Information on Starting a Business
Starting a Successful Business Chain
Video from our FREE Online Business Course
http://www.myownbusiness.org
Session 11 Buying a Business or Franchise
Question:
“Tell us about your first store and your decision to start a chain?”
Phil Holland
Founder, My Own Business
Topics covered in this video:
Starting a business, chain businesses, franchises, expanding a business, business planning, experience
Transcript:
Before I opened the first Yum Yum shop, I had clearly in mind that my long term objective was to start a chain of donut shops, not just operate one store. The beginning store therefore became very important because the success of the future chain depended a great deal on how that store succeeded. Very fortunately when I opened the first Yum Yum, it was in a great location. And I had an experienced crew who taught me everything there was to know about running that donut shop.
I benefited a great deal from running that first store myself for a full year. I did everything. I made the donuts, I took out trash, I washed the windows and from that experience I developed a pilot plan operation that became successful. The future of that chain of Yum Yum stores was therefore kind of a cookie cutter operation. We simply duplicated the success and the methods that were used in the first store. Another benefit from personally running that first store was that, as the company grew, no one could fool me on how to run a donut shop.
Duration : 0:1:38
What are some good resource sites for starting a small business?
I am getting ready to start my own business and I am looking for some web sites that are good resources for tips, information, and advice on starting and operating a small business. Sites with user forums or "ask an expert" are of the most interest as are those that focus on the financial management side of starting a business.
Here you go:
Steps to Starting a Business -
http://www.developer-resource.com/starting-a-business.htm
Other sites you might find helpful are:
SBA – http://www.sba.gov/
SCORE – http://www.score.org
Small Business Resource – http://www.small-business-software.net
Business Link – http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home
Goodluck!
David Silverman Typo “Advice for Starting a Business”
“What is the number one piece of advice for anyone starting their own business?” Interview with David Silverman about his new book “Typo”. Published by Softskull Press.
Duration : 0:1:53
Living Life and Starting A Home Business On Your Terms
Tired of doing what everyone else wants you to do? Tired of not being able to do what YOU want? Be wary of standard, normal and the usual. The status quo is for everyone else, not you…
It’s OK to live the way YOU want to. Some people need to be told that. Some think it is OK to live your life on someone else’s terms. I’m here to let you know that it’s just not true. And it’s definitely OK to do business the way YOU want to, not the way everyone else says you should.
You can choose what level of product or service to market. If you don’t like to do it, don’t offer it. I’m not talking about any aspect of marketing here. You have to have active marketing if you like it or not. But if you don’t want to perform a task that’s related to your main service or product, don’t to it. Even if your customer asks for it. Instead you can refer them to a business associate that you might get a referral fee from and you don’t have to do it.
And speaking of your customer, it is OK to fire a troublesome or demanding customer. If someone is taking up way too much of your time to the point that it takes away from your other customers, you’ve got a problem. For the good of all of your other customers, it would be a wise move to stop doing business with any problem customer. Imagine a business where you only served select customers. Selected not by race or religion but by how much you liked having them as a customer.
Doing business on your terms is truly OK. If an auto mechanic doesn’t want to work on transmissions, he sends it out to his friend that will do the job. The mechanic is doing business on his terms. He could have fixed his customer’s transmission but he didn’t want to have to do it. It works the same way for you, no matter what service or product line you market.
As a home business owner, you could decide to exclude offers that require your personal time or presence. Can you think of how much you would get done if you limited access to yourself for everyone but your most favorite or profitable customers? Business is about making cash and building a business. And you can just as easily do it on your terms as doing it “the usual way”.
Do you live in a major city with all the people and the traffic? You know you don’t have to, right? Do you participate in the same activities as most other people in your part of the world? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. And you don’t have to run your home business like you don’t want to.
You can start living your life on your terms. If not right away, you can set up a plan and execute that plan so you can go from living and doing business by everyone else’s rules to living like YOU want and doing business the way that suits you best.
If these ideas are new to you, this may have been the most important article you’ve read all year.
Starting An Online Home Business Is Not Expensive.
Depending on the type of business you wish to start, your start-up costs can be as little as $50 or less, even close to free if you use companies like Bravenet
The fact is, most businesses do NOT need to incur expensive start-up costs… and most businesses should not invest a lot of start-up capital before they’ve tested their business and their market online. That’s where so many “dot bombs” made such a grave mistake in the past, and there’s just no need to take that risk.
Only once you’ve tested your business idea on the Net and found it to be a viable opportunity should you start investing in the kind of software, web design, inventory (or whatever) that you’ll need to grow your business. Then again, you may want to just do it all yourself every step of the way…
These days, you can keep your start-up costs down to approximately 50 bucks or less. And you can begin adding the other components of your online business once you’ve proven that your business can be profitable.
And you do not need a product idea to start—-and not only that: If you do start with a product idea… you’ll be off to a bad start!
The reality is, most businesses that start off with what they think is a good product idea are destined for failure. Your product might be great, but if nobody wants it, your business isn’t going to get very far!
That’s why it makes so much more sense to look for your market first. If you can find a need in a market you can reach, then simply give them what they’re asking for… your business is bound for success from day one.
For example, there is a man named Eric Weeks who doesn’t really like trucks very much—he’s never owned one himself. But when he noticed that thousands of people search the Internet for “truck accessories” every day, he knew there was a market just waiting for him to give them what they needed…
When his Truck-Bed-Covers site was only one year old, he was generating $800,000 annually in online sales!
Eric’s advice is, “I sure as heck wouldn’t consider building an e-commerce site on personal interests. So whether it’s weight loss or travel, home business or truck bed covers… if enough people are interested in those subjects, then THERE is where you need to apply your efforts.”
It pays to remember: Find your market FIRST. Then look for a product to give them.