Are You Thinking Too Small and Dooming Your Small Business To Failure?

One problem that many small business owners run into is simply thinking too small. I often have readers writing to me asking for helping getting their business ideas off the ground. I also often hear from folks who have run their small businesses into the ground. There are five key areas where you can think too small -- and doom your business to failure.

Niche Too Small

Is your niche too small? Finding a small market to target with your business is key to success, but sometimes people narrow their niche too much. While doggy dental products could be a wonderful niche (as almost any dog owner can attest) you could even narrow your focus down to a certain type of dog (such as lap dogs) but going for one specific breed would be taking it too far.

Target Market Too Small

Is your target market too small? If you are looking only at one community or small geographic region then you may well doom your product to failure. It is far too easy to saturate a small market and it is far too easy for any marketing mistakes to end your campaign before it gets off the ground. In today's economy with the availability of global marketing you need to think big when you are planning your target market.

Budget Too Small

Is your budget too small? You don't need a million dollar advertising budget but you should have some seed money to get your business and its marketing campaign off the ground. It is possible to build a business from nothing but it is also a lot more difficult and you might find yourself making some mistakes that cost you a lot more down the road than putting a little money up front.

Schedule Too Small

Is your schedule too small? Do you have enough time to devote to your business? Starting, running, and growing a business takes time. Some people get swept up in the planning and dreaming stages and never really start their business. Other people start before they have completely planned everything out and quickly get mired down by unexpected difficulties. While others do everything right in the planning and start-up but once the business is running they get overwhelmed by day-to-day business and never think about ways to improve and grow their business.

Mind Too Small

Is your mind too small? You need to open up your mind's eye to continually seek new opportunities to find new customers, to find new potential partners, to find new ideas for products, and to find new opportunities for marketing. Flexibility and adaptability are key to survival in today's business climate and you always need to have new ideas cooking to grow and expand your market and your business. This means raising your head up out of the trenches once in a while. Yes, you might need to dodge the occasional missile lobbed your way but this is the only way to see those opportunities heading your way.

If you do your best to avoid these five not-so-small mistakes then you will be on your way to small business success.

Are You Ready to Outsource Your Bookkeeping?

Do you run your own small business and try to do it all yourself? Why? Shouldn’t you spend your time doing what you do best- whether it is selling and marketing, customer service or making decisions on how to grow your business?

An entrepreneur tries to juggle many balls each day, but sooner or later one of them is going to be dropped. A smart business owner will realize that he/she can’t do everything because there are only 24 hours in a day. Unless you are extremely organized and enjoy working with numbers, then maybe you need to outsource this job. Too many business owners spend their time doing what they are not very good at simply because they don’t know how to go about finding someone to do that job for them.

Where do you start? Ask your accountant for referrals. Obviously you don’t need a full-time person to do your books, so your best bet is to look for someone who wants to moonlight at a part-time job. There are also bookkeepers with their own small business who are looking for clients. If you don’t have any other employees, this situation will work best for you because you can pay them as a subcontractor instead of an employee on payroll. However, you will need to give them a Form 1099 at year end for tax purposes. But, since they are accounting experts, they can help you with that task too.

You should interview your prospective bookkeeper just as you would if you were hiring him/her as an employee. Ask for a resume and references, and check them out. Since this person will be handling your confidential records, you want someone who is trustworthy.

Depending on your location, you should expect to pay between $15 and $50 an hour for a bookkeeper. Don’t necessarily hire the one who offers the lowest rate- remember you get what you pay for. The more experienced person will cost you more, but will provide valuable input and suggestions to streamline your business that will wind up saving you money in the long run.

Since this person will be working closely with you in your business, you should feel comfortable with him or her. If you have any reservations about this person, go on to the next candidate.

While the selection process may take a while, it will be worth it later. Take your time to find the perfect bookkeeper, and in a few months you’ll wonder how you ever managed to run your business before you hired one.

Are you living the Greatest Lie?

Have you ever felt that your life was a conveyor belt of ….

Go to school, graduate, get a good job with a good company, accumulate retirement savings, and use these to do everything you’d ever wanted to during your retirement?

If that’s what you’ve grown up expecting you may be in for a big surprise. Only 5 people in 100 who follow this route can look forward to a comfortable retirement. Are you shocked?

That means a whopping 95 out of 100 hardworking people who try to follow this route are going to have to rely on inadequate pensions, social security, and family assistance to live out their golden years. Not a happy picture.

Just take a look in your community to see how few retirees are financially independent. If you know any that are truly financially independent then you’ll probably find they did it on their own.

So, if you want to want financial independence what are your options?

You could pray that you’ll be one of the 1 in 180 million people who hits the lottery or you could inherit a fortune when your aged maiden aunt checks out. Another way could be a life of crime, but I warn you that your chances of reaching retirement age, let alone enjoying it, are really slim.

In reality there’s just one way you can ever be financially independent..

You have to do it on your own.

I’ve just read some fascinating statistics about age and self-employment:

“According to recent studies 22 percent of men and 14 percent of women over 65 are self-employed. That’s compared to just 7 percent for other age groups. According to a Vanderbilt University study the number of entrepreneurs in the USA age 45 to 64 will grow by 15 million by 2006. That’s compared to a 4 million decline for entrepreneurs age 25 to 44.”

And: “Self-employment among American workers increases with age, with the most dramatic jump occurring at age 65.”

Don’t worry help is at hand. With the advent of the Internet there’s a whole new world out there, and, most importantly, it’s a level playing field. (Finally I can say it…Size doesn’t count). There are more than 500 million consumers out there and with a good plan, you can learn to build your financial independence with your own online business.

Before you say “I can’t do it” let’s chuck out some of the most common reasons people give for not wanting to start an online business:

Objection #1: I'm not smart enough to have my own business.

This is unlikely to be true. Successful businesses are run by people with vastly different capabilities. Running your own business is about solving people’s problems and not about how smart you are.

Objection #2: I don't have the time it takes to start or grow an income source online.

Unless you’re already working 80 hours a week, you can probably find time to start building an online business. You’ll probably need to find 2 hours a day (14 hours a week) to successfully build your business. (Not too much is it?). It’s really all about organizing your time. How about using your commuting time to record ideas for a business?

Objection #3: I don't have the money it takes for a new business.

The cost of starting your online business needn’t be expensive – certainly less than starting a real world business. I’ve managed to get going for about $500, but believe I have wasted some of that.

Objection #4: I'm not an expert at anything.

No matter what your background there’s probably something you know that somebody else doesn’t. That makes you an expert to the other person. Just do some research and before long you’ll find that there’s something that you can teach others.

Objection #5: I have nothing to sell.

There are two parts to an online business a product and people wanting that product. You can sell other peoples products (just like real world) if you know what people want.

Objection #6: Someone is already doing what I want to do so it is useless trying to compete.

Of course other people are already doing the same thing but that’s true in the real world too. Just do it better. If there aren’t others doing the same thing you probably can’t make money out of it. Competition shows that there is a market for your product/idea.

Objection #7: The only people making money are people telling others how to make money.

When you start on the Internet Marketing route you’re desperate for information and in finding it you sign up with everyone offering to help you – these are the guys (and girls) offering their services as business advisers. They are not the only businesses on the ‘Net but they are the ones you’ll come into contact with first.

Objection #8: I've tried plenty of business opportunities with no success -- it's just not for me.

Maybe it's not, but chances are, your failure is from chasing different business opportunities, instead of building your own business from the ground up.

Objection #9: I'd need a top search engine ranking to get anywhere and that's almost impossible.

Search engine positioning is not the be all and end all. There are other ways to find traffic and customers.

Objection #10: I'd need a big advertising budget to get any results.

That’s simply not true, the ‘Net is the perfect place to do business with a small budget.

The greatest lie out there today is that, if you get a good job and slave away for 40 something years, your retirement years will be golden.

Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Database?

Imagine how much simpler your life would be if you had all your business contacts together in one place. One click of your mouse would reveal how effective your latest marketing campaign has been. Know at a glance which of your products/services is the most profitable.

Your custom-designed database will put this information right at your fingertips. Today, I'd like to share with you my tips for ensuring that your database gives you the business information you need, when you need it!

What is a database?
A database is a collection of information relating to a particular topic kept together in one place, for you to access whenever you need. You can use a database to simplify your:

MARKETING CAMPAIGN--set up a database to plan your marketing campaign; track results of your marketing campaign; or analyse trends in your marketing campaign.

CLIENT & CONTACT MANAGEMENT--set up a database to keep track of your clients and contacts; analyse your business--which products/services are the most profitable; or see which clients are buying which product/service.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT--set up a database to keep track of your spending; manage your invoices to clients; or monitor overdue invoices.

MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS--set up a database to keep track of members; send out membership renewal letters; or monitor subscriptions.

Your list for database uses will likely be much longer--just brainstorm a list of all the places where consolidated information would make your life easier!

The secret's in the planning
You want to get the most out of your database, right? Then make sure to plan it right from the start.

Before you go running off to set up your database you need to ask yourself these important questions:

::What do you want to use your database for?
::What data do you want to keep track of?
::Who will be collecting the data?
::How much data is there to collect--50 records or 500 records?
::Who will be doing the updates?
::What reports do you want your database to generate?

You may find it easiest to map this out on a piece of paper first. Work out how your database is going to fit together. How will each category relate to the others?

Get the maximum use out of your database:
By now, you've invested a lot of time in your database plans, design, and setup. Don't miss this important step: getting the most out of your creation.

First, you'll want to make the database as easy to use as possible. Create one-click touches to produce the information you need. Set up shortcuts so you can create the most important reports quickly. And make sure you really consider the easiest way to enter new data.

By applying this advice in your own database, yours will be easy to use AND have the maximum use value to you!

An Easy Way To Make Your Small Business More Visible-For Free

No two small businesses are alike, but most want to be like their larger counterparts in some key respects. For example, even if you own a company with only a few really great customers, you want to be visible enough to attract new customers, boost your odds of securing repeat business and do all you can to improve customer satisfaction.

The key, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is having a business Web site. The SBA's own Web site notes that the Web "levels the playing field between small business and big business" because it is such a dynamic, inexpensive medium for advertising and customer service. "The Internet is making it possible for small- to medium-sized businesses to compete with the big guys," the SBA said.

Conventional wisdom says that any business without a Web presence these days is at a distinct disadvantage, but the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) small-business research exposes a surprising gap. The IDC research found that of the 6.8 million businesses in the United States with fewer than 10 employees, only 3.8 million have a Web site. "That means 3 million U.S. small businesses-or 44 percent of the total-aren't using the Internet to promote themselves online or engage customers and prospects," said Ray Boggs, vice president of Small/ Medium Business and Home Office Research at IDC. "In today's connected world, companies that take that step generally find that having their own Web site can deliver a significant opportunity to grow their business, especially if the site is updated regularly."

Clearly, small businesses (and many of their customers) are online, yet more than half aren't exploiting the full power of what the Internet can do to help build their business. That power includes creating a dynamic Web site to attract and retain customers, taking advantage of search engines to heighten awareness of a company in today's global marketplace, and communicating with customers around the clock or at their convenience.

What stops small businesses from stepping up to this level? For many, the barriers are cost, complexity and inconvenience. By its nature, a small business typically has a small budget and an equally small staff. Unlike the larger companies it competes with, a small business generally can't afford to spend thousands of dollars to buy a server, create a complicated infrastructure and hire an IT technician to keep it all running smoothly.

The good news is that some new offerings are cropping up that allow you to establish a Web presence without heavy-duty in-house technical resources and a big cash outlay. For example, Microsoft Corp. has a new Internet-based service called Microsoft Office Live, which at the most basic level provides a small business with a domain name, e-mail accounts and a Web site for free.* It's one of the quickest and easiest ways today to get your business on the Internet. And, because it's supported by advertising revenue, and the advertising is designed to be unobtrusive and not appear in the customer's public-facing Web sites, the basic offering is free. Yes, it's free, and you can sign up to test-drive the service at http://www.officelive.com.

With such an all-in-one solution, a small-business Web site really is a no-brainer. Look at it this way: In a day and age when the majority of Americans use the Internet regularly, it's highly likely that a large percentage of your customers do, too.

Advantages of Inventory reconciliation Management

Inventory management refers to the procedure of organization the stocks of finished products and supplies by a compact. Inventory management, if done accurately, can transport down expenses and increase the profits of a compact.

Not a substance what the business size it must administer many fixed assets, types of assets, quickly changing asset bases, many locations, and ever-changing tax laws and requirements. Fixed asset inventory software can also reduce encumber of fixed asset reduction calculations for financial and tax exposure, asset inventory tracking and reconciliation services, and private property tax filings.

Inventory management software has an amplified business on the web, following the importunate increase and achievement of e-commerce. Inventory management software helps administer inventory from any location in the world. Inventory management software is perfect for business. Inventory management software correspondences are designed for inventory control. The software makes easy the making of an account, and inventory control, stock balance management, goods item direction. Our Accounting Services, a company leader in this area of specialty, can provide to the demanding supplies of global customers in Inventory management.

Inventory management software solution packages:

• QuickBooks


• Peachtree


• Sage Line 50


• Quicken


• MYOB


• IRIS


• La Certe


• Pro Tax

Inventory software can create the assignment of fixed asset managing easier from achievement through removal. Software such as this eliminates superfluous data entry, enhances accurateness, and reduces costs over handbook tracking of fixed assets. There is inventory software accessible from the essential system of normal barcodes to the more complicated long range asset management. Some business offer inventory software on the internet. As well there are businesses for appoint that will approach. Using complicated devices for gathering of data, our inventory management team captures asset attributes professionally at the point of entry. This ensures benefit information in detail, and accurateness.

All-in-one folder production companies effective for businesses: big or small

Working in an office environment makes the effectiveness of proper office supplies important. Whether a business is large or small, printing folders for presentations can be done in a cost effective manner. However, most companies make large quantities price cuts, which often has smaller businesses buying less so to stay on budget. While working for myself, the need for small runs of professional looking products is vital to my success.

When shopping for a printing company, I discovered that most often these other printers produce folders on low-quality stock that creases easily, leaving them looking non-professional. Some companies even have you doing some do it yourself assembly, which adds to the overall time frame of the work. However, one company seems to fit the mold to avoid all of these disadvantages for companies and offers an added bonus --- free business cards.

With their help, cost-effective projects are completed, which promote the products and services of your company. They often are the proper solution for your printing problems, while being printed on 350gsm silk stock. In addition, all the assembly is done when you receive the job. Each folder includes a spot to place your business card, which adds to the overall professionalism involved with the folders.

The quantity you need will be printed --- no minimum quantity orders are processed. Designs are also available to be created in case you do not have in-house designers or just don’t have the time to put into it. A team of creative, talented and professional designers will create a design to fit your professional needs. Often times, printing projects are a stressful task for businesses. By leaving it to the printing company to design, print and assembly, businesses can relieve themselves of the stress involved with this work.

Most wonder how one company can work this way while others require minimum runs that most often discourage small businesses from doing business with them. However, with this work ethic, maximum efficiency occurs and overall customer satisfaction occurs. With professional presses, high quality prints are created even on low runs and leaves me satisfied with every order.

Overall customer satisfaction is important. When ordering because of their PDF workflow ethic, I was able to receive proofs of my design before it was printed. This added to my overall satisfaction with the company. Overall, with keeping all businesses in mind, the future success of their work will be continued to supply professional looking products for its customers – big or small.