Small Business Services
by Yuri Jagrine

Not selling small business services – poor oversight. Small business is BIG business! Who hasn’t heard that statement? But have you really thought about the concept? It’s been around and it’s been used over and over and even if it does sound contradicting, it is the truth. You know this - not only does each of the small businesses provide their services, but they require just as many. Individually each one of them is probably not a company’s largest buyer, but collectively those businesses are a powerful force.

There are 550,000 new businesses started each MONTH in the US! Granted, a lot of them will fail, but hold on – for each one of those businesses to get going, they need to write a business plan, incorporate, create a logo, create a website, open a line of credit, open up an office/retail space, equip that space, hire employees, pay them… the list of tasks is long and the dollar amount behind it is large. Take all those needs and multiply them through the number of startups and you see a multi-billion dollar effect. No wonder the government makes special effort to promote small business loan access, create tax breaks, allows for a favorable playing field to compete with the industry leaders.

Trying to Understand the Market

The newest trend by the large corporations is trying to accommodate these small businesses by providing products customized for them and trying to understand their needs (which credit card company doesn’t offer a Small Business card?). Well the corporations may be trying to understand the small established business, but they are still overlooking the startups. There is the stereotypical reason to overlook these cash-strapped startups – that they don’t have money to spend. Well, the reality is they may be bootstrapping and cash may be very delicately calculated, but the entrepreneurs who are running those startups know that they have to spend money and know how to spend that money and they DO spend money.

The Mindset

Who gets it - other small businesses get it! So what needs to be understood about these entrepreneurs? The first thing that must be known is that just like any group of people can’t be defined by just one description. There are very savvy individuals who start companies, there are simpler-minded ones; there are ones with reserves, and ones without; there are patient, hardworking ones and impatient and lucky ones. That’s the first part, the second is that they are just like most well-informed consumers today, only they expect even more for even less. The lowest dollar, no matter how appealing, is not the answer if it does not provide a solution, so spending an appropriate amount of money is not out of the options.

Some of the entrepreneurs know that they need a website, but they don’t have $7,000 to spend on one; others know that they need a business plan to secure funding and ARE willing to spend $2,000 – understanding the need that they have and the way they intend to alleviate their pain is the way to sell your service. They may shop around a lot longer, and come off as wasting too much of the vendor’s time, since finding that deal is so crucial to keeping costs down; they may barter, they may balk entirely – but do know that if they engage you in a price quote and open a dialogue, they are not there to waste either your or their time for that matter – they are there to buy.

The Takeaway

It’s all about being patient, it’s all about communicating needs and solutions and it’s all about making money!

Advantages of a Business Franchise Opportunity
by Naz Daud

A Franchise Opportunity has numerous benefits over starting a business on your own. The major reason why it pays to become a franchisee is that you are much more likely to still be trading profitably after five years of trading. Over eighty percent of new start ups fail within the first five year!

When one buys a business from a franchisor they receive a detailed training programme. This covers all aspects of running a business. The training programme is critical in ensuring that your business runs smoothly.

It is the franchisors interest for the franchisee to succeed as then they receive a higher royalty payment. This also serves to attract new people to their franchise system. The more that succeed with the business the easier it gets to attract quality people.

The franchisee also benefits from all the logos, stationary, brochures and websites that have been created. Someone starting a business on their own has to spend a huge amount of time in just creating a brand image.

Most lenders are willing to offer a higher percentage of funds required to start a business to potential franchisees than if they were starting a business on their own. This is because they recognise the potential of buying a franchise. They also have to protect their investment in the business and realise that their money is much more likely to be repaid by someone buying into a franchise.

The franchisor even assists the franchisee with the territory. Usually this advice is free unlike when one starts a business on their own. The market research and advice on territories likely to succeed might have cost the franchisor a serious amount of cash but is yours for free if you buy into his systems. The franchisor will even help the franchisee to secure planning permission using their knowledge acquired through years of experience. Trying to tackle this maze on your own without paying for specialist advice is a minefield. Paying for specialist advice costs a small fortune which is why most new business owners do not do it.

By buying into a franchise business almost nothing is left to chance. Your stock levels are predetermined by the franchisor and have been based on years if not decades of experience. Starting a business is only the first phase in achieving profits. This is where the ongoing support and further training if required comes in. Most franchisors provide further training at favourable prices. They only usually try and recuperate their costs without trying to make a profit on their training programmes. When it comes to advertising on a national scale the franchisor can achieve true cost savings. They can negotiate national rates and then spread the costs throughout their franchise network. The franchisee does not need to worry about the logistics of creating an advertising campaign and benefit from the expert knowledge of the franchisor.

The downside is that even though you are running a viable business that generates a decent profit, it is unlikely that you will ever create a new empire. Starting a business on your own has huge risks but the potential upside can be huge if you enter the market at the right time and in the right place.

In my opinion though, the benefits of buying into a franchise far out way the risks in starting a business on your own. If you are seeking to reduce the risks associated with going into business on your own then a franchise business might be right for you.