related issues, employee related issues, inventory and supply chain related issues, and production related issues.

Starting a small business can happen in three ways. You can start a new business, you can acquire already existing business, or you can start a franchisee of a reputed organization.

Starting a New Business:
You will start a new enterprise from scratch. This is a long term process and is really tough. You have to start and build all the systems in a business.

Acquiring a existing business:
If you want to acquire an already existing business, then it is a little easier for you than starting a new business. Here you get some of the systems of the business pre built. This will help you to start the business fast. You can select a business that you want to start. You can design it accordingly after you take it over. You will get customers existing already.

Franchising:
You can start a franchise, if you like to. Franchise business has many advantages. You do not have to build it up for is already built. You get the brand image facilities, the name, and support from the brand or the franchisor, and get marketing support. You do not have to think about the inventory, supply chain, marketing, advertising, and brand building. So, you can start a profitable business from the start.

How Small Businesses Waste Money

Most business owners subscribe to the thought that you "must spend money to make money". This can be true, but you also must know exactly where that money is going and the results it brings. A small business owner never has any money to waste.

Some ways that your business might waste money includes the following:

1. Manage your credit cards - If you have several cards, develop a computer program that will show you the exact balances, due dates, and the interest rate you are paying. Always be aware of other solicitations that save you money and possibly change your balances over to a new company. If you have any employee cards, see if you can set a limit on them. If not with the credit card company, make sure that the employees know their limits. Manage your credit cards wisely and never, ever miss a due date.

2. Develop an annual plan so you know where you will spend money. This helps you in several ways. The business person will be aware of what portion of the profits are going to advertising, towards incentives, towards accounting and other internal expenses, etc.

3. Do not over-purchase any products or services for a business. If you buy in bulk, the money is tied up and a place must be provided to keep the extras and that might be costing money not needed to be spent.

4. Developing an advertising budget and knowing just what resources to use is key to keeping money under control in a small business. You must advertise, but you also must get value for your money or you will soon be out of business. Keep a record of how much is spent, can you get payment terms, when is the most efficient time to advertise your particular product or service to get the most value for the dollar. Every dollar must be accounted for in advertising because the lifeline of your business depends on new and paying customers. Advertising is the way to get the word out to the community or the internet.

5. A small business owner will sometimes be under self-induced stress to manage all aspects of the business. Sometimes, leaving the control and decisions to others that are qualified is the best way to manage the business. Releasing control may be hard to do sometimes, but in a lot of businesses, money can be wasted because the owner cannot possibly be as efficient as the person who has studied or is knowledgeable about a particular field. For instance, if a business owner does not know accounting, many mistakes in reporting income and taxes can be made. A qualified accountant can possibly save more than the cost of their services in reduced taxes.

Take a hard look around your business and do not let anything be set in stone if saving money is the goal. Challenge everything that will cost money and see what can be done to change the situation. Any money that is saved, is money that can be put back into the business either in profits or in growth.

A business owner wants their business to be successful and will work hard to sustain growth. A business owner wants a way to continue making and growing money from a product or service that is interesting to them. After growing a business and being smart with cash flow, many business owners will sell their businesses only to start another business.

The reason is that business owners are independent types and challenges are rewarding when met and faced. Saving money through every day operations will help the business owner to meet their financial and emotional goals.

Grow Your Small Business in a Bad Economy

Corpus Christi, TX – The National Federation of Independent Businesses’ May 2008 survey paints a picture of some very stressed out small business owners. Small business’ earnings are at their lowest point since 1992 and 9 in 10 owners surveyed expect the economy to continue to decline over the next six months.

Laura Harris, a nationally renowned speaker and author of the new small business owner self-help book “Surrender to Win” (October 2008 release), says, “The answer for small business owners in hard economic times is to hire and retain the right staff.”

Here are Harris’ 5 hiring tips:

1) Take enough time to get to know your prospective team member rather than hiring on a gut reaction. Part of the interview process should include introducing the potential employee to key staff so you know how the team members will interact. This process can be invaluable.

2) Don’t hire a prospective employee with an unprofessional phone voice or sloppy appearance. The first impression you have of a perspective employee is the same first impression a client will have of your company.

3) Hire an inexperienced person you can train to mesh with your style of leadership. Personnel with experience often come with old habits and pre-conceived notions. Training someone from scratch means you can mold them to perform the way you prefer.

4) ‘Steal’ good employees from other industries. Someone who goes above and beyond for their current company has a good enough work ethic to work hard for yours.

5) Hire someone with different strengths and weaknesses than your existing team rather than hiring someone just based on how much you like them. Adding staff should expand what your business has to offer.

And Harris’ 5 tips to retain and grow employees who think like owners:

1) Every company needs a foundation of uniformly enforced rules and guidelines on which to agree. Create a detailed employee handbook and stick to the guidelines so everyone (including you) knows the company policy. Having rules in writing helps the employees understand what is expected of them so they can succeed as a group member.

2) Invest in your employee’s education by paying for courses and offering time off to take classes. Rather than worry your team member will get so smart they’ll leave or want a raise – worry your business will remain stagnant if you don’t invest in employee education and they don’t grow their current level of expertise.

3) Help your employees put their families first. Allow time off for children and parents when it’s needed. Putting family first doesn’t detract from the job – it creates a well balanced work environment for the boss and the employees.

4) Hire responsible people, take the time to train them well and give them room to work. Micromanaging stifles creativity, creates second guessing and leads to stress for both the owner and the employee.

5) Be loyal to your staff and they will be loyal to you. Spend time investing in the right person so they stay with you. A resignation or firing is disruptive to the flow of business and bad for the morale of everyone remaining on the team.

And Harris says sometimes it’s not the employee you need to fire – it’s the client. “Know what type of client gives you the highest return and is the most hassle free. Gear your advertising and public relations toward taking on new clients like those.”

Owning a small business can be less stressful and more successful with the right team members and clients.

Small Business Owners Should Practice "Tough Love"

Whether it's recession time or boom time, small business owners should look at the way they operate in order to maximize their revenues. Many small businesses are run a little loosely, because many owners believe they lack the overhead and the staff to require a lot of strict policies and procedures.

That's a mistake, according to Jim Muehlhausen, CPA and author of The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How To Avoid Them, from Emerald Publishing (www.51errors.com).

"Every business owner is enrolled in the world's most expensive business school: The School of Hard Knocks," Muehlhausen said. "Instead of acquiring business knowledge the slow and expensive way, business owners need to capitalize on the hard-fought lessons of others. That's why benevolent dictators are the best small business leaders, because ruling by committee against that landscape rarely works."

Small Business face more challenges than the large corporations with huge cash reserves to help them through financial crises. They are more susceptible to market fluctuations, have fewer clients to support them and generally have more transient staff. On the flip side, they also make up 70 percent of the businesses in the U.S., so as goes small business, so goes the economy.

In order to swim with the big fish without getting eaten, Muehlhausen suggests that small business owners get a little tougher and smarter to survive the nasty water.

"There are several practices that are considered standard operating procedure that actually work against small business owners," Muehlhausen said. "First, many insist on learning hard lessons themselves rather than learn from the mistakes of their competitors. To compound the problem, they also tend to hire employees away from their competitors without realizing that chances are that the employee may be leaving because they had been fired, or they are about to be fired. In essence, they wind up with their competitors' rejects, who they wind up firing soon after."

Muehlhausen also stresses that CEOs need to be benevolent dictators to be more effective.

"Managing employees is a lot like parenting," he said. "Employees may not like what you do, but you'll have to do it, anyway. Many CEOs are afraid to be authoritarian, but they should do it, anyway. They should remember two things – first, being authoritarian does not mean you can't be nice, and second, it's the CEO's name on the big door. No one else will be blamed for the failure of staff. An autocrat is not automatically a jerk, and businesses aren't a democracy. Hire good people, listen to input, but after you've listened, call the play and make sure you have a team on board who's going to execute it."