How To Start And Grow A Successful Business - Turn Your Passion Into Profits

By Krisz Rokk

More than 60 percent of businesses close doors within the first year of starting operations because of a number of constraints. For you to start a business and succeed, you need to have a lot of determination, resilience, self-discipline and focus. Businesses such as Apple were able to succeed because their founders had adequate focus and inner drive to take the business to the next level.

Here are eight key things you should know to start and grow a successful business:

1. Follow Your Inner Passion

As a matter of fact, achieving success in life is not a prerequisite for those who want to be happy. However, happiness is mandatory if success is to be achieved. Success is achieved by those who love what they are doing. It is advisable for anyone who wants to start a business to select something that he or she loves the most, but this should be something that has a market. If you choose something that can't sell, there is high probability that your efforts will never pay off.

2. Work on Your Commercial Enterprise

There is an old saying that says that you drive your business or it will drive thee. This is a popular saying by Benjamin Franklin who achieved success as an investor and writer. Start by finding your passion and there after developing a clear and well-detailed business plan. Also, a well-developed strategy is a key recipe for success in every business.

You don't have to do things your own way. Well, this may bring you success, but it's not always the case. You can learn a few methods of running a business from successful entrepreneurs, especially those who are famed for developing efficient business systems.

3. Define Your Business Goals And Objectives

The life of a man will only have meaning when he or she is striving for his goals and reaching out. When you have goals, you will know where you are coming from and where to go. It is good to know that any entrepreneur will achieve his or her goals when there is persistence, proper resource allocation and focus. Clarity is power and when used in defining your business goals, success is inevitable. Whenever something comes your way, you will still be able to stand strong and focus on achieving the goals that you have set. You will never be swayed aside when you have clearly defined goals and objectives.

It is of great importance to know what you want to achieve after a day, week or a month. After you've drafted your goals, you should monitor your results.

4. Don't Give Up

Every business has challenges that are unique to it. You should learn from past business trends and put in place the right measures that would enable you take your business to the next level.

Challenges will only be overcome when they are precisely known. Know about the possible source of the hurdle your business is going through and find a perfect solution. Know that most of the challenges faced by commercial entities can be overcome by not quitting.

Know where your business is and where it is going. You should never give up regardless of the circumstances you are facing.

5. Take Action

Taking action is one of the keys to success in business. However, you should always know that action might at times bring painful results. Action combined with good business strategies often yield great results. Steve Jobs once said that we tend to attract different types of people and there is not a need for a person to wait for up to ten years for someone else to take a huge risk on her or him.

6. Focus

Your capital, thoughts and energies should be focused on growing the business. You can get the money you badly need when you focus your money and time on your business.

7. Review Your Budget Regularly

You will need to know if you are moving towards the right direction or not through comparing your actual results with the planned ones. You can put in place the right strategies to reverse unfavorable variants while adding more resources to help increase favorable variants in the revenue centers. This is a sure method of moving your business to the next level.

8. Business is a Life long Learning Process

Apply the lessons that you have learned in the process. Let there be gradual improvement and within no time, your commercial enterprise will be running efficiently.

And if you are interested in finding out more about powerful marketing strategies that will lift your business to the next level, I invite you to visit my blog at http://strengthinbusiness.com/.

Another tip for you! Get instant access to your *free* E-Book on Marketing Strategy Secrets.

Best 5 Ways To Keep Your Employees Highly Motivated

By Sule Yesufu

When you talk of motivating employees, many business managers always avert their minds to good pay and more pay to keep employees happy. Many usually focus so much on this aspect that they at times ignore the fact that their workers are human beings after all with all the complexities that go with being human. Employee motivation surprisingly is a mystery for many business managers in this age and time. The surprises do not end there. Some managers even go as far as not taking any other reasons into account when the financial fortunes of the business are dwindling. For that reason alone, they make the decision to lay off workers. These managers ignore the fact that some workers may even be prepared to work for little or no pay for sometime if they are sufficiently motivated some other ways. This is because not all employees respond to the same motivations. As human beings, we all differ particularly in our likes and dislikes, passions, interests and desires. To succeed as a business manager therefore, you must learn how to identify what motivates each employee. That is the knowledge which will enable you to manage your employees to fulfill the objectives of the business as well as the individual objectives of the employees. That by all accounts can not be a very easy task because of the complexity of human nature. That is why these five ways to motivate workers come in very handy most of the time.

01. Job Satisfaction. When workers are satisfied and happy with the job they do, they tend to work harder and are generally more productive. So, when the work environment is conducive enough, it attracts and keeps talented and dedicated employees. With job satisfaction, many employers are usually motivated to show up regularly with the commitment to perform at optimal level all the time. Happy employees translate to happy customers most of the time and that is very good for the fortunes of the business.

02. Sincere Appreciation. There is hardly any human craving that is stronger than the need to be appreciated. Managers who know how to appreciate and commend their employees in a very sincere manner usually get a lot of mileage from it as a motivating tool. In fact, the ability to recognize the positive behaviors and achievements of their employees is one of the strongest points of successful business managers. Little things really count for much in appreciating employees. Top on the list is personal attention which may be through one-on-one compliments, hand-written notes and some pep talk along the line. In fact, any way no matter how little a manager can use to make an employee feel useful and important no matter their stations in the business is very helpful here.

03. Genuine Recognition. An overwhelming number of people will do to for recognition exactly what they will do for money if not more. Managers who know this simple fact always have a way with their employees and many use the tool as a secret weapon for employee motivation. Many employees genuinely crave to get their names on the company's "roll-of-honor." Even if such names are placed on the notice board, in the newsletter, or for periodic citation and receipt of a plaque or certificate, a lot of good is done on employee emotions. Successful business managers always look for ways to increase employee motivation by recognizing excellence in the workplace. Some of these ways could just be simple, inexpensive, yet highly effective methods of employee motivation that many managers at times ignore.

04. Leadership Inspiration. It is human nature for everyone to look up to someone else particularly the person who leads. That is the reason why in a business environment, inspiration largely comes from management. The way the business manager carries on her business usually provides very important clues for the workers. If the leader is unconcerned and unmotivated, it runs down the line. Every manager who can lead with a mission, a vision and palpable zeal motivates workers along as well. This is because many workers are always very proud to be part of an organization they perceive is going somewhere and it stands for something they value and cherish.

05. Employee Compensation Pattern. Most employees are motivated by money. That is the singular reason why many work for a paycheck all their lives. Motivating workers with money is a very tricky business because of the vicissitudes of business life. Even though everyone needs money for their basic needs, when money is the sole motivator, disillusionment sets in by far too quickly when there is a down-turn in company fortunes. It is tricky because no company is immune from poor showing once in a while. At such down-turns, the only workers you can count on are those not motivated by money alone. These are the only ones you can rely on during bad times. That is why a combination of all five ways to motivate workers is highly recommended.

What matters most in employee motivation is the system in place which the workers believe in. Since we are all motivated differently depending on our belief systems and individual natures, a careful use of a combination of these five ways yields the best results. Any system in place in any business outfit must as a matter of course give due recognition to these five ways. That is what guarantees that the business has at least one vital thing to contribute to the motivation of each employee. The bottom line is high productivity and subsequent profits. If well motivated employees are the only ones the company can rely on to generate more profits, all efforts employed to keep them motivated can not but be worthwhile on the long run.

Sule Yesufu, a Certified Speaking Professional, is a Strategic Partner in S D Y Management Consult, a firm of Investment, Small Business and Entrepreneurial Consultants. He is a Published Author and a Newspaper Columnist. An expert in Small Business and Personal Development, he focuses on communicating his ideas and thoughts mostly through his Training Seminars and popular free blog. He offers useful tips on Self-Improvement, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Current News, Politics and Business in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.

For more tips visit: http://www.sdymanagers.com/apps/blog/

Points To Consider When Selling A Business

By Gomez Rechardio

Selling a business is quite difficult. However, it can be made very easy if you focus on a few basic points. First, defining the nature of the business is the point you have to start from. It is the fundamental step of selling a business. When you are opting for selling a business it is also very important to put some thoughts on the value of the business. It is of utmost importance that you do not go with the words of the broker or salesmen until you actually measure the worth of the business yourself. Therefore, before you take any big step plan as much as you can.

There are thousands of people looking for an existing business to buy as it takes lesser work to establish them. So if you are determined about selling you business than you should probably contact a broker or a sales agent. They will be able to provide you with expert advices. There are a lot of companies out there that can help you with your effort. Also, you should take the help of the internet and online services.

As you make that final decision of putting up your business for sale, you should keep some small but significant things in mind such as:

• Making a detailed estimation of the value of your business

• Advertising your business using flyers, newspaper and popular websites

• Not spending too much on the advertising

• Researching on brokers and companies who specialize on selling businesses. Talking to other people who have successfully sold their business will help to find the right broker as well.

• Make an effort to sell the business discreetly.

One quick search on the internet will give you detailed information on how many businesses are there for sale, their types and overall values. You can make your business very attractive to the potential buyers by listing every angles and corners of your business. The more detailed the information, the more satisfied the buyer will be.

It is very obvious that potential buyers would question you about various issues about your business. So it is important that you prepare yourself well. If you can answer everything confidently and with full disclosure the buyer would not have any hesitation. One pause during your answers might make him doubt your business. If you cannot prepare the information yourself then take help from your broker as they are expert in this sort of things. You must remember to emphasize on the positives of the business. Your cash flow statements, liability statements, equity statements, balance sheets, asset list with appropriate depreciation rate and the future growth of the establishment must be well recorded.

The best way to prop up your business for sale is to go online and place your establishment's name on a sales listing. And in case you want to buy a new business afterwards, it will also give you the opportunity to look up other businesses that are for sale.

Top Ten Most Profound Influential Speakers In My Life 2012

By Kellie Frazier

This year's pick for The Top Ten Most Profound Influential Speakers in My Life are those who engaged and connected with their audiences while delivering value, inspiration or motivation. After listening to hundreds of speakers this year, I've chosen those that I feel did their best to combine both logic and compassion as they speak. Although they are numbered, my list is not in any particular order. Each speaker is equally and vitally as important to our world as they are to me personally.

If you are a speaker just starting out, or are a veteran speaker who needs an inspired boost, watch and learn. They each figured out where the gap is in their niche, where the pain of their audience is, and stepped in to fill it. This one aspect is the breath of your audience's listening experience, and is deep and fully engaging. This is also what drives them to engage with you.

A special thanks to each speaker, who made my Top Ten list this year, for contributing their time, energy and devoting their life to making the world a better place.

1. Bo Eason - A former NFL Star, Broadway Playwright, Actor and Expert Storyteller is one speaker you MUST hear. Totally intense and funny, Bo will have you laughing one minute and listening to your own heart pound the next. He might use a bit of profanity, but you'll rarely notice it because you'll be so gripped by his action-packed stories. Ask me how I know.

2. Pat Fortin Mussieux - Speaking to women solopreneurs who want to create and manage the marketing and sales aspect of business, Pat has both her mindset and her marketing skills down. As an Author, radio host and speaker, she is fun, funny and ready to draw in a crowd. What I love about her is her rags to riches story and her down to earth approach of sharing it while inspiring you to get out of your seat and just go do it!

3. Max Simon - Founder of Big Vision Business and an excellent speaker for spiritual visionaries, Max grew up surrounded by conscious business leaders and made his global impact at The Chopra Center. He is uniquely known as the 'barefoot presenter' in some circles and brings a tasteful sense of humor into each of his talks. Spiritual and intelligent, Max changes the lives of entrepreneurs everywhere.

4. Lisa Nichols - The founder of Motivating the Masses and CEO of Motivating the Teen Spirit, Lisa impacts the lives of those listening. She is a dynamic speaker with an extraordinary story and a tremendous ability to touch people's hearts and souls. She is funny, and spiritual, and has mastered moving the audience through both laughter and tears.

5. Ross Shafer - A 6-Time Emmy winner for his work in network television for FOX, ABC, NBC, USA, and COMEDY CENTRAL. Ross focuses his energy on studying how successful organizations adapt and innovate while others become lazy and obsolete. He is funny, powerful, not always nice about pin-pointing flaws, but totally engaging with his audiences. His messages focus on evolving innovation and leveraging the public consciousness to influence buying habits.

6. Jeffrey Wright - A Powerful and Influential Speaker who doesn't know how powerful he truly is. Jeffrey is a teacher and a leader that uses wacky experiments to teach children about the universe. Using his own personal story he teaches his students the true meaning of life. Caring for his uniquely-abled son, and sharing their life with audiences around the globe via YouTube, he impacts the lives of teenagers and adults around the world. Totally compassion driven.

7. Steve Bedwell - Motivational and Leadership speaker who leaves his audiences knowing that, "When you change how you see things, you'll see things change." Steve is fun, funny and shares his psychological tactics for skyrocketing results in business and in life. Very engaging.

8. Tony Robbins - Motivational Leader who journey's into movement to change your feelings. The power of celebration is what Tony teaches and lives. No one I know can get a room full of hundreds, or thousands, of people screaming and jumping up and down faster than Tony can. Powerful leader and speaker in the personal development and relationship world. Totally engaging.

9. Vishen Lakhiani - Founder of Mind Valley, a company whose mission is to bring enlightenment and personal growth to the world in a scalable way with hybrid marketing and technology. Vishen is a phenomenal pioneer of innovative traditions in business. That is not an oxymoron. He takes traditional entrepreneurship and adds to it brilliantly, creating new ideas of development and expansion both personally and professionally. Millions of people around the world know the power of this speaker, myself included, and have changed the way I do life as a result.

10. Anjelah Johnson - For a bit of nonconservative F-U-N... speaker, actress, comedian, and former NFL cheerleader Anjelah Johnson created two popular characters on the MADtv television series, the rude and ghetto fabulous Bon Qui Qui, plus a shifty nail salon employee named Tammy. Anjelah is so comfortable playing to her strengths that she has the audiences rolling in the isles within minutes.

So there you have it. If you are a speaker who didn't make my list this year, there is always next year! Let me know when and where you'll be speaking again, or send me a link to your YouTube video, and I'll be sure to check it out.

Build the BEST relationships you can in 2013 and start with my four free ebooks that help you know how to engage your audiences. http://www.Connecting101.org

Kellie Frazier is a Relationship Strategist, Best Selling Contributing Author, Speaker and Coach for Entrepreneurs.

How To Start And Grow A Successful Business - Turn Your Passion Into Profits

By Krisz Rokk

More than 60 percent of businesses close doors within the first year of starting operations because of a number of constraints. For you to start a business and succeed, you need to have a lot of determination, resilience, self-discipline and focus. Businesses such as Apple were able to succeed because their founders had adequate focus and inner drive to take the business to the next level.

Here are eight key things you should know to start and grow a successful business:

1. Follow Your Inner Passion

As a matter of fact, achieving success in life is not a prerequisite for those who want to be happy. However, happiness is mandatory if success is to be achieved. Success is achieved by those who love what they are doing. It is advisable for anyone who wants to start a business to select something that he or she loves the most, but this should be something that has a market. If you choose something that can't sell, there is high probability that your efforts will never pay off.

2. Work on Your Commercial Enterprise

There is an old saying that says that you drive your business or it will drive thee. This is a popular saying by Benjamin Franklin who achieved success as an investor and writer. Start by finding your passion and there after developing a clear and well-detailed business plan. Also, a well-developed strategy is a key recipe for success in every business.

You don't have to do things your own way. Well, this may bring you success, but it's not always the case. You can learn a few methods of running a business from successful entrepreneurs, especially those who are famed for developing efficient business systems.

3. Define Your Business Goals And Objectives

The life of a man will only have meaning when he or she is striving for his goals and reaching out. When you have goals, you will know where you are coming from and where to go. It is good to know that any entrepreneur will achieve his or her goals when there is persistence, proper resource allocation and focus. Clarity is power and when used in defining your business goals, success is inevitable. Whenever something comes your way, you will still be able to stand strong and focus on achieving the goals that you have set. You will never be swayed aside when you have clearly defined goals and objectives.

It is of great importance to know what you want to achieve after a day, week or a month. After you've drafted your goals, you should monitor your results.

4. Don't Give Up

Every business has challenges that are unique to it. You should learn from past business trends and put in place the right measures that would enable you take your business to the next level.

Challenges will only be overcome when they are precisely known. Know about the possible source of the hurdle your business is going through and find a perfect solution. Know that most of the challenges faced by commercial entities can be overcome by not quitting.

Know where your business is and where it is going. You should never give up regardless of the circumstances you are facing.

5. Take Action

Taking action is one of the keys to success in business. However, you should always know that action might at times bring painful results. Action combined with good business strategies often yield great results. Steve Jobs once said that we tend to attract different types of people and there is not a need for a person to wait for up to ten years for someone else to take a huge risk on her or him.

6. Focus

Your capital, thoughts and energies should be focused on growing the business. You can get the money you badly need when you focus your money and time on your business.

7. Review Your Budget Regularly

You will need to know if you are moving towards the right direction or not through comparing your actual results with the planned ones. You can put in place the right strategies to reverse unfavorable variants while adding more resources to help increase favorable variants in the revenue centers. This is a sure method of moving your business to the next level.

8. Business is a Life long Learning Process

Apply the lessons that you have learned in the process. Let there be gradual improvement and within no time, your commercial enterprise will be running efficiently.

And if you are interested in finding out more about powerful marketing strategies that will lift your business to the next level, I invite you to visit my blog at http://strengthinbusiness.com/.

Another tip for you! Get instant access to your *free* E-Book on Marketing Strategy Secrets.

How To Start And Grow A Successful Business - Turn Your Passion Into Profits

By Krisz Rokk

More than 60 percent of businesses close doors within the first year of starting operations because of a number of constraints. For you to start a business and succeed, you need to have a lot of determination, resilience, self-discipline and focus. Businesses such as Apple were able to succeed because their founders had adequate focus and inner drive to take the business to the next level.

Here are eight key things you should know to start and grow a successful business:

1. Follow Your Inner Passion

As a matter of fact, achieving success in life is not a prerequisite for those who want to be happy. However, happiness is mandatory if success is to be achieved. Success is achieved by those who love what they are doing. It is advisable for anyone who wants to start a business to select something that he or she loves the most, but this should be something that has a market. If you choose something that can't sell, there is high probability that your efforts will never pay off.

2. Work on Your Commercial Enterprise

There is an old saying that says that you drive your business or it will drive thee. This is a popular saying by Benjamin Franklin who achieved success as an investor and writer. Start by finding your passion and there after developing a clear and well-detailed business plan. Also, a well-developed strategy is a key recipe for success in every business.

You don't have to do things your own way. Well, this may bring you success, but it's not always the case. You can learn a few methods of running a business from successful entrepreneurs, especially those who are famed for developing efficient business systems.

3. Define Your Business Goals And Objectives

The life of a man will only have meaning when he or she is striving for his goals and reaching out. When you have goals, you will know where you are coming from and where to go. It is good to know that any entrepreneur will achieve his or her goals when there is persistence, proper resource allocation and focus. Clarity is power and when used in defining your business goals, success is inevitable. Whenever something comes your way, you will still be able to stand strong and focus on achieving the goals that you have set. You will never be swayed aside when you have clearly defined goals and objectives.

It is of great importance to know what you want to achieve after a day, week or a month. After you've drafted your goals, you should monitor your results.

4. Don't Give Up

Every business has challenges that are unique to it. You should learn from past business trends and put in place the right measures that would enable you take your business to the next level.

Challenges will only be overcome when they are precisely known. Know about the possible source of the hurdle your business is going through and find a perfect solution. Know that most of the challenges faced by commercial entities can be overcome by not quitting.

Know where your business is and where it is going. You should never give up regardless of the circumstances you are facing.

5. Take Action

Taking action is one of the keys to success in business. However, you should always know that action might at times bring painful results. Action combined with good business strategies often yield great results. Steve Jobs once said that we tend to attract different types of people and there is not a need for a person to wait for up to ten years for someone else to take a huge risk on her or him.

6. Focus

Your capital, thoughts and energies should be focused on growing the business. You can get the money you badly need when you focus your money and time on your business.

7. Review Your Budget Regularly

You will need to know if you are moving towards the right direction or not through comparing your actual results with the planned ones. You can put in place the right strategies to reverse unfavorable variants while adding more resources to help increase favorable variants in the revenue centers. This is a sure method of moving your business to the next level.

8. Business is a Life long Learning Process

Apply the lessons that you have learned in the process. Let there be gradual improvement and within no time, your commercial enterprise will be running efficiently.

And if you are interested in finding out more about powerful marketing strategies that will lift your business to the next level, I invite you to visit my blog at http://strengthinbusiness.com/.

Another tip for you! Get instant access to your *free* E-Book on Marketing Strategy Secrets.

Knowledge Is Power? Hogwash!

By Dan J Spiegel

Misconceptions Of Knowledge

During my daily reading of Think & Grow Rich (which is one of the best things anyone can do for themselves), I came across a section that really resonated with me. It addressed knowledge: general vs. specialized.

The beginning of Chapter 5 states, "General knowledge, no matter how great or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little money. They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization, of the use of knowledge."

When I read this it was reiterating what I already know, especially as a golf instructor who's business is having specialized knowledge, but it was said in a different way that was very powerful.

In other words, if one never acquires specialized knowledge about anything, it is almost impossible to be rich. If one specializes in industries that are not known for wealth or continuous growth and advancements in technology, they might also be doomed regarding attaining wealth.

When a new student comes to me for golf lessons, they are learning specialized knowledge, as well as, over time, how to apply it. When one seeks change in any part of their life, similar actions are required to achieve any goals they may have regarding that new skill.

Specializing Knowledge Can Be Uncomfortable

Sadly change in and of itself is uncomfortable for most people, so remaining inside their own box of comfortability is the path of least resistance. As a result, no real progress is ever made in their lives in the areas that could provide the most benefit.

What does it take for people to take the leap of being temporarily uncomfortable in order to gain specialized knowledge to change their lives forever? Sometimes it is a traumatic event. Sometimes it is a look in the mirror and the reflection is undesirable. But whatever causes it, it needs to be welcomed. Even forced. We all have our flaws. Most of us are self-aware of these things.

For the most part, going to college fuels our need for general knowledge. Sure we narrow down our focuses on the things we enjoy, but nothing learned ever is more valuable than the actual experience in the work force. Often times college graduates realize what they learned in school was relatively needless in relation to what is quickly learned when they are out in the "real world."

The advancing technology of today and the entire world going online is an amazing shift in mindset for most of us. The 35+ year olds in this world certainly remember a life of no internet or cell phones, but can't imagine life without them now. Money, lifestyle, culture, and KNOWLEDGE have all moved or are moving online.

Become A Leader Through Knowledge

No matter what one enjoys or considers themselves to be an "expert" in, there is still much to learn and ways to get better. Additionally, taking yourself out of your comfort zone to learn how to be a person of influence and a leader online can do wonders for your life and self-esteem.

Imagine a world where everyone gave a noble effort to be helpful and lead others to specific answers on how to do anything. Fix anything. Achieve anything. Some of that is out there. Some of it is incorrect or unreliable. But there is always room for those looking to make a positive difference in this sometimes frightful world.

I and many, many others have found the way to capitalize on their specialized knowledge on a mass scale. It first starts with reading Think & Grow Rich daily. The rest is focusing sharply on becoming a person people look to for specialized advice. There is no limit to what you can achieve in such a scenario, that specialized knowledge created.

Want to become specialized in the online world? Want to turn your passions and interests into things you can market for the betterment of you and your family? Click here to watch a short video and change your life: http://myinternetfortune.com.

Knowledge Is Power? Hogwash!

By Dan J Spiegel

Misconceptions Of Knowledge

During my daily reading of Think & Grow Rich (which is one of the best things anyone can do for themselves), I came across a section that really resonated with me. It addressed knowledge: general vs. specialized.

The beginning of Chapter 5 states, "General knowledge, no matter how great or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little money. They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization, of the use of knowledge."

When I read this it was reiterating what I already know, especially as a golf instructor who's business is having specialized knowledge, but it was said in a different way that was very powerful.

In other words, if one never acquires specialized knowledge about anything, it is almost impossible to be rich. If one specializes in industries that are not known for wealth or continuous growth and advancements in technology, they might also be doomed regarding attaining wealth.

When a new student comes to me for golf lessons, they are learning specialized knowledge, as well as, over time, how to apply it. When one seeks change in any part of their life, similar actions are required to achieve any goals they may have regarding that new skill.

Specializing Knowledge Can Be Uncomfortable

Sadly change in and of itself is uncomfortable for most people, so remaining inside their own box of comfortability is the path of least resistance. As a result, no real progress is ever made in their lives in the areas that could provide the most benefit.

What does it take for people to take the leap of being temporarily uncomfortable in order to gain specialized knowledge to change their lives forever? Sometimes it is a traumatic event. Sometimes it is a look in the mirror and the reflection is undesirable. But whatever causes it, it needs to be welcomed. Even forced. We all have our flaws. Most of us are self-aware of these things.

For the most part, going to college fuels our need for general knowledge. Sure we narrow down our focuses on the things we enjoy, but nothing learned ever is more valuable than the actual experience in the work force. Often times college graduates realize what they learned in school was relatively needless in relation to what is quickly learned when they are out in the "real world."

The advancing technology of today and the entire world going online is an amazing shift in mindset for most of us. The 35+ year olds in this world certainly remember a life of no internet or cell phones, but can't imagine life without them now. Money, lifestyle, culture, and KNOWLEDGE have all moved or are moving online.

Become A Leader Through Knowledge

No matter what one enjoys or considers themselves to be an "expert" in, there is still much to learn and ways to get better. Additionally, taking yourself out of your comfort zone to learn how to be a person of influence and a leader online can do wonders for your life and self-esteem.

Imagine a world where everyone gave a noble effort to be helpful and lead others to specific answers on how to do anything. Fix anything. Achieve anything. Some of that is out there. Some of it is incorrect or unreliable. But there is always room for those looking to make a positive difference in this sometimes frightful world.

I and many, many others have found the way to capitalize on their specialized knowledge on a mass scale. It first starts with reading Think & Grow Rich daily. The rest is focusing sharply on becoming a person people look to for specialized advice. There is no limit to what you can achieve in such a scenario, that specialized knowledge created.

Want to become specialized in the online world? Want to turn your passions and interests into things you can market for the betterment of you and your family? Click here to watch a short video and change your life: http://myinternetfortune.com.

Knowledge Is Power? Hogwash!

By Dan J Spiegel

Misconceptions Of Knowledge

During my daily reading of Think & Grow Rich (which is one of the best things anyone can do for themselves), I came across a section that really resonated with me. It addressed knowledge: general vs. specialized.

The beginning of Chapter 5 states, "General knowledge, no matter how great or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little money. They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization, of the use of knowledge."

When I read this it was reiterating what I already know, especially as a golf instructor who's business is having specialized knowledge, but it was said in a different way that was very powerful.

In other words, if one never acquires specialized knowledge about anything, it is almost impossible to be rich. If one specializes in industries that are not known for wealth or continuous growth and advancements in technology, they might also be doomed regarding attaining wealth.

When a new student comes to me for golf lessons, they are learning specialized knowledge, as well as, over time, how to apply it. When one seeks change in any part of their life, similar actions are required to achieve any goals they may have regarding that new skill.

Specializing Knowledge Can Be Uncomfortable

Sadly change in and of itself is uncomfortable for most people, so remaining inside their own box of comfortability is the path of least resistance. As a result, no real progress is ever made in their lives in the areas that could provide the most benefit.

What does it take for people to take the leap of being temporarily uncomfortable in order to gain specialized knowledge to change their lives forever? Sometimes it is a traumatic event. Sometimes it is a look in the mirror and the reflection is undesirable. But whatever causes it, it needs to be welcomed. Even forced. We all have our flaws. Most of us are self-aware of these things.

For the most part, going to college fuels our need for general knowledge. Sure we narrow down our focuses on the things we enjoy, but nothing learned ever is more valuable than the actual experience in the work force. Often times college graduates realize what they learned in school was relatively needless in relation to what is quickly learned when they are out in the "real world."

The advancing technology of today and the entire world going online is an amazing shift in mindset for most of us. The 35+ year olds in this world certainly remember a life of no internet or cell phones, but can't imagine life without them now. Money, lifestyle, culture, and KNOWLEDGE have all moved or are moving online.

Become A Leader Through Knowledge

No matter what one enjoys or considers themselves to be an "expert" in, there is still much to learn and ways to get better. Additionally, taking yourself out of your comfort zone to learn how to be a person of influence and a leader online can do wonders for your life and self-esteem.

Imagine a world where everyone gave a noble effort to be helpful and lead others to specific answers on how to do anything. Fix anything. Achieve anything. Some of that is out there. Some of it is incorrect or unreliable. But there is always room for those looking to make a positive difference in this sometimes frightful world.

I and many, many others have found the way to capitalize on their specialized knowledge on a mass scale. It first starts with reading Think & Grow Rich daily. The rest is focusing sharply on becoming a person people look to for specialized advice. There is no limit to what you can achieve in such a scenario, that specialized knowledge created.

Want to become specialized in the online world? Want to turn your passions and interests into things you can market for the betterment of you and your family? Click here to watch a short video and change your life: http://myinternetfortune.com.

Knowledge Is Power? Hogwash!

By Dan J Spiegel

Misconceptions Of Knowledge

During my daily reading of Think & Grow Rich (which is one of the best things anyone can do for themselves), I came across a section that really resonated with me. It addressed knowledge: general vs. specialized.

The beginning of Chapter 5 states, "General knowledge, no matter how great or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little money. They specialize in teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize in the organization, of the use of knowledge."

When I read this it was reiterating what I already know, especially as a golf instructor who's business is having specialized knowledge, but it was said in a different way that was very powerful.

In other words, if one never acquires specialized knowledge about anything, it is almost impossible to be rich. If one specializes in industries that are not known for wealth or continuous growth and advancements in technology, they might also be doomed regarding attaining wealth.

When a new student comes to me for golf lessons, they are learning specialized knowledge, as well as, over time, how to apply it. When one seeks change in any part of their life, similar actions are required to achieve any goals they may have regarding that new skill.

Specializing Knowledge Can Be Uncomfortable

Sadly change in and of itself is uncomfortable for most people, so remaining inside their own box of comfortability is the path of least resistance. As a result, no real progress is ever made in their lives in the areas that could provide the most benefit.

What does it take for people to take the leap of being temporarily uncomfortable in order to gain specialized knowledge to change their lives forever? Sometimes it is a traumatic event. Sometimes it is a look in the mirror and the reflection is undesirable. But whatever causes it, it needs to be welcomed. Even forced. We all have our flaws. Most of us are self-aware of these things.

For the most part, going to college fuels our need for general knowledge. Sure we narrow down our focuses on the things we enjoy, but nothing learned ever is more valuable than the actual experience in the work force. Often times college graduates realize what they learned in school was relatively needless in relation to what is quickly learned when they are out in the "real world."

The advancing technology of today and the entire world going online is an amazing shift in mindset for most of us. The 35+ year olds in this world certainly remember a life of no internet or cell phones, but can't imagine life without them now. Money, lifestyle, culture, and KNOWLEDGE have all moved or are moving online.

Become A Leader Through Knowledge

No matter what one enjoys or considers themselves to be an "expert" in, there is still much to learn and ways to get better. Additionally, taking yourself out of your comfort zone to learn how to be a person of influence and a leader online can do wonders for your life and self-esteem.

Imagine a world where everyone gave a noble effort to be helpful and lead others to specific answers on how to do anything. Fix anything. Achieve anything. Some of that is out there. Some of it is incorrect or unreliable. But there is always room for those looking to make a positive difference in this sometimes frightful world.

I and many, many others have found the way to capitalize on their specialized knowledge on a mass scale. It first starts with reading Think & Grow Rich daily. The rest is focusing sharply on becoming a person people look to for specialized advice. There is no limit to what you can achieve in such a scenario, that specialized knowledge created.

Want to become specialized in the online world? Want to turn your passions and interests into things you can market for the betterment of you and your family? Click here to watch a short video and change your life: http://myinternetfortune.com.

Is It Always A Good Idea To Pass The Family Business To The Children?

By Robert John Kemp

For many owners keeping the business in the family is an emotional as much as a commercial decision. There are genuine benefits to keeping a company in the family. On the other hand I have seen enough failed transfers to know that there are some downside risks as well. A recent experience with a local family company that had run into difficulties set me thinking. Just how does a business owner decide if it is a good idea to pass on the family business rather than try to sell it? What are the pros and cons of transferring a business to the children?

The benefits are easy to list. The owner is spared the cost, disruption and stress of a company sale process. If the children have the drive and ability to run a company, and get on well together, they should earn more than they would as paid employees. There is also the emotional satisfaction of seeing the company you have built live on. These are not benefits to be lightly set aside.

So what are the risks that might outweigh these clear benefits?

Portfolio management to spread risk is the most basic rule of wealth management. Passing the company on can result in an unhealthy concentration of family wealth in one asset. This can be solved in part by requiring the younger generation to pay for the company, but the resulting debts can drain cash and limit future growth.

What if the kids just don't have the ability to run and grow the company, or just don't get along? Hard as it may be you have to find a way to take a dispassionate view of your children's ability. You also need to be sure that running the business is what they really want to do. It takes a lot of energy and passion to run a successful business; if your children are motivated only by a sense of obligation they are less likely to be successful.

Building a business takes independence of mind and belief in your own judgement. If you have these qualities it might not be easy to let go. Some of your children will most likely have inherited the same traits sowing the seeds of future conflict. Are you sure you can walk away?

If the business in need of fresh energy and your children have worked in the company for several years, they may not be the best source of new ideas. New owners may be better placed to take the business forward.

Despite the emotional attraction of passing a company on to the next generation experience tells me that it is not the right decision for every family. It may only be the right decision for a minority of family companies.

Robert John Kemp is Managing Director of UK business broker Select Business Sales. Select specialise in retirement sales of private companies.

Visit our website to find out more: http://www.sellingprivatecompanies.co.uk

Finding The Right Kind Of UK Business Broker To Sell Your Business

By Robert John Kemp

At the end of last year I met with the owner of an e-mail marketing bureau contemplating a retirement sale of his company. We were the fifth broker he had met and it is fair to say he was confused about the different approaches and fee structures he had been offered. It was not the first time we had faced this situation, and I offered him my own much practiced verbal overview of the types of broker operating in the UK market. In summary this is what I told him.

At one end of the scale are the advertising based agencies. You can recognise them by their websites holding long lists of businesses for sale. This type of agency is best for local market retail outlets and any business with less than �250k turnover. A business of this size will typically be bought by an owner manager looking to make a full time living. Advertising is the only practical way to reach this type of buyer. Upfront fees will typically be less than �2000 but the commission on eventual sale might be as high as 8%. The downside of the advertising based agency is that there will be limited or no support through the sale process. If you cannot handle the sale process yourself you might need to involve your accountant or legal advisor at a further cost.

For mid-range private companies with turnover up to �10 million a full service broker is a better choice. This type of broker will put considerable effort into preparing detailed sales particulars and financial forecasts for your company. They will research the most likely buyers and approach them directly to create a market for the company. Upfront fees will be in the range of �5000 and expect to pay a commission on eventual sale of 5%. A good broker will provide assistance and support at every stage of the sale process.

Companies above �10m turnover will typically employ the corporate finance team of a large chartered accountancy practice or a "boutique" corporate finance agency. The approach will be much the same as the full service broker but the advisors should have more experience of the expectations of large corporate buyers. Upfront fees for this type of advisor will typically be �10-15000 usually paid as a monthly retainer. Expect a commission on sale of 2% to 5% depending on the size of your business.

Robert John Kemp is Managing Director of UK Business Broker Select Business Sales. Select specialise in retirement sales of private companies.

Visit our website to find out more: http://www.sellingprivatecompanies.co.uk

6 Smart Things Entrepreneurs Can Do To Save Time

By Sule Yesufu

I have heard it said by many management gurus that time is money. Saving time therefore is like saving money. Saving money in a business has a lot of benefits for its cash-flow. Many businesses today have also realized that saving time is one other smart way to reduce costs. Management practices that save time are now trending topics among business managers worldwide. Everyone now wants to do things more efficiently and effectively as a way of adding value to the bottom-line of their businesses. They now know that getting more done within a shorter time frame increases effectiveness and efficiency. Among the many things business managers can do to save time, these six things appear to be the smartest.

01. Planning before executing. This is one of the smartest time-saving tools available to business managers. The ten or fifteen minutes spent each morning to plan the day's work creates order and sequence which consequently saves plenty of time for those executing the plan. The time spent to draw up a plan usually turns out to be the best use of time at execution stage. If a plan is in place, many smart managers always have in front of them each morning a "to-do" list. That is the list that enables them to prioritize activities for the day thereby accomplishing more within a shorter time frame.

02. Use strategy for responsibilities. This way, you can take on tasks at once which can be accomplished together. If it is possible to accomplish two or more things together which the available logistics allow, it should be done. For example, if you have to run an errand along a certain route, it saves plenty of time to take on all the tasks to be done along same route. That is one sure way to save plenty of time and efforts.

03. Use fast delivery services. Whether you want to deliver a mail or a package, what you need is fast and safe delivery. Courier companies are faster and more reliable than surface mails when delivering parcels. Emails beat surface mails all the time in mail delivery when speed is required. These are tools business managers can always employ to save time and get a lot more done as well.

04. Delegate tasks. You must accept that you are human and as such you have plenty of limitations like everyone else. You can therefore not do everything all by yourself. You can get a great deal more done by asking others to take some tasks off you if they have the competence to accomplish such tasks. That way, more gets done within a shorter time period.

05. Document your activities. When written down, it is easier to remember tasks to be performed than when they are not written. You can form the habit of having a note pad around you most of the time when at work. When on phone or while discussing with an important customer, you can always jot down important points to help you remember to take action later. That saves time and increases efficiency.

06. Build short breaks into your work schedule. You can give yourself little breaks while at work to recover your thinking pattern and recoup some mental energy. If you work full steam every day no matter how much you love the work, sooner than later you will experience the law of diminishing returns. This is because the human brain has its limits. Apart from weekend breaks, you can also take mini-breaks every few hours while at work. You can use such mini-breaks to grab a cup of coffee or just walk around to improve your blood circulation. After that, you will be able to return to your desk completely energized and ready for more work.

Every business manager needs all the time she can get to accomplish the goals of her business. Anything she does which helps her to accomplish more within a shorter time frame is usually very helpful on the long run. Doing things smartly and intelligently is the key here because time waits for no one. When customers want a service, they want it real fast. Anyone who can deliver to them at the shortest possible time usually gets more of their patronage. That is the one who will get the largest market share and subsequent profits, a scenario every smart business manager should always crave for.

Sule Yesufu, a Certified Speaking Professional, is a Strategic Partner in S D Y Management Consult, a firm of Investment, Small Business and Entrepreneurial Consultants. He is a Published Author and a Newspaper Columnist. An expert in Small Business and Personal Development, he focuses on communicating his ideas and thoughts mostly through his Training Seminars and popular free blog. He offers useful tips on Self-Improvement, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Current News, Politics and Business in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.

For more tips visit: http://www.sdymanagers.com/apps/blog/

Selling Your Company - Should You Approach A Competitor?

By Robert John Kemp

Business owners are always understandably nervous about approaching a competitor during a company sale process. There is always the fear that any information provided will be used to steal customers, or that rumours will start that the company is for sale unsettling staff and customers.

We recently completed the sale of a private company to its biggest competitor. We tiptoed around the competitor for the first few weeks of the sale process. Then late on a Friday afternoon the inevitable happened. An adviser to the competitor saw our advertisement on a corporate finance bulletin board and brought it to his client's attention. The Managing Director of the competitor called me the following day, certain he knew which company was for sale, and asking to be part of the process.

By this time we had a couple of offers on the table but not at the full price our client was looking for. Potential buyers were still coming to initial meetings and we might be able to squeeze more out of the existing offers through negotiation or setting up an auction. We had options, but whichever way we looked at it there was no doubt that the competitor would get the most benefit from acquiring the company, and could best afford to pay the price we were looking for.

It's not difficult to understand why the competitor could afford to pay more. Duplicate administration costs could be squeezed out and eventually the combined company could be consolidated into one set of premises. There was some overlap in the customer base, which would need to be handled carefully, but many new customers for the competitor's broader product range. These were real profit improvement possibilities for the competitor, but also an important defensive element. Between them the two companies dominated the local market. The competitor feared a strong new opponent buying into the region.

Reluctantly the client gave permission to involve the competitor and within a fortnight we were in face to face negotiations. The two sides quickly built up a good relationship. They had a lot of contacts and experiences in common. To my client's surprise the competitor already knew most of his customers but feared they would not be able to secure them without his help handing over the relationships he had built up over many years; so keen in fact that they offered a generous consulting contract on top of the offer price.

There are broader lessons to be drawn out of this specific situation? First of all direct competitors will probably have the most potential synergies with your company, and be in the position to pay the best price. If you leave them out of the process you risk leaving money on the table. Secondly, the seller's fear that competitors will use any information they disclose to attack customers is often exaggerated. In reality a competitor will already have a good idea about your customer base and probably be talking to most of them already. Don't underestimate the other side's fear that they will lose some of the business they have bought after the sale. This can often work to your advantage.

Robert John Kemp is Managing Director of UK Business Broker Select Business Sales. Select specialise in retirement sales of private companies.

Visit our website to find out more: http://www.sellingprivatecompanies.co.uk

Negotiating A Deal To Sell A Company - Why You Need Professional Help

By Robert John Kemp

Recently one of our deal managers took a call from a business owner I knew from local networking meetings. He had received an unsolicited offer for his company and was involved in negotiations with the potential buyer. In the last couple of weeks things had started to go wrong. The owner had never sold a company before and was learning on his feet. A number of issues had come up that the seller saw as a reduction of the original offer. The buyer was adamant they were a normal part of any company sale process.

The owner was trying to handle the negotiation himself to save fees on advisors. Negotiating complex customer contracts was a regular part of his business and how could a company sale contract be any more difficult? From a certain perspective this might be true; but selling a company has its own jargon and peculiar issues. Some of the issues are unusually complex and it is easy to make an expensive mistake.

So what are some of the issues that are peculiar to a company sale process?

If you are trading through a limited company a buyer will make either an offer for the shares of the company or its trading assets. In the UK selling shares has a big tax advantage for the seller. For the buyer a share sale carries more risk. Buyers will expect to negotiate a contract that leaves the buyer with long term obligations to pay the costs of any pre-sale problems.

Most offers are made 'Free of cash and debt'. At its simplest level this means that part of the offer price will be used to pay off any debt in the company. Debt includes not only bank loans but also overdrafts, invoice discount advances and outstanding balances on finance leases and hire purchase agreements.

If an offer is made for shares the seller will be expected to maintain normal levels of working capital in the company (Trade debtors, trade creditors and stocks) prior to the sale. If working capital at the date of sale is less than expected the shortfall will be deducted from the selling price.

The seller will have to pay Corporation Tax up to the date of sale. Typically an estimate of the tax bill will be deducted from the selling price at closing and held in a reserve to pay the bill when due.

In a share sale part up to 20% of the selling price will be held in a reserve to settle any claims that arise under the contract. The reserve might be held for between one and two years.

For a business owner that has never sold a company before some of these issues might come as a shock. My advice would always be to involve an accountant, solicitor or business broker with extensive experience of this type of negotiation. Selling a company is one of the few occasions in business where there is no second chance. Think of any fees incurred as protection against an expensive mistake.

Robert John Kemp is Managing Director of UK Business Broker Select Business Sales. Select specialise in retirement sales of private companies.

Visit our website to find out more: http://www.sellingprivatecompanies.co.uk

The Beginner's Guide To Shipping Items Overseas

By Georgina Simmons

Whether you're moving overseas permanently or planning a lengthy holiday, you may find that you need a helping hand with sending items abroad. Of course, you'll be able to take a certain amount of hand luggage with you, and you'll have a baggage allowance - but depending on the nature of your trip, this may not be sufficient. Of course, the economic upheaval of the last few years has left many with the distinct impression that their future lies elsewhere, and so they've chosen to seek alternative employment opportunities in other countries. If you're planning a foreign trip and aren't sure how to get all the belongings you'll need to your destination, here are a few things you may want to bear in mind.

According to eHow.com, a bit of careful research can help make the entire process of moving your belongings abroad relatively pain-free. The first thing you need to think about is exactly what you're going to take. The chances are that you can afford to leave at least some of your belongings at home rather than having them transported abroad, and this can help you save both money and effort. Go through your belongings and see which ones you need, as well as which ones you don't. If there are items you find you can do without, why not consider selling them or giving them away? Of course, if you can't bear to part with them for whatever reason, then perhaps you could place them into storage until such time as you want to reclaim them.

You should also think about what items you'll need when you arrive at your destination. It's a fairly safe bet that you'll need plates and cutlery, for example, so make sure you package them together. This should make it easier to find them right away, instead of having to rifle through the rest of your belongings - which could take a while. Depending on the nature of the belongings and how many of them you're planning on taking, you may need to recruit the services of an international mover.

Before you decide to sign up to anything, make sure you carry out a bit of careful research about the various options open to you. Most movers will offer you a choice between air transit and sea transit. The latter is generally a bit slower, but it's also cheaper - which is likely to prove particularly important for those of us who are feeling the financial pinch. Air transport is more expensive, but if you're looking to get everything sorted right away then it could be the best option for you.

By trusting the job to a specialist international removals firm, you can sidestep the rigmarole of filling out customs forms. Working your way through a big pile of paperwork probably isn't the most tempting prospect, so it's worth avoiding wherever possible.

About.com also stresses the importance of finding out more about shipping companies in the UK before you decide which one you're going to use. Check customer reviews to find out more about just how reliable they are, and then you can make a more informed decision about which one you choose.

Money Power And You

By Hunter Phoenix

Money. It's never a neutral topic, whether you have a lot of it, or a little. Whether you have healthy investments, or are heavily in debt, money, in our society holds an emotional charge. The reason isn't really money itself, it's what it means to the quality of our lives. As the saying goes, "money can't buy you love", but it touches everything you do love. It affects where you and your family live, what kind of car you drive, what kind of clothing you wear, where your kids go to school, the quality of the food you eat, where and how often you vacation, and even more. So where are you at with money? Whether you have a little or a lot, are you satisfied? Are you standing in your financial power?

Money flows into our lives more readily when we trust ourselves to handle it responsibly. And trust is built in layers. So what do you need to do in your own life so that you completely trust yourself with money? Cleaning up your monetary loose ends will help you stand more in your power financially, and regain what I call your "financial integrity". From that place, of course it's easier to make more and keep more money. Below is a simple coaching exercise to help you feel financially fit and strong and ready for more.

Personal Financial Integrity

Here are a few things that could be keeping you out of financial alignment. Check any that apply to you.

_ I have unpaid bills or pay them late

_ I'm carrying a lot of debt without a debt repayment plan

_ I have stack of receipts that need to be filed

_ My taxes are overdue or unpaid.

_ I spend more than I earn.

_ I'm behind on my bookkeeping

_ I seldom carry enough cash in my wallet

_ I don't have an emergency fund

_ my insurance is insufficient to cover my family's needs

_ I don't have strong investments for the future.

Personal Money Power

On a scale of 1-10, how powerful do you feel with money?

Where would you like that number to be?

What is dragging that score down?

What is one small action you can take to clean that are up and raise your money score?

Only you can decide on what your financial goals are, and then put a plan in place to reach those goals. While budgeting may be part of it, I find that budgets are like diets - nobody seems to stick to them! And in all honesty, saving your way to wealth is only part of the picture; growth and expansion are important keys. Creating an extra $5.00 a day may be easier than you think and far more enjoyable than giving up your Starbucks!

Hunter Phoenix is a Certified Life & Success Coach & Mentor, national speaker, author of "Perfect Lives and Other Fairy Tales" and the creator of the Life By Design™ & Biz Breakthrough™ Coaching Systems. She helps clients strike the sweet spot between simple self-care and accelerated growth, designing their lives and businesses rather than living them by default. Hunter has worked with men and women in the entertainment industry, the legal profession, health care industries, artists, executives, business owners and entrepreneurs across North America.�

Reconnecting With Your Starting Point

By Catherine Delcin

To effectively plan for the growth of a business an entrepreneur has to zero in on the origination of the business. This is important is because you need to orient yourself to the preliminary stages of your business prior to putting yourself on a continued path of success. Think of it a retrospective look with an inclination towards the future. Some say: "the best way to move forward is not looking back." That adage would not hold true here. In this case, the best way to move forward is to look back. This looking back is purposeful and helps build on elements of the past to strategically position your business for continued success.

A business' starting point is the ground zero of what the founder set out to accomplish. Most successful business owners can pinpoint to a particular point in time, when they took the plunge into the foray of entrepreneurship. This starting point maybe related to a physical act or it may be just the mental disposition that led them down a path to a particular business venture. Ask yourself the pointed question of what drove you to start this business? What passion did this particular venture arise within you?

For most of us, this retrospective look begins by connecting with the passion that you had for the business in the initial stages. For some, it may be a simple trip down memory lane to recall the passion that drove you to a venture. This passion may be renewed and reaffirmed over the accomplishments of the business or ignite a motivation to overcome impediments by re-positioning. For example, if you started a business in the basement of your house with the hopes of having a brick and mortar business, you may now be able to see sufficient growth to take the next step or maybe the lack of growth will inspire you to shift the direction of business.

A deeper understanding of the intended consumer need the business was designed to address is another important aspect to reconnecting with the origination of the business. You will do that, by simply asking the question and conducting an honest assessment of whether the business is serving that consumer base. Even more important, you should ask, whether that segment needs that service presently? Depending on the answer, you may need to shift or make certain adjustments to fit current consumer trends and needs. For example, a need to create a brick & mortar clothing boutique may have waned with the advent of the internet and rising costs of real estate.

The overall goal of the reconnecting is not so much about the balance sheet of the business, but a more intrinsic self check to align your vision with the reality of the business. Reconnecting with the starting point of your business by taking into account its past history intended objectives and existing market conditions is the best way to grow your business and ensure its success.

� Copyright Catherine Delcin, All Rights Reserved.

Catherine Delcin is the Managing Director of Delcin Consulting Group and founder of The Entrepreneurship Movement--- http://www.theentrepreneurshipmovement.com/. Connect with her for further insights through The Entrepreneurship Initiative radio show--- http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-entrepreneur-initiative

Entrepreneurial Decisions In Starting A Business

By Ivy Harris

What decisions are critical in starting a business for the entrepreneur? How do you know where to start and what to look for in a business opportunity? With so much information out there about business building and starting a business, it is easy to get confused and aggravated. Most of the information conflicts with each other. How do you decipher what you need to know and what is "fluff"?

You'll be surprised to learn that starting a business is actually pretty simple as long as you have a few key elements in place before hand. In our experience, the hardest part of launching a successful business is the idea or concept you are selling. Most people are unclear of their product or service. They have not focused their idea enough for the masses to agree to their idea enough to turn a profit.

The first thing a prospective business owner should do is write out their idea on paper. There is something very liberating in putting pen to paper. This simple exercise will help set the tone for the rest of your business plan. Some questions to ask while completing this tasks are:

• What is the product or service in 10 words or less?
• Who is the primary target audience? Who will be able to use the product or service the most?
• Who is the secondary target audience? Can any spin-offs be developed with the product?
• Who are the competitors? Who are the competitors' now serving?
• What makes the product or service stand out from the competitors?

These questions will focus your efforts and allow you to see if your product or service is really marketable. All too often, people think they are doing themselves well to jump into a market that is not now served. One can do themselves an injustice to start their first business in this way. Historically speaking, new businesses have thrived as long as they entered a market that was functioning before.

Another area of concern for the development stage is whether there is a demand for the product or service. Some of the best businesses started as a solution to a problem the consumer experienced. For instance, if a person visited a local business and received horrible customer service, they could essentially start a business in the same field with the emphasis on excellent customer service. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel.

The last suggestion for establishing a dynamic business out the gate is to pursue a passion. It has been proven that a passion will make for an easier business venture. If you love doing it for free, then being paid to do it will be that much more fulfilling. Whenever you can mold passion and business together, you should jump at the chance.

These suggestions are basic evaluations that have helped our clients save massive hours and time in the business planning stages. If applied, they can help you as well.

If you find that you are not where you are in your business or you need help starting your business, we'd love to partner with you and offer our professional expertise. We have a proven track record of delivering sound advice on how to avoid the pitfalls common to new business owners. We take the guesswork out of business development and make it easier for you to focus on your product or service. Contact us today to take advantage of our solid experience. We're in business to help your business succeed. http://workwithmymommy.com/private-coaching/

The Executive Summary: Your First Impression

By Tuaha Shakir

As the name implies, an Executive Summary is a summary of your entire business plan. It should be prepared on the basis of a well-thought business strategy stemming from a comprehensive study of the external and internal business environment.

Unfortunately, most start-ups try to put the cart before the horse by preparing an executive summary as a weak alternative to an actual business plan. These summaries tend to look more like marketing brochures and do not, or rather, cannot exude the confidence of a well-researched and well-rounded business plan.

The executive summary is the first (and often last) thing read by potential investors. As I wrote in my previous article covering the business plan basics, this is your one chance to get them to read the rest of the plan.

That doesn't necessarily mean doing hand-stands and back-flips or giving away your plan lock stock and barrel - but it should entice readers to pour into the juicy details that the actual plan will reveal. There's only so much you can talk about in a one- or two-pager anyway - since that's the maximum anyone wants to deal with at this stage.

A lot of executive summaries start off with some random market facts. This is a rather defensive approach and does not play well with investors. Providing a straightforward definition of the business is the only way to start your executive summary.

In a few simple yet effective words, tell your potential investors about your business and its potential before they divert their initial gaze. For example, try "XYZ Inc. promises corporations that use social media more loyal fans than any other channel by using our patented technology."

Keeping in line with that argument, this is also not the time to bring out your knowledge of Shakespeare and verse, or use guerrilla tactics to 'grab' your reader - investors like to see no-nonsense from start to finish. So leave out the clever language and get straight to the point.

Another problem with a lot executive summaries is the use of adjectives: try keeping them to a minimum. Use the extra space to fill in some relevant arguments rather than force-feed the idea of how fantastic, amazing and super your business is. Having said that, try not to sound like the town mortician either (not that they're any less enthusiastic by any means).

Now that you have earned a few extra seconds to convince your readers, build up a solid argument using well-researched facts and figures. Don't go overboard with the level of detail though - with the exception of some major creds.

While a dash of color or some well-presented visuals are recommended, leave out any charts, tables, infographics and sources of information that digress from the main argument.

At this point, you're very close to the jugular so bring out those canines to let the reader sink in to what you've got. You might want to mention your team members, or talk about a host of strategic reasons why you are set to succeed.

Don't forget to mention all that you have actually achieved to date. Investors convinced that you are truly on to something are now searching for clear evidence that you are indeed the knight in shining armour to pull the sword from the stone.

However, try to be subtle, with the promise that there's more waiting for them in the rest of the plan - and also bring out some of the romance from the investors' past lives as start-up entrepreneurs. For example, you could mention "two design patents from years of painstaking research" and leave the finer details for the actual plan.

A healthy serving of numbers that speak to investors in their language is the icing on the cake and needs to make sense intuitively based on a real understanding of the market and how the business operates. If your projected cash flows, revenues or number of users seem improbable or arbitrary, you can discard any notion of investors ever taking you seriously.

Once again, all of this can only be achieved by writing the executive summary after completing your business plan. If there is anything mentioned in the executive summary that hasn't been elaborated on in the extended documentation, then you've failed to make the connection.

We have helped small and medium sized businesses across the globe raise money for new ventures by crafting business plans that speak to investors in the language they understand.

Please visit our website for further information: http://www.qutbull-hoda.com or send us an email at qutbull.hoda@gmail.com

House Cleaning Business: What You Need To Know

By Chris Robertson Jr

Some of the most successful people in the world created businesses from nothing, supported by a mother who cleaned other people's houses for a living. If you equate starting a house cleaning business with barely getting by, the people who run successful residential cleaning companies have some news for you. There's a lot more to running a cleaning business than being a cleaning lady. There's also more profit potential than most people imagine. Here are five reasons to start your own cleaning business and four things you should know before you do.

Unlimited Income Potential

How much money can you make cleaning other people's houses? Even in an economic downturn, you can do surprisingly well with your own business, especially if you're not doing all the cleaning yourself. It's not unusual for new business owners to build up their earnings to $100,000 a year in the first year.

Start Making Money Fast

If you proceed in the right order, you can bring in money within two weeks - or even less. It takes very little time to find interested clients and set up a basic schedule. You can get started for less than $100 and have a full-force house cleaning business running - with your own employees - within a few months.

You Call the Shots

When you run your own cleaning service, you're the boss. You're the one calling the shots. This means more benefits and more responsibilities. When there are mistakes made, you're the one who has to own them - but you also get to own the success of your business and everything that goes with it.

Get Paid Every Day

In most cases, cash flow will not ever be a problem. Most of your clients will pay on the day of their cleaning, which means you'll have a steady stream of cash. In many other businesses, you end up waiting 30, 60 or even 90 days to be paid for your services.

Choose Your Own Clients

One of the best benefits of having a house cleaning service of your own is that you can pick and choose your clients. Even in small towns, there are plenty of people to keep you and your staff busy. If a client doesn't work out for some reason, it's not difficult to replace them. When clients do work out, you'll usually work with them for years to come.

Five Things You Should Know

Franchises Can Be Expensive

Cleaning franchises are popular, but they're not for everyone. They can be expensive to buy into and bind you to agreements and commitments for years to come.

Responsibility to Your Employees

If you're going to grow your business at all, you'll need employees. If you hire employees, it's vital that you follow all the laws and requirements for providing benefits and withholding taxes.

Cleaning Supplies

Don't make the mistake of buying your cleaning supplies at the local supermarket. When you set up a cleaning service, you can buy high quality cleaning supplies at wholesale prices, which will lower your cost of doing business.

Insurance Is a Necessity

When you work in other people's homes - or pay employees to do so - it's almost inevitable that something will get broken, stained or ruined, no matter how careful you are. Make sure you carry adequate insurance to cover any accidents that may happen in the course of your work.

A cleaning service is still one of the best and easiest startups for any entrepreneur. It does require planning and education, though. You'll find a number of courses you can take to help you learn everything you need to know in order to start on your path to success.

To learn more about subjects like House Cleaning Business, please visit the web site at: http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com

An Inside Look At One Of The Most Promising New Home Business Niches

By Mark E Patrick

Opportunities to work from the comfort of your own home are everywhere these days. From vague ads on job-search websites to flyers and signs posted along main street America promising the ability to "Earn money in your Pajamas!" or "Work from the comfort of your own home!" Unfortunately, these opportunities are - more often than not - too good to be true. After all, if it was that easy to earn money by sitting behind your computer screen, wouldn't everyone be doing it? However, too good to be true business "opportunities" might be a dime a dozen, there are viable paths to take when it comes to starting a profitable home based business. One of those paths that continues to find more and more leverage is that of the corporate cost reducer.

It might as well be said now. There really is no magic opportunity that will return six figures without any hard work. There has never been one, nor will there ever be. However, there are opportunities that are ripe for driven individuals interested in working independently. So if you want to set your hour and you're ready to set your sights high and go for it - some of these opportunities might fit the bill for you.

One of the approaches to actually attaining the "work from home" lifestyle has continually evolved over the years, but it hasn't lost its place as one of the timeless ways to work from home, offer a service, and get paid for it. That specific approach is corporate cost reduction.

Regardless of the economic climate, businesses like supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and just about any institution that serves or sells food in any capacity has to deal with a tremendous amount of waste. That waste needs to be disposed of, which isn't free. To think of it as simply as possible, waste truly does equal waste. However, instead of losing money by paying to dispose of waste, businesses can approach the problem from a different perspective and do "optimize" that business' waste stream, making it smaller, more cost efficient, and saving the business more than they might have thought possible. One recent study even estimated that Americans throw away as much as $165 billion a year when it comes to wasted food, and some of the biggest offenders may not even realize there is something they can do to reduce what's wasted. In fact, some of the most egregious wasters of food tend to be grocery stores and restaurant. Grocery stores alone throw out an estimated $15 billion worth of unsold produce alone every year. This is usually written off as the cost of doing business, however - does it need to be that way? By reducing that waste by half, businesses everywhere could save a great deal, and new home based businesses across the country are helping them do it.

Mark Patrick has spent the last 15 years working independently with business opportunities that have a positive impact in the real world. Most recently, Mark has researched and written extensively on the work at home business opportunities that recycling and business waste provide for sites and how to start your own business.

Mom And Pop Mentality - 10 Things Sure To Kill Your Business

By Terry Fagen

In no particular order, the results of my recent survey indicated a lot of employee frustration out there in the Small-Medium sized privately owned business market. Companies which ran perfectly well up to a certain level of sales, completely fail when attempting to expand.

While simple to fix, many just fail because of the simple-minded (or stubborn) nature of the business owner. Sometimes it's the children of the original owner that assumes control. What worked as a small business, could not possibly work as growth continues. Often the owner is not adequately trained or educated to maintain this control and is reluctant to yield. Proper procedures and processes, human resource policies and quality control processes are essential, but often neglected. It's easy to listen to 1 or 2 people. It's easy to manage a few people, but 50 employees or 100 employees or more require a management team - the operative word being "team".

The entrepreneurial spirit that once existed, may now be focused exclusively on money - making more money at any cost. The result is a dictatorial, micro-managed company. Product quality suffers, customers complain, employees leave.

• It costs 5 times more to obtain a new customer than it does to retain an existing Customer
• 96% of Customers who are not treated with respect never return
• Unsatisfied customers rarely complain, they just leave

The top 10 surefire ways to wind down your business:

1. Lie to your employees
2. Lie to your lawyer
3. Lie to your banker
4. Flatten a great Org Chart [make everyone report to you]
5. Employ uneducated/unqualified family members
6. Take extravagant vacations disguised as business trips, while telling employees times are tough
7. Don't listen to your top talent, humiliate them
8. Don't pay suppliers
9. Don't pay the government
10. Listen only to Confucius

Do you have any other? I'd like to hear about them from you.

So, what can you do to recover from this abysmal situation? Well for one thing, if you are the owner, wake up! If you have hired good people, recognize that the reason you may have hired them was to supplement what you could not do. You hired them based on their education, experience and expertise specifically for the position you posted. Let them do their job!

If they have already left, then rebuild your team. Surround yourself with people smarter than yourself specifically in areas for which you are not strong.

Treat employees as if each is special. Treat them as you would like to be treated.

Take a serious look at your business and prepare a solid business plan. Make sure you have a grueling 100 day plan as part of or separate from the business plan. Depending on the state of the company, re-branding may be necessary to add that fresh, new look to the company.

The plan must be signed off by Legal, Finance, Engineering, Marketing and all the members of your senior management team. Share the plan with your banker and seek their advice.

Sustained growth is the vision of one, but the effort of many.

Conduct a state of the union address and present the plan to your employees. Gain consensus. Reward positive contributions.

What next? Follow the plan! Just Follow the plan!

Terry Fagen, entrepreneur and founder of FirstQuintile Information Technologies has lived through many of the experiences he describes. What they never taught me in school, I have learned in a real-life MBA experience spanning more that 20 years in various businesses. What better way to help others, than by showing proof of what works and what does not work.

FirstQuintile is a digital communications company specializing in engineer-quality Web Sites, eCommerce - B2B and B2C websites, Web design, development and maintenance, Digital Marketing, SEO campaign creation and execution, software development and engineering consulting. FirstQuintile provides full-service technical & interactive marketing communications, pr, copy-writing, trade-shows, engineering, product and project management, strategic analysis, creative web and online advertising.

More information can be found at http://www.FirstQuintile.com.

Time OFF Your Business Is Just As Important As Time ON

By Jeannette Koczela

You've heard about working on your business versus working in your business. I want to talk to you about not working on your business at all. That's right, I want to address "time off."

The one thing we are thrilled to have as a benefit of being an entrepreneur is having flexibility. We can take a vacation whenever we want. We can have lunch with a friend and not worry about the time. We can stop in the middle of a workday to do something fun. Flexibility is a precious part of being your own boss and it's what everyone who wishes they were self-employed craves.

But having flexibility can also get you in trouble as an entrepreneur. You may not commit to something because you want to be flexible. You may use your flexibility to procrastinate doing business activities you don't enjoy doing. You may use it unconsciously to self-sabotage.

What's the solution? How can you walk that fine line of being flexible and being responsible and accountable?

The answer is to actually schedule your free time. One of my coaches taught us to begin our 12-month yearly business plan by scheduling our time off. When would we take vacations? When would we take mini-trips? What days would we take off?

When you plug in the free time first you address the part of you that wants that flexibility. You are creating your time consciously and deliberately and not allowing that flexibility work against you.

Time off may look like going to the beach, getting your nails done, having a long lunch with your spouse/friend, going for a walk, or playing with your pet. Whatever it is you can schedule it into your workday.

An example of how you might schedule your time off is as follows:

• Schedule the month of July for summer vacation
• Plan any events you want to attend or give
• Monthly commitments- hair/nails/clothing shopping, etc.
• Commit to have weekends off for family time
• Monday mornings are time for planning rest of the week
• Clients time blocks- Tuesday/Thursday
• Business development time block- Wednesday mornings
• VIP Day for clients- Fridays
• First 20 minutes of day- scripting/journaling/meditation
• Schedule 10-minute breaks throughout the day

By blocking out your free time first, you have taken advantage of your flexible schedule and you will be more productive during your work time. Why is that? Because you can be more focused when you are relaxed. In fact studies have shown that people who take regular vacations, and breaks from their work are indeed more productive.

It's also because you HAVE to be more productive as there is less time. Now you may be thinking, but I don't have enough time to take time off. But stop and think about how much time you waste in a day. Isn't it because you really just needed a break? Are you really making full use of those working hours?

By scheduling your time off first, you are deliberately creating your business life and in exchange for the free time your responsibility is to be fully engaged in your business activities during the work time.

Now you are ready to schedule your time for working IN your business and ON your business.

Jeannette Koczela supports life coaches as the founder of the International Association of Professional Life Coaches™. The IAPLC is a professional organization for life coaches who want more visibility, credibility, and connection. You can receive weekly tips on their FB fan page here: http://on.fb.me/UDL1Xh Get a copy of "5 Ways to Increase Your Client Base" or an excerpt from the book, "How to Create A Rich, Successful, and Fulfilling Life" at http://iaplifecoaches.org.

Time OFF Your Business Is Just As Important As Time ON

By Jeannette Koczela

You've heard about working on your business versus working in your business. I want to talk to you about not working on your business at all. That's right, I want to address "time off."

The one thing we are thrilled to have as a benefit of being an entrepreneur is having flexibility. We can take a vacation whenever we want. We can have lunch with a friend and not worry about the time. We can stop in the middle of a workday to do something fun. Flexibility is a precious part of being your own boss and it's what everyone who wishes they were self-employed craves.

But having flexibility can also get you in trouble as an entrepreneur. You may not commit to something because you want to be flexible. You may use your flexibility to procrastinate doing business activities you don't enjoy doing. You may use it unconsciously to self-sabotage.

What's the solution? How can you walk that fine line of being flexible and being responsible and accountable?

The answer is to actually schedule your free time. One of my coaches taught us to begin our 12-month yearly business plan by scheduling our time off. When would we take vacations? When would we take mini-trips? What days would we take off?

When you plug in the free time first you address the part of you that wants that flexibility. You are creating your time consciously and deliberately and not allowing that flexibility work against you.

Time off may look like going to the beach, getting your nails done, having a long lunch with your spouse/friend, going for a walk, or playing with your pet. Whatever it is you can schedule it into your workday.

An example of how you might schedule your time off is as follows:

• Schedule the month of July for summer vacation
• Plan any events you want to attend or give
• Monthly commitments- hair/nails/clothing shopping, etc.
• Commit to have weekends off for family time
• Monday mornings are time for planning rest of the week
• Clients time blocks- Tuesday/Thursday
• Business development time block- Wednesday mornings
• VIP Day for clients- Fridays
• First 20 minutes of day- scripting/journaling/meditation
• Schedule 10-minute breaks throughout the day

By blocking out your free time first, you have taken advantage of your flexible schedule and you will be more productive during your work time. Why is that? Because you can be more focused when you are relaxed. In fact studies have shown that people who take regular vacations, and breaks from their work are indeed more productive.

It's also because you HAVE to be more productive as there is less time. Now you may be thinking, but I don't have enough time to take time off. But stop and think about how much time you waste in a day. Isn't it because you really just needed a break? Are you really making full use of those working hours?

By scheduling your time off first, you are deliberately creating your business life and in exchange for the free time your responsibility is to be fully engaged in your business activities during the work time.

Now you are ready to schedule your time for working IN your business and ON your business.

Jeannette Koczela supports life coaches as the founder of the International Association of Professional Life Coaches™. The IAPLC is a professional organization for life coaches who want more visibility, credibility, and connection. You can receive weekly tips on their FB fan page here: http://on.fb.me/UDL1Xh Get a copy of "5 Ways to Increase Your Client Base" or an excerpt from the book, "How to Create A Rich, Successful, and Fulfilling Life" at http://iaplifecoaches.org.